On this March 22nd in 1941 we were already 567 days into the War in Europe. It had not officially involved us on a shooting basis and so it wasn't yet considered officially World War 2. But it was getting close.

On this particular day in 1941, the otherwise quiet town of Plymouth England was scene of the second straight night of German bombing, where damage was said to be slight, but loss of life was said to be high. The reason - much of the building in the city went back to the 1600's, long before the days of incendiary bombs and blockbusters. Military targets didn't sustain the damage the civilian targets did. And because of that, the British people felt Britain wasn't responding in kind, saying RAF raids on German cities were devoid of civilian targets and so the morale in Germany wasn't suffering as the result.

But even with criticism of the RAF, they still managed to stage successful raids on the Occupied French coast against several German submarine bases.

In other news - rumors were rife in the British press that the U.S. Navy was going to get involved in the convoy of War supplies across the Atlantic. If the rumors were true, it would be only a matter of time before Naval action would take place, and another step towards all-out war was inching closer. Also inching closer were rumors Yugoslavia would be joining the Axis. It was said to be only a matter of days.

In Berlin - it as learned that Conscientious Objectors were being dealt with harshly by the Nazi government. One church group in particular, a German arm of Jehovah's Witnesses, had five of its members stand trial on charges of sabotaging air raid protection, interfering with the War and belonging to an Anti-Military organization. One of it's members had already received a Death sentence while the others were awaiting prison sentences and other fates as-yet unknown.

On Capitol Hill - Congress passed a Military Appropriations Bill to the tune of $4Billion in less than four hours after its introduction. And a $15Billion Defense spending package was scheduled for approval in two weeks.

And that's what this day sounded like, via the NBC News Of The World for March 22, 1941.

News on the War continued to be grim, but with a few high spots, this March 1st in 1942.

Starting with news of the Japanese invasion of Java and fierce fighting at the time of this broadcast. Also news on Japanese attacks on Port Moresby, bringing the war a little closer to Australia and fears an invasion could happen.

On the other side of the world, news of ground action in North Africa with no further details at air-time. On a positive note, it was learned British Commandos staged a successful raid on the French Coast, taking prisoners and testing the waters to see if it would be possible in the near or not-so-near future for a full-scale invasion of Europe. So far, so good.

Meanwhile in London, The Labour Party issued a pamphlet entitled Life In A Post-War World, the first to consider what a post-war Britain was going to be like and an appeal to address the concerns of the working people of Britain for the common good.

Over on Capitol Hill - Court-Martial proceedings were put on hold against Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and Major-General Walter C. Short, accused of dereliction of duty during their Command of Pearl Harbor at the time of the surprise attack. It was felt any sort of proceedings would be best to take place after the war since a long and arduous Court-Martial trial would detract from the business at hand.

And some of that business at hand came from a group of Farm Bloc Senators organizing a protest to President Roosevelt over selling surplus food stocks at below parity. The President had gone on record rejecting calls for higher farm prices.

And a call to local governments to send their World War One era monuments of captured German cannons to the local scrap dealers for re-use as Allied guns to use against the Axis. A sort of "turn-about-is-fair-play" scheme was suggested. Although many Courthouses throughout the country would be hard pressed to find new resting grounds for the fleets of displaced Pigeons as the result.

And so went March 1st in 1942 as presented by NBC Radio on their Sunday World News Roundup.

News of this day in November 1942 was about small gains and the long road ahead in the War. Beginning with news reports that the five Japanese warships sunk during the Solomon Islands campaign were not double-reported (five had been sunk the previous day) but were in fact five additional ships was cause for elation in that part of the South Pacific. Meanwhile, fighting continued on Guadalcanal with impenetrable terrain a slowing factor for both sides.

In North Africa, news on the success of the invasion was coming in, with word finally released that Prime Minister Winston Churchill's son Randolph was with Commando units heading to Bengazi. Reports from Algiers mentioned German bomber raids causing little damage.

It was looking like the Blitz over London would be a thing of the past, with the last such raid coming on November 6th and none since. It was believed the Luftwaffe was busy in North Africa and other parts of the Theater. Apparently the smokescreen set up to spread over Genoa Italy was having little effect on keeping the city away from Allied planes, since the smoke itself was blowing out over the ocean, leaving the city clearly visible.

In other news, it was learned Marshal Weygand, one of the leading military figures in France during World War 1 had been jailed and moved to a prison in Germany. German appointed French puppet government leader Pierre Laval addressed his country, saying in effect it would only be a matter of time before Germany won the war and that France would once again be united.

In Domestic news, the showdown on Capitol Hill was continuing over the Poll Tax issue. The Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against Kaiser Steel and their Ship building plants on the West Coast, bringing a counter-complaint from AFofL President William Green. And 70% of all butter in the U.S. was being requisitioned for government use in the war effort.

And the war dragged on.

As heard on NBC's News Of The World for November 21, 1942.