Coming Home

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Duration

42 minutes

30 minutes

-1410 minutes

Genre

Arts
Culture and the Media
Factual
History

Station

Radio 4

Episodes

Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
	20141109		Earlier this year, Andrew Motion visited the British army camp at Bad Fallingbostel, 40 kilometres north of Hanover in Germany. It's where the 7th Armoured Brigade - the Desert Rats - are based and where they returned this Spring after Operation Herrick 19, their final tour of duty in Afghanistan. Here he talked to a range of soldiers, and back in England he also talked to the mother of a soldier who had been killed on duty in Helmand. He has used these conversations as the basis for a series of new poems reflecting on what it is like for British soldiers to come home after their long and dangerous campaign in Afghanistan. The poems explore the particular nature of the Afghan conflict, while showing certain continuities that flow from wars through the generations. In this programme, the interviews and poems are set side by side, creating a unique poetry event by Andrew Motion to mark Remembrance Day 2014. Produced by Melissa FitzGerald A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4. A unique poetry event by Andrew Motion to mark Remembrance Day 2014.
	20141109	20141115 (R4)	Earlier this year, Andrew Motion visited the British army camp at Bad Fallingbostel, 40 kilometres north of Hanover in Germany. It's where the 7th Armoured Brigade - the Desert Rats - are based and where they returned this Spring after Operation Herrick 19, their final tour of duty in Afghanistan. Here he talked to a range of soldiers, and back in England he also talked to the mother of a soldier who had been killed on duty in Helmand. He has used these conversations as the basis for a series of new poems reflecting on what it is like for British soldiers to come home after their long and dangerous campaign in Afghanistan. The poems explore the particular nature of the Afghan conflict, while showing certain continuities that flow from wars through the generations. In this programme, the interviews and poems are set side by side, creating a unique poetry event by Andrew Motion to mark Remembrance Day 2014. Produced by Melissa FitzGerald A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4. A unique poetry event by Andrew Motion to mark Remembrance Day 2014.
A Civil Society	20050512		Charles Wheeler presents five personal interpretations of what the end of the Second World War meant to people in Britain and across the world. In A Civil Society - the transition to a civic society but with new restrictions. The Labour party wins 1945 Election. Post-war Britain and promises: there is the Beveridge plan and the creation of the NHS, rationing is tightened and the black market prospers, housing and prefabs, squatters. Then there was the German experience: we may have been hungry but much of Europe was starving. Charles Wheeler looks at the transition to a civic society. Charles Wheeler presents personal interpretations about the end of the Second World War.
Home Again	20050510		Charles Wheeler presents five personal interpretations of what the end of the Second World War meant to people in Britain and across the world. In Home Again, scarred soldiers returned to homes that had changed, and wives that had moved on. Moments of return and displacement. Demobilisation and memories of arriving home - wife at garden gate, marriage break up, concentration camp survivors return home, POWs return and women back in the home after war-work. Refugees seek their way back home but for others the displacement is beginning - Sudeten Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia; Germans shifting West. Charles Wheeler looks at how scarred soldiers returned to homes that had changed. Charles Wheeler presents personal interpretations about the end of the Second World War.
Missing	20050511		Charles Wheeler presents five personal interpretations of what the end of the Second World War meant to people in Britain and across the world. In Missing - the transition from war to peace after the second world war and things that were gone forever. What has gone for ever? Absences, bereavement.. but also new opportunities. Physical gaps: bomb damage - streets, townscapes altered forever, villages abandoned. There is though a better view of St Pauls. Bereavement: displaced, lost / killed children (eg. in the blitz), parents, war orphans, MIAs and trauma, casualties of war whose loss is very personal. Loss of childhood and those who have 'lost' whole countries. Charles Wheeler explores the transition from war to peace after the Second World War. Charles Wheeler presents personal interpretations about the end of the Second World War.
Out of the Ashes	20050513		Charles Wheeler looks at post-war idealism and reality. Charles Wheeler presents personal interpretations about the end of the Second World War.
War's End	20050509		War's End - the last days of hostilities in Germany. Surrender. Some confusion over VE Day, with some newspaper headlines: 'It May Be Today', as in UK people converge on London's West End looking for a chance to celebrate. Of course, it wasn't really over - there was still the long war against Japan. In the Far East those in what would be called the "Forgotten Army" prepare to continue their struggle. In Europe, though, soldiers are waiting for demobilisation, 'demob' , and looking forward to going home. Charles Wheeler looks at the last days of hostilities in Germany Charles Wheeler presents personal interpretations about the end of the Second World War.

