An historical study of the Armed Forces Radio Service to 1946

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Content AN HISTORICAL STUDY OF
THE ARMED FORCES RADIO SERVICE TO 1946
A Dissertation
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of Speech
University of Southern Califo rnia
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
by
Theodore Stuart DeLay, Jr.
May 1951
This dissertation) written by
--------- �Q�� 2!' . � -- §.� � -�� --- P. � ��z�--- �)�· -!_____________
I c . \
under the guidance of h1JL .. Faculty Committee
on Studies, and approved by all its members) has
been presented to and acdpted by the Council
on Graduate Study and Research) in partial ful
fillment of requirements for the deg1·ee of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
-�--JE········ ···�v�;;.····
Date ..... ?c .. . ��?l·!. .. � -� _1
Committee on Studies
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAP TER
I. THE INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Introductory paragra ph
Definitions • • • • ••
Review of the literature
• • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • •
• • • • • • •
• •
• •
• •
Statement of the problem
Limitations •••••••
• • •
• • •
. .
• • • • • •
Analysis of the need for the study • • • •
Sources of information • • • • • • • • • •
Procedures • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Presentation of the remainder of the study
II •. THE RO OTS OF AFRS ••••••••••••••
III.
Needs for troop broadcasts • • • • • • • •
Forerunners of AFRS •
Founding of AFRS • •
Mission of AFRS • • •
• • • •
• • • •
THE PROGRAM PRODUCTION SECTION
• •
. .
• • • • •
. . . . .
• • • • • • •
• • • • • • •
PAGE
1
1
2
13
21
22
23
28
32
34
36
37
41
66
102
114
Operational activities of the section • • • 115
Hollywood Productions • • • • • • • • • • • 144
Domestic Rebroadcasts • • • •
Troop Information Productions
. . . . .
• • • • •
• •
• •
173
190
CHAPTER
IV. THE TECHNICAL PRODUCTION SECTION • • • • • •
Development of AFRS technical factors •
Operation of the Technical Production
Section • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• •
. .
Transmission equipment • • • • • • • • • •
iv
PAGE
212
213
228
263
Receiver equipment • • • • • • • • • • • • 285
V. THE BROA DCAST DISTRIBUTION SECTION AND THE
BROA DCAST OUTLETS • • • • • • • . . . .
Development of the distribution system
Operation of the Broadcast Distribution
Section • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Outlets in the Alaskan Defense comm and
Outlets in the Atlantic
O
cean areas ••
Outlets in the African and Mediterranean
• •
• •
• •
. .
• •
areas • • • • • • • • . . . . . • • • • •
301
302
332
353
368
380
American Forces Network in Europe • • • • • 402
O utlets in the China-Burma-India Theater • 429
Outlets in the South Pacific Command
Outlets in the Mid-Pacific Command
. . .
• • • •
439
448
Outlets in the Southwest Pacific and Japan 455
Hospital outlets in the United States •
Summ ary of all AFRS outlets {excep ting
• •
short-wave) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
484
498
CHAPTER
VI.
VII.
VIII.
THE SHORT-WA VE OPER ATIONS SECTION . . . . .
Deve lopmen t of the se ction • • . .
Operation of the section • •
AFRS1 short-wave pro graming
. . .
• • •
. . . .
• •
. .
• •
• •
THE ADMINISTRA TION OF AFRS • • • • • • • • •
Development of AFRS adm inistration . . • •
AFRS adminis trative operation • • • • • •
THE FINDINGS OF THE S TUDY . . . . . . . . .
Development of AFRS • • • • • • • • • • •
Signifi cance of AFRS • . . . . . . . . . .
v
PAGE
502
503
529
553
570
572
612
64 6
647
670
Recommendations resulting from this study 681
BIBLIOGRAPHY . .
. 6 ·-: i
. � . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 6
72
[;
\ \ \ � •
I
I
LIST OF' FIGURES
FIGURE
l.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A USO-ARRL Message Relay Station • . • • • • •
A US O Carrier Current Station • • • . • • • • •
The B Kit • • • • • • • • • • • • . • . • . • •
Colonel Thomas H. A. Lewis, AF'RS 1 Founder and
First Commander • . • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Program Production Section Operational Chart •
Temporary Rates £or AFRS Talent • • • • • • • •
The Dick Tracy "Command Per£orma. nce" •• • • • •
"G. I. Jill" • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
PAGE
56
58
81
88
114
140
159
166
9. Technical Production Section Operational Chart 230
10.
ll.
12 .
AFRS Overlap Recording System • • • • • • • • •
Equipm ent £or Assembling an AFRS Program
The High-speed Electroplating Process •
• • •
• • • •
13. A Transcription Pressing Mac hine • • • • • • •
243
245
252
254
14 . Discs Used in the Manufacture o£ a Transcription 258
15 . Technical Production Section World War II
Pressing Orders • • • • • . • • . . • •
16. Los Angeles and AFRS TPS Data • . • . • .
17 . The AFRS Five Suitcase Transmitter • • •
18 . The Hospital Distribution System Console
19 . The SSD-2 Receiver • • • • • • • • . • .
• • • 2 60
• • • 2 62
• • • 275
• • • 282
• • • 293
FIGURE
20 . The Razor Blade Receiver • • • • . . • • • • • •
21.
22.
23.
24 .
25.
26.
27 .
28.
29.
30.
31 .
32 .
33 .
34 .
35.
36.
The Mess Kit Receiver • • • • • • • • •
A Typical AFR S Distribution Circuit ••
• • • • •
• • • • •
Broadcast Distribution Section Operational Chart
AFRS' World War II Unit •••••••••••••
AFRS' Shipping Room Unit Assembly Line • • • • •
Alaskan Defense Command Station List • • • •••
Atlantic Ocean Areas Station List • • • • • • • •
The Fifth Army Mobile AFRStation in I taly • • • •
• • African and Mediterranean Areas Station List
Locations of AFRS' American Forces Network
Transmitters in the British Isles •• • • • • •
European AFN Station List • • • • • • . . • • • •
China-Burma-India Theater Station List
South Pacific Command Station List • •
• • • • •
. . . . .
Mid-Pacific Command Station List
Proposed AFRS Outlets for Japan •
• •
• •
• • •
. . .
• • •
• • •
Station List for the Southwest Pacific
C
ommand
and Japan • • • • • • • • • • • • • . . • • • •
37 . AFRS' Domestic Hospital Outlets List • • • • • •
38 . AF'RS Outlets Throughout the World (Domestic
39 .
Short-Wave Stations Excluded) • •
AF'RS World War II Outlets • • • • •
• • • • • • •
• • • • • • •
vii
PAGE
298
299
31 8
334
342
344
363
374
391
395
411
423
436
446
453
471
480
490
500
501
viii
FIGURE
PAGE
40 . Short-Wave Operations
S
ection Operational Chart • 541
41 . Short-Wave Stations Used by AFRS During World
War II • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
42 .
43 .
44 .
AFRS' World War II
S
hort-Wave Beams ••
AFRS' Administ ration Operational Chart
• • • • •
• • • • •
A List of AFRS' World War II Personnel Totals
45 . Training Schedule, RPBS Class III, Week o£ 11
• •
545
547
622
625
December 1944 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 6 32
46. Training Schedule, AFRS Class IV, Week of 11 June
1945 • • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • 6 33
4?. AFRS Operational Chart (cerca, Fall 1945) • • • 644
CHAP TER I
THE INTR ODUCTION
During World War II the United States Army developed
a radio broa dcastin g acti vit y to assis t attainme nt of a de
sir ed state of mi lita ry morale. This proj ect was knovm as
the Armed Forces Ra d io Servi ce. To ful fill it s mi ssion the
agency bui lt a world encir cl ing "ne t w ork" of radio outl ets;
the larg est gro upin g of stations tha t ha d ev er been atta in-
ed. Dom estic .Ame rica n radio programs and "sta r-stu dded ,"
espe cia ll y produced shows were the major broadca st ma teri-
als.
Nmny American servi cem en belie ved th is serv ice was
of majo r morale -build ing value . Am erica n generals co mmen ded
it for ma ki ng im po rta nt co ntri bu tions to the war ef fo rt.
1
Broa dcasters felt that the service assis te d the un fold ment
of Ame rica n radio.
2
The Congress of the Unite d St ates and
the US Dep artm ent of Defe nse co nsider ed the servi ce suffi
cien tly imp ortant to justify its co ntin uance as a per ma nent
com pone nt of th e nationa l mi lita ry prog ra m.
1
Comm endatio ns of General s Eisenhower, Clark, Con
nell y, and Chase found in; Thomas H. A. Lewis to Frederick
Osbor n (T elet ype) , 30 Augu st 19 45, p. 1.
2
Robert ]' . Sch uetz (NBC), 19 Ap ril 1950; Elliott
B. Lewis (CBS), 14 Ap ril 1950 , Joh n I. Edwards (ABC), 28
Ap ril 195 0; Mark l!i nley (MBS), 4 Ap ril 1950.
2
Yet, this operation remained relatively unknown to
the people of the United States. l!Urthermore, no comprehen
sive written report of the Armed Forces Radio Service was
available. Therefore, this study was made.
I. DE:l!'INITIONS
Fossibly unfamiliar terms and agencies are incl uded
in these definitions. Throughout this study certain organ
izations and sections are denoted by initials. In the fol-
..:J .. ·
lowing defi nitions, initial des ignations are inclosed in
parentheses immedi ately following the full nomenclature.
l!'or ease of reference the definiti ons are listed in alpha
betical. order.
A!£.
To air means to broadcast.
!!£ �·
Air time means the time length of the
broadcast.
!!£
Transport Command (!IQ). This was a World War
II global command of the US Army Air Forces.
Allied E;pedi ti onary l!'orces Program (�). This
was a troop broadcast service initiated at the request of
the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expedi ti onary Forces, Eu
ropean Theater of Operations. It was jointly managed by
the Briti sh Broadcasting Corporation and the American lfor
ces Network.
American Forces Network (�). Originally the
American F'orc es Network was a true network of US Office of
Vfar Information-ovvned transmitters instal led in the Briti sh
Isles. This network began operati on on 4 July 1945. As
American troops moved to ]'ranee and Germany the US A:rmy in
stalled additional member stations at new troop concentra
tion points . Stations no longer needed were clos ed. Gen
erally, .American l!'orces Networ k stations in l!'rance and
Germany were not linked with telephone la nd-lin es. The
American ]'orces Netw·ork was the Armed li'orces Radio Service
di st ribution agency for Great Britain, l!'rance, and Germany.
Armed .l:!'orces Radio Service (�). Thi s was a
World War II radio program product ion and di s tribution
agency with headquarters located at Los Angele s, California .
It was est ablis hed by the US Army's Special Service divi
sion in 1942. In October 1944 the Armed Forces Radio Serv
ice was made a comb ine d operation of the Departmen t of th e
Army and the Department of the Navy.
Armed Forces Radio Service School (� School ).
This was the name of the sch ool which taught broadcast st a
tion operating techniques. It was deve loped by the Armed
Forces Radio Service at Los Angeles, California. This
school was formerly called the Radio Program and Broad
casting School.
4
Armed Forces Radio Station (AFRStation}. This name
was used to denote broadcast stations ovmed and operated by
the US Department of the Army and/or the US �apartment of
the Navy. The Armed l!'orces Radio Service supplied tran
scr iptions for these stations.
Army � Service (�.§). This was a World War II
agency of the Special Service Division which gathered, ed
ited, and distributed news throughout the US Army.
Assemble. This was a technique of radio produc
tion by which individual sound sequences were joined to
make a complete radio program. Although known before World
War II, this technique was developed by the Armed Forces
Radio Service.
Bailing wire. This term was used to designate
radio transmitters and radio receivers that were assembled
from unrelated parts. Ordinarily, these parts were taken
from unserviceable equipment.
British Broadcastins Corporation (�). This was
the single agency responsible for broadcasting activities
5
vdthin the British Isles.
