News Of The World – May 18, 1942 – NBC Red Network – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
As news came in regarding reports over the showdown between British sea and air forces and the German Navy over the Prinz Eugen, the badly damaged cruiser off the Norwegian coast, other news from other fronts were crowding the headlines and newsroom for this May 18, 1942.
Canadian air crews were flying American bombers for the first time as they attacked several airfield in German occupied Holland overnight, while RAF formations flew over France earlier in the day.
British opinion was optimistic over the war during the coming months. 41% of those surveyed felt the allies would defeat Germany by the end of 1942. 40% didn’t think so and 19% said they didn’t know. Asked how Britain could best defeat Germany in 1942, 36% said open up another front and develop an offensive somewhere. 15% said help the Soviet Union in every way they could while 13% said increase the weight of the British bombing offensive against Germany.
From the Eastern Front, the German high command was attempting to slow the advance of the Soviet Army, headed by General Timoshenko by bringing up fresh troops, including some who were stationed in Paris only weeks before. The German Army was throwing in more tanks and staging more counterattacks as well as sending in wave after wave of attack planes to counter the Russians. So far, the German Army had lost some 500 tanks during the Russian invasion.
Meanwhile, Spring had come to Moscow and the festive atmosphere seemed to belie the grave situation just west, even though anti-aircraft batteries were never far away.
And news from the Southwest Pacific was pessimistic. Japanese raids continued over Port Moresby, while Radio Tokyo reported a large American naval force heading westward toward the Solomon Islands. Radio Tokyo also reported a large Japanese fleet was just off the waters of Australia. Whether that was true or not didn’t diminish the notion that Australia was facing a Japanese invasion at almost any time. Feelings were apparent that both London and Washington were underestimating the severity of the potential situation. It was also felt that the situation on the Eastern Front was pulling attention away from what was a real threat in the Pacific. Many did feel the situation in Russia was far more grave than the situation in Australia was at the present time, but it didn’t diminish the fact that the Wolf was, in fact, at the front door.
And that’s just a little of what happened, this May 18, 1942 as reported by NBC’s News Of The World.