Episodes

Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
	20141109		Earlier this year, Andrew Motion visited the British army camp at Bad Fallingbostel, 40 kilometres north of Hanover in Germany. It's where the 7th Armoured Brigade - the Desert Rats - are based and where they returned this Spring after Operation Herrick 19, their final tour of duty in Afghanistan. Here he talked to a range of soldiers, and back in England he also talked to the mother of a soldier who had been killed on duty in Helmand. He has used these conversations as the basis for a series of new poems reflecting on what it is like for British soldiers to come home after their long and dangerous campaign in Afghanistan. The poems explore the particular nature of the Afghan conflict, while showing certain continuities that flow from wars through the generations. In this programme, the interviews and poems are set side by side, creating a unique poetry event by Andrew Motion to mark Remembrance Day 2014. Produced by Melissa FitzGerald A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4. A unique poetry event by Andrew Motion to mark Remembrance Day 2014.
	20141109	20141115 (R4)	Earlier this year, Andrew Motion visited the British army camp at Bad Fallingbostel, 40 kilometres north of Hanover in Germany. It's where the 7th Armoured Brigade - the Desert Rats - are based and where they returned this Spring after Operation Herrick 19, their final tour of duty in Afghanistan. Here he talked to a range of soldiers, and back in England he also talked to the mother of a soldier who had been killed on duty in Helmand. He has used these conversations as the basis for a series of new poems reflecting on what it is like for British soldiers to come home after their long and dangerous campaign in Afghanistan. The poems explore the particular nature of the Afghan conflict, while showing certain continuities that flow from wars through the generations. In this programme, the interviews and poems are set side by side, creating a unique poetry event by Andrew Motion to mark Remembrance Day 2014. Produced by Melissa FitzGerald A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4. A unique poetry event by Andrew Motion to mark Remembrance Day 2014.
A Civil Society	20050512		Charles Wheeler presents five personal interpretations of what the end of the Second World War meant to people in Britain and across the world. In A Civil Society - the transition to a civic society but with new restrictions. The Labour party wins 1945 Election. Post-war Britain and promises: there is the Beveridge plan and the creation of the NHS, rationing is tightened and the black market prospers, housing and prefabs, squatters. Then there was the German experience: we may have been hungry but much of Europe was starving. Charles Wheeler looks at the transition to a civic society. Charles Wheeler presents personal interpretations about the end of the Second World War.
Home Again	20050510		Charles Wheeler presents five personal interpretations of what the end of the Second World War meant to people in Britain and across the world. In Home Again, scarred soldiers returned to homes that had changed, and wives that had moved on. Moments of return and displacement. Demobilisation and memories of arriving home - wife at garden gate, marriage break up, concentration camp survivors return home, POWs return and women back in the home after war-work. Refugees seek their way back home but for others the displacement is beginning - Sudeten Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia; Germans shifting West. Charles Wheeler looks at how scarred soldiers returned to homes that had changed. Charles Wheeler presents personal interpretations about the end of the Second World War.
Missing	20050511		Charles Wheeler presents five personal interpretations of what the end of the Second World War meant to people in Britain and across the world. In Missing - the transition from war to peace after the second world war and things that were gone forever. What has gone for ever? Absences, bereavement.. but also new opportunities. Physical gaps: bomb damage - streets, townscapes altered forever, villages abandoned. There is though a better view of St Pauls. Bereavement: displaced, lost / killed children (eg. in the blitz), parents, war orphans, MIAs and trauma, casualties of war whose loss is very personal. Loss of childhood and those who have 'lost' whole countries. Charles Wheeler explores the transition from war to peace after the Second World War. Charles Wheeler presents personal interpretations about the end of the Second World War.
Out of the Ashes	20050513		Charles Wheeler looks at post-war idealism and reality. Charles Wheeler presents personal interpretations about the end of the Second World War.
War's End	20050509		War's End - the last days of hostilities in Germany. Surrender. Some confusion over VE Day, with some newspaper headlines: 'It May Be Today', as in UK people converge on London's West End looking for a chance to celebrate. Of course, it wasn't really over - there was still the long war against Japan. In the Far East those in what would be called the "Forgotten Army" prepare to continue their struggle. In Europe, though, soldiers are waiting for demobilisation, 'demob' , and looking forward to going home. Charles Wheeler looks at the last days of hostilities in Germany Charles Wheeler presents personal interpretations about the end of the Second World War.