War

War is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations...a period of such armed conflict". 
John Peel was born on 30 August 1939, a few days before the outbreak of the Second World War but admitted to not remembering much about it, beyond being carried out to an air-raid shelter and seeing a German plane fly low over his garden. Margrave Of The Marshes, Bantam Press 2005, pp.8-9. His father served in North Africa: as a result, JP saw little of him for the first six years of his life.
===National Service===
Peel made an early application to be called up and entered the Royal Artillery: not through choice but because, as he explained in Margrave, he was only submitting to the inevitable (only those born after the outbreak of war were exempt). After initial training on Salisbury Plain, he obtained a compassionate posting to Ty Croes Camp on Anglesey (due to his parents' divorce and wanting to be close to where his brother Alan was posted). Peel later claimed that he learned little during his time in service and never saw military action:
"I certainly didn't go in there with the intention of, I had no choice actually, with the intention of trying to kill anybody, and I was grateful that nobody seemed to be interested in killing me at the time either." 
National Service had an impact on his later life, not least because it enabled him to live in the United States for seven years (1960-67) without being called up into the US armed forces and possibly sent to fight in Vietnam. As he had already served in the military he was exempted from the draft.
Later in life, he named as his favourite literary work Anthony Powell's A Dance To The Music Of Time, which devotes three of its twelve volumes to a vivid account of the central character's life while serving in the Army during World War Two. While there is no front-line action in Powell's work, it includes extensive descriptions of the everyday routines of army life, something Peel would have experienced during his National Service.
===Pacifism===
See also: Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
JP embraced hippie ideals during his final year in the USA, while he was working on KMEN. He was shocked by an encounter with a former acquaintance recently returned from Vietnam, who expressed violent pro-war sentiments (as described by Sheila Ravenscroft in Margrave Of The Marshes, pp..213-214). The "escalation" of the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s caused a polarisation of opinion among the American public and Peel was on the side of those who opposed the war. On his return to Britain he expressed his anti-war feelings on the Perfumed Garden and during his early BBC programmes, which sometimes got him into trouble with his bosses at Radio 1. He joined in some protests (including, ironically, a violent anti-Vietnam War demo in Grosvenor Square, London on March 17, 1968) and promoted pacifism along the lines of the slogan "make love, not war,". Later in 1968, he pre-recorded a Top Gear show in order to avoid being caught up in possible violence when a much larger demonstration against the war took place in London, on 27 October 1968. 
Like many hippies, JP kept his distance from the more militant protest groups of the late 1960s; Sheila Rowbotham, the feminist historian and academic who at that time was involved with the revolutionary newspaper Black Dwarf, mentioned in her memoir Promise of a Dream (London 2002, p.194) that on one occasion, when the newspaper had organised an anti-war demonstration, Peel "gave us backhanded publicity by announcing on his show that he wouldn't be going."
===BFBS===
British Forces Broadcasting had an influence on British radio generally in the post-World War Two era, being one of the few available outlets in the 1940s and '50s for aspiring radio presenters, who, after completing their National Service, sometimes found work on the BBC, Radio Luxembourg or the pop pirate stations. Among them were Brian Matthew, David Hamilton and Keith Skues. Later BFBS would feature DJs already familiar to their audience from domestic radio, so in common with his contemporaries such as Tommy Vance and Alan Freeman, Peel regularly made shows for the armed forces: this association ran for nearly thirty years. He once related that during the 1982 Falklands conflict, one seaman liked his shows so much that the ship habitually gave him the tape copies (as he was the only one to show interest).
===Effect on Peel's shows===
Many of the British artists Peel played were from generations who did not have to undergo National Service - although Billy Bragg and Ralph McTell both signed up with the Army in their teens but didn't stay for long. Among older musicians, Lol Coxhill (b.1932) did National Service before embarking on his musical career, George Melly (b.1926) was in the Royal Navy for three years iin the 1940s, and Pentangle's Danny Thompson (b.1939) mentioned in the sleevenotes to the Sweet Child double LP that he "played lead trombone in the Green Jackets Infantry Marching Band" and after that took up the double bass. John Mayall (b.1933) did three years of National Service including a spell in Korea. 
