Sidebars of History: D-Day as It Happened

 

shutterstock_238061590It is 12:30 AM Eastern War Time. Outside of London, where the British have instituted “Double Summer Time,” it is 6:30. A German refugee working for the Associated Press is monitoring the shortwave transmissions of the Nazis. His ears perk up and he quickly sends out what he’s heard. By 12:37, it’s moved across the entire AP wire.

NBC is carrying dance music on its East Coast feed and on the West Coast, where it’s only in the 9 o’clock hour of June 5th, they’re airing a mostly forgotten weekly drama from San Francisco called Hawthorne House. The on-duty announcer in New York interrupts programming to read the AP bulletin.

For the next two hours both NBC and CBS will caution that these reports are unconfirmed and, since they originate with the Germans, they may be highly unreliable.

NBC also deviates from its still familiar three-note network identification.

The “Fourth Chime” is an internal paging system calling all essential news employees and engineering staff to their positions. It first sounded in 1937, when the Hindenburg exploded over Lakehurst; again in ’38 at the height of the Munich Crisis; and yet again in December of 1941. (After D-Day it will not sound down the network line until 1985 — when GE buys controlling interest in RCA and brings an end to an era in American broadcasting.)

At 3:32 EWT/12:32 PWT the speculation ends. Both networks relay a broadcast from the BBC. Through the high-pitched hiss and whistles and the static of Atlantic storms comes the calming voice of Dwight David Eisenhower.

ClevelandNewsNow it is real. The Seattle Times reported from the Boeing plant which was churning out B-17s as fast as they could:

The night workers of the graveyard shift were on the job—as they had been for years of nights—relentlessly turning out bombers for the destruction of Hitler’s crumbling empire. Then, at 1 a.m., loudspeakers came to life all over the plant. “Confirmation has been received,” came a solemn voice, with an undertone of excitement and jubilation, “that the invasion of France has started.” The guns, the drills and the hammers were stilled. A hush like that of a cathedral descended over the thousands of overalled men and slacks-clad women. For a moment they stood, in spontaneous recognition of the solemnity of the moment. Then, breaking the spell, men and women shook hands, slapped each other on the back, as if to say: “Let’s get on with it!” They picked up their tools.

Over the course of the next 24 hours, America would be introduced to the concept of wall-to-wall coverage. The AP transmitted over 40,000 words on June 6th alone. Newsboys hawked extra editions on every street corner in the land. Radio sponsors who bought blocks of time from the networks handed them back for more bulletins and analysis. By the end of the day, listeners across North America had heard from King George VI, prayed with President Roosevelt, and prayed and prayed some more — in churches, in synagogues, in the kitchen and on the shop floor, wherever they might be.

At 10:15 PM EWT the day was summed up best, not by a news man or politician, but by the best friend a US Service man ever had. After the familiar strains of Thanks for the Memories, a solemn Bob Hope took to the air:

American_Flag_and_Cross_in_Normandy_American_Cemetery_and_MemorialMany of the true heroes of that day never came back. The US National D-Day Memorial Foundation has verified 2,499 American D-Day fatalities and 1,914 from the other Allied nations — and those are just the ones that took place on the 6th of June.

Today, words like ‘courage’ and ‘bravery’ are bandied about for people and situations that don’t deserve it. Actors pat themselves on the back for doing nude scenes like it is the equivalent of an amphibious assault. Self mutilating has-beens are called heroes for publicly cross-dressing. “Sacrifice” is what they call a tax increase.

We’ve thrown the youth of the nation to war across the globe many times since that day. Would those that gave all look at America today and do it all over again?

A tip of the radio windscreen to Feliks Banel and his I Still Love Radio blog, Bill Harris and the History of the NBC Chimes, and Archive.org where you can listen to the complete recordings of NBC and CBS from June 6, 1944.


Note: This post was originally published on June 6th, 2015.

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  1. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Titus Techera:

    Basil Fawlty:

    Titus Techera:So this is a quarrel. But we can quarrel about the draft another time–not on D-Day-

    It’s not a quarrel, it’s a fundamental disagreement over the status of citizens who were drafted into the armed forces. I can’t think of a more appropriate way to honor the draftees who fought and died on D-Day than to remind people on the anniversary of D-Day that referring to them slaves disrespects them and their service.

