 |
[laterpay_premium_download target_post_id=”54520″ heading_text=”Download For $1.99:” description_text=”January 29, 1942 – News From Radio Tokyo – Gordon Skene Sound Collection” content_type=”link”] |
January 29, 1942 – News in English From Radio Tokyo – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
January 29, 1942 – News for this day, closely monitored by various news outlets, was coming from Tokyo by way of Shortwave broadcasts beamed at the U.S. and Australia. Although the vast majority of Americans had no access to the equipment needed to receive these news programs, those who did got a side far different than what was being presented via the American networks. Heavily laced with propaganda and boasting claims that bore little resemblance to fact, they were clearly portraying Japanese armed forces as virtually invincible and on the cusp of declaring complete victory in the Pacific. Nonetheless, if you were to run comparisons between the Japanese boasts and the Allied denials, you could come somewhere in the middle and realize the War in the Pacific was not going in the Allies favor. And those fears that Australia would be in line for invasion were much more pronounced than publicly acknowledged.
News for this day indicated Japanese forces were some 40 miles from Singapore and quickly advancing, while British forces were retreating from the area around Johor. Sultan of Johor Ibrahim in turn welcomed the Japanese forces who then set up headquarters in the Sultan’s palace and would soon set up a provisional government for the region. In Bangkok, it was reported the government convoked an extraordinary session of Parliament and approved a budget of some 219 million Baht in order to deal with the situation since Thailand’s declaration of War against the U.S. and Britain – Parliament also unanimously approved that declaration of War.
And owing to the imminent invasion of Singapore, it was learned that Japan ordered all civilians evacuated from the north of the island facing Johor. It was also claimed that Japanese planes had attacked Singapore for the fourth time in as many days with little or no opposition and no loss of planes.
And that’s a little of what was going on in the Pacific as viewed from Radio Tokyo on January 29,1942.
