3. The Pulse

As the Blitz comes to an end, London refuses to be silenced.

In this episode, we move through the final raids of 1941 into the uneasy calm of “The Lull”, where music, performance and cultural life carried on amid loss and devastation.

We hear how jazz and swing — banned by the Nazis as “degenerate” — became acts of resistance, and how Ken “Snakehips” Johnson, a Black, gay bandleader at the height of his fame, was killed when the Café de Paris was bombed.

We witness the destruction of Queen’s Hall — London’s leading concert hall and home to the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. Its loss displaced musicians across the city, sending major orchestras elsewhere, including to the newly built Walthamstow Assembly Hall.

Set against wartime Walthamstow — bombed, damaged, yet still building — this episode explores what endured while buildings burned, and why music mattered more than ever.

Selected audio excerpts featured in this episode:

• 'The war over Walthamstow: the story of Civil Defence 1939 1945' by Ross Wylde © Waltham Forest Council (historical reference)
• Film clip: The Battle of Music (1943), UK wartime feature film depicting the London Philharmonic Orchestra during the Blitz
• Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
• Pamphlet: It Shall Not Happen Here: Anti-Semitism, Fascists and Civil Liberty, by Elizabeth Allen, 1943. Held by the Imperial War Museums, London
• “Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!” (Baer / Rose / MacDonald), performed by Ken “Snakehips” Johnson and His West Indian Dance Orchestra
• “Free”, performed by The Crazy Gang
• All other music by Simon Mills

Audio excerpts are used under UK fair dealing provisions for the purposes of criticism, review, and historical illustration. Full rights remain with the respective rights holders.

War Hall is an independent production. If we ever make a profit, half will go to War Child, with the rest supporting our small team. If you’d like to help us make future episodes, you can join our Patreon — even the smallest contribution helps us pay artists fairly.

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Some clips are used under fair dealing and fair use for historical illustration. All rights remain with the original rights holders. Used with permission where required.

Music and sound design by Simon Mills.

Produced by Alison Williams, Professor John Thomas, and Susie Williams.

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