    I agree that if anyone said that it would be inappropriate & a rebuke, swift & trenchant, would be in order. But nobody said that in this discussion or anywhere else on Ricochet now–you brought up the subject–cannot we leave this for say next week? I agree, it is a vile thing to say. I’m willing to go through the quarrel with or without fundamental this, that or the other. But not now.

    If anyone thinks it appropriate, I’d be happy to get rid of my comments. I really do not want to annoy people, especially after all the moving witnesses-

    You are correct.  Nobody said this now.  But it was said here just a little over a month ago and I fear some people at Ricochet may still believe it.  Which is why I chose to bring the matter up.

    • #31
  2. user_199279 Coolidge
    user_199279
    @ChrisCampion

    David Sussman:By the way… Further to the movie I mentioned above, it was jarring to see the British Labor party do everything possible to NOT go to war with Germany.

    One parliament leader actually stated in the well he couldn’t determine who he wanted more to triumph, Churchill or Hitler.

    If the Left had their way, as the Jewish grandson of a POW in Nazi Germany, I and millions wouldn’t be here today.

    If you’re looking for much more background on Churchill’s struggles convincing the British polity of the realities staring them down in the form of Germany – and the attacks and mockery he received as a result of it, right up until bombs started falling on London – then you couldn’t do much better than this:

    http://www.amazon.com/Warlord-Life-Winston-Churchill-1874-1945/dp/0060575743

    • #32
  3. raycon and lindacon Inactive
    raycon and lindacon
    @rayconandlindacon

    EJHill:Gary – Thanks for the kind words. Broadcasting really came of age that day. When I hear journalists talk about JFK’s assassination being “the day America lost her innocence,” I never know if I should laugh or cry.

    I look at my country today and cry out now. Why? Was all of the blood, the pain and the lives really worth it?

    It was worth it at the time.  Only we, each one of us, can decide for ourselves if it would have been worth it, had we given our lives on June 6, 1944.

    • #33
  4. user_5186 Inactive
    user_5186
    @LarryKoler

    Chris Campion:

    David Sussman:By the way… Further to the movie I mentioned above, it was jarring to see the British Labor party do everything possible to NOT go to war with Germany.

    One parliament leader actually stated in the well he couldn’t determine who he wanted more to triumph, Churchill or Hitler.

    If the Left had their way, as the Jewish grandson of a POW in Nazi Germany, I and millions wouldn’t be here today.

    If you’re looking for much more background on Churchill’s struggles convincing the British polity of the realities staring them down in the form of Germany – and the attacks and mockery he received as a result of it, right up until bombs started falling on London – then you couldn’t do much better than this:

    http://www.amazon.com/Warlord-Life-Winston-Churchill-1874-1945/dp/0060575743

    Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll take a look at it.

    Did you see Titus Techera’s post on political manliness? You might enjoy it.

    • #34
  5. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    reclabelIf you’ve gone over to Archive.org and perused these recordings, you might be interested in the fact that it is absolutely amazing that they exist.

    They originate on electrical transcriptions, different from records because they weren’t pressed but were instantly playable. The grooves were narrow, delicate and would survive just a few plays before they began to get noisy. So delicate are these discs that trying to play them with modern equipment would destroy them.

    By 1940 the process was pretty standard. 16″ aluminum discs were coated with cellulose nitrate lacquer and cut at 33 1/3 rpm. You could get approximately 15 minutes per side so an hour broadcast could be captured on 2 blanks. Disc A would record parts 1 and 3, Disc B would have parts 2 and 4 with overlapping minutes.

    When we entered WWII in ’41, the aluminum in the blanks became a desired war commodity. They were never meant to be anything more than proof of performance recordings for sponsors, so thousands of prewar discs were destroyed.

    Without aluminum the manufacturers turned to glass. It was smooth and quieter than any other substitute material. But it produced a product that was highly fragile.

    The Germans had invented a primitive tape recorder by 1935 and by ’43 produced the first modern machine that used Type L  polyvinyl chloride plastic base tape. These machines would be brought home as war booty and served as the basis for AMPEX machines that would revolutionize audio.

    • #35
  6. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @

    I shared this on Facebook. A liberal friend was saddened that, although the article was excellent, he was sorry he could not share it himself because of the “obligatory Ricochet liberal-bashing” at the end of the article. I hadn’t remembered anything like that, but I bemusedly responded that he is “acting like a Republican, forever voting against food stamps because the privilege is abused by a few”. Chagrined, he shared this, but added his own ‘trigger-warning’, perhaps appropriate for his friends.

