BBC residents mark the centenary of the Spanish flu – RadioToday

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The English-speaking regions of the BBC celebrate the centennial of the Spanish flu in partnership with the Wellcome Collection, Imperial War Museums and the Council for Research on the Arts and Humanities.

Local BBC radio stations and Southwest regional television will highlight the outbreak on Thursday, September 20 and Friday, September 21 with interviews, reports and programs revealing the impact of the disease on residents of the Southwest. towns and villages as well as investigate the legacy of the pandemic.

BBC Local Radio broadcasts will reveal statistics based on medical reports showing how communities in many parts of England – including cities like Cornwall, Exeter, Jersey and Guernsey – have been affected by the virus that killed 228,000 people in the UK.

Hannah Mawdsley, Ph.D. researcher at Imperial War Museums, said: "I hope that BBC Local Radio's broadcasts will help people better understand a relatively unknown aspect of early 20th century history and to reveal the voices of ordinary people who have lived this story. pandemic – while helping us understand that our society is still vulnerable to the global pandemic threats today.

The local BBC radio stations in the Southwest will tell the human story behind the statistics using letters containing first-hand accounts of what it was like to live the deadliest pandemic of human history.