Category Archives: World War 2

Postwar Radio Sales Begin

Seventy-five years ago this month, the September 1945 issue of Radio Retailing was a thick one–175 pages. It was packed with ads from radio suppliers announcing that new radio would be rolling off the assembly lines for the first time in over three years. There was a pent up demand, and it was going to be a great time to be a radio dealer.

This editorial from that issue of the magazine tells all about the great day that was finally there. It was going to be a prosperous time, as Americans hit the showrooms for radios, appliances, and even television.

From most browsers, you can click on the image above to view it, and then click again for an enlarged version.

Laying Telephone Wire by Airplane

It looks like Bell Labs was working on this idea toward the end of the war, and it probably wasn’t implemented, at least on a very large scale. But this ad from the September 1945 issue of Popular Mechanics sounds like a good idea for quickly laying lines for military field telephones. Instead of having men do the work on the ground, possibly through enemy territory, an airplane does the job, at a rate of 16 miles in 6 – 2/3 minutes. One end, with a weight and parachute, is dropped to the ground. Then, wire is spooled out continuously.

1940 Portable

Europe may have been at war 80 years ago, but it was still peacetime in America, and this happy couple was enjoying a radio program while on the go, thanks to this new portable receiver, said to resemble a camera. The manufacturer is not named, but it’s shown in the August 1940 issue of Popular Science.

The set resembled a camera in its outward appearance, and was available with either a carrying strap or handle. It weighed in at 4.5 pounds, and measured 4 by 5 by 8 inches. It employed miniature tubes, and used normal flashlight batteries for the “A” battery. The superheterodyne receiver featured a built-in aerial and dynamic speaker. It also had a connection for headphones for private listening or pulling in distant stations.

1945 FM Phono Oscillator

The woman shown above, in the August 1945 issue of Popular Mechanics, appears to be tuning in a program on her broadcast radio. But looks are deceiving, and the set actually tunes the prewar FM band, which covered 42-49 MHz. And she’s not listening to a radio station. Instead, she’s listening to a record being played by the gentleman at left, who is a few feet away.

Phono oscillators which played records over a standard AM broadcast radio were fairly common, but this one played the records over an FM radio. According to the article, no claim was made that the simple circuit would give absolutely perfect reproduction, but results from the Popular Mechanics laboratory were satisfactory. The set was more a challenge to the experimenter to open up the new field of FM radio.

The whole circuit was remarkably compact, and consisted of a 6C5 triode tube along with a few other components. Even with wartime parts shortages, most of the parts could probably be scrounged up fairly easily. The whole circuit mounted right on the tone arm, which was constructed of hardwood.

Order to Liquidate Allied Prisoners

Louis Zamperini in 1943. Wikipedia photo.

Thankfully, nothing happened 75 years ago today, August 22, 1945. The war ended before the scheduled event could take place.

In 1944, the Japanese War Ministry issued orders to prison camp commandants for the “final disposition” of Allied prisoners of war. Under those orders, all POW’s were to be killed at such time as Allied forces landed in the territory in which they were being held. The rationale behind the order was to prevent the POW’s from being repatriated and becoming a part of the liberating force.

For example, on December 14, 1944, about 150 prisoners of war at Palawan in the Philippine Islands, were ordered to the air raid shelters, at first in apparent response to an actual air raid. But after the raid, because of a mistaken belief that an invasion of the island was underway, they were ordered to remain, at which time the wooden structure was doused with gasoline and set afire.

According to the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, the date set for at least one camp on the home islands was 75 years ago today, August 22, 1945.

That book is the story of Louis Zamperini, a record-breaking track star of the 1930’s. Among his claims to fame was a personal meeting with Hitler at the 1936 Olympics. In 1943, his plane crashed in the Pacific and he drifted in a small raft for 47 days until his “rescue” by the Japanese. He remained a prisoner until the end of the war, enduring much torture. After the war, haunted by nightmares of his experience, he drifted into alcoholism until attending a Billy Graham crusade in California.

Because of the Japanese decision to surrender, motivated at least in part by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the orders to execute Zamperini and other prisoners in Japan were never carried out.

References

Read More At Amazon

V-J Day

Today is the 75th anniversary of the end or World War II.

After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, surrender quickly followed. The Japanese communicated their intention to surrender on August 15 Japan time, which was the evening of August 14 in the United States. While the official U.S. date for V-J day was the date of the surrender in Tokyo Harbor, September 2, V-J Day was celebrated in the United States the night of August 14 and August 15. The newspaper shown here is the Milwaukee Journal, August 15, 1940.

US Navy photo, via Wikipedia.

A Preview of Postwar Television

When this issue of National Radio News, August-September 1945, went to press, the war was still raging in the Pacific. But the end was in sight, and despite the cynicism of skeptics, the editors of the magazine knew that television’s role in the postwar electronic era was a foregone conclusion, “witness the rapt attention of these comely lasses as they view the screen of the General Electric receiver.”

Nagasaki

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The attack is reported here in that day’s issue of the Chicago Tribune. If the Japanese needed further convincing to surrender, that day also brought news that the Soviets had declared war on Japan and were attacking Japanese forces in Manchuria.

The video below is a radio broadcast that day by President Truman promising that the bombings would continue until the Japanese surrendered. The war would be over in a few days.

Light Bulbs as Dropping Resistors

This photo isn’t as sinister as it looks, and nothing untoward is going to happen to the gentleman at the left. The photo is from the August 1945 issue of Popular Mechanics, and these gentlemen are dealing with wartime parts shortages. They’re doing an emergency repair on this set, and need some way to power the filaments of the six-volt tubes. The filament transformer they need is a wartime priority item, so they instead wired the filaments in series and used a 40-watt light bulb as a dropping resistor.

The picture is accompanied by a table showing the resistance of common lamps.

Hiroshima

Chicago Tribune, August 7, 1945.

US Archives photo.

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the U.S. dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, 1945. At least 129,000 were killed. The gun-type weapon (one sub-critical mass fired into another sub-critical mass) exploded 2000 feet above the city, unleashing the power equivalent to 12 to 15 thousand tons of TNT.

The Potsdam declaration, demanding unconditional surrender, had been broadcast directly to Japanese civilians over KSAI radio, and millions of leaflets had been dropped.

Preparations were underway for an invasion of the home islands, and U.S. planners estimated U.S. casualties between 130,000 and 220,000, with between 5 and 10 million Japanese deaths. Nevertheless, the Japanese leadership did not heed the Potsdam Declaration, and made preparations to continue defending against an apocalyptic invasion.

On August 14, only after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Hirohito addressed the nation by radio:

Moreover, the enemy now possesses a new and terrible weapon with the power to destroy many innocent lives and do incalculable damage. Should we continue to fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization.

Such being the case, how are We to save the millions of Our subjects, or to atone Ourselves before the hallowed spirits of Our Imperial Ancestors? This is the reason why We have ordered the acceptance of the provisions of the Joint Declaration of the Powers.