Dan Snow

Churchill loved maps. There are maps all over the place. He needed to be able to visualise where the fighting was and what strength Allied and Axis units were at. So there's wonderful graphics and illustrations down there on all the walls. There was a secure line to Roosevelt down there.

You can still see the tiny little room, like a little phone booth, if any of your listeners are old enough like I am to remember the days of pay phones. It's a little booth where you would go and have very, very intimate conversations with Roosevelt through a secure cable underneath the Atlantic.

You can still see the tiny little room, like a little phone booth, if any of your listeners are old enough like I am to remember the days of pay phones. It's a little booth where you would go and have very, very intimate conversations with Roosevelt through a secure cable underneath the Atlantic.

You can still see the tiny little room, like a little phone booth, if any of your listeners are old enough like I am to remember the days of pay phones. It's a little booth where you would go and have very, very intimate conversations with Roosevelt through a secure cable underneath the Atlantic.

The air conditioning's been reconstructed, the typing pools where the various liaison officers were at. Those were just locked up after the end of the Second World War, and only pretty recently, really, were they declassified and turned into a museum.

The air conditioning's been reconstructed, the typing pools where the various liaison officers were at. Those were just locked up after the end of the Second World War, and only pretty recently, really, were they declassified and turned into a museum.

The air conditioning's been reconstructed, the typing pools where the various liaison officers were at. Those were just locked up after the end of the Second World War, and only pretty recently, really, were they declassified and turned into a museum.

You can walk in and see them as they were at the height of the Blitz, at the height of the Second World War, and I think it's one of the most special experiences you can have in Britain. I thoroughly recommend it.

You can walk in and see them as they were at the height of the Blitz, at the height of the Second World War, and I think it's one of the most special experiences you can have in Britain. I thoroughly recommend it.

You can walk in and see them as they were at the height of the Blitz, at the height of the Second World War, and I think it's one of the most special experiences you can have in Britain. I thoroughly recommend it.

Yeah, that's right. I mean, the Americans were very present in London, and I think the reports they were sending back, the stories of resistance, the stories of bravery, and the stories of the horror inflicted by Hitler's aircraft, those bombers, helped to move the American public towards a place where they were ready to support the British war effort, perhaps even join the British war effort.

Yeah, that's right. I mean, the Americans were very present in London, and I think the reports they were sending back, the stories of resistance, the stories of bravery, and the stories of the horror inflicted by Hitler's aircraft, those bombers, helped to move the American public towards a place where they were ready to support the British war effort, perhaps even join the British war effort.

Yeah, that's right. I mean, the Americans were very present in London, and I think the reports they were sending back, the stories of resistance, the stories of bravery, and the stories of the horror inflicted by Hitler's aircraft, those bombers, helped to move the American public towards a place where they were ready to support the British war effort, perhaps even join the British war effort.

one of the most famous journalists in US history, Edward R. Murrow. Ed Murrow was here in London. He would broadcast for CBS from a basement below the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation's broadcasting house. And he would send daily updates, really, on the destruction and the death, but also on the lives of Londoners, the people carrying on trying to make the most of it.

one of the most famous journalists in US history, Edward R. Murrow. Ed Murrow was here in London. He would broadcast for CBS from a basement below the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation's broadcasting house. And he would send daily updates, really, on the destruction and the death, but also on the lives of Londoners, the people carrying on trying to make the most of it.

one of the most famous journalists in US history, Edward R. Murrow. Ed Murrow was here in London. He would broadcast for CBS from a basement below the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation's broadcasting house. And he would send daily updates, really, on the destruction and the death, but also on the lives of Londoners, the people carrying on trying to make the most of it.

So this is modern war correspondence that your listeners will be so familiar with. And He used to begin his broadcasts with the iconic, what is now the iconic phrase, this is London. And then he'd end them by saying, good night and good luck.

So this is modern war correspondence that your listeners will be so familiar with. And He used to begin his broadcasts with the iconic, what is now the iconic phrase, this is London. And then he'd end them by saying, good night and good luck.

So this is modern war correspondence that your listeners will be so familiar with. And He used to begin his broadcasts with the iconic, what is now the iconic phrase, this is London. And then he'd end them by saying, good night and good luck.

Well, Lindsay, now it's time for me to turn the tables on you, because I want to know more about the American side of this story. Because after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, America is dragged into World War II. Hitler then declares war on the USA days later. For Churchill, he sees this as something like salvation. He's actually pleased about that. He doesn't make any bones about it.