October 7, 1942 – NBC News of The World – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
October 7, 1942 – Good news this day from the Aleutians, where the Japanese appeared to have abandoned two of the islands they had previously captured. Reconnaissance flights spotted no activity on either Agatu or Atu, leading observers to suspect the Japanese were going to concentrate their remaining troops on Kiska. Ironically, repeated attacks and bombings by Naval forces have resulted in less and less return fire from that island. So word from The Aleutians was hopeful and optimistic.
Optimistic too was word from Moscow, where reports that Red Army forces under leadership of Marshall Timoshenko were achieving much needed success in their month-old relief counter-offensive north of Stalingrad and, at the end of the newscast, crossing the River Don.
Cheers of relief from Australia over the latest news on Port Moresby. Reports that the Japanese threat to Port Moresby had collapsed and the success by Australian forces was considered an important one, but it was tempered with a certain amount of mystery. The advancing Australians had very little to do in the way of fighting and they have met no opposition in their advances. It would seem the Japanese troops were simply worn out. What heightened the mystery was the discovery of numerous dead Japanese soldiers along the trail, whose bodies showed no sign of any wounds. Nor was there any signs of any sickness among the Japanese troops. The possible explanation is that the troops simply died from exhaustion, since the terrain around the embattled area was inhospitable at best. Similarly, reconnaissance flights over the area revealed no Japanese activity and destroyed targets were simply not rebuilt or repaired. The inference was the Japanese may have given up the entire New Guinea campaign. More would surely be revealed in the coming days and weeks.
And that’s just a little of what happened, this October 7th as reported by NBC’s News Of The World, Evening Edition.
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