Mourning for a Greek voice at the BBC
«London calling» – the signature phrase that marked the BBC World Service’s news broadcast – was also the title of a book which George Angeloglou wrote but did not manage to publish before his recent death. Angeloglou headed the BBC’s Greek service during World War II, which broadcast three times a day and was the only reliable source of information for occupied Greece, serving as a ray of hope that liberation would not be far off. It was a time when Greek patriots secretly tuned in to radio broadcasts, with family and friends gathered around the «box» to hear what was really going on in the world. News of Angeloglou’s death came in the obituary pages of British newspapers. Born in Cairo to parents from the island of Samos, this cosmopolitan radio journalist was a true communicator, a word that has taken on such a hackneyed connotation these days. As head of the BBC’s Greek service, he focused on Greek-British friendship and cooperation on the radio waves as Greeks and Britons fought against the common foe in the rugged mountains of Epirus and Crete. After the liberation of Greece, Angeloglou continued to work for the Greek service only to resign over the Cyprus issue. A patriotic Greek whose home was in Britain, he decided to retire from the BBC’s Greek section. Writing in the first issue of the Anglo-Hellenic Review, the translator, poet, writer John Letham, who also headed the BBC’s Greek service (from 1957 to 1961), said that Angeloglou was a «highly successful promoter of Hellenism» in Britain. After leaving BBC radio, Angeloglou worked for BBC television and home radio as a producer of documentaries and music programs. After a stint in the Greek Embassy press bureau, he devoted himself to journalism, writing on Greek travel, music and literature. A founder member of the London Hellenic Society, of which he was executive vice-president, he lived in Surrey, with his New Zealand wife Sadrienne. Aspis Bank’s decision to launch the unusual product underscores the tough competition in the mortgage market. Spurred on by explosive credit growth, banks have attempted to outdo each other and grab a substantial share of the sector with one new product after another and at the same time have brought rates down to eurozone levels.