American artists with military experience included Jimi Hendrix (a paratrooper in the US Army), Tim Hardin (in the US Marines) and Country Joe McDonald, who served in the US Navy. Despite, or because of this background, many of these artists were known for expressing anti-war sentiments. These tended to predominate in the Top Gear era, until (like the programme itself) the Vietnam war ended in 1975.. Of all Peel's favourites of that time, only Leonard Cohen voiced a willingness to fight - for Israel, in the Yom Kippur war of 1973, although in the end he only performed for the troops.
Armed conflicts were invariably covered in great detail by the BBC, and Peel's show reflected happenings broadcast on the news, either before or during his show. During the first Iraq war of 1991 (in which his former colleague from Radio London, Keith Skues, served, as a Royal Air Force public relations officer), he had to endure his programme being interrupted every half an hour for news bulletins: typically, he noted that this was "entirely deserved" but admitted it made planning his show rather difficult.
In 2003, Peel voiced his opinions of the second Iraq war, on his German FSK radio programme, something he would not have been allowed to do on his BBC Radio One shows:
"As you might imagine there has been an amazing amount of hypocritical nonsense about the, well the, recent war in Iraq. In my own opinion, it is a continuing war and will continue for a long time in one form or another and the newspapers of course, have been interesting to say the very least, some of them are desperate, some of them are pro-war, others are extremely anti-war." 
===Plays===
This is a tentative list of tracks played by Peel that either mention a particular armed conflict or have a general pro- or anti-war message together with the first known TX.  Songs that are not directly concerned with the above are not included. In some cases, songs were broadcast as sessions before an official release: in these instances, the BBC version takes precedence.
The list includes both contemporary material referring to twentieth-century wars and songs dealing with historic conflicts, most of them from the folk tradition and written from the point of view of ordinary soldiers or sailors, or the relatives or sweethearts they left behind.
Please correct any glaring omissions.
*Amos & Sara: 'Go Home Soldier' 03 August 1983
*Mark Arm: 'Masters Of War' 06 July 1991
*Ballboy: 'Born In The USA' 22 October 2003
*Band: 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' 05 February 1979
*William Bell: 'Marching Off To War' 23 November 1988
*Belle & Sebastian: 'I Fought In A War' 13 June 2000
*Jan Berry: 'The Universal Coward' 15 November 1988
*Black Sabbath: 'Walpurgis (War Pigs)' (Sunday Concert version) 26 April 1970
*Blah Blah Blah: 'In The Army' 23 July 1979
*Blossom Toes: 'Peaceloving Man' (session) 27 October 1968
*Blue Jays: 'White Cliffs Of Dover' (JP: "With patriotism rampant again these days, I thought you should hear that.") 08 May 1980
*Bolt Thrower: 'Eternal War' (session) 16 November 1988
*Bolt Thrower: 'Warmaster' (session) 04 September 1990
*Billy Bragg: 'Between The Wars' (session) 20 September 1984
*Billy Bragg: 'Island Of No Return' (live at QEH) 09 December 1999
*Bluebells: 'South Atlantic Way' 14 March 1985 (Radio Bremen)
*B-Movie: 'Remembrance Day' 05 February 1981 (BFBS)
*Bonzo Goes To Washington: '5 Minutes' 12 November 1984 (BFBS)
*Brinsley Schwarz: 'What's So Funny About Peace Love And Understanding' (session) 25 July 1974
*Eric Burdon & The Animals: 'Sky Pilot' 21 January 1968
