BBC Memo About Communication Difficulties with the War Office

Following her memo of 4 June 1940, Mary Somerville writes to the Assistant Controller of Programmes and the Assistant Controller (Home) about another incident highlighting the difficulties endured by broadcasters as a result of poorly established lines of communication with the War Office. She points out that, as the organisation of wartime broadcasting is so new and urgent, there isn't time for efficient work practices to be developed. There is also the difficulty of the military establishment not fully appreciating the art of scriptwriting or realising that security issues can be managed without resorting to full-scale censorship.

The phrase 'the blimpiest of Blimps' is a reference to the cartoon character Colonel Blimp, who featured in the 'Evening Standard' in the 1930s and 1940s. This was a satirical cartoon created by David Low that characterised a certain type of military man as pompous, incompetent and susceptible to a heartfelt but unthinking patriotism. In 1943, a more sympathetic version of the character featured in the war film 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'.