    • #36
  7. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Thanks John. Now I can call myself a Peabody Award Winner. Your liberal friend, I’m sure, views courage and bravery different than I do. I wouldn’t change a word to please him, either. And I say so unapologetically.

    • #37
  8. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    I do have to apologize for bad math. At Double Summer Time, London would have been 6 hours ahead of New York. I have edited the post to reflect that.

    • #38
  9. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @

    EJ- I will have some fun with him- it is so very clear that he was just waiting for “something to hate” about the article. I don’t see how anyone can argue about what you said. Most important was the spirit of the transcriptions- I agree that the one by Bob Hope is most unusual- migawd, he was thinking about his very own camp audience members that he knew, he knew, were getting mowed down that day. How small and petty how own show must have seemed at that moment! But the next instant is filled with support and encouragement from everyone around him, telling him (rightly so!) just how important his shows were for morale.

    • #39
  10. captainpower Inactive
    captainpower
    @captainpower

    John Peabody:I agree that the one by Bob Hope is most unusual- migawd, he was thinking about his very own camp audience members that he knew, he knew, were getting mowed down that day. How small and petty how own show must have seemed at that moment! But the next instant is filled with support and encouragement from everyone around him, telling him (rightly so!) just how important his shows were for morale.

    Where did you hear all that?

    I’m assuming not in the 2 minute clip embedded above.

    • #40
  11. user_1065645 Member
    user_1065645
    @DaveSussman

    Larry Koler:

    Chris Campion:

    David Sussman:By the way… Further to the movie I mentioned above, it was jarring to see the British Labor party do everything possible to NOT go to war with Germany.

    One parliament leader actually stated in the well he couldn’t determine who he wanted more to triumph, Churchill or Hitler.

    If the Left had their way, as the Jewish grandson of a POW in Nazi Germany, I and millions wouldn’t be here today.

    If you’re looking for much more background on Churchill’s struggles convincing the British polity of the realities staring them down in the form of Germany – and the attacks and mockery he received as a result of it, right up until bombs started falling on London – then you couldn’t do much better than this:

    http://www.amazon.com/Warlord-Life-Winston-Churchill-1874-1945/dp/0060575743

    Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll take a look at it.

    Did you see Titus Techera’s post on political manliness? You might enjoy it.

    Chris, great suggestion, thanks for the link!

    EJ: tonight I showed your post to a thoughtful but left-of-center friend. We had a interesting conversation questioning whether America 2015 would have entered WW2 Europe (where we were not attacked, unlike Pearl Harbor).

    We both agreed the current leadership would not have entered the arena, and subsequently, America would not have become the global economic/military power from 1945 on. Fascinating to consider. Thoughts?

    • #41
  12. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @

    captainpower:

    Where did you hear all that?

    I’m assuming not in the 2 minute clip embedded above.

    No, those thoughts are my own. I tried to imagine what he was thinking. Pure speculation on my part.

    • #42
  13. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    David Sussman – Not even Roosevelt faced that question of entering the European war. Mr. Hitler, coming off his triumphant decision to attack the Soviet Union, declared war on the United States on December 11th.

    If anything I would guess the current crowd would leap in with both feet, not to help the Western democracies but the USSR.

    • #43
  14. dittoheadadt Inactive
    dittoheadadt
    @dittoheadadt

    John Peabody:I shared this on Facebook. A liberal friend was saddened that, although the article was excellent, he was sorry he could not share it himself because of the “obligatory Ricochet liberal-bashing” at the end of the article. I hadn’t remembered anything like that, but I bemusedly responded that he is “acting like a Republican, forever voting against food stamps because the privilege is abused by a few”. Chagrined, he shared this, but added his own ‘trigger-warning’, perhaps appropriate for his friends.

    The delicate, effeminate sensibilities of the Left – but ONLY when THEIR oxen are being gored – never ceases to make me question their mental health.

    • #44
  15. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    Thanks EJ – awesome

    • #45
  16. user_5186 Inactive
    user_5186
    @LarryKoler

    EJHill:David Sussman – Not even Roosevelt faced that question of entering the European war. Mr. Hitler, coming off his triumphant decision to attack the Soviet Union, declared war on the United States on December 11th.

    If anything I would guess the current crowd would leap in with both feet, not to help the Western democracies but the USSR.

