January 4, 1942 – NBC News Of The World – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
January 4, 1942 – news for this day steered away from the story of The Philippines to what was going on further North in the direction of Malaya and Singapore.
It was reported that British forces had fallen back in Northern Perak with the Japanese increasing their pressure and the British inflicting high casualties. The Japanese also made a landing in North Borneo while Japanese ships off the coast of Malaya were bombed by British planes. Japanese planes staged another raid on Singapore. American and British planes based in Burma attacked a Japanese Airdrome in Siam, shooting down 2 Japanese planes in the air and destroying 4 on the ground.
In the Dutch East Indies, the important story was the appointment of General Wavell as Commander-in-Chief of all Allied operations in the Far East and Admiral Thomas Hart, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet. Both these military leaders were considered a big advantage in the Pacific War, as both had experience and knew the region well. Further details were not revealed.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world – British planes continued their raids on the French coast, hitting targets on the docks at Brest where the German Battleships Prinz Eugen, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were said to be held. Anthony Eden of the Foreign Office was expected to give an assessment via Radio address of his trip to Russia and his meeting with Stalin later on this day. Observers wondered how much in the way of details Eden was going to disclose, as it was certain the Germans would be also listening, trying to figure out what Stalin’s next moves were.
Back home – Congress was readying to work on the issue of War Production. Mindful of the confusion that ensued during the First World War, Congressional figures were determined not to make the same mistake twice, when inflation and panic spirals followed. Almost immediately would be the imposition of stricter price controls, since a similar bill was passed in the previous session that was considered mild and almost ineffective.
And that’s just a little of what happened, this January 4, 1942 as reported by NBC’s News Of The World.
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