While the War was slowly turning in favor of the Allies, The groundwork for setting up The United Nations had been established. On June 7 of 1943, President Roosevelt addressed the very first United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture and discussed what role the allies would play in the Post-War world and the crucial importance of Food production.

Here is that address, complete as given on June 7, 1943.

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The news on this morning in April of 1945 was about the eventual collapse of Germany and the end of the War in Europe. With news reports coming in, and bulletins being reported one on top of the other, news of the Fall of Berlin was being reported. Soviet troops had succeeded in occupying the center of the city, while defacto head of the German government, Heinrich Himmler was busy hammering out surrender terms. The latest communique had Himmler attempting to reach a surrender with the Allies without including the Russians. Needless to say, it was rejected. And despite some rumors to the contrary, no Surrender had been arrived at. Allied forces were systematically taking over and occupying every other German city, with news that Munich had fallen while this broadcast was on the air. Also reported was news that the Allies had liberated the Dachau Conentration camp, and news of that discovery would be coming in time. During the course of the morning news broadcast, an address by Gen. Spaatz of the Allied Air Forces announced confirmation that the German Luftwaffe had been completely obliterated and subsequently, the Allied Air Force would changed its role over to tactical support of ground forces during these final hours/days.

Meanwhile, the War in the Pacific was still far from over. With news reports of a Kamikaze attack on an Allied Hospital ship near Okinawa brought outrage from the Allied High Command and fighting was still intense.

And that was the news for this April 30, 1945, as presented in two morning Newscasts over NBC. One, the Morning Roundup and the later Alka-Seltzer News Of The World.

Aside from the U.S. Presidential election in 1948, the other big news story was the 1948 Italian Elections. The staunchly anti-Communist government of Alcide de Gasperi was in big fear of being toppled by a Communist led movement to upset the election. This was one of the big popularity contests between the West and Communist East and one of the big showdowns in the Cold War period. Speculation ran the gamut, as did the fear factor in the Press that a Communist led government in Italy would indicate the Soviets were well on their way to becoming a dominating force in Europe.

And so the big news also became the big story with most U.S. commentators, including this one - Clifton Utley who delivered his commentary on the upcoming Italian elections on March 18, 1948, viewing it as an epic showdown between Soviet style Communism and Western style Democracy with Italy, a country still in the grips of digging itself out of the devastation of World War 2, stuck somewhere in the middle.

The Post-World War 2 period and the Cold War era had no shortage of cliffhangers and upheavals.

With news of the end of hostilities in Europe hours, if not days away, news was still coming in of fighting continuing in Germany and points East, even as German armies throughout the European theater were surrendering. As this direct report from Paris indicates, complete surrender was only a matter of time and the flood of refugees fleeing Berlin in the wake of advancing Russian armies made clear a new reality about to settle over Europe - the long road back to anything resembling normal.

In this fifteen minute newscast, delivered by Paul Manning of Mutual on May 6th 1945, anticipation of U.S. troops coming home was high, and the business of occupation by Allied forces was underway.

Another day in May spent waiting for an outcome.

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News for this day in June, 1942 was about the War on all fronts.

Starting with reports from Australia that the War wasn't getting much in the way of newspaper space because of the monotony of the dispatches. However, on this day it was reported that Darwin had it's first raid-free day. The same couldn't be said for Port Moresby, as raids by some 18 Heavy Japanese bombers made up for Darwin's lack of action. The whole picture was painted in grim terms as General MacArthur, in an appeal for support of an Australian War Loan drive, said Australia was facing an imminent invasion and it was imperative they be prepared for it.

While on the air, a bulletin came through the newsroom that the Canadian Air Force and Anti-aircraft units had joined up with U.S. forces, for the first time, in the defense of Alaska over the invasion of the Aleutian Islands.

From Stockholm came reports that Berlin was counting on a Japanese Declaration of War against Russia within hours, and that the Russian-Japanese Friendship Pact signed a year earlier was now worthless. Reports also came through that the situation in North Africa was cautious, as Germany was experiencing difficulties with their Italian allies in the area of water supplies and dwindling morale.