    Oh so true, EJ. Brilliant point.

    • #46
  17. CuriousKevmo Inactive
    CuriousKevmo
    @CuriousKevmo

    Thanks for this EJ, truly awesome.  My Grandfather was among those that landed — some say crashed — into France on a glider with the 101st Airborne.  His was a sister company to the Easy company portrayed in Band of Brothers.   I can’t imagine how he ever made it home, unfortunately he died before I ever had the chance to meet him.

    • #47
  18. Goddess of Discord Member
    Goddess of Discord
    @GoddessofDiscord

    Thanks, E.J. My dad was part of the second wave. He would occasionally mention being in the middle of a fire fight with his buddies getting hit all around him. But that is all he ever said, and I was too young and stupid to even fathom what he was talking about. He passed away in 2001.

    • #48
  19. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    • #49
  20. Pugshot Inactive
    Pugshot
    @Pugshot

    @ejhill

    Thanks for remembering D-Day. I just checked Google and, of course, they have their standard logo on display – no clever little drawing recalling D-Day, just another day to the Google World. Pathetic.

    • #50
  21. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Pugshot (View Comment):
    @ejhill

    Thanks for remembering D-Day. I just checked Google and, of course, they have their standard logo on display – no clever little drawing recalling D-Day, just another day to the Google World. Pathetic.

    The website of the source of the photo here.

    O Canada!
    Our home and native land!
    True patriot love in all thy sons command.
    With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
    The True North strong and free!
    From far and wide,
    O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
    God keep our land glorious and free!
    O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
    O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

    • #51
  22. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Percival (View Comment):

    Pugshot (View Comment):
    @ejhill

    Thanks for remembering D-Day. I just checked Google and, of course, they have their standard logo on display – no clever little drawing recalling D-Day, just another day to the Google World. Pathetic.

    The website of the source of the photo here.

    O Canada!
    Our home and native land!
    True patriot love in all thy sons command.
    With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
    The True North strong and free!
    From far and wide,
    O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
    God keep our land glorious and free!
    O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
    O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

    Now type it in French!

    • #52
  23. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Pugshot (View Comment):
    @ejhill

    Thanks for remembering D-Day. I just checked Google and, of course, they have their standard logo on display – no clever little drawing recalling D-Day, just another day to the Google World. Pathetic.

    The website of the source of the photo here.

    O Canada!
    Our home and native land!
    True patriot love in all thy sons command.
    With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
    The True North strong and free!
    From far and wide,
    O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
    God keep our land glorious and free!
    O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
    O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

    Now type it in French!

    Non!

    • #53
  24. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    @percival – Although I know it dates back to the 1930s, on June 6, 1944 would a Canadian have sung, “O, Canada” or “God Save the King”?

    • #54
  25. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    EJHill (View Comment):
    @percival – Although I know it dates back to the 1930s, on June 6, 1944 would a Canadian have sung, “O, Canada” or “God Save the King”?

    They probably would have been playing “Flowers of the Forest” on pipes.

    • #55
  26. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    EJHill (View Comment):
    @percival – Although I know it dates back to the 1930s, on June 6, 1944 would a Canadian have sung, “O, Canada” or “God Save the King”?

    I don’t know the answer to that. I’ll stand up and sing O Canada at a hockey game, though.

    • #56
  27. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    • #57
  28. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Arahant (View Comment):

    EJHill (View Comment):
    @percival – Although I know it dates back to the 1930s, on June 6, 1944 would a Canadian have sung, “O, Canada” or “God Save the King”?

    They probably would have been playing “Flowers of the Forest” on pipes.

    O Canada wasn’t official until 1967. Before that, they used Waltzing Matilda, but that was just to chonk off the Aussies.

    • #58
  29. profdlp Inactive
    profdlp
    @profdlp

    Pugshot (View Comment):
    @ejhill

    Thanks for remembering D-Day. I just checked Google and, of course, they have their standard logo on display – no clever little drawing recalling D-Day, just another day to the Google World. Pathetic.

    I finally had enough of the never-ending parade of woman/LGTB/communist/muslim tributes (sometimes two categories – or more – at once) and switched over to DuckDuckGo last week.  Wish I had done it years ago.

    • #59
  30. tigerlily Member
    tigerlily
    @tigerlily

    Arahant (View Comment):
    Thanks, E.J.

    Yes indeed.

    • #60
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