Remembering 1945

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
-George Santayana, 1905

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt is inaugurated for an unprecedented fourth term as President of the United States. As the year begins, the enemy is not yet defeated but the War is noticeably winding down and a knock-out blow to the enemy could occur at any time. At the end of March, the President will travel to Warm Springs, Georgia, to rest before addressing the opening conference of the United Nations. On April 12, FDR suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage and dies, shocking the nation. Vice President Harry S. Truman, who replaced VP Henry A. Wallace on the 1944 ticket, will assume the Presidency.
• Germany's last major offensive, "The Battle of the Bulge" which began on December 16, officially ends on January 25. Adolf Hitler locks himself and his companion Eva Braun into the Führerbunker in Berlin on January 15. Soviet troops from the East and American and British forces in the West are advancing on the German homeland. On January 16, the Nazis begin evacuating the Auschwitz concentration camp, putting 60,000 prisoners (mostly Jews) on the march. as many as 15,000 die on the march and 7,000 too sick to move are left in the camp. Soviet forces liberate the Łódź Ghetto on the 19th and enter Auschwitz on January 25.
• The liberation of the Philippines continues as American Sixth Army forces land on Luzon Island on January 9. "The Great Raid" at Cabanatuan on January 30 frees POWs who had been held since the Bataan Death March. By March 3, Manila is cleared of all Japanese Troops, although kamikazes continue to harass American Naval forces.
• 30,000 American Marines land on Iwo Jima beginning on February 19. The Flag is raised on Mt. Suribachi on February 23, but the island is not completely captured until March 16. Seabees rebuild the island's airstrips to provide emergency landing fields for USAAF B-29s. The Doolittle Raid of 1942 is effectively followed up by B-29s flying from the Marianas Islands in the "Operation Meetinghouse" firebombing Tokyo on March 9-10. In the early morning of July 30, the USS Indianapolis is torpedoed and sunk, only 317 of the 1,196 crewmen will survive. The Indy has just delivered a secret cargo to Tinian Island in the Marianas.
• FDR, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin meet at Yalta in the Crimea on February 4-11 to discuss the reorganization of Europe when hostilities cease. The Soviets will advance through Hungary in February and March, entering Austria in April. The Royal Air Force and USAAF destroy several German cities during bombing raids. The Remagen Bridge is captured on March 8, and Allied troops cross the Rhine toward Germany's industrial heartland.
• The Battle of Okinawa begins on April 1. The Japanese Navy attempts a suicidal attack on the American Forces but the remnants of their surface fleet are no match for carrier-based aircraft and the Yamato, largest battleship in the world, is sent to the bottom with five other Japanese ships. Kamikaze aircraft attacks damage US ships Enterprise and Missouri but cannot prevent US victory. Osaka, Japan, is heavily bombed on June 15, and Okinawa is finally subdued on June 22.
• April 25 is Elbe Day, marking the occasion of Soviet and American troops linking up at Torgau on the Elbe River and cutting Germany in half. The Western Allied forces are ordered to slow their advance so that the Red Army (who have borne the brunt of the fight throughout the War to date) can enter Berlin first, the city is encircled on the 27th. A heavily disguised Benito Mussolini and his mistress are captured by Italian partisans and executed on April 28, Italy surrenders the next day. Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide on April 30, General Alfred Jodl signs an unconditional surrender on May 7, and May 8 is declared VE Day.
• Years of secret work begun in 1942 under the auspices of the Manhattan Project finally pay off. A device referred to as "the gadget" is detonated on July 16 at New Mexico's Alamogordo Bombing Range, and new President Truman who is attending the Potsdam Conference is informed. He signs the order to use the new weapon against Japan, and on August 6 the B-29 Enola Gay drops the "Little Boy" device on Hiroshima, killing between 129,000 and 246,000. On August 8, "Fat Man" is dropped on Nagasaki. A recording of Emperor Hirohito is broadcast on August 15 announcing Japan's surrender, it is the first time most of his subjects have heard the Emperor's voice.
• August 19, Mao Tse-Tung meets with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek to discuss an end to hostilities between Chinese Communists and Nationalist, the negotiations are fruitless and the Chinese Civil War continues. September 2, Ho Chi Mihn established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. October 5, a six-month strike by set decorators boils over into a riot in front of the gates of Warner Bros Studio in Hollywood, the event will be remembered as "Hollywood Black Friday". October 24, The United Nations Charter is ratified by 29 nations. October 29, Gimbels Department Store sells ballpoint pens for the first time at $12.50 each. November 20, the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials begin. December 5, Training Flight 19, composed of five Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bombers takes off on a routine navigation training mission and becomes lost over an area known as the Bermuda Triangle, a Martin PBM Mariner flying boat sent to search for the Avengers also disappears with a crew of 13.
• Lionel Barrymore replaces Cecil B. DeMille as host of Lux Radio Theatre. Batman and Robin meet Superman for the first time on the Mutual Network on March 3. The Academy Awards Ceremony in its entirety is broadcast for the first time over ABC and AFRN. This is Your FBI, Calling All Detectives, Meet the Press, and Break the Bank all debut, while Major Bowes Amateur Hour, Stage Door Canteen, and The Army Hour all go off the air.

