The Amazing Story of the American Radio Station in Biarritz after the Liberation

At the time of the Liberation, Biarritz would begin living on American time. The creation, on June 21, 1945, of the Centre Universitaire Américain de Biarritz (Biarritz American University, or BAU) marked a turning point. The city was transformed into a vast university campus for American soldiers awaiting repatriation. At the heart of this educational and cultural system was AFN Biarritz, a station that would in particular introduce swing music to the inhabitants of the Basses-Pyrénées (today Pyrénées-Atlantiques).

The birth of AFN Biarritz in a villa overlooking the sea

Broadcasts began on August 15, 1945, under the call sign AFN Biarritz (American Forces Network). Integrated into the AFN network, the station became the fifty-fourth American outlet in Europe. It accompanied the expansion of the radio system toward southern France, after its establishment in Germany and then in England. The station was installed in the Villa Chimère on the Phare plateau, in the district of large seaside villas developed between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

AFN Biarritz broadcast on medium wave with a power of 300 watts on 207 meters (1,447 kHz), from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. without interruption. Nearly twenty hours of programming were thus aired each day. The station primarily addressed American military personnel and BAU students, but its broadcasts were perfectly audible to the population of the Basses-Pyrénées.

Swing arrives on the Basque coast

The program schedule was resolutely American. It included popular music and swing, comedy shows, radio serials, news bulletins, as well as prestigious broadcasts such as those from the Metropolitan Opera of New York every Saturday. Major stars of American radio—Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Burns and Allen, Kay Kyser, and Fred Waring—regularly filled the airwaves through recordings on discs. Each week, the records were delivered to the airport and transported to the studio by jeep.

There were also local programs, including an hour of swing presented in English and French. The station also broadcast shows from the municipal casino or the Bon Marché. It operated with three hosts and three technicians, including one Frenchman, Lucien Larroze. The broadcasting equipment was installed in the villa’s basement.

AFN Biarritz also fulfilled an essential educational mission. American students directly took part in producing programs, hosted debates, commented on local sporting events, and prepared music programs. The radio thus became a genuine training tool integrated into the university curriculum.

A gradual opening to French listeners

Under the impetus of Lieutenant Louis Adelman, director of the station, and on the instructions of General Samuel L. McCroskey, commander of the American University Center, AFN Biarritz began addressing the French public.

On August 21, 1945, at 1 p.m., a first official broadcast in French was aired. Guy Petit, mayor of Biarritz, spoke on the air. The gesture was symbolic and powerful, marking an important step in local Franco-American rapprochement.

In the same spirit, the station incorporated elements of regional culture into its programming. In October 1945, a quarter-hour of Basque music, presented by Duke Bowman and performed by the group Oldarra, was broadcast from Biarritz and relayed all the way to the United States. This initiative introduced Basque music to a distant audience and affirmed the station’s desire to anchor itself in its cultural environment.

From the end of AFN to the creation of WBAU

At the end of 1945, the situation changed abruptly. By decision of the management of American military radio, AFN Biarritz had to close. Military personnel were recalled. American technicians left the station, some returning to the United States, others being transferred to Germany.

Yet not everything disappeared. The equipment, the records, and the French staff remained on site. The station simply changed status and identity. AFN Biarritz became WBAU—“W” because it was a station east of the Mississippi, and the rest for Biarritz American University. This change, effective on December 17, 1945, made WBAU a unique case: it became the only American station in Europe to operate outside the military framework of AFN.

Management was entrusted to Mr. Crews, professor in charge of the BAU radio section. Students now handled most of the broadcasts. Concerts by the university orchestra occupied an important place in the programming.

An impressive technical organization

The facilities were transferred from Villa Chimère to the Hôtel Biarritz-Salins. Studios, transmitter, classrooms, and offices occupied the top two floors of the building.

WBAU stood out for a particularly modern technical organization for the time. The station included an Information and Programming department, a technical department responsible for studios and transmitter, a record library holding several hundred carefully classified recordings, and a central control post supervising all studios.

The team was led by Mr. Crews, assisted by Lieutenant Dillingan and Miss Konold, both teachers and supervisors. The technical department was headed by Mr. Carder, surrounded by five engineers. The chief engineer was Mr. Bourret, of Canadian origin, assisted by Lucien Larroze, the only Frenchman in the organization, sound engineer and interpreter.

The station used innovative equipment, notably a wire-recording system. Faster and less expensive than disc recording, it allowed students to listen again to and analyze their radio performances.

Broadcast hours were reorganized: from 7 to 9 a.m., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., then from 4 p.m. to midnight.

A missed opportunity for radio on the Basque coast

In March 1946, the station’s future was discussed once again. French Broadcasting showed itself favorable to maintaining it, on condition that it be attached to the national network, as all private operation was prohibited. These prospects came to nothing. The closure of Biarritz American University on March 8, 1946, mechanically led to that of WBAU on March 12, after only seven months of existence. The equipment was packed and ready to be delivered to the Ministry of Education, which refused the shipment and agreed that everything remain in Biarritz.

The station disappeared, but it left Biarritz with the memory of a bold radio experiment. The long-cherished ambition of the city to possess its own transmitter had thus been realized—if only briefly—thanks to the Americans. And French Broadcasting missed a fine opportunity to have a transmitter on the Basque Coast. It would not be the only time it missed the chance.