News on May 31, 1942 may not have seemed like it at the time, but it marked a decided change in how the war would be waged from the air.

News reports on this day told of the first massive RAF bomber raid on the German city of Cologne the night before. Some 1,000 planes, the most of any air raid, and the first of what would become a new policy of mass bombing of cities throughout Germany, left the city almost totally destroyed. Fires could be seen some 150 miles away. RAF losses were reported at 44, which was a surprisingly small number in lieu of the damage inflicted on Germany.

In other news - From Moscow came reports the Germans had claimed to retake the industrial city Kharkov and that the much anticipated Spring Offensive was underway.

Fighting around Libya was continuing with German Field Marshall Rommel aiming to take Tobruk and staging an attempt to cut off British supply lines at the Suez Canal.

From Belfast came reports that U.S. troops, isolated from news of the war were starting to pass rumors, allegedly supplied by "Lord Haw-Haw", that the war was going badly for the allies and that the need arose for some method of supplying the American troops with useful information on news of the war, rather than propaganda.

From Washington came word that the former War Production Chief during World War One, Bernard Baruch, had been tapped to repeat his performance in this war. News also came of Chinese reports that the Pearl Harbor attack was originally intended to be one of two major attacks on U.S. targets. The other being The Panama Canal. But the Japanese aircraft carrier reportedly heading to the area was sunk somewhere in the Eastern Pacific, and the raid was thwarted.

News also came of an Allied Oil Tanker was sunk in Tampico Harbor in Mexico, under suspicious circumstances. Since Mexico had declared War on the Axis a day earlier, it was widely believed this was the work of sabotage.

And that's what was going on this May 31st in 1942, as broadcast by The NBC World News Roundup.

Ironically, today, May 30th was Memorial Day in 1942. Anything but a holiday where war was concerned.

Word from London was the arrival and settling in of U.S. troops in Northern Ireland; the first leg of the journey that would eventually lead to Invasion of Europe. Reports as of this day claimed the troops were well behaved and everyone in Belfast seemed to like them. Not so much with the IRA though. As it was also reported those elements of the organization, sympathetic to Germany, were routinely reporting troop arrivals to the German Embassy in Dublin, causing a security concern.

Meanwhile, RAF bombers were busy striking at munitions factories outside Paris, as well as raids on Cherbourg and Dieppe, in addition to air strikes at industrial centers in Germany. Fighting in the Libyan desert was escalating with news of British advances in the region.

Reports from Moscow told of the first shipments of U.S. tanks being put to work almost immediately on the Eastern Front.

From the Pacific. Reports out of Australia concerned recent air attacks on Japanese ships outside Port Moresby and talk about a drastic change in priorities of supply shipping.

And it was disclosed that recent British cargo shipments, dodging enemy submarine and air attacks, were carrying such "essentials" as costume jewelry, golf balls and party favors. The Americans didn't fare much better as it was revealed one shipment arrived in Australia carrying some 70 tons of nothing but bottled soft-drinks. The heavily censored report went on to say that one General, dismayed over the soft-drink fiasco, said it would have been much better had the 70 tons been of ammunition instead. Priorities were still skewed at this still-early stage of the War.

In Washington - since it was a holiday, there was little Capitol Hill news to report, aside from reports that it was no holiday for Defense Plant workers and that production was going at full-speed. It was also noted that Congress was anticipated to be getting closer to abandoning draft deferments for Married men and that they would be in the mix along with everyone else of draftable age shortly.

And that was the story on this Memorial Day (May 30) in 1942, as reported on the Blue Networks World News Roundup.

Even around Memorial Day, the news on this May 29th in 1941 was about anything but Peace.

Reports from Berlin said a full-on invasion had taken place on the island of Crete. Reaction over FDR's latest Fireside Chat regarding U.S. shipping and neutral waters was swift and predictable. German bomber raids over England had increased, with raids on Northern Ireland included in the mix. In addition to Crete, intense fighting was now taking place in North Africa, concentrating on the area of Tobruk.

