TALK ON THE BBC GERMAN SERVICE DURING THE 2nd WORLD WAR: BROADCASTING TO THE ENEMY

On 10th January 2020,Vike Plok, Associate Professor of English, gave a most interesting talk about the BBC’s broadcasts to Germany in German during the Second World War. A packed room of about 40 U3A members heard about the different broadcasts to Nazi Germany, starting from a brief 5 minutes in 1938, when war was clearly becoming a possibility. We listened to the introduction to the broadcast: Big Ben striking the hour, then the famous phrase from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony which, in Morse Code, spells the letter V for victory while the Roman numeral V also is the number 5 of the Fifth Symphony. From these early beginnings the broadcasts developed and lengthened, cleverly targeting individual sections of the population (army, navy, women, workers, religious groups), rather than aiming at a mass audience. We learnt how it was most important for the BBC to gain the trust of the German audience and so the news relayed in German very closely reflected the British news, even if this meant admitting that things were not going too well for Britain. There were, however, a few well-placed ‘nuggets of propoganda’, for example the Germans were told how food prices in London had fallen since the start of the war, which must have been demoralising to the Germans who were subject to rationing. We also heard a little about the German broadcasters, including the famous writer Thomas Mann, who had left Nazi Germany and was living in the United States. Comedy and satire played a part as well: an Austrian actor, Martin Miller, was celebrated for his impersonations of Hitler and Martin Esslin imagined a dialogue between 2 Hitlers to point out all the contradictions in the Führer’s recorded speeches. More seriously we were reminded that the penalties for listening to the BBC German broadcasts were severe.

Very many thanks to the University Liaison Team for giving us the opportunity to attend such an informative and entertaining talk.

Joyce Burgess

VSIMULATORS

On 7 Feb 2020, 25 members of Exeter U3A attended a talk by Professor Aleksandar Pavic, Professor of Vibration Engineering, entitled 'Vsimulators – Human Factors Simulation for Building and Human Motion in the Built Environment.' Due to various time/operational constraints we were not able to visit the Structures Lab afterwards, as originally billed; however, Alex used the session to introduce the immense challenge of providing the built environment of the immediate future.

Focussing on the issue of vibration, particularly in very tall buildings, Alex put across technical concepts in an admirably accessible way. His presentation was laced with intriguing graphics, and rarely publicised, sometimes shocking, facts and figures. He invited interruptions for queries, which he clarified generously.

Alex explained that the unprecedented rise in global life expectancy which started in the 19th Century with improvements in sanitation, has led to huge population increase which will require 230 billion sq.m. more built space by 2030 – the equivalent of adding one 'Paris' to our planet every week. Humans spend 80-90% of their time indoors, and now demand sustainable constructions that support health and well-being. The most practical way forward will be to build 'upwards rather than outwards;' and although the very tallest buildings since 1990 have appeared in Asia, there will in London, for example, be 460 new structures higher than 50m by 2030, providing a combination of office and residential accommodation.

Promoting sustainability means not only saving 'operational' energy – heating, lighting, etc – but also 'embodied' energy – that which is required to produce materials such as concrete, steel, and machinery. Compared with aviation at 2, currently 10 of world energy goes into producing cement. China builds 5000 bridges a year. 100 times more resources are put into saving operational energy, (leading to ever-increasing use of renewables), than embodied energy. Reducing embodied energy by replacing conventional materials will largely mean using timber.

Anxieties about wood swaying, shrinking and cracking must be addressed but these problems already happen with conventional materials. Wood can store vast quantities of CO2. It is strong enough to construct a tall building that fulfils the standards of temperature/humidity, light and noise control now expected. It can be fireproofed – wood tends to singe, not burn down – and insulated.

Alongside sustainability, the emphasis is now on quality of experience. Buildings should withstand traffic/industrial/agricultural pollutants, adverse weather and ozone, but must as far as possible allow moisture, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulates, etc to escape. Currently we encounter 1000 times more contaminants indoors than outside.

In addition to these complexities, future buildings, being made from reduced amounts of lighter, less massive materials, will be subject to greater movement, especially high up. Alex told us that vibration is now the feature dominating building design, and research papers in 'vibration serviceability' jumped from 394 (between 2005-10) to 830 (2010-15). A 2013 survey of exposure to tall (conventional) building motion in Wellington NZ, one of the world's windiest cities, resulted in 40 respondents – (who were allowed to report more than one effect) - citing difficulty in concentration. 20 nausea, 25 dizziness and 30 feeling 'weird.' (A lucky 25% reported no effects). The challenge now is to find acceptable levels of vibration according to planned usage; e.g. dance studios, offices and operating theatres in hospitals will all need to be designed differently.

By far the greatest cause of vibration in a building is human movement. At the end of this session, Alex introduced us to the 'VSimulator,' a cutting-edge research facility being built at Exeter and Bath. He described this as a ' low frequency, long stroke, biaxial motion and environmental chamber.' The Vsimulators use virtual reality to assist researchers with the effects of human behaviours and needs on the structures they use, with particular reference to motion/vibration issues.

In due course Alex will tell us more about the VSimulators and their applications, and ask us to move around (dance)? in the Exeter simulator, to help ensure that future buildings will be conducive to health and well-being.

Loran Waite