January 21, 1942 – NBC Early Morning Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
January 21, 1942 – Another day at war with information and reports flooding in – much of it worrisome but some of it came with glimmers of hope. The Pacific front was continuing to be a source of concern with Japanese forces continuing their advance on Singapore; now some 70 miles away. Reports also came in that the Japanese were now in full occupation of Minahasa, the northeastern arm of the Island of Celebes (now Sulawesi) but it came at a high cost. Also came reports that Japanese planes attacked and machine gunned a Dutch lightship on Sumatra’s east coast. On the Malayan front – embattled Australian troops were holding down the left flank of the Singapore defenses some 60 miles from Jahore Strait, but struggled to throw back new Japanese landings on the Malayan west coast, which might forces them to retreat further to avoid encirclement. The Japanese were now applying pressure along the entire front which caused the most concern to Singapore. It was disclosed that Japanese raiders that attacked Singapore the previous day were doing damage not only to military targets but attacking civilian areas with 50 killed and some 150 wounded.
A late dispatch indicated New Guinea was under attack by some 20 Japanese fighters and 40 bombers. Attacks were also reported throughout New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago.
Hopeful news from the Eastern Front came via the German High Command who admitted Russian forces had broken through Nazi lines the day before along the upper Donets River. But they claimed the advance was thrown back by counter attacks.
And much more news from most all the fighting fronts as reported by The Red Network of NBC and their Early Morning Roundup.
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