It was also reported that Berlin was relaxing its armistice terms to allow the Vichy French Air Force to "defend itself", causing many in London to speculate that it was a ploy on the part of the Laval government and Berlin to stimulate French manufacture of planes, the majority going to Germany in an effort to step up their lagging production with 7-8 of every 10 planes going to Germany. The French Merchant fleet was under Axis control and French Captains were ordered to scuttle theirs ships rather than face capture by the British.

From London came reports of RAF raids over Northern Germany and the French coast and confirmation that German raids the previous night did heavy damage on Liverpool and Belfast.

From Washington came reaction to German reaction to FDR's Fireside Chat saying Berlin was getting nervous and resorting to name calling and that U.S. involvement in the War in Europe would only be a matter of time or if "one of the axis powers decides to pull the trigger".

All that, and it was only the morning news via NBC for May 29, 1941.

News on this day in 1941 was grim for the Balkans. As of 9:00 pm the previous night, the Yugoslav Army signed surrender terms with Germany, ending Yugoslavia's defense against German invasion and ending Yugoslavia. The surrender was carried out by the remaining Yugoslav military leaders, acting on behalf of King Peter, whose whereabouts was unknown. Berlin then announced a New Order for the Balkans would be announced soon and all eyes were on Greece, which was next in line and continuing the resistance.

But the war went on in other parts of Europe. RAF bombers staged another raid on Germany, hitting targets in Berlin and, it was later revealed, targets in Cologne and the occupied Dutch city of Rotterdam. 8 British planes were lost and it was the first time the new Sterling Bomber was used in raids.

While downplaying damage reports, the Germans staged their own raids on Britain, primarily hitting port cities.

Public opinion in Britain was running against the Government's handling of the War so far. Most Britons felt the problem lay on the Political/Diplomatic side with the "wait-until-attacked" policy having disastrous results, and what was needed was an overall Aggressive/Offensive Policy.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill - it was learned a number of Senators were using their influence to try and get draft deferments for their sons and constituents with most claiming family members being actively involved in important defense work. It wasn't sitting well with the public and many were called out for their actions.

The Soft Coal miner's strike was continuing. The Senate commenced arguments on the Vincent Bill which would legally prevent unions from going on strike in the Defense Industry. And a heated argument was anticipated over the newly introduced Convoy Bill and our increasing participation in the European conflict.

And that's what happened on this particular April 18th in 1941 as reported by the NBC News Of The World.

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.

This February 24th in 1941 was marked by continued German bomber raids over London and various other cities in Britain overnight with casualties reported as "light". Britain responded with RAF raids over the German occupied port cities of Calais and Boulogne in France.

Meanwhile - Britain labeled as untrue reports of diplomatic proposals to Japan about the Far East. Both London and Tokyo denied any sort of overtures, although it was reported Britain did issue a warning if Japan made any moves on Indochina or the Dutch East Indies there would be trouble.

News from Bulgaria reported German troops were on the border, poised to move in, but nothing had been confirmed - only the waiting game. Turkey pledged alliance with Great Britain over the looming Bulgarian crisis.

London labeled as unconfirmed reports of increased U.S./UK collaboration in the war effort and Russia adamant about maintaining neutrality in light of the Bulgarian situation, despite the fact that German troops were massed on the Russian Border and Russian troops were massed back. Some neutrality, that.

Reports from Berlin announced Hitler was getting ready for an address to the German people. This on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the founding of the National Socialist Party (established Feb. 24, 1920).

And on Capitol Hill - The Dies Committee (precursor to HUAC) reported claims that Russia had been secretly acting as an agent for the German government, with apparent evidence of a dramatic spike in goods shipped to Russia that just so happened to be on the German short-of-supply list. The State Department immediately called for an investigation over the allegations that America had been increasing its shipment of Cotton and Oil Drilling Parts to Russia in recent weeks.

There was also news of a Senate inquiry over Union strikes in the Defense industry and debate was about to begin on the latest Lease-Lend Bill.

For a war, it was a rather calm day, considering.

All reported on the morning roundup of news from NBC broadcast on February 24, 1941.