From London the picture was a bit different, with news that British forces had withdrawn from El Aderri and Sidi Rezegh and that Rommel was making good his threat to cut off land communication between Tobruk and Egypt. It was also noted that the British Government voiced concern over the lessening of antagonism between Washington and the Laval Government of Vichy, despite reports that Laval had okayed sending idle French workers to Germany in an effort to shore up Berlin's lagging war production, since Laval had shut most non-essential industry in Occupied France.

From Washington came reports that the Sugar shortage was an on-again-off-again situation with wild discrepancies in rationing being noted. Also of concern on Capitol Hill was the recent signing of the Anglo-Soviet Pact which led many to wonder just where Moscow would be fitting in with the proposed United Nations and Post-War atmosphere in Europe.

And today marked the second anniversary of the Surrender of France.

All that and much more on this June 18, 1942 as reported by the NBC World News Roundup.

Probably the most famous June 6th of the 20th Century was this June 6th in 1944. The news was exclusively about the goings on in France, as one of the largest invasion forces ever assembled went ashore on the French coast in what would be a turning point in World War 2. The airwaves were jammed with breathless accounts, bulletins and analysis for the next 36 hours as America waited and listened and didn't do much else.

Here is an extract of continuous coverage as broadcast by CBS Radio on June 6th, 1944.

And that's exactly what it sounded like, sixty-eight years ago.

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.

Despite the breathless news a day earlier, and the quick admonition that it wasn't really official, the news finally broke 24 hours later that yes, in fact that Germans had surrendered and the War in Europe was really-really over.

So news of this May 8th in 1945 was given completely over to reports and reactions - speeches and proclamations and reminders there was still a war in the Pacific going on. So as much as there was cause for celebration, it was not as riotous as would be imagined.

Here is a 1 hour extraction from that day - from roughly 11:00 am - 12:00noon Eastern War Time, as reported on CBS Radio, anchored by Robert Trout with reports from correspondents throughout the European front. Also included are some addresses, including one by General Patton, one of his rare public speeches.

All this on May 8th 1945.

News on this May 7th in 1945 was confusing at best. In what began at 9:45 EWT (Eastern War Time) on Monday May 7th as flashed bulletins that Germany had unconditionally surrendered sent a wave of excitement throughout Europe and the U.S., was reversed less than an hour later with reports from Allied Headquarters that no "Official" surrender announcement had been made. And there would be no more news regarding the surrender until further notice (which turned out to be the next day).

The culprit, it was later learned, was someone at Associated Press who had witnessed the surrender signing, got the scoop on the rest of the world and, as you would say if it happened today, the whole thing went viral.

This broadcast, part of those first few hours of May 7th 1945, starts at 11:00 am in New York. Roughly twenty minutes in comes (during a Jimmy Fidler's Hollywood Program) a bulletin cautioning people getting ready to celebrate that it wasn't quite a done-deal yet and the brakes were quickly put on declaring it VE Day.

Listening back to this broadcast, it's clear something was potentially amiss, as there was no word from The White House regarding the surrender and there was a wait for confirmation from Supreme Allied Headquarters which, as it came to pass, hadn't come yet.

But everyone was still excited, and this half-hour glimpse into that May 7th from 1945, via WOR in New York, gives some indication.

News on this day was all about the War in Europe and its impending end. The country was still in mourning over the loss on April 12th of President Roosevelt, and the White House was getting ready to usher in the new President; Harry Truman.

But the War in Europe was grounds for cautious celebration. Unofficial word from Moscow was the Russian army's final push to Berlin, with over 2 million troops heading to within 27 miles of the Berlin City limits.

Among the bulletins and dispatches was news that the Allied Air Force had destroyed some 633 German planes in one day, effectively knocking out the Luftwaffe from any further involvement in the war. The Air Force also announced that there were virtually no industrial targets left in Germany and that the role of the Air Force would switch in the coming days. General Eisenhower was set to announce plans for VE Day and news that General Patton's Third Army had reached the Czech frontier, effectively cutting Germany in two. News the Allied 7th Army had entered the German city of Nuremberg and that the Allied Armies on all fronts were advancing to Berlin.

Meanwhile, in the Pacific - it was announced by the Air Force that Tokyo's Industrial capacity was believed to have been completely destroyed and there were unconfirmed reports that the fires in Tokyo could be seen 100 miles out to sea.

And that's the way this day went on April 16th, 1945 from NBC's News Of The World.