*Watty Burnett: 'What A War' 02 February 1997
*C-Company featuring Terry Nelson: 'The Battle Hymn Of Lt. Calley' Rebel Yell
*Captain Beefheart: 'Veteran's Day Poppy' 18 December 1993
*Johnny Clark: 'Nuclear Weapon' 28 June 1983
*Clash: 'The Call Up' 29 November 1980 (BFBS)
*Clash: 'English Civil War' 21 February 1979
*Jimmy Cliff: 'Vietnam' 02 August 1984
*Cocoa Tea: No Blood For Oil 23 March 1991
*Cocoa Tea: No War 31 January 2002
*Cocoa Tea: Oil Ting 18 November 1990
*Leonard Cohen:  'The Partisan' 16 December 1980
*Elvis Costello: 'Oliver's Army' 02 January 1979
*Country Joe & The Fish: 'The Fish Cheer & I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag' Rebel Yell
*Noel Coward: 'Could You Please Oblige Us With A Bren Gun' 14 August 1982
*Culture: 'Tribal War' November 1996 (FSK)
*Dambala: 'Visions Of War' 03 May 1978
*Dan: 'Army Of Fools' (session) 11 July 1988
*Dickies: 'Eve Of Destruction' 02 August 1978
*Doors: 'The Unknown Soldier' 19 May 1968
*Bob Dylan: 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall' Rebel Yell
*Bob Dylan: 'Masters Of War' Rebel Yell
*Electro Hippies: 'Mega-Armageddon Death' (session) 20 July 1987
*Eton Crop: 'Gay Boys On The Battlefield' (session) 15 November 1983
*Exploited: 'Dogs Of War' 25 March 1981
*Fairport Convention: 'The Deserter' 06 December 1969
*Fall: 'War' 30 October 1993
*Farm: 'No Man's Land' (session) 27 April 1983 This would eventually be the band's biggest hit, retitled All Together Now and first TX 11 November 1990.
*Fotheringay: 'Banks Of The Nile' (session) 25 April 1970
*Fotheringay: 'Peace In The End" 13 June 1970
*Jackson C. Frank: 'Jimmy Clay' (session) 09 October 1968
*Frankie Goes To Hollywood: 'Two Tribes' (session) 02 December 1982
*Fugs: 'Exorcising the Evil Spirits from the Pentagon 21st February 1967' 10 July 1968
*Gang Of Four: 'I Love A Man In Uniform' 28 April 1982
*Dick Gaughan: 'Farewell To Sicily' (session) 21 November 1974 (Full title "The 51st Highland Division’s Farewell to Sicily")
*Groundhogs: 'Soldier' 09 May 1970
*Groundhogs: 'Thank Christ For The Bomb' (live at Paris Theatre) 04 March 1972
*Paul Hardcastle: '19 (Extended Japanese Mix)' 26 August 1985
*Tim Hardin: 'Simple Song of Freedom' 27 July 1969
*Jimi Hendrix: 'Machine Gun' 05 July 1973
*Icon A.D.: 'Fight For Peace' 02 September 1982
*Jack The Lad: 'Gentleman Soldier' (session) 20 March 1975
*Jam: 'Little Boy Soldiers' 06 November 1979
*Johnny And Jon: 'Christmas In Vietnam' (JP: 'Well, the message in all of that seems to be, "Kill a Commie for Christmas."') 27 December 1999 (BFBS)
*Amory Kane; 'Physically Disqualified Blues' (session) 13 November 1968
*Killing Joke: 'Wardance' (session) 29 October 1979
*Tom Lehrer: We Will All Go Together When We Go 19 February 2003
*John Lennon: 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' Only At Christmas
*John Lennon: 'Imagine' 10 April 1975
*Leviathan: 'The War Machine' 13 April 1969
*Lightnin' Hopkins: 'Vietnam Blues Pts 1 & 2' 22 July 1987
*Barry McGuire: 'Eve Of Destruction' Rebel Yell
*Mercury Rev: I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama, I Don't Wanna Die (session) 25 May 1999
*Monitors: 'Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)' 04 November 2003
*Motorhead: 'Bomber' 11 December 1979
*Nic Jones: 'The Island Of Helena' (session) 11 July 1972
*New Model Army: 'Falklands Spirit' (session) 04 January 1984
*Men They Couldn't Hang: 'The Green Fields Of France' (session) 12 July 1984
*New Order: 'Love Vigilantes' 08 May 1985
*New Order: 'Vietnam' 30 April 2003