Broadcast Distribution Section (�). This se ction
of the Armed Forces Radio Service managed trans cription dis
tributi on . Later it was renamed the Broadcast Service Sec-
tion.
broadcast Service Section ( BSS ) . See Broadcast
-
Dis tribution Section •
.Bureau of N"aval Personnel (BuPers ) . This was the
___ _ .......,. - :;.;;.;;:;;, .;..,;;;; ;;;;. .... ........ ......... ........... ..........
US Departmen t of the Navy's personnel agency.
Bureau 2! Public Relations (�}. This wa s a se c
tion of the US Army which di ss eminated information about
the ;.:�my to the public . The se ction ex ercised censo rsh ip
control ov er all materials rel ea se d by individuals of the
Army or units of the Army to the general public . The Bu
reau of Public Relati ons was est ablis hed in 1 942 and was
redesignated the Public Information Divis ion during the
postwar period .
Carrier Current . ( Also called wired-w irele ss and
controlled broadcasting . ) This was a method of radio
tran smiss ion which employed existing power lin es, telephone
lines , pipes , etc. , as conductors for electronic waves .
This method allowed com parativ ely certain control of wave
distribution and was used for security reasons.
China-Burma-Indi a Theate r (�). This �ns a World
War II Allied Theater of operation.
Classif ied. This was the mil itary term used to
designate restricted information.
Coordinator£! Information (QQ!). See Office of
War Information.
6
Coordinator of Inter-American Affa irs (CIAA). This
�--------- -- ---- was the US Government's World War II agency to promote good
will between the United States and other countries of the
Western Hemisphere.
Denature. This was an editing process by which
commercial announcements were delete d from transcriptions
of domestic broadcasts.
Detached Enlisted Men's List (DEML). This UR Army
------� -------- --- - ---- ---- nomencl ature was used for enl isted detachments composed of
specialists.
Domestic Rebroadcasts (Qg). These were domestic
radio programs used for rebroadcast to overseas listeners.
Commerc ial announcements had usually been deleted from
these shows by the denaturi ng process.
7
Domestic Rebroadcast�(�). This was the sub
section or the Progra m Production Section which was respon
sible for denaturing domestic programs.
�· See denature.
Electrical transcr iption (�). See transcription.
Federal Commun icatio ns Commiss ion (!£Q). This was
the government agency \mich regulated broadcasting in the
United States and its possessions.
Governme nt Issue (Ql}. Properly applied, this term
rererred to material s issued by th e us Army and the us Navy.
However, World War II usage gave it a new meaning: popu
larly it rererred to the servicemen themselves. In speak
ing or a GI one meant a serviceman. GI broadcasts meant
servicemen broadcasts.
Hollywood Productions (li}• This referred to shows
especial ly produced by the Armed Forces Radio Service,
since the shows were usually produced in Hollywood. Some
shows produced in New York were called NY programs.
HollyWood Victory Committee (�). This was an
entertainmen t-industry-wide co ordi nating agency that sched
uled gratis World War II appearances of performers living
in the Hol ly wood, Ca lif ornia , vi ci nit y.
Hosp ita l Distrib ution Section (�). This was the
subsectio n of the Broadca st Distribu ti on Sectio n resp onsi
ble fo r lia iso n with dom esti c US mil it ary hos pita l outl ets
for Arme d Force s Radio Servi ce pro gram s .
Housekeep ing. In mi lit ary pa rlance this word ap
plied to ma tte rs of suppl y, housing, and rati oni ng .
Info rmat ion � Educatio n Di visio n (�}. See
Morale Service Division .
Insta nta neo us. This term ref erred to a transcri p
ti on th at was actua ll y etch ed fro m elec troni c im pu lses .
The term diff erentia tes between tra nscri pt ions so cut and
those pressed fr om a stam per.
8
�·
In order to hin der rece ptio n of a ce rtain
radio sig nal, a noise si gnal was tra nsmitted on the sa me
radi o fr eq uency . By using thi s proce dure German y and Japan
made it im possib le for the ir nationa ls to hear cer tain
Am erica n Worl d War II progra ms.
Jo int Army-Na vy Commi ttee 2£ Welfare � Recre a tio n
(�}. Esta bl ished by the US def ense servi ces, this of fi
ci al comm ittee was used fo r co ord inati on of civi lia n and
9
se rvi ce-sponsored mo rale ac tivi ties.
Li ve . This ter m was used to differen tia te between
pro gra ms that were broadcast from origina l soun ds and those
broa dcast from rec ordings or transcri ptions .
Moral e Servi ce Div isio n (M_§Q). This was a moral e
age ncy es tablished with in the US Army 's Se rvi ces of Supp ly
in July 1940. The agency's mi ssio n was to develop and
ma intain a sat is fact ory state of morale among Army perso n
nel. The Mora le Serv ice Division wa s redesig nated the
Specia l Serv ice Division on 20 Jul y 1942. In October 1943
the Specia l Ser vic e Divi sion wa s spl it in to two ag enci es.
The athlet ic, recre ational, and enterta inm ent fact ors re
tai n ed the name Specia l Servi ce Division. The in for.m ation
al and educ ational factors were grouped in to a new Morale
Servi ce Divisio n. In Au gust 194 4 this new Mora le Service
Divisi on wa s redesig nated the Inf orm ation and Educa ti on Di
vi sion .
National Associat ion £t Broadca ster s (�). This
was a society form ed by rep rese ntatives of many US broa d
cast ers. It furthered beneficial tecl u1i ques and admi ni s
trative and le gislati ve acti v ities. It s relati onship to
the broadca sting in dustry was si mi lar to the relationshi p
of the National Association of Manu fact urers to the
10
manufacturing industry.
Office of� Informa tion (OWI). This was a US
Governme nt information agenc y created in June 1942. It
superseded the Coordinator of Informati on. These two agen
cies controlled the release of official government informa
tion within the United States. They also controll ed the
rel ea se of US Governme nt informati on to forei gn countries,
except to the Western Hemisphere. (See Coordinator of
Inter -America n Affairs). The Office of War Information was
the US Government's World War II propaganda agenc y. The
Office of War Informat ion engaged in psych ological warfare
with th e en emy.
Program Production Section (!E§). This was the
programing section of the Armed Fo rces Radio Service.
Port 2! Embark ation (�}. This name was given to
seaports from which US servicemen embarked for foreign duty.
Radio Program� Broadcasting Scho ol (�). See
Armed ll'orces Radio School.
Revoluti ons E!£ Minute (�). This term designated
the turning spe ed of a transcription.
Short-� Operations Section (§£§). This section
managed Armed B'orces Radio Se rvice sho rt-wav e programing
after the Fall 19 43.
11
Special Service Division (§§Q). See Morale Service
Division.
Spots. This was a short name for co mmercial radio
announcemen ts. It also meant a segment or seque nce of a
sho w. A comedy sp ot meant a comedy seque nce.
Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary B'orces
(SHA EF). This was an Allied headquarters of the European
Theater of Operations during World War II.
Technical Production Se cti on (�). This section
managed the Armed Forces Radio Service's recordi ng and
transcri ption manufacture. The Technical Producti on Sec
tion also assisted equipment procurement.
Tracks. These were in dividual recorded sound se-
quences.
Transcription (!!)• This was a sixteen-inch,
thir ty-three and one-th ird revolutio ns per minute phonograph
record in world-wide use throughout the broadcas ting ind us
try.
12
Troop Information Pro ductions (�). These were
radio programs espe cially produced to inform and /or educate
Ameri can servicemen.
United Servi ce Organizations (USO). This was a
World War II morale organization founde d and oper a ted by
several civilian welfare agenc ies. The United Service
Organi zat ions was offi cially allied with US mili tary serv-
ices.
Wild trac ks. These were recor ded sound sequences
that bore no mean ingful re lationship to surro unding tracks
on the same disc; or, wild tracks could be the only tracks
on a disc. The term was loosely applied.
II. REVI Kiif Olf 'fHE LITERATURE
3
1
3
Little relevant lite rature on l�'RS and its operation
was found. Duri ng World V/ar II information on that unit
3 Notes on footnotes and thesis fo rm.
a. An annotated
IIS t
i
ng of
i
mportant litera
ture, documents, and interviews may be found in th e Bibli
ography of this study.
b. Duri ng wartime ind ividual military rank was
conti nually being changed. In re port ing past event s it was
ne arly impossible to assign cert ain rank for a given time.
Therefore, throu ghout th is study it has been the aim of
this author to report the highest rank attained by each in
div idual during his association with All 'RS.
c. At the suggestion of Dr. Donald Vv. Rowland,
a member of the Univers it y of Southern California's History
Department, the following thesis form policy has been used:
When guidan ce co uld not be found in William Giles Camp
be ll's A Form Book for Thesis Writins. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin
-
Com pany, 1939,
l
45 pp. , the thesis form used in
(Donald w. Rowland), History of th e Office of the Coordi
nator of Inter-Amer ican
At fai
rs .
--w as
hi ng
t
o
nT -un ite
d
States
-ao
vernme nt Pr
i
nting
O
ff
i
ce, 1947, 284 pp., was em
ployed. The reader should espe cially note the following
examples.
(
1
)
Thomas H. A. Lewis to Paul G. Horgan,
20 December 1944. This mean s a letter from
Lewis to Horgan written 20 December 1
9
44 .
(2) Thomas H. A. Lew is, 16 Ju ne 1950 .
This means an interview be tween Lewis and this
author on 16 June
l
950 .
d. Except in quoted materials, the military
date form has been used thr oughout this study. Example :
16 June 1950 vice June 16 , 1950 .
e. In quoted materials interpolat ions of this
author are inclosed in brackets C :::J. In original writings
of this author intexpolations are inclosed in parenthesis
(
)
.
14
was consider ed to be of a highly restricted nature. Knowl
edge of transmitter locations and power was a key to the
locations of troop concen tration areas. Information con
cerning the extent of the AFRS Los i�geles operation would
lead to informa tion on over seas installations. Therefore,
the serv ices made little sp ecific inform ation availa ble.
At the end of the war most of AFRS' glamour van
ished. Stella r personalities were no longer members of the
staff. Stellar appearan ces on AFRS progre�s steadily de
creased. As a result, publishers' interests lessened.
For the purposes of this review of literature the
following divisions were established:
1. Books.
2. Peri odicals.
3. Other writ ten sources.
Lite rature fall ing into the latter category was found most
valuable.
Books. At the time of this research the re were but
two books containing information pe rtinent to the study.
1. E. M. Kirby and Jack -��. Harris, � Sp an
gled Radio. This book was writ ten by the World War II
Chief of the Radio Branch, Bureau of Public Re la ti ons, and
by his first assistant. It purports to cov er all World War
II aspects of rad io as use d by the US servi ces for mass
15
disseminati on of informa tion. The following cha pters con
tain materials concerning AFRS:
a. Chap ter IV, "Comman d Perfonnance,
u.s.A.n This chapter was actuall y writt en by
Glenn 'w'ihe aton, the fi rst executive writer of
the program series, as a narrativ e magazine re
lease. The original draft of the chapter was
found in Whea ton's pers onal fi le s. The chapter
covers the history of "Command Performan ce"
tram early 19 42 to December of that same year.
Actu ally the program was broadcast each week
from 19 42 through the time of this research.
This pr esentation ot "Command Perfo rmance"
seemed to be romantic ized, incomplete, and in
accurate.
b. Chap ter V, "This is the Armed For ces
Radio Service. " This chap ter prese nts a
sketchy, fourtee n-page picture of AFRS. Re
search revealed that the chapter is tilled
with inaccuracies, misplaced credit, and slant
ed narration of dram atic human-interest inci
dents.
c. Chapter XIII, "How to Develop Anglo
Am erican .l:!'rien dship Despite the .bBC. •• This
16
cha pte r is an account of th e Allie d Expe di
tio nary ]'orces Prog ram. As might be exp ec ted
fro m th e titl e, th e ch ap ter seem ed to be high
ly em oti onal , inac curate repor ti ng .