What They Heard in 1945

The American Album of Familiar Music, NBC. A long-time Sunday night staple, the Album was a steady money-maker for Frank and Anne Hummerrt since applying their "Radio Factory" formula way back in 1931. In this episode, tenor Frank Parker "sings for" the "vacationing: Frank Munn, it is unclear at this point whether the Hummerts had realized that Munn was making his vacation permanent by leaving show business.

Atlantic Spotlight, NBC/BBC simulcast. News and entertainment from both sides of "the pond".

Boston Blackie, Mutual/ZIV. Blackie is surprised when a client pays the $100 he is owed and mystified when the mug he sends to pick it up gets fitted for cement overshoes.

The Charlie McCarthy Show (The Chase and Sanborn Program), NBC. Charlie is a hero for saving a rich girl on her runaway horse when he falls out of the tree he is stealing oranges from. Gene Tierney guests.

The Bill Stern Colgate Sports Newsreel, NBC and AFRS via short-wave. Bill's guest is novelist Kathleen Winsor. In the first reel, he tells a grisly story of a blinded boxer whose sight is restored at a chilling price.

The Kraft Music Hall, NBC. Early in 1945, Bing is still doing the show live on Thursday nights. With the War not quite over, he has yet to begin using AMPEX tape recording technology to record his show and free up more time for his golf game,

The Pepsodent Show Starring Bob Hope, NBC Tuesday nights. Bob is broadcasting from the Yuma, Arizona, Army Base just after the wild New Year's Parties. The Andrews Sisters perform "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company C".

The Breakfast Club, ABC. Originating from Racine, Wisconsin, we get music and laughs for breakfast along with an extended plug for Swift Premium Bacon.

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, CBS, Saturdays. George and Gracie are just back from vacation in Palm Springs where Gracie might have found her long-lost brother.

The Challenge of the Yukon, WXYZ Detroit. Sergeant Preston and King encounter a mother who is deathly afraid of dogs until her son is saved from the woods by King.

Command Performance, AFRS, recorded February 8. The men of the Allied Expeditionary Forces have been requesting their new favorite pin-up girl, Jeanne Crain, so she is tonight's M.C.

Birds Eye Open House Starring Dinah Shore, NBC Thursdays. Dinah welcomes Akim Tarnikoff.

Duffy's Tavern, Blue Network, Fridays. Archie has written a cowboy song, and he might be able to sell it if he can get Sonny Tufts to sing it at the Valentines Dance.

The Adventures of Ellery Queen, CBS, Wednesdays at 7:30. The great mystery writer helps nob "Nick the Knife".

Fibber McGee and Molly, NBC Tuesdays. Fibber is infected with an abundance of energy, but all the odd jobs around the house have been taken care of, except for unreasonable one like taking down the Christmas Tree or cleaning the hall closet.

The Great Gildersleeve, NBC, Sundays. Gildy finds out that he has an unclaimed savings account at the Wistful Vista Bank and decides to invest in the coming post-War boom.

G.I. Jive, Armed Forces Radio Service. The program began early in the War and differed from the rest of AFRS's fare because it used a disc jockey/record request format. In May 1923, the guest DJ's were abandoned, and the mic became the full-time home of "G.I. Jill", Barbara Wilkerson. Jill was less of a pin-up girl and more the sweet kid next door, which was what most G.I.s were really fighting for.

The Green Hornet, WXYZ Detroit syndication, AFRS. Everyone thinks that Britt Reid is a rich playboy (and he is) but only his Filipino houseboy, Kato, knows that he is really the crimefighter known as the Green Hornet.

Hedda Harper's Hollywood, CBS. Hedda is broadcasting from San Francisco where the initial United Nations negotiations are underway and troop ships are bringing veterans back from the Pacific, along with plenty of Hedda's gossip.

