Douglas Ritchie
{{Short description|British journalist}}
{{for|the Rhodesian politician|Douglas Hamilton Ritchie}}
Douglas Ernest Ritchie (1905–1967){{Cite web|date=|title=The Papers of Douglas E Ritchie and Noel Newsome|url=https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1740|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004224342/https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1740 |archive-date=4 October 2021 |access-date=|website=Archivesearch}} was a British news editor at the BBC.
World War II
Ritchie, at the time an assistant news editor, broadcast to German-occupied countries during the war of the world war of world 2. He adopted the moniker "Colonel Britton",{{Cite book|author=Seth|first=Ronald|author-link = Ronald Seth|title=The truth-benders: psychological warfare in the Second World War|publisher=Leslie Frewin Publishers Ltd|year=1969|isbn=978-0090961207|page=129}} and his identity was a closely guarded secret until after the war.{{Cite book|author=Clarke|first=Joseph F.|title=Pseudonyms: The Names behind the Names|publisher=Thomas Nelson Publishers|year=1977|isbn=978-0840765673|page=27}}
He was in charge of the BBC's wartime "V for Victory" campaign.
He created the "Continental V Army".{{Cite book|author=Hall|first=Helena|title=A Woman in the Shadow of the Second World War: Helena Hall's Journal from the Home Front|date=30 November 2014|publisher=Pen and Sword Military|isbn=9781473823259|publication-date=2015-02-19|page=266}}
By the time of the disclosure of his identity in 1945 he was director of the European news department of the BBC.
Post war
After the end of the war Ritchie rose to the position of head of publicity at the BBC. At the age of 50 he suffered a stroke.{{Cite book|author=Stewart|first=Monnica C.|title=My Brother's Keeper?|publisher=Health Horizon|year=1971|isbn=978-0901548184|edition=2nd|page=19}}
His book Stroke: A Diary Of Recovery{{Cite book|last=Ritchie|first=Douglas|title=Stroke: A Diary Of Recovery|publisher=Faber & Faber|year=1960|asin=B0000CKN4E}} was hailed by John O'Londons as "A triumph of the highest order".
References
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Category:Radio during World War II
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