*Phil Ochs: 'Draft Dodger Rag' Rebel Yell
*Phil Ochs: 'Talking Cuban Crisis' Rebel Yell
*OMD: 'Enola Gay' (session) 21 April 1980
*Panama Jug Band: 'Going To Germany' (session) 20 August 1969World War 1 song, written by Gus Cannon of Cannon's Jug Stompers and recorded by them in 1929. Band was otherwise known as the Panama Limited Jug Band. Their first LP, released on Harvest Records in September 1969, lists one Jonathan Peel as producer
*Pere Ubu: '30 Seconds Over Tokyo' 15 July 1989 (BFBS)
*Plastic Ono Band: 'Give Peace A Chance' 29 June 1969
*Prince Far I: 'No More War' 02 May 1978
*Raincoats: 'Off Duty Trip' (JP: "Well, when I was in the army, you spent most of your life boozing, skiving and painting things, and I don't imagine things have changed a great deal since then…") 12 December 1979
*Red Krayola: 'Hurricane Fighter Plane' 23 October 1978
*Red Krayola: 'War Sucks' 07 November 1978
*Revo: 'My Protest' 22 May 2003
*Tom Robinson: 'War Baby' 01 September 1983
*Max Romeo: 'War Ina Babylon' 20 September 1981 (BFBS)
*Tim Rose: 'Come Away Melinda' (session) 01 October 1967
*Tim Rose: 'Morning Dew' (session) 01 October 1967
*Rudees: 'Give Peace A Chance' 04 August 1996
*Sgt. Barry Sadler: 'The Ballad Of The Green Berets' Rebel Yell
*Siouxsie & The Banshees: 'Poppy Day' (session) 16 April 1979
*Patrick Sky: 'Jimmy Clay' (session') 02 April 1969
*TV Smith's Explorers: 'Tomahawk Cruise' 09 December 1980
*Southern Sons Quartet: 'Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition' 19 July 2001
*Special AKA: 'War Crimes (The Crime Remains The Same)' 29 November 1982
*Steeleye Span: 'Female Drummer' (session) 27 June 1970
*Steeleye Span: 'General Taylor' (concert) 26 September 1971
*Steeleye Span: 'Lovely On The Water' 24 May 1973
*Stiff Little Fingers: 'Straw Dogs' 05 September 1979
*Stiff Little Fingers: 'Wasted Life' (session) 13 April 1978
*June Tabor: 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' (session) 10 March 1975
*June Tabor: 'Dancing At Whitsun' (session) 10 March 1975
*June Tabor: 'The Fiddle And The Drum' (session) 22 February 1977
*June Tabor: 'No Man's Land' (session) 19 July 1977
*June Tabor: 'Plains Of Waterloo' 01 September 1976
*Tackhead: 'What's My Mission Now?' 16 May 1988
*Talking Heads: 'Life During Wartime' 06 October 1979
*Television Personalities: 'A Sense Of Belonging' 05 December 1983
*Television Personalities: 'How I Learned To Love The Bomb' 13 September 1992 (BFBS)
*Television Personalities: 'King & Country' 21 July 1980
*Joe Tex: 'I Believe I'm Gonna Make It' 06 December 1988
*Time Zone: 'World Destruction' 07 January 1985
*This Heat: 'The Fall Of Saigon' (session) 22 April 1977
*Timmy Thomas: 'Why Can't We Live Together?' 18 January 1982
*Turtles: 'Eve Of Destruction' 12 October 1999
*UK Subs: 'Warhead' 18 February 1980
*Wah! Heat: 'Seven Minutes to Midnight' (session) 10 June 1980
*Bunny Wailer: 'War' 14 February 1982 (BFBS)
*Wailing Souls: "War" 13 October 1986
*Robert Wyatt: 'Shipbuilding' 23 September 1982
*XTC: 'General And Majors' 20 August 1980
*Young Marble Giants: 'Final Day' 28 May 1980
*Young Tradition: 'Banks Of The Nile' (session) 12 February 1969
*Frank Zappa: 'I Don't Wanna Get Drafted!' 09 June 1980
== See Also ==
*A Soldier's Sad Story
*The Atomic Cafe: Peel played multiple tracks from the soundtrack of the anti-nuclear war film.
*NME: Peel played tracks from the music paper's 1988 'Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die' compilation LP of tracks related to the Vietnam War.
*Peace News
;Footnotes
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