Woodbury Double Feature, Louella Parsons Hollywood News/Hollywood Mystery Time, CBS. Louella's gossip followed by a mystery about a pretty dancer who is "accidentally" blinded on stage.

Inner Sanctum Mysteries, CBS. Raymond and Mary the Tea Lady bring us "The Song of the Slasher".

Isn't It a Crime, WNEW New York. "Speaking of Murder", Wealthy mystery writer Glenn Winthrop's vacation is interrupted when his girlfriend needs to attend the reading of her uncle's will in a creepy old house in the country.

Jack Armstrong the All-American Boy, Blue Network/ABC. Jack and Uncle Jim are aboard a schooner trying to rescue men in a small boat from a waterspout off Spider Island. Listen closely to the model fighter plane premium.

The Lucky Strike Program starring Jack Benny, NBC. Jack and the Gang are at Mitchell Field in New York after going ice skating in Central Park. Larry Stevens is standing in for Dennis Day whose is currently serving in the Navy.

Jimmie Fidler's Hollywood, NBC. Jimmie with his trademark telegraph-key taps is widely regarded as a threat to the gossip dominance of Louella Parsons, having scooped her on several occasions.

Lights Out, NBC. Arch Oboler brings us "The Rocket Ship", the story of the first spaceship returning from the moon in the year 2000 with one of the last surviving atomic scientists aboard who gets to see the final atomic conflict play out from space.

The Lone Ranger, Syndicated. A rancher paid $2000 to save his son from being executed in a military prison but finds out that the boy was never a prisoner. Dan Reid and Tonto bring news of the swindle to the Lone Ranger.

Lux Radio Theatre, CBS. Presenting Tender Comrade (1943) on what will be Cecil B. DeMille's last appearance. The adapted film will be later used as evidence that writer Dalton Trumbo was working to spread a Communist message.

Mail Call, Armed Forces Radio Service. Jack Benny and his gang celebrate the opening of Jack's movie, The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945), he calls Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, and other Hollywood beauties to accompany him to the premiere and is thoroughly shot down.

Murder Will Out, ABC. "Mystery of the Swindled Song Writer", at the end of the program a panel of listeners work together to guess who the murderer is and win a prize.

News Broadcasts, Various outlets.

Pabst Blue Ribbon Town, CBS. Regular host Danny Kaye is away on a USO Tour, so Jack Benny and his gang present a sketch about Danny's movie, Wonder Man (1945).

The Red Skelton Show, NBC. Red opens by talking about the housing shortage, the next week is Christmas and he talks about Trees. Sponsor Raleigh Cigarettes is giving away a new Chevrolet each day (keep in mind that no new civilian cars were produced or sold during the War, so a new Chevy is a really big deal).

The Rudy Vallee Drene Show, NBC. After being bit by Rudy's dog, Frank Sinatra sues Vallee (for ten Ration points) and ends up in the "battle of the crooners".

The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre, CBS. Shirley Temple appears in "First Love", a modern Cinderella story.

The Adventures of Superman, Mutual. After defeating the human weapon "The Atom Man", Superman reveals that there are two more samples of Kryptonite on Earth (Nazi scientists created the Atom Man by injecting Kryptonite into his bloodstream).

Suspense, CBS. Ronald Colman stars in "August Heat", despite the heat of the setting, the accuracy of the protagonist's premonitions is chilling.

The Whisper Men, Mutual. As we enter the post-War era,  crusading radio commentator Max Chandler takes up the fight against "the Whisper Men", Communist infiltrators who are running amok in the underworld.

This is My Best, CBS. "America's greatest Stars in the World's best stories", this episode features Jack Benny performing in "Babes in the Woods", the story of a playwright and a lady cab driver who come to the aid of a little girl alone in the big city.

Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters, Mutual. Tom and his friends are mystified by "The Mystery of the Vanishing Village", including the Army man who was supposed to marry a girl from the village. Listen close to the Whistling Sheriff's Badge premium.

Vox Pop, CBS. The "voice of the people" comes from the Red Cross Training School at the American University in Washington DC.

The Whistler, CBS. "Sea Scape", the lighthouse keeper on a lonely island off the coast of Maine admits that she is a murderess, then things get even more complicated when one of her old lovers is shipwrecked on the island.

Your Army Air Forces, ABC. Reports from around the globe, just days after VJ Day, on how our airmen will now work to win the peace.