Voice from the past brings joy to Becky
Date published: 29 October 2010
‘When I heard grandad on the discs for the first time I burst into tears’
A LEES woman has spoken of her delight at once again hearing the voice of her beloved grandad — thanks to the BBC.
Becky Rowe, of Livingstone Street, found aluminium discs containing recordings her grandad Ken Curley had made and sent home for his family while serving with the RAF in India during the Second World War.
Thousands of British servicemen recorded messages on to Voices of the Forces discs for their loved ones back home during the war.
But joy turned to despair when Becky, a team manager at Connexions, found she was unable to play the discs because she didn’t have the right equipment.
In a desperate bid to hear her grandad’s voice again, Becky contacted the BBC’s History of the World website to explain her predicament.
Her message was picked up by Radio Four’s “Tracing Your Roots” programme which features family history stories.
With the help of sound expert Chris Frears, the team was able to transfer the recordings to CD, allowing Becky, her mum Hilary and grandmother Sybil to hear Ken’s voice once again.
Becky said: “My mum and grandma had heard the recordings before but couldn’t really remember what was on them and I had never heard them.
“When they were played to us for the first time I burst into tears and my mum and grandma were really emotional.
“The whole thing was being recorded for ‘Tracing Your Roots’ and we were there crying our eyes out.
“I was very close to my grandad so it was amazing to be able to hear his voice again and, now I have the CDs, I can listen to him whenever I want.”
As well as messages for his family, the recordings also feature Ken singing classic tunes such as “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary”’.
Ken’s recordings have now been stored in the BBC’s sound archives.
