October 12, 1944 – News Of The World – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
October 12, 1944 – A busy day on all war fronts. News from the Pacific that thousand bomber raids over Formosa were heading into their fourth day. Speculation was rife it was a preview of coming attractions on the way of an all-out invasion of the island. It was a strategic objective as Formosa was close to the Philippines as well as Japan and would serve as a vital staging area for an invasion on either target. Some felt Formosa was “just another tiny island” but truths be told, Formosa was the size of Rhode Island, Vermont and Delaware put together and has a population of some five million. It also represented a new phase of the war. Previous Pacific invasions were considered “Island hopping”, but Formosa lay right in the middle between Japan and The Philippines and was closer to mainland China. It was a vital objective.
Meanwhile, from the Western front – continued raids over Aachen were causing havoc as German troops stubbornly tried holding on to the town, coupled with allied artillery barrages it was gradually turning Aachen into a Ghost City. Allied patrols had entered the city but it wasn’t known if they were staying or were being joined by additional forces.
And the upcoming Presidential elections were making discussion of the war a lot safer than talking about politics, this close to election day. One New York newspaper, who was giving over front page space to both parties, free of charge to exchange positions, abandoned the policy because the political climate was just too contentious. The absentee ballots, or The Foxhole Vote, were starting to come in. It was speculated the votes from troops overseas would be the deciding factor in determining who would be President, particularly in some of the highly contested states. But the election was almost a month off, and everything was up in the air.
And that’s just small slice of what was happening, this twelfth day of October in 1944 as reported by NBC’s News Of The World.
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