2. Maurice Gorham, Soun d � Fury. This boo k
is a hi stor y of' th e BBC to 1948 as rev ea le d th rough admin
istra tive ex pe rie nces of it s autho r . From th e ea rly 1930's
to 1948 Gorham oc c upied a number of exec uti ve po sit ions in
th e BBC. Cha pter s de a lin g with World War II opera ti ons
cont ai n li mit ed refer ences to AFR S, A]�, and th e �,P. Al l
of th ese com ment s are laud a tory. Cha pter XIV, "O ranges and
Lem ons," te lls th e BBC sto ry of th e .AE]'P. Thi s seem ed to
be a rela tively une mo ti onal pres entatio n of BBC att itudes
and ac tion s .
Perio dic als. .Ar tic les co ncerning A]'RS were fo und
in tw o distinc t types of periodi cal s. Such trade journals
as Varie ty, Ra di o Telev is ion �, Daily Variety, and Ra dio
Dai ly repor ted som e of AFR S' general activities . Usuall y
th ese articles con cern po lic y, predic ti ons , and portio ns of
ac ti v itie s . Sev eral ar ticl es co ncerning aspects of A]' RS
prog ram ing were found in pe riodica ls of a more genera l na
tur e. liovJeve r, th ese re po rts seerued to ste m fr om A1fRS pub
lic it y rele ases or cursory inve stig atio ns. Certa in
ar
ti cl es in � magazine were of in terest fo r th eir
17
pic tures of star-s tudded recor ding ses sions .
An annotated enume r ati on of' rel evant per iodic al re
port s may be foun d in the .Bib l iograp hy of thi s study.
Other v,rri tten sources. Into this ce,t egor y was
placed the bod y of' mater ial that may be read by the gener al
.American publ ic. Thes e re por ts are div ided int o the fol
lowing typ es :
1. Offi cial public releases .
2. Releases fo r pr ivate di st r ib utio n.
3. Resear ch studies .
1. Off icial public relea se s. Th ese were found
in mimeogra ph ed fo rm.
The most widely di st ri buted rel eas e was calle d This
1.!! th e Armed ll'orc es Radi o Serv ice. It was a short his tori
cal and op er ational overv iew of global �,RS acti vit ies .
Probably it firs t ap peared in ld44 and was co nti nually re
vis ed thr ough th e da te of this rese ar ch. The revisi ons
var ied in 1 ength fr om ap pr oximate l y five to twen ty-f 'iv e
pages . They have been in tended as publ ici ty releases and
pro bably were the sou rce for much of th e publ ish ed materi al
concern ing AFRS.
The only other public release to be mentioned is
called Progr ess Repo rt, 25 May 1942 to 1 December 1945 .
This eighty-si x pag e study was the only length y hi st oric al
18
repor t avail able. It wa s known to have been written by ci
vilia n em ployee c. Courtenay Savage, a wartime member of
the prog ram sect io n. The report was intended for distribu
tion to interested members of AFRS, the IED, and ci vi lian
agencies. It is filled with gener alities and moralizations.
Also , it contains some inaccuracies and half-truths . It is
completely wit hou t docum entation.
2. Releases for private distribution. Th ese
reports were intended for special interest groups.
"Victory Through Air Power,n origina l ly a speech by
Thomas H. A. Lewis, was a six-page hist orical survey of
AF'RS. It was publi shed by the NAB in thei r Special �
.Anni versary Bulleti n, 9 March 194 5. Th e follo wing month an
abridg ment of the speech was published in £§2 Talks. Re
print s of the NAB article were \rldely dist ributed by AFRS.
� is � Armed Forces Radio Service , ! Special
Brochure Prepared � Representatives 2£ � Rad io Industr z ·
1£ � European Scene, was a forty-four page mimeographed
coll ection of charts and lis ts. Apparen t ly these compo
nents were originally prepared for another purpose.
At the time of his release fro m th e Army in October
1945, Major General F. H. Osborn compi led a tw enty-two page
pamphlet entitled Information � Education Division. This
was privately printed and was given to IED administrative
19
office rs as a memen to of the unit. Included was a summary
of each lED activity. Limit ed statist ical data conce rning
Al''RS appeared on two pages of the pamphlet.
3. Research st ud ies. Key AFRS and IED person
nel knew of only four research studies concerning AFRS'
acti vities.
4
The first was a critical study tit led "Radio Pro-
grams for Troop Edu cationtt by Erik Barnouw. It wa s pub
lished in th e Educational Outlook magazine in March 1945.
This study aff orded an analysis of the auth or's co nception
of troop info rmational programing. The analysis might have
been a ba si s for the ·thinking and acti on of American broad
casters in th eir postwar att empts at educational programing.
The second stud y was a four teen-page report pre
sented by the author of th is present study to Professor
�ialdo .1::3. Abbot of the University of Michigan in the Summ er
19
4
5. It vvas titled "The Armed Forces Radio Service and
Its Use by the A.IU' Reg ional Hospital at Buckley Jfield,
Colorado." It was an overvi ew of Ali'RS programing and the
locally produced shows of the Buckley Hospital Radio Center.
The third study, titled "The Armed Jl'orces Radio
Service,'' was a master's thesis prese nted to th e School of
4
These do not incl ud e wartime studies of the lED's
Research Branch.
20
Gove rnment, George Washington University, in 19 49. Lieu
tenant Colo nel Russell Olive r J!'udge, the aut hor, was th e
Exec utive Of ficer of the Infor mation Branch, IED, from 19 47
to 1950. His su bject material was gathered fro m reports
existing in the Washington IED fil es, from interv ie ws, and
from personnel who were members of th e IE.U v1hile the study
was in preparati on. A considerable portion of his histori-
cal data came fr om the aforemen t ioned Progress Report.
5
Apparen tly Fudge did not attempt to obtEin in formation from ''\
persons conne cted vd th AFRS Los Angele s during the war
\
years. He seemed to begin his study with a preconceive d
)
notion that AFRS had not �ulfilled its mission. Then he
gathered data to supp ort his contention.
The fou rth research study, a graduate p�per titled
np...n Historical Study of the Radio Series 'Comma nd Perform-
ance, '" was presented by this author to the Department of
Speech, University of Southern Cali fornia, in June 19 50.
This paper traced the history of this particu lar AFRS pro
gram. It also suggested the possible influence of ncom
mand Performance" on the post-World War II American broad-
casting industry.
5
(C. Courtenay Savage}, Progress Report, 26 May
1942 to 1 December 19 45 . 86 P
P•
III. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLD1
21
� � � Armed Forces Radio Service developed,
and what were the factors that caused and affected this
-----. ............. ._____ ...._........ ..__... - ......._.....
de velopment?
1. Other than AFRS, what agencies were involved in
br oadcasting to American troop s durin g World War II?
a. How were these activit ies developed?
b. What was the extent of these activiti es?
c. How did these acti vities affect A]�S?
2. What factors within the Army caused the devel-
opment of AFRS?
a. How were the Army's morale agencies devel-
oped?
b. How was the SSD Radio Section created?
3. What were AFRS' devel opmental problems?
a. What were the problems of administration?
b. What were the problems of program produc-
tion?
c. What were the problems of transcription
manufacturing?
d. What were the problems of transcription
distribut ion?
tion?
tion?
effort?
e. ·vv'hat were the problems of short-wave
distribution?
f. vihat were the problems of program
reception?
4. What was the extent of AFRS' program produc-
22
5. What was the extent of AFRS' program distribu-
� � lli significance £!_ �?
1. What was AFRS • contribut ion to the Wor ld liar II
2. What are AFRS' possible contributions to the
broad casting industry?
study?
3. What is AFRS' place in th e history of radio?
� � � rec omme ndations resultin s � �
IV. LIMITATIONS
US troop broadcast activities were generall y known
as the J�med Forces Radio Service. However, this study is
limited primarily to an investigation of the AFRS Los
Angeles operation. Yet, it also includes the overseas ram
ifications which are necessary to illustrate the AFRS Los
23
Angel es deve lopme nt .
The cess ation of the hostilities of ,i orld War II
ca used a re definition of the mi ss ion of Al,RS. by this tim e
.Ut':a.S' develop me ntal problems had been su rm o unt ed , and the
pa tt ern of oper ation was firm ly es tablished. The chan ge in
mi ssi on ca used no ab rupt mo difications. However, soon
after the beginnin g of 19 4 6 it bec ame evi dent that AFRS had
enter ed e new phase of its activi ty . There fore, this study
is also lim it ed to develop me nts and ac t ivit ies that took
plac e prior to January 19 4 6 .
V. ANALY SI S Ol!' ThE NEED FOR THE STUDY
In order that the need for this study may be deter
mine d, the follo wing consider ations are pres ented:
1. Needs of the se rvices .
2. Needs of the public.
Needs £! � se rv ices . All ma jor co mmand s and hi gh
esc helo n un its of the US Arm y are req uired by re gula tion to
co mp ile narrative historic al rep orts.
6
\�hile, un der norma l
circ um sta nces, a unit of AE'RS' mi litar y status is not re
quired to comp ile su ch an hi story ,
6
WD, Army Regul ation
�-
!.2§. ,
3 .Fe bruar y 19 49 ,
p. 1.
It has been the experience of tne Department of
the Army that the preparation and publication
of unofficial unit histories is desirable in order
to provide unit personnel with an a�curate record
and reminder of wartime operations.
24
Ther efore: "The policy of the Department of the Ju:m.y is to
en courage the production of unit historie s."
8
By April 19 45 it had been determined that a history
of AFRS should be written. Probably the best official
statement of the reasons for this history was found in an
IED outline dated 16 April 1945. It read as follows:
p.
P•
1. A record of past and current experience which
will be of maximum value to the War Department
for planning to mee t future emergencies and for
inst ructi ons in the various schools and colleges
conducted by the War Department and the Military
Establishment.
2. A record which will preserve the subsistence
of documents which may later be scat tered or
destroyed and v:hich vvill preserve information
known by officers or key civilians ·who may later
be dispersed, transferred, or who, in any case,
will have forgotten matters now current or fresh
in their memories.
3. A record that will give a full, frank pres
entation of th e viewpoint s of all those who par
ticipa ted in the formulation of policy or in the
solution of administrative problems, even when
such viewpoints differ from th ose held officially
by the War Department. Not only what was done
but h2! and why things were done 1s of importance.
7
vm, S;,Eecial
a.
8
1.
WD, S;,Eecial
Regulation
�-
!£2 -
! ,
Regulation
�
-�-
! ,
3 l!'ebruary
7 February
19 49 ,
1950,
Difficulties encoun tered, mi stakes ma de, and
les sons le ar ned sh ould be disc ussed fully and
the op ini ons of those concerned as to me asures
which should have been take n sh ould be inc luded.
Rec ogni zed achi evem ent s should be fully brought
out vvi th suppo rting eviden ce.
9
25
This state ment , comb ined with official state me nts found in
Army Regul ations and Special Regulations , builds a clear
cut picture of the official need for an histori ca l rep ort
of AFRS.
Regret tably, the order ed M'RS histor y was nev er
com p lete d .
An ad ditional need grevv from recent mob ilization
order s . In June 1950 A.l!'RS, in common wit h all other US
defense units, was ordered to com p lete sp ecific plans for
sp ee dy mo bilization . 1
0
A good history wo uld be of si gn if -
icant value in comp lying v.:i th suc h orders .
E'inally, an urgent need stem med from the change in
P.FRS per so nnel . Demo bilization brought pe rso nnel to AFR S
who had had little or no ex perienc e with the org anization
9
Hobert V. Ely to Martin H. Viork, 2? Nov emb er
1945 . ."b' rom an inclos ure ent it led "Type of Historica l
1wnosr c:.phs Desi red. u
lO
The Al!'RS Los An geles Int ellige nce Officer
sta ted, 18 Jul y 195
0
, that the fac t of the existe nce of the
mob ilization order was common kno•Jledge , but the ac tual
orders vv-e re class ified mat eri al, and sp ecific referenc e was
mili tari ly im possi ble.
