Sir Stafford Cripps

Sir Stafford Cripps (referred to as a key man in the war, the link between East and West) broadcasts an appraisal of the USSR based on considerable experience of the country. He refers to the war as good against evil and to the Allies as the force fighting for equality and freedom against domination and cruelty. During his time in the Soviet Union, Cripps claims to have witnessed heroic workers sacrificing their lives and labour to keep their country and others free. This would certainly have reassured those whose countries were occupied and shored up support for the USSR.

Cripps served as an Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1942 as part of the coalition government. In 1940 Cripps unsuccessfully tried to warn Stalin and the British Foreign Office about 'Barbarossa', Hitler's plan to attack Russia. After Hitler attacked in June 1941, Cripps became the key negotiator for a British-Soviet alliance. Colonel Britton was the pseudonym of Douglas Ritchie, a 36-year-old Assistant News Editor at the BBC. He expanded the V for Victory campaign in 1941 and 1942 in the occupied territories, where it was designed to subvert German rule with various methods of resistance. Since the English-language service was not tightly controlled by the Ministry of Information, the campaign flourished.