January 25-26, 1942 – News From Radio Tokyo – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
January 25, 1942 – As the propaganda war continued, Radio Tokyo had one more reason to flaunt what was best described as the continuing Allied disaster in the Pacific – the declaration of War against Britain and the United States by the Thai government was not wholly unexpected – but did not help the larger picture and certainly not the prospects of a Japanese invasion of Australia at any point soon.
When war broke out in Europe in September 1939, Thailand declared its neutrality, much to the distress of France and England. Both European nations had colonies surrounding Thailand and hoped Thailand would support the Allied effort and prevent Japanese encroachment on their Pacific territory. But Thailand began moving in the opposite direction, creating a “friendship” with Japan and adding to its school textbooks a futuristic map of Thailand with a “Greater Thailand” encroaching on Chinese territory.
Thailand’s first real conflict with the Allies came after the fall of France to the Germans and the creation of the puppet government at Vichy. Thailand saw this as an opportunity to redraw the borders of French Indochina. The Vichy government refused to accommodate the Thais, so Thai troops crossed into French Indochina and battled French troops. Japan interceded in the conflict on the side of the Thais, and used its political alliance with Germany to force Vichy France to cede 21,000 square miles to Thailand.
In this broadcast from the English language service of Radio Tokyo, a veritable rundown of Allied loses since January 13th was given and repeated during this three hour daily news broadcast between January 25th and 26th.
Like practically all Shortwave broadcasts, especially from this period – the sound varies wildly; from clear to very muddy. But the news is all there, as is the propaganda during this particularly grim period for the Allies during World War 2.
As you know, we’ve suspended indefinitely our ads in order to make Past Daily a better experience for you without all the distractions and pop-ups. Because of that, we’re relying more on your support through Patreon to keep us up and running every day. For as little as $5.00 a month you can make a huge difference as well as be able to download all of our posts for free (news, history, music). You’ll see a banner just below. Click on that and become a subscriber – it’s easy, painless and does a world of good.