26
dur ing its wartime operation. Not one member of' the early
AFRS military contingent remained on duty after the Sprin g
1946. By 1950 only a few of the orig inal civilia n staff
remained. Naturally new per sonnel had incomplete back
ground knowledge of the operation of AF'RS. Obviously a
good history would help supply this needed information.
Public needs. The history of AFRS was the study of
a major wartime morale project of the Army and Navy which
cost the people of the United States over five million
dollars.
11
This history vre.s a study of a v:orld-wide system of
broadcasting which in cluded at least 274 American service
ovmed stations, 179 foreign st ations, 24 domestic short
wave stat ions, 392 knovm sound sys tems, and innumerable
unknown outlets in service camps and ships throughout the
world: the largest sys tem of broadcast ing that the world
has ever kno
wn .
12
This history was a st udy of the official Army and
Navy agency cha rged with bringing radio en tertainment and
informat ion to American se rvicemen stati oned throug hout the
l l
Walter B. Henderson, 17 July 1950.
12 In
fra, p. 500 .
27
world . Its impact on the morale of these men was not meas
urable . But, the great quantities of AFRS' fan mail at-
tested to the popularity of the activity and su ggested its
infl uence.
The public need s a knowledge of su ch a si gnificant
enterp rise.
Summ ary. In summ ary,
l 3
the need for an hi s torical
st udy of the Armed lforces Radio Service include s the fol
lowing point s:
1. The Army clearly expre ss ed its need for
unit hi st ories. Thi s need was bolstered by the unofficial
desi res of tho se charged with accomplis hment of the mis
si on of AFRS .
l3 Thoma s H. A. Lewi s, th rough comm ents on the
original draft of th is st udy, su ggested the following se c
tion s umm ary.
AFRS, taking as it did the cream of all u. s. net
work material s, gave the fullest, most univers al disse m
ination of American entertainmen t and ideas that the world
has yet known . Radio, being the greatest known mean s of
mass communication, through A]'RS may have found the culmina
tion of its destiny, so to sp eak .
What is the measu rable resu lt of th is?
Vihat is the unm easurable res ult of this first fore
ta st e of a univer sa l di ss eminator of the current mores of a
country like the United States?
Will radio in any way ever reach this peak again?
What are the potent i alities being nurtu red in the
more complete mas s medium - telev ision?
2. The American public spent consider abl e
money on A]'RS and may have been af fected by this largest
"network. n Reco rding of inforrna tion concerning this
gove rnmental activit y was important to the nation's
citizenry.
VI. SOURCES OJ!' IN.lf0R11ATION
28
The sources of informa tion used for this study are
discussed in th e following groups:
1. Publ ished and/or pu blic reports.
2. Government papers.
3. Priv ate papers.
4 . Pe rsonal testimony.
Published and/or public reports. These sources
have been considered in the section of this chap ter titl ed
"Review of the Literature. "
Government papers. These were the second most val
uable source of information. The major files are loc ated
in two places: Los .Angel es, California, and -.�ashington,
D. c. ]'rom May 1942 thr ough 1950 the AFRS headquarters
have been loc ated in Los .Angel es, California. Except for
the first two month s of operation, the major pol icies of
unit were initiated in Los Angeles and approved in Nashing
ton. The directives announcing these policies were
29
repo rt edly writte n by Lo s Angel es admin istrative pe r ·s onnel
and rel ease d by Wa shin gton offi cial s. Accounts of th e ac-
ti vit y Yrere co r!lpo sed in Lo s ;...ng ele s and forwarde d to ·�Ja sh-
ington for th e inf orm ati on of the SSD and succes so r ag ency
officials.
ll' udge
l 4
cl aimed to hav e sp ent a year inves tigat ing
all avai la bl e sources of AFRS inf orm ation. A study of his
Bibl iograp hy gav e subst ant ial gr ounds for a beli ef that the
Wa shin gt on IED files contained li tt le pe rt inent da ta not
av aila ble in the 1-.Ji'RS Lo s Ang el es files .
Be cause of the above circum st an ces it wa s beli eved
that the necessary exist ing gov ernm ent papers shoul d be
avai labl e in the Los Ang el es files . To make these pape rs
av ailabl e for resea rch , AE'RS stip ulated the follow ing
steps:
1. It wa s ne cessary to effect a lo yalty
clearance of the pers on engaged in re search.
2. Al l re sul tant wri tten re p ort s shoul d
be cleared for securi ty by the Al!'RS
Public In fo rm atio n Officer .
Al though these Lo s An gel es files v.r ere of great val-
ue , they were a source of se cond ary imp ort ance . Ap p arentl y
an adequat e wart ime mil itary file syst em was not
establi shed . Al so, at two separat e time s great quantities
14
Russell Ol iver Fud ge , ttThe Arme d ]'orc es Radi o
Servi ce," 1949, pp . vi f.
of file material were indiscriminately destroyed. It was
reported that in each case civ ilian secretaries were in-
structed to throw out materials and papers that didn't
30
seem important. It is impossible to determine the quant ity
and quality of historical materials thus destroyed.
The research values of the A1!'RS files were further
limited by the administrative practices of the operation.
Imp ortant policies and decisions were continually being
effected without written notation. Nothing was written
that might reveal personality problems. Nothing was v�it
ten that would disclose departures from accepted Army pro-
cedures. This vms the American advertising agency app roach.
Despite these limiting factors, the .AE'RS Los P..ngeles
files v;ere voluminous and of importance to this study, es-
pecially in pointing to info rmation that might be gained
from personal inte rviews.
Private papers. Former AFRS personnel did not seem
to accumulate extensive private papers. Ne vertheless, cer-
tain important inf ormation was gained only from this source.
Most of the items conc erning early program production came
from the Lewis papers. Specific data on Hittenmark
l
5
and
15
Maj or Gordon Hittenmark ceased his work with AFRS
under questioned circumstanc es. He did not answer corre
spondence of this author regarding his part in the activity.
31
the early B Kit came from the Fogel papers. Without these
priv ate papers, large portions of early AFRS histor y would
have remained unk nown.
Person al testimony. As indicated, the most impor
tant source of materials for this study lay in personal
interviews and in informati on gathered through correspond
ence. These sources are discussed in the foll owing classi
ficati ons:
1. .li'ormer .A.li'RS pe rsonnel.
2. Personnel of ass ociated agencies.
3. Present AFRS personnel.
1. Former AFRS personnel. It was indeed for
tunate that many impor tant individuals connected with the
founding and deve lopment of AlRS could be contac ted in the
Los .Angeles area. Viith two exceptions , all others were
easily conta cted by letter . lformer AFRS personnel willing
ly assiste d the research. Hov,rever, there were two factors
that limit ed the reli abil ity of this information. .First
was the lapse of time between the incidents being studied
and the date of the interview or letter. The second factor
develop ed out of an inherent characterist ic of a show-busi
ness operation: personality and resultant personalit y con
flicts. It was important to consider both these factors
in eva luating the data.
32
2 . Personnel of associat ed agencies . Key in
dividuals of agenc ies associat ed wit h and in fluenci ng AFRS
were contacted in per son or by mail. Many of these resi ded
in the Los Angeles ar ea. In each ins tance a general will
ingness to assist was found . Howev er, personality factor s
affected the rela ti onship s he re also, and grea t care had to
be exercised in evaluati ng inf orm ati on furnishe d.
3. Presen t AFRS per son nel. Certai n ci vil ia n
AFRS em ployees remaine d with the uni t from the first ye ar
of it s operation through 1950 . A few members of the war
ti me mi lit ary .Ai'RS pe rsonnel returned to the unit and were
memb ers of the 1950 staff . In gene ral these per so ns did
not hol d wartime po licy -d eterm inin g po sitions . Never the
less, their know ledge and avai lability were of major impor
tance.
VII . PROCEDURES
The procedu res em ployed in this study are discussed
in the follow ing secti ons.
1. Data pr ocurement .
2 . Data evaluati on.
3. Co m po sit ion of the study .
� procurem ent . The fi rst step in the data
pro
curem ent vms to de velop a compreh ensive background knm·dedge
of the subj ect matter . In or d er to attain this knm,rl ed ge
the AFRS Lo s Angeles files we re re ad . In formation wa s ex-
treated from these same fil es during a se cond critic2l
re ading. Duri ng this step th e gen e ral clas sif icat ion of
data unfol ded itself.
33
The se cond ste p of dat a pro cur ement was to col l ect
auxil iary infor mation from indivi duals asso c iate d with AFRS
or ·,v-ho had knowled ge of its oper ation. In ter vi ews we re
ar ran ge d with ind ivid uals vvho could be contacted in pers on.
Cor respond ence wa s initiat ed with individ uals re siding in
di stant lo calities . Inf o rmat ion gained during this second
st ep was noted and classified . Co ncurre ntl y perso nal pa -
pers wer e re ad , extracted , and classified.
� ev al uation . Thi s re search study was init iated
as an historical repo r t . Ho wev er , exis ting dat a was usual
ly inco mple te and ofte n conta ine d inaccu racies . Majo r
.ll'ran kl in A. To urtel l ot te, a wa rt ime ov er s eas AFRS theat er
officer and a po stwar Al,RS Lo s P�ge le s Execut ive Officer,
expla ined this situatio n as fol lows :
The re cord s cannot be accurate. Even or der s woul d
not sh ow the pi cture. Often ther e wer e no or der s .
At ot her times the act ual moves might come as la te
as six months afte r the orde rs . At one ti me
3
,000
men we re complet ely lo st by a rep la cement depot in
the F'acific. The same th ing ha ppened with .Al!'RS
pe rso nne l.
l6
1 6
.ll'
ra nklin A. Tour tell o tte , 13 Apri l 1950.
34
Also , co nsideration of priv ate and pu bl ic motives
wa s of' prime im p ortance . Per sons att empting to ''bu il d an
emp ire n aff ect ed the founding and develo pm ent of' .Ali'RS .
The evalu ation of' the data became a process of com
pari son. Information gained from ea ch source was weighe d
against the ot her collected data. All inf orm ati on was
ev alu ated in the light of the personality and other factors
involved.
Com position Q! � study . The first step in com
position of the study was that of reclas sif ication of data .
Fol lowing this ste p th e tentative outline was comp os ed .
After acc eptance of this outl ine it was possi ble to begin
to write the fi rst draft.
To fac ili tate referen ces to the var ious sources of
inf orma ti on. the st u dy was writ ten at the .AJ:i'RS Los .An geles
headquarte rs.
VIII. PRESEN TATION O.F TI- IE REMAINDER 0.1! TEE STUDY
As has been stat ed , .�UfRS devel oped on a global
scale in a relat iv ely short period . Since vari ous sections
progrc:uning , di str ibu ti on , sho rt-w ave , tec hnical ,-evolved
more or less conc urrently, it seem ed tha t use of the
chro nological me thod mi ght result in a confusin g presenta
tion. There for e, the fo ll owing plan ha s been em ployed .
I. 'l'he In tr oducti on .
II. The Root s of Al!'RS .
II I. The Prog ram Pr odu cti on Se ct ion .
IV . The Te chnical Produ ctio n Se ction .
V. 'I' he .broc.d cE.st Distributio n Section
and the Prog ram Outlet s .
VI . The Short- �h .. ve Ope rations Se ction .
VII. The Admini st ra tio n of l�R3.
VIII . The J!'ind ings of th e Study .
Chap te r II devel ops th e gene ral needs for tro op
broa dcasts. The activi tie s of vari ous agencies out s ide
th e M:SD are cons id ere d . The fo undi ng factor s of .A}, RS are
presente d. Fin ally , th e mission of AFRS is studied .
Chap ters III to VI deal ·�J. th the devel op ment and
35
op ere. tion of the se v eral v;arti me AFRS Lo s Ang eles sectio ns .
Chap te r V gives inf ormation concerning AFRS ' pr og r am out-
let s.
