Diane Morgan on Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding

Great Lives

BBC

History, Documentary, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2020

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

Comedian and actor Diane Morgan chooses the life of Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding. Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding is best known for his role in the Battle of Britain. He is widely regarded as the architect of Britain's unlikely victory, using an intelligence strategy known as the Dowding System. The Battle of Britain was at the very end of his military career - his nickname by then was "Stuffy" Dowding - and shortly after he was side-lined. But he cared deeply for every one of his pilots, and following his retirement he became focused on what had happened to all his "dear fighter boys" lost in the war. He wrote extensively on the after life and spiritualism - many bereaved families wrote to him seeking answers as a result. He met his second wife after a medium suggested he take her out for lunch having received a communication from her late first husband from beyond the grave. Together they were prominent advocates of spiritualism, and of animal rights, with Dowding giving his maiden speech in the Lords about the need for ethical standards in slaughterhouses. Diane picked up Dowding's book by pure chance through her local book shop during the first lockdown, and has since become fascinated by the life of this man. Together with Dowding's stepson, David Whiting, and historian Victoria Taylor, Diane discusses Dowding's legacy. Is there a paradox between this great military figure's career, and subsequent fascination with spiritualism and ethics - or does it all make perfect sense? Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Polly Weston

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast I'd like to introduce myself. My name's
0:04.0	Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport
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0:11.1	journalists, experienced pundits and the biggest
0:13.3	sports stars. Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights
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0:28.9	dedicated sports fans across the UK.
0:31.5	So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more.
0:37.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts.
0:41.0	The events of 1940 have been discussed and dramatized many, many times over.
0:47.0	For those who fought in the Battle of Britain, it was a battle for survival.
0:51.0	For the free world, it was a breathless moment in history for failure would have plunged mankind into a new dark aim
0:59.0	We think of the Battle of Britain and perhaps visualize the drama of a dog fight above the clouds
1:05.4	from the perspective of a pilot's cockpit set against a crescendo of strings.
1:10.8	Never in the field of human conflict was so much old by so many to so few.
1:18.0	3,000 British airmen defended the skies over the south of England against the Nazis. 544 British pilots lost their lives.
1:28.0	But today's program is about the man on whose shoulders the responsibility for the few fell.
1:36.4	He was a man known by the nickname, Stuffy Dowding, but as Commander-in-Chief of R-A-F Fighter Command, he is widely regarded as the architect of victory during the Battle of Britain.
1:49.0	Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding has been nominated by the comic actor Diane Morgan.
1:55.7	We know her for her dead-pan portrayals of TV Dimwit Philomina Kunk as Liz in Motherland and as Cath in Netflix hit afterlife.
	...

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