Chapt er VIII is an answer to the "S tateme n t of the
Proble m. " 'I' hi s chap ter suggest s th e impo rtan ce of .AE'RS .
i� so , th e author' s conclusions and re commenda tio ns ar e
present ed .
CHAPTER II
THE ROOTS OJ!"' AE'RS
Most of the inform atio n on the root s of Al' RS was
gathe red th rough in ter views . It is imp erat ive th at th e
reader keep in mind the variable fact ors inhe rent to this
meth od . Certa in mat erials concer nin g the background of the
I
E
D we re gl eaned from a study reported by ]udge
1
in �
Ar mored Cavalr y Journ al .
2
Inform atio n from thi s article wa s
�ue stio ned in lig ht of th e scho lars hip demo nstr ated in the
:Fudge ll.l'RS th esis. Howe ver, it wa s beli eved that the basic
tr end s were tr ue and could be ac cepted as background mat e-
rials .
There we re several separate needs that brought about
mo st of' the early tr oop broadcast act iviti es. These , and
the roots of ..AE'RS , are cons idered as follo ws : 3
1. Ne eds for tr oop broadcasts .
2. Forerunne rs of AJfRS .
3. Found in g of AFRS .
4. Mi ssion of AFRS .
1
The writer of the ment ione d A]'RS th esis .
2
Russel o. J:!'u dge , "Wh y? The St ory of Infor ma tio n
in th e .Ame rican Arm y, n ,lli Armore d Cavalr y Journal , Part I
in 59 :16-19 , March-April , 1950 ; Part II in 5 9 :4 7-52, May
June , 1950 .
3
Special note of th ese agenc ies should be taken .
I. 1:-J""E EDS :E!OR TROOP BROADCAST S
37
The importance of a good state of morale wa s off ic
ially considered in the Mobili zation Resul ations of the
Army :
• • • Im portanc e • • • Morale underlies al l as pects
of militar y lite . It is born of just and fair treat
ment through training , and pride in se lf , organi zation
and country . The es tabli shment and mai nte. nance of
good mo rale , and the prompt elimin ation at their
inc eption of al l conditions tending to produc e bad
moral e, constitute a primary fun ction of command . 4
Commu ni cations and morale . An individual called to
duty \d th a ser vi ce organization undergoe s a major change
in hi s living status . 1i hen he is ordered outside the con
tinental li mits of the United States thi s change is magni
fied . In civi lian life the indivi dual enjoys freedom and
priva cy that are not po ssible to the militar y . li' urther-
more , he is ac custo med to many social in stitu tions who se
maintenance is most diff i cult fo r the ser vi ces. Al though
I
the enjoyment of' these forces may not be real ized in civ il-
ian li fe , their loss in the ser vice is keenly felt . Thi s
may become a ma jor undermining instrument of a desira ble
state of morale.
Among the social in st itutions generally los t to the
ser vi ceman are f our 1 d the va rious media of mass commun ica tion.
p. 1.
4 WD , Mobil ization Regula tiol1 1-10 , 12 June 1g42 ,
38
The necessi ty for a gener a.l dis semin ht ion of news among
troop s was learned early in the hi st ory of war .
5
The ma jor
off:ic ial US i.:rmy mas s co m. rnuni cr, tio n in strumen tality of ;Jo rld
War I wa s the famous Stars � St ripes newsp aper. Its de
velo pment to assis t mora le prob le ms was re in it ia ted during
':J orl d 'i�a r I I •
.Alt hough a rela t ively nev; me dium, by 'i iorld War II
radio had be c ome so co mmon place to the ave rage Ame ri ca n that
he frequently \va s unaware of its positio n of in fl uenc e and
im portance in hi s dai ly li fe . The pl ace of radio in Ame r
ica n ci vilian lite ca n quic kl y be determined by not ing the
num ber of recei ve rs in home s and their possi ble eftect on
the li st ener as demon strated by the Orson ·well es "War of the
'tlor ld sn broa dcast in 193 8 . Moreov er , radio ent ertainment
in fl uenced mora le . In al ie n territor y the serv ice ma n was
depri ve d of this ma jor and mo st imEe di ate source of inf orma
ti on and enterta inm ent . Exi st ing foreig n facilities acce n
tuated this loss by thei r great di fference of la nguage and
presentati on . The lack of the co mmu nicatio n and ente rtain
ment provided by radio , which had be en acce pted by the aver-
age ind ividu al as neces sary, was a ma jor threE.t to
5
Russell 0. I!'udge , uwhy? The St ory of Infom atio n
in the Ame ri ca n Army , '1 The Ar mo red Cavalry Journal ,
5
9: 48,
1:lay-June 19
5
0.
satisfactory troop morale . Similarly , ser vic e continuance
of these comp onent s should be of gre at va lue in ov ercomi ng
the pangs of transition experienced by the civil ian se rv-
iceman .
39
Troop broadca st request. During the Spring or early
Sum mer of 1941 Colo nel R. A. Boll ing , of the Inspector Gen
eral 's st aff , returned fr om a tour of duty in Ic eland and
told of the urgent re ques t and need for troop broadcasts
for the ser vi cemen isola ted in that des ol ate , remot e area.
Hi s extensive report incl uded the sh ort-wave sta tions that
coul d be received and the time of day that wa s bes t for
reception and troop listening. 6
Reguests result in
s
from broadcasts. The general
morale assi sta nce capabilit y of radio wa s understood by
members of the broadcasting industr y. Progra ms intended
for ser vicemen '�N ere init iated by .Ame rican short-wo.v e st a-
tions as soon as it was reali zed that a number of men ha d
been st ationed ove rseas.
?
These brought considerable mail
6
E. M. Kirby and Jack W. Har ris, � Spangle d
Radio , 1948 , pp . 52 f. ; Hope Gray , "C ommand Perf orma nce, "
Song � 1:i.ag azine , date and page nnknovm ; Thoma s H. A.
Lewis, Hi st ori cal Notes, 1 November 1944 , !!.• J2.• ; Robert J.
Coleson, 28 March 1950 .
. ? E. I. buck liarri s
1
31 July 1950 ; .Be n �l ilbe r to
T. s. De�ay , Jr . , 30 June 1� 50 , p. 1.
40
that greatly affec te d furth er troop broad ca st activitie s.
The earliest record of troop fan mail was fo und in
th e revort of a telegram from Gene ral Chennault' s .Fl ying
Tiger perso nnel st atio ned in K unm ing t China.
s
Thi s was
sent to the Gene ral Electric sta tion KGEI at San Francisco.
That station had been broadca st ing program s of popula r
musi c intended for American civilie .ns living in the Shang
hai area . The �Flying Tigers request e d th at a "ji ve " pro
gram be broadcast on J:t' riday nights . Other mail ca me fro m
th e troops occupied wit h the "Siege of Bataan."
9
These
letters, wri tten be fore April 1942- request ed popula r music
and comp lain ed about co mmercial annou ncements remaining in
rebroadcasted Ame rican netwo rk programs that glorified th e
delight s of certain food product s which th ese troops could
not obtain .
l
O
Gen eral Douglas MacArthur , hims elf _ informed
governme nt officials that his troops were lis te ning _
11
and
8
Robert G. Goo dman , 13 Augu st 1950.
9
Lac. cit . ; Robert M. �ilern er , 21 August 19 50 ; Ro
be rt E. Sh
erw oo
�
o T. s. DeLay, Jr. , 4 Augus t 1950, p. 1.
10
E .
I. Buck Har ris , 2 August 19 50 ; E. I. buck
Har ris, '' Short-wave , Broadca::;tin g in the Pacit·ic Basin,"
·uri ters' Congress, 1944 , p. 17 8 .
11
Ro bert E. Sherwood to T. s. DeLay, Jr. , 4 August
1950 , p. 1.
41
it was believe d that he requested more Hing Crosby recor ds . �
Some time later a large quantity of fan ma il fran troops
training in New Caledonia Isla nd was turne d ov er to the
staff of KGE I.
l3
This ma il, written ear ly in the Summ er
1942 had ac cumu lated since de liv ery was held up for sec u-
rity reaso ns .
II . ]'ORERUNNERS OE AFRS
A key to troop broad cas t acti vi ties prior to .A.ER S
was found in a Jun e 1942 letter to Colonel Thoma s li. A.
Lewis f ror:1 Cap tain Irv ing L • .Fogel , later he&d of the .A]'I-.S
Techni cal Product ion Section . It reads as follow s :
• • • at the pr ese nt time and si nce our ent rance
into the Nar no less than si x governmental ag en
cies have be en rel eas ing programme s of a si milar
nature for the consum ptio n of bo th our civil ians
and armed forces. Some of them ha ve be en 1' air
••• mo st poor ••• all ponder ous and did actic . l4
It was thought that here mi ght be an indica tion of the sev
er al root s of A1'RS . It see me d neces sar y to fer ret out the
vwhY , how, and � of these pr ogr ams . The resulta nt inf or
ma tion on acti vities not directl y connected with the MSD ,
12
Robert M. He rner , 21 August 19 50 .
1 3
Rober t G. Goodman , 13 August 19 50.
14
Irving L. E'ogel to Thomas H. A. Lew is, 23 June
19 42 , p. 1.
42
and it s su ccess ors, fol low s.
Early sh ort-� broadca sts. As ha s been reported ,
the ear lie st activit ie s we re those of individual sh or t-wa ve
stati ons. Th ey were brought about by th e radio-wis e indi
vidual 's inherent knowledge of the need, plus mail re sponse.
In determ ining the com ponents of th eir audience , sh ort-wav e
pe rs onnel as ked themselves; "" Nho are these ove rs ea s Ame r
ic ans th at we are broa dcasting to?" Actu ally th ere were
relat ively few Am erican civil ian s living abroad . The great
es t number were se rvicemen. Th erefore , troop lis teners
made u p th e la rge st component of th e audience for any Eng
li sh-l anguage program . To se rve thi s component the broa d
caster s merely ans wered request s fo r pop ular mu sic, sp orts,
and nev;s sh ows. Th e se programs we r e a ire d prior to the
esta bli shme nt of th e gen e ral com mun ication s sec urity reg
ulations that follow ed "Pearl .Ha rbor u
l 5
and were the ef
forts of broa dca ster s to se rvice their audience and bul l d
troop morale in a manner inherent to th eir medium.
E. T. ouck Har ris, wartim e manager of General Elec
tric station KGEI in oan ]franci sc o, reporte d that he beamed
many reco rded programs to tr oop s in th os e e�:. ::.r ly day s.
16
1 5
? December 1941 .
16
E . I. buck Ha rris, 31 Jul y 19 50.
43
Harr is ass ert ed, an d Lewis
l7
agr eed, tru1 t KGEI was the fi rst
to ini tiat e such pr o gr e . ms . Ben 'Nilber , a fo rmer East Coast
oor-o· .u staff member, wr ote as fol lows :
• • • existing shor twave st�ti ons of the country
were op er ati ng auto nom ousl y pr ior to the Spr ing of
1942, and many of them were br oadcas tin g to Ame r
ic an troops duri ng 1940 and 194
1
as an incre as ing
num ber of troc:>p s abroad ·.;; ere se nt ov erse as . Jror
example, John Sheehan, who was then man ager of
GE 's station in Sch enectady, wa s doing a da ily
sports sh ow esp ec ially fo r the tr oops . Much of the
materi al that wa s then broadca st in the Eng lish
la ngu ag e se rv ice of the individ ual shor twav e sta
tio ns durin g that peri od coul d be co ns idered for
the 1um ed force s
.
l8
Of the English lang uage pr og rams br oad cas t by KG EI,
Harr is
l9
stated the fo llowing wer e intended fo r the servi ce -
man audience :
1. "Mail Bag, " a we ekly sh ow on wh ich vv i ves,
mothers, and sw eethearts of the men were
int ervi ewed an d al low ed to se nd personal
messe.ges to thei r loved ones. Thi s pr o
gram was prod uced and publicized in co
op er a tio n with the Sa n ]1ra nc isco Exam iner .
It wa s the "pre stige " tr o op broad cast of
the stat ion an d re cei ved much explo itat ion.
2. nNew scasts, " news sh ows using the Int er
nati on al New s S erv ice wire.
17
Thomas H. A. Le·wis, Historic al No tes , 1 Nov em ber
1944, £· .E.•
1 8
.D en �/il b er to T. s. DeLay, Jr ., 30 June 1950,
p .. 1.
1
9
E. I. Buck Harr is, 31 July 1950.
3. "Sports ProgralJls ,11 broadcasts consis tin g
of spo rts eve nts , interview s , roundtables,
and/or comme ntaries.
44
}fur thermo re , Ha rris believed that th e fallowin g programs
were as welc om ed by serviceme n as by other Engl ish- s peaking
civ ilians .
1. 11 Interviews , It intervi ews of imp or tan t
persons conducted by harr is .
2
. "Rebroadcasts," airing of Am er ican network
programs at goo d lis te ning times for the
Pac ifi c overseas ar eas.
This bel ief wa s part ially sub stantiat ed by the Bataan se rv
iceman ma il response to the c omm ercial shows .
2
0
Coordinator g£ Int er-Ame rican Affa irs activities.
The first United States gove rnment agency interest e d in
fore ign broadcast s wa s the Nels on Rockefeller Committee on
Cul tural Rela tions Between the Ame rican Republics. nBefo re
Pearl Harb or , dire ct international broadca sting was les s
develo pe d in the united Sta te s than in ei the r Great Br itain
or the Axis nations
.
n2 1
In
1
94 0 there were twelve short-
wave stat ions av a ila ble to broadcast programs fo r rec eption
20
Supra , p. 40 .
2
1 (Office ££ :::!.!:1: Inform ation history) , !!.· g,. ,
n . _!! ., p. 5.
45
out sid e the count ry. 22
The Rocke fel ler CoMuittee, bei ng intereste d in
assi sti ng Presi dent Rooseve lt's "Good Neighbor" policy,
undertook the jo b of stimu latin g develo piL. ent of facilitie s.
In April 1941 the project was a�pro ve d by Congress and re-
named the Office of the Coordinator of In ter-Ame rica n Af-
fairs . .Au thorizati on was given for an "e:xp endi ture of not
ove r � 50 , 000 for daily news broadc asts to South .Ame rica.
n
23
Harris
24
reca lled that the age ncy ac tuall y furni she d sc ripts
to his station , but that KGEI was und er no ob liga tion to
broadcast any CIAA ma terial . Contract s es tablishe d no
actu al control over fac ilities, broadcas t time , or pro-
gra min g .
On 1 Novembe r 1942 , under gove rnment cont ract s , the
22
(Donald d. Rowland
) , his t ory .2£ �O ffice of �
Coordinator of In ter- America n Affa irs, 1947 , p. 57 .
ns ome sta tem en ts of ' the .Pe riod indicat e 11 stutions, othe rs
as many as 14. 1ir .
[
Don
J
Franc isco re porting to the Coor
dinator on April 1 6 , 1941 , enume rated them as follows: CBS,
two stations ; Crosley Corporation, one st&tion ; Gene ra l
Electr ic Compan y , thre e stations ; N.BC two stations ; We st ern
El ectr ic and 11anu fac turing Com pa ny , two statio ns ; �Norld 'Nide
Broadc astin g :b' ound ation, two stat ions. "
23
Ibid. , p. 59. Don :Fra ncisco, a former Lord and
Thomas Advertising Agency exec utive and famed originator
of the "Sunkis t Orange n ca mp ai gn , was app oint ed head of the
CIAA Rad io Division in the ]'all 1941 .
24
E. I. Buck Har ris, 2 August 1950.
46
OWl and the CIAA took ov er the actual control and op erat ion
of the private sh or t-wav e st ations. 25
At that time the
Cl .AA was design ated as the only agency con cerned with broa�
casting to South and Central America . It continu ed the
English -l anguage troop shows instituted by KGEI and was
believed to have fo ll ov.re d the sam e polic y in its other st a
tion programing. 2 6
Har ris, hav ing been empl oyed as a San
l!'rancisco CI AA offi cial , belie ved that any Eng li sh broad-
ca st woul d be of interes t to the troops, and , si nce ClA A was
the only agency broadcasting from the United States to the
Latin Ame ri can area , that they were morally obl igated to
serve troops stationed in that area . .Al thou gh Major Barton
A. Stebbins,
2?
then Ali'RS ' ·wa shington Liaison Offi cer and
la ter a CI .AA East Coas t staff memb er, did not beli e ve Cl .AA
did any actual broadcasting for the troops, Lewi s
28
sta ted
tha t this agency was produ ci ng and broadca sting sh ow s ex
pressly slanted to troop s fr om 1942 to 1944 . He belie ve d
tha t the troops st at ioned in Lat in Amer ic a wer e thus ser ve d.
25
(Donal d W. Rowla nd}, Hi sto q. .2£ the Of fi ce 2£
�C oordi nator £tI nter-American Aff a�rs , 194? , P• 62.
26
E. r. .Buck Ha rris, 2 August 1950 .
2?
Ba rton
h
St ebbins, 2 August 1950 .
.n..
28
Thoma s H. A. Lewis, 23 June 19 50 .
4
7
Had this not been so they would have recei ved ve ry lit tle
rad io attention . Ma jo r J. Cart er He rmann , 29 later J.U'RS '
short -wave chief , bel ieved that the CIAA felt Ame ri can
national s in Latin Ame ri ca needed the br oa dcasting ser vi ces
that had been enj oye d in their na tive land . Among the
shows that re sulted fr om this thinking he re membe red :
1. "Saludo s .Ami gos ," an asse mb led mu si cal show.
2. "News."
3 . "Viv a Ameri ca ."
4. nR ebroad ca sts, " dena tured Ame rica n netwo rk
broadc asts .
i'ihile he felt that these were br oad ca ot s intended fo r troo ps
- as well as United State s nat io nal s, Her mann did not beli eve
that Ro ckefe lle r desired hi s CIAA to be enga ged in tr oo p
broad ca sting.
QQI-� act ivit i es . In August 19
4
1 Co l onel Willia m
Donov an, the Coord ina tor of Info rm ation, assemb le d a gr oup
of exp erts and inaugu rat ed a seco nd info r mat ional agency .
'r hi s gr oup was to build up a specialized pr ogram ser vice
which would fur ther integr ate individ ual shor t -wave br oad-
ca sting activi ties . Rob e rt E. She rwo od , Pulitzer Pr ize
Playvvri ght an d Pre sidential speech wr iter , was appoi nted
29
J. Csr ter Her n1a nn , 1
7
July 1950 ; Conf ir med by
Thomas H •• ;. . Lewis, 22 Septeabe r 1950 .
48
Chief of th e .b'or eign In format ional Service, th e subagency
develo ped for exec ution of t be se du ti es.
30
Ail OWI Releas e
statef _; th e.. t;
The Vo ice of Ame rica wa s heard on the ai r
for the firs t time in :Febr ua ry , 1942, when a 15-
mi nut e German br oad ca st vm s tra nani tt ed by trans
.b.. tlantic teleph one to Lond on and rebroo. dcas t from
there over se ven transmi t ters of the Britis h
Bro adcast ing Corporation.
3l
Sherv;ood sta ted the basis for cor troop broadc as ts
as follows;
••• ;;e le ar ned al mos t imm ed iat ely from General
1la cA rthur that U. S. troops in the Phil i:pp ines wer e
liste ni ng to broadca sts from San F'ra nc is co, and we
accord in gly star ted orga nization of spec ia l programs
for them • • • we sta rted tbe troop broadc asts only
beca use ther e was nob ody else to do it . 3
2
Lewi s reca lled that Sherwood ga ve a mu ch mo re pe n ent rating
rea so n in 1942. Sherwood told Lewi s
33
that the cor ha d
le arned that the Axi s did not ja m troop broo. dcast s. Ev i
de ntly they did not believe troop broa dc ast s wer e pro pa
ganda . Axi s offic ials wanted to know what the Amer ican
Gove rnm ent \Va S tellin g their troops. The cor , and es pe -
ci ally She rwo od , be lie ved that this .Axi s "eavesdro pp ing
n
30
Charl es J. Rolo, Radio � !Q ��ar, 1942 , p. 248.
31
( Office of �I nf orm ation History
)
, .£· _Q.. ,p. 4.
3
2
Robert E. Sherwood to T. s. DeL ay, Jr . , 4 August
1950, p. l.
33
Thoma s H. 1 ... . Lew is, 2 2 Sep tember 1950 .
mad e the tr oop br oadca st s the mo st valu able pr op aganda
weap on . Thi s 11eave sdrq::p ing te chnique " of br oo dcasting
be came one of the most va luable po int s upon which Lewis
based his la ter demand s for bro adcast time on the mn
short -wave trans mi tters .
'dilber explai ned the o- ;;r troo .t-' bro ad cast s as
follow s :
As the COI be gan op erat io n (l ate ' 41, early
' 42} it ha d no definite dire ctive as to troo p broad
casting . As I recall , some member s of the staff
as sumed that it should have a hand in the job, but
the responsibilit ie s of br oad casting to ot her nations
soon to ok prec ede nce . Howev er , while the sho rtwave
statio ns we re still op erat ing individ uall y , a system
of prog ram inte rchang e was establ ished , and some
pr ograms for the troops we re mad e av aila ble by $1ne
and tra ns criptions to the pri vat e br oad casters .
4 9
Pre sident Roos evelt 's Executive Order of 1
3
June
1942 create d the Office of T; 'lar Informatio n, 3
5
the successor
agency of the COI . El mer Davi s, the new agency ' s directo r
stated :
The br oadcasts to the Arme d :b'o rces we re
started by one o1' OiVI ' s predecesso r or gan iz at ions
••• and the y were going stro ng bef ore I cam e in .
• • • it was started be cau s e no b od y els e wa s do ing
the job.
3
6
p. 1.
p. 1.
3
4
Ben -ii ilber to '1' . s. DeLay , Jr . ,
3
0 Jun"e 1950,
3
5
(Off1ce .Q! dar Inf or mat ion Hist ory) , £· d. , p. 1.
3
6
Elm er Dav is to T. s. DeLay, Jr ., 7 Ap ril 1950 ,
5 0
John Houseman , 3 ? Ea st Coast o· ��:r Program Director an d forme r
Codire ctor of the Mercury Thea ter with Orson Re lles , s umm ed
up th e situation by sayin g ova ha d th e trans mi tters an d
felt the troop-broa dcas t job sh ould be done . Nobod y els e
wa s do ing the shows and it be came a natural OV!I du ty . COl-
Oifl personn el genera lly felt th ere was a need for troop
broadcasts as seen in requests from ov erseas servi c em en.
Durin g the Summ er 194 2 an Interd epartmental Pla n-
ning Commi ttee for International Broadcasti ng Ifa cili ties
studied the short-wave tra ns mi ssion problems and ma de re
commen dati ons as foll ows :
••• that the numb er of shortwave transmi tters be
incre ased f'r om 14 then in existenc e to
3
0, and thi s
decision wa s app roved by both the Board of Wa r
Commu nicatio ns and the FCC . An ag re ement betwe en
OWI an d CI .AA prov id ed that the former would as sume
the re sponsibility for the expansi on of shortwave
broad ca sting facilities , al though CI; -A wou ld
receive a share of time when this wa s do ne.
A contract wa s signed shortly afterward with
the six broadc a sting comp ani e s effected Novemb er 1,
1942. These contract s were renew abl e f'ro m yea5
8
to
year and eventually exten ded to June 20 , 1946 .
The com pleted tra ns mi ssion de ve lopment s are pictured in th e
formerly cite d o· ;;I Rel ease as foll ows :
3
7
John Houseman , 19 July 1950 .
38
(Don ald .1. Rowland ), Hist ory .2£ � Of f 'ice £!_ �
Coordin at or ££ Int e r-Ame rican Affairs, 1947 , p. 61.
.b..t the cl ima x of the European '/'Ja r, the Voi ce
of Amer ica was strengthenin g our frien ds, di s
couraging our en emies and info rmi ng neu t ral people s
ov er 26 shortwave tran sm itters beamed to Europ e
from the U. s. and 10 shortw ave transmit te rs on
the ',iest Coast . It was al so he ard from transmitters
in .Algeria , London , Luxem bourg, Hawaii , sa ipan and
the Philippin es .
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Gove rnme nt built 19 of the new transm itters
entirely and
3
oontributed to the bulk of the outla y
of 3 others. �
51
Newsweek , in reporting the Gongre ssional ap proval of this
program , state s that the broa dcast activi tie s would include
" . • • news and mor al e-b uilding program s fo r ou r al lie s and
our forces abroad."
40
'rhi s indic ated that the us e of O'iii
transm itters for troop morale purpo ses was offi c ially
ac cepted by thi s early date . It was th e real ization of
this sh ort-wave troop broadcast mi ssion, plus the trans
mis sion facilities expansio n, that ma.de la ter Al!'RS short-
'Na ve act ivit ies possible .
The COI -0� � esta blished an d caused troop broadca sts
to be mad e. In ov erseas tro op areas not cover ed by short-
wave stations loca ted in th e Uni t ed St ates , the OWI at
tem pted to ove rcome the probl em by broadcasting transcribed
troop shows on foreign tra nsmi tters. Ai r time was obta ine d
39
( Office of � Infor m at ion hi sto ry) , B. • d. , p. 5.
40
"U . s. Takes Ov er Short 1iaves to ··i in Air Propa
gand a �·: ar, r' Newsweek, 20 : 30-31 , 19 October 19 42.
52
on a purc hase or giatis basis . Wi lber,
41
in relat ing this
proc edu re , pointed out that her e was the fore run ne r of the
world- wide di st rib ut i on me thods dev eloped lat er by Al!'RS .
Sherwood stated that tt the great bu lk of th e pr ogram
was news and news feature s. • • • l�o majo r sport s ev ents
were mi ssed . n
42
hous eman
43
re called the followin g programs:
1. n.News from Home," a dai ly show compi led from
mat erial sup plie d by local stations and local
statio n announc ers. A different home-t ovm
was covere d ea ch day.
2. uG. I. Jiv e, " a dail y mus ic sho w ass embled
from ph onogFa ph re cords with Alex Smi th, an
au thority on uj azz" mus ic , as writ er, producer,
and narrator .
3. "Mus ic to Sing To , " a weekly program produc ed
by folk mus ic e:A. !)e rt Luth er Gre en . This wa s
actualJy a good-will propaganda program, but
it drew heav y service mail .
Robert M. Werner ,41 then Ne st Coast OWI program produce r,
and Robe rt G. Goodman ,
45
then ·. ve st Coast mil writ er-
produc er-announ cer , recall ed th e followin g troop shows
produc ed in San J:rran ci sco:
p. 1.
4l
Ben ;iil b er to T. S. DeLay , Jr. , 30 Ju ne 1950 ,
42
Robert E. Sherwood to T. s. DeLay, Jr. , 4 July
1950 , p. 1.
43
John hou s eman , 19 July 1950 .
44
Robert M. -�Ie rner, 21 July 1950 .
45
Robert G. Goo dman, 13 July 1950 .
1. H;lorl d at Nar, " a ., ,e ekl y docu..'ne ntary news sh ow.
2. n� Jhat the C ommenta tors Bay , 11 a dail y show
ass emb le d from tran scr iptions of the f' or emo st
comme ntary reports .
3. "Cav alcade of .Ame rica, " a da ily sh ow dealing
with con temp orary ev ents, which wa s as sem ble d
from US broadca sts .
4 . "Uncle Sam Pre sents, '' a da il y se rvi ce band
broadcast origin ally re corded by sta tions
located nea r service inst all ations .
5. nTroop News," a daily nonpropa ganda newscast .
6 . "Sports Roundu p," a daily sportscast .
7. "li i , .Neig hbor, " a daily disc jockey sh ow
narrate d by a young man and a young woman
(Jack and Jill} . This ow wa s v� itten to
give loc al Amer ican hom e colo r . It is the
show that eventually evo lved in to the fam ous
.AFRS "G . I. Jive n with "Jill ."
53
Nith the exception of nTroop News , 11 these San ]:fran cisco
shONs were not app arentl y produced fo r serv icem en . ·iie rner46
stated that he wa s orde re d not to broadcast troop shows ,
but that he knew his larg e st Engl ish- sp eaking audience wa s
compo sed of serv i cemen . The ne ed for tro op shows ha d been
demonst rated by th e mai l, and he ac comp li shed the troop
mi ssion by pr od ucing shows wit h a GI fla vo r th&t wo uld be
good lis tenin g for all Engli sh- sp eak ing people .
'
In summin g up COI-O'lii troop broadca sts She rwood
46
Robert M.. 'Nern er , 21 July 19 50 .
stated: "Our activ ities lll3 re ly gave AFRS it s st art and
•
estab l is he d certa in basic po licies and pr og ram s.n
4 7
His
agen cy, in conjunctio n with the CIAA , mad e kn ovm the de
ve lo pmen t of the Engl ish-lan guage short -wave br oo dcast s
pat t ern of denature d Amer ican co mme rcial pr ograms , news-
54
casts , spo rtsca sts , and music sh ow s in respo ns e to req uests
re ceive d from servi cemen fan ma il . Thus , a portio n of the
AFRS pr og ram pro duct ion and di stributi on pattern was de -
velo ped.
Un ited Serv ice Organ izations activi ties . He sultin g
from activit ie s of the Joi nt Army -Navy Commi ttee on •i elfare
and Re creatio n
48
the USO was establi she d in 1941 . Dr •
.li' rar;.kl in Dunham , Execu t ive Director of the Na ti onal Catho
lic Commun ity Ser vice , on e of the USO memb er Qgencies, and
former Educatio nal and Rel igious Directo r fo r N�C , imm edi -
atel y reco gn ized th e ne eds for tr oo p radi o activiti es .
Und er his guidanc e the USO e� tabl i shed a th re e-phase ra dio
pro ject v;hich wa s known as th e "S tar Sp angled Ne twor k. "
Dunham bro ught Mart in Wo rk ,
49
la te r Comman der of AFRS, int o
the op eratio n duri ng the pla nn ing pe riod .
47
Robert E. She rwood to T. s. DeLay , Jr . , 4 July
1950, p. 1.
48
Infra , p. 73 .
49
.i�l artin H. l'io rk , 19 Jun e 1950 .
55
For ac com plishment of the first ph ase of the pr oject
•
the USO joined with the Ameri ca n Radi o Relay Leag ue in the
transm ission of pe rsonal me ss age s from servicemen to the ir
re latives . 50
i>.ma teur sh ort-wave station s were es tablished
in the USO cl ubhouses, and individual me ssa ges were t� dns-
mi tted to ARRL m.emb ers near the relatives ' home s. The
ARRL memb ers ph oned the me ssa ges to the rela tive s. Th e
fir st ope ratio n in this ph ase began at New London, Connect-
icut , 10 Novemb er 1941 . Early in 1942 this ph ase vros dis
cont inued by the Gov er nme nt se curity orde r whi ch stopp ed
all am ateur sh ort -wa ve br oadcas t ing.
'l' he se co nd pha se of the pr ogra m was the mob ile
rec o rdi ng unit which was taken from one se rvi ce instal-
lation to another. Mess ages for rela tiv es were rec orde d
without char ge on sm all pa per -bac ked discs , and were ma ile d
by the USO . This phase cont inue d throughout the war .
The third pha se, which was mo st im portan t to the
develo pment of .AJ!'RS , was the USO ca rrier current station.
During his college days
D
unham had ass isted in es tablishing
and opera ting a ca rrier cu rrent memb er station of the
Int ercolleg iate Broa dcasti ng System. Dunham envisi oned
5 0
Loc. cit.
51
'11 his syste m had over one hundre d m.embe r stations
loca ted thr oug.i1ou t the nation in 1949.
55
FIGU RE 1
A USO-ARRL Message Relay Station .
5 7
a nt rans cription netv:o rk '' of carrie r current stations whose
studios would be locate d in the USC clubhou ses v;rith cerri
ers ext ending throughout the nearby service stations .
5
2
·.'lo rk
53
studied the Intercolle giate broa dcasting Sy stem
activity at it s New York Off ices, and arranged fo r a standal:tl
ten-watt trans mit ter to be manu factured for the USO plan .
The first stntion was installed at l'J.i.a dison Barracks , Sa c-
ketts Ha rbor, New Yo rk . The dedicatory broa dcast was pre-
sented over this stati on and the Blue Netw ork on 20 Decemb er
19 4
1. Dunham
54
ma de contact with the US netvwr ks and was
i
.
'
g ven , for carr�er current rebroa dca st , instantaneous
transcriptions of desired programs . One of the original
AFRS pa tterns of program dissemina tion evolve d from this
USO activity. Also from this activity Lewi s drevv ex per-
ience , equipme nt , and an important mem ber of' hi s staff .
Shortly &fter i.ev ,ris wa s c owmis sioned in 1i1ay 19 42, Dunham
55
turned over the USO carrie r current equipme nt to the SSD ,
and -dork was em ployed as a "civilian cons ultant to the
Secretar y of ,.' ar " to assist the reborn Radio ction.
5 2
]1
ra nkl in Dunham to T. s. DeLay, Jr., 6 April
19 50, p. l.
53
Martin H. Work , 19 June 19 50.
54
Franklin Vunham to T. s. DeLay , Jr., 6 April
19 50' p. l.
55
Loc . cit .
58
i
�
.::.
z
c� 2
1- ��
:5
V)
s �
�
z
FIGURE 2
A USO Carrier Current Sta tio n.
59
Bure1 2i U 2!, Publ ic Relat ions activities. The BPR,
ori ginally the Press Section of the Anny Inte lligence Divi
sion , was est abl i shed during the early months of 1941 by
11'la jor General R. C. Richar dson. In January of that year E.
lvl . Kirby, a former WSM , Na sh vil le , Tennessee , executive and
a :1 iash ington N .. AB public relat ions speci ali st, was commi s-
M,. jor-
sioned (l!�l . QilMi!W. to take charge of the radi o activit ies of the
Bureau . Colo nel Melvin iiill iamson ,
56
a wartime member
of the BPR , bel ieved tha t Hi charqson had know n Kirby in
Na sh vi ll e and , notic ing Ki rby in the ';i ashington pic ture,
thought that hi s talen ts might be of assistance to the
aureau 's activ ities. ·, nll iams on said that Ki rby's duties
were to cle ar .l ar Department scri1:1ts fo r broa dcasti ng and
to se nd out radio public ity relea ses . He was the BPR li ai
son vd th the broadca sting industry.
The previously mentio ned Boll in request in 1941 for
troop. broadcasts to Ic eland
5 7
had been routed to the �ISD,
but the Radio Section of that agency di d no t feel it self
capa ble of accomplis hing the jo b . 5 8
The request then found
Radi o,
Notes,
1950.
56
Melvi n E. iiill iamso n , 24 UJ.ay 19 50.
5 ?
Suura, p. 39 .
5 8
E. Iv� . Ki rby and Jack w. Ha rris, Star Sp angl ed
1948 , pp . 5 2 f. ; Thoma s H. A. Levds ,
ili'S't ori cal
1 Nove mber 1944 , B.• £.• ; Robert J. Cole son, 28 .&:.lar ch
its way to Ki rby and became the impetu s fo r the en tire BPR
troop broadc ast pr og ram . Rob ert J. Cole son,
59
the BPR
Radi o Pro duction Chief , stated that by Ifl.Elrc h 1941, Kirby
had built a full ra dio depa rt me nt and the Bureau wa s ab le
to fill the request with ease . Befor e the 1941 foot ba ll
seaso n be gan, weekly spor t scasts were be ing short- waved to
the troo ps . Ted Husing and Bill St ern alterna ted as an-
noun cers. The se programs were br oadcast live and tran-
6 0
scribe d for later rele ase at mo re conv enien t lis tening
times . Cole so n
6 0
repo rted that the follow ing tr oop pr ograms
were broa d cast :
1. "News
6
fro m Home , n a we ekly ho me -t ovm news pr o
gram .
2. "Ringside Seat
J
" a weekly Sl JOrts ro undu
p
.
62
(Thi s was the rlu sing-3t ern snow. )
3
. '1Football Rebr oc: :d casts."
5 9
Rober t J. Cole so n , 28 March 1950.
60
Loc . cit .
61
Robert J. Cole son , 28 March 1950, re por te d that
the BPR origin ated this show and turne d it ov er to the OHI.
John Houseman ,
3
August 1950 , state d that he be li ev ed that
the show v.,ra s originated by the O'NI at the reque st of !Mlli,
the SSD GI news weekly .
62
Gl enn 7/he at on , in his le tter to
T
homa s H. A.
Lewis, 2
3
Nov ember 1942, calle d this show "Gra nd stand Seat ."
Pe rhap s seve ral title s were used during th ese early days
of \'/orld ila r II .
4. "Command Performanc e," a weekly variety sh ow. 63
"Command Performanc e" wa s the mos t imp ort ant troop
pro gram de ve loped by the BPR. Jus t be fore "Pear l r�rb or"
Glenn ',lh eaton , a rad io wri t er for the BPR , had been pl an-
ning a se rie s of mus ical shows as sem bl e d from ph ono grap h
recor ds and vo ice trac ks es peci al ly tran s.cribed by band
...
61
leaders and voc alists.
64
dbe aton , with the rest of the BPR
sta ff , conce ived the idea of a talent-loaded pr ogram
answ ering oversea s requests. There was consider able con-
trov ersy concer ning the origination of the idea of the pr o-
gram ; hCJI Never, it is ge ne ra lly conceded that at leas t the
title "Command Performan ce " was born in the thinking of
'1lhe aton . During the days imme diatel y following "Pea rl
Harbor" ar ra nge me nt s we re made for pr oducing, recor ding,
and distri buting the pr ogr am. The first show was broadc &st
from tran scri ption 1 March 1942 on ele ven sh ort-·wave sta
tion s in the ea ste rn Unit ed States.
65
Th e first br oadc ast
of the pr ogram from the -/J est Coa st app ears to have occu rred
on KGEI 29 May 1942. The ear ly releas es were cut on glass -
based acet ate discs and were not released on · pr es s ings.
63
Supr a, p. 20 .
64
Rober t J. Coleson, 28 1ia rch 1950.
65
Glenn .iheaton to Thoma s E. • .A. Lewis, G3 Novem ber
1942 , P• 1.
6
2
In Ap ril 19
4
2 it wa s decided to move the weekly
product ion of "Command Performa nce" to th e Hol lywood are a
in order to make us e of tba t greater ta lent re servo ir .
L
e
1·:
is
66 repo rte d that Co le so n aske d at tba t time th at Lev ds
as sist in lining up tal ent ; he also re porte d th at distri-
bution was being rr.a de thro ugh the OHI . The fir st Ho llywo od
production of the sh ow took place 12 April 194 2. After
thet time , nee rly eve ry re cording session INB.S held in Los
' 1
6
7
..-:.nge es.
Tal ent procurement fo r th e show wa s arranged through
the Holl yv rood Vic tory Commi ttee , an indus try-\�de agency
that had be en previously established to process war act ivi ty
re quests fo r gratis stella r appearances . Th e tal ent con-
sumption of this program appeared to have been dire ctly re
sponsibl e fo r late r J� 'RS-BPR relat ionships which continu
ally affecte d th e developm ent and op erat io n of Ali'RS . fJ.' he se
re la ti onships are explained la ter in this study in con
junction with th e unfoldment of appro pria te AFRS- BPR prob-
lems .
66
'rho ma s H. A. Levds, Historic al Notes , 1 November
194
4
, !! ·
E. ·
6
7
"Command Perf oman ce n continued as a weekly tl'RS
production during the re sear ch and v: riting of this study .
Eowe ver , certain modifi cations vre re mad e in the show .
Al as kan stat ion activi ty . It we. s the devel opment
63
of unoffi c ial Army radi o activities that most co rre ctly
fore shadowed the eventual lJi'RS pattern of program dis tri
bution. Thi s came as a nc::t ural out growth of' the nee d whi ch
��ra s 1ua nife sted in on e of the mo st isola ted se rv ic e st at ion
areas : i:t.. la ska.
At .Fo rt Greely, Kodiak, Captain Daniel .L.: . Eous e
succeeded in putting a low-p owered st at ion on the air in
December 19 41 . Short-vmve recep tion in that area was
almo st nonexiste nt . The mo rale probl ems of this uncomfo rt
able command were of a burning conc ern . Ini �iat ion of
broadmisting was a ma jor cont ribution t ow& rd solut ion of
those probl ems. Broa dcasti ng equi.pme nt was obta ine d from
jun ked Si gnal Corps rts and ot he r radi o rm teri a.l that
a1'pe ared to hav e no t· urther va lue . Pro grami ng wa s atta ined
through the ingenuity of House an d his operators. rl' he Gis
:. rote, prod� ed , e. nd acted in their own bro adc asts on off
duty tL ;.e . Av ailable phonograph records were dona ted to
the st ation by people in th e Kodia k area. By the Sp ring
1942 it app eared the.t ne&rly al l existin g sou rces of pro
gram . mat erial had been exhau sted . The rescurc eful soldiers
then turned to the entertainment industry for assistan c e.
Letters were dis patched to Hollywood stars reque stin g re
corded pr ograms of any nat ure . The se perso ns, desi ring to
6 4
be of ass is tan ce , gath e red tra ns cript ion s and pa cka ged them
for shipm ent to Ala ska . ho wever, th e l:j ostc:d off i cials
informed the contribut ors that be c aus e of security regula -
ti on s the y wo uld be una bl e to send tra nscripti ons outside
the cont ine nt al lL2i ts of' the Un it ed States . The story is
finished in � Sp angl ed Rad io as follows :
••• Undaunt ed, the actors ca lled .·ia shing ton and
asked the �;ar Dep art n�ent fo r pe nnis si on to ship
their programs to � Army broa dca st ing sta tion
in Alaska .
This was :·;as hing ton's first inkl ing tbat th e
Army owned a broa dcas ting statio n in Alask a
. 6 8
Other report s
6 9
revealed that a se cond J:.. la skan
stati on al so star t ed broa dcast ing in De cemb er 1941. This
wa s a ca rrier current type of transmis sion developed by the
nome Ci vilian Defens e Commi ssion to buil d morale and fo r
civilian protection . By mea ns of it the civil ian po:tml ation
coul d be qui ckly conta cted in case of bomb ings or other
emergen c ie s. Pa rts for th e ste.tion "ve re obta ined fr om loc al
sources an d the money wa s ra ised through a be nefi t dan ce
of the Nome home Arts Club for which th e loc al Indian
populetion is reported to have turn e d out in full force.
68
E .
M •
.
Ki rby and Ja ck �� .
Radi o,
1
948, p. 55 .
6
9
Air Transpo rt Command ,
lic itz Rel ea se,_ 24 Ja nua ry
1
945,
Artie , 11 .b.l as ka �' pp . 48 fi' . ,
Ha rri s, � Spang le d
•
146 9 .AJ,JT ba se Unit, Fub-
5 pp . ; "The Voice of' the
November 1944 .
65
The first loc ation of the Nome statio n was in a
sch oolhouse. Later the stati on was mov ed to the City Hall
abov e th e ],ire Stat ion . The _pro gra ming consisted of do mt ed
pho no grarJ h records, broo.d cast continuous ly exc ep t fo r occa
sional defe nse announ cem ents. Volunteer operat ors kept th e
station on the air until Au gus t 1942 vv hen two enl is ted men
from the local �ir Ba se were detai l ed to assist. The radio
signal wa s ca rrie d to the home s of �orne and the ne arby Base
by means of the el ectric pa ,: .rer line s . .uuri ng Nov em be r 1
9
44
the stetion was trans fe rred to the Se rvi ce Club of the Ba se
and act ually put on the ai r as an Army broadcast tra nsm it
ter .
The fo re runne rs of' ll.JfRS not di re ctly conne cted wi th
the r.:sn an d it s succe ssors are lis ted as fo ll ows :
{1) Ea rly short-Vv'8.Ve broad casts , (2) CI.A.A bro ad
cas ts , (3) COI-m/ I broadca sts, (4 ) USO acti vit ie s, (5) BPR
broadca sts, and (6) b.la skan sta tion ac t ivit ie s. The
origins of the Hosp it al Dis tribut ion Sys tem, v1 hic h ar e
describ ed later in the st udy, were no t consi dere d as be
longing to tbis list.
Poss ibly the li st is not co mp lete, but it is a
comp ilati on of all the kn ovvn or sugge ste d forer unners dis
covere d by this res earch.
III. :FOUJ:Wll �G OJ! J>.B RS
In this secti on the var i ous agencies an d fo rces
offi c ia lly connected wi th the de velo pment of A.l:TLS ar e re-
66
ported . Chronol ogic ally speakin g, the f' ollo. Yi ng activi ties
be gan be for e thos e reported in the preceding se cti on and
de vel op ed concurrently v1it h them .
Developmen t 2£ � Mo ral e Service Di vi si on . The
spec ia l int erests of Major Ge ne re.l Edward L. l.Iun son, a
med ic al of fi ce r, led to his appoi ntment as head of th e
1.: orale Bran ch of the .hrmy duri ng the fi nal days of -,,-orld
,, r I
70
na • hiun son , consi dere d an authori ty on mor ale , was
la ter a con sultant to Gen e ral George C. rs hall , a 1 though
hi s ,/orld -�lar I wo rk as head of the Branch mai nly co nsi sted
of inve st ig atio n and ex })erim en tatio n. J.iovve ver , as a res ul t
of thi s work he publ is hed his gu id e book , The iv.�.an age ment of
�.Ien , in 1921 . 'rhi s book was be liev e d by .bu dge
7
1
to ha ve
es tabl is hed ��un son as the prophe t an d d esigfl er of the
moral e ac ti vi ties kn own during .iorl d Ti.-ar II even thou gh
hi s work and tllin king appec.re d to be knm'J -n by re lat ively
few �far Depa rtme nt of' fici als.
?0
Russel o • .bu dge, "Why? The Story of Inf orm at io n
in th e li.Uler ica n Army , '1 The Armo red Cava lr y Journal , 59 :51,
hia y- June, 1950 .
? 1
Lo c . cit .
-
The first tro op radio ac tivi tie s d co ve re d were
broad casts made by Navy Lieutenant -J ial ter Lemm on for the
.Amer ica n tro ops stationed in .Fra nc e du rin g the 1919 Pari s
Peace Conferenc e. Role , in hi s boo k Radi o Goe s to 'ila r
7 2
===- .__._.. ---- _,
repo rte d that Presiden t -�· iood row .dls on md wi th him in
Pari s a "radio aJ:l parat us ." 'i'ihen thi s "a pparet us " was no t
5
7
in us e fo r offici al bu siness , Lemmon , wi th others, pr oduced
programs for the troops stati oned in ]!·ran ee . The powers of
radio to ass ist in t ern a tiona! und erstand ing wer e brought to
the at tention of the Pre side nt at tLi s tin::.e .
7
3 How ever , no
fu rther menti on of radio as a troo p morale agency was found .
At the con c lu sion of 'iio rl d ·:lar I, Raymond .b. :Jfo s-
dick , Cha irman of the Co mmi ss ion on T raining Cam p Ac tivi
ties , made a repo rt to Gene ral Jo hn J. Per shing an d Secre
tary of 'iiar l'i ewt on D • .Da ker .7
4
Tti s Commis s ion hE.d ac ted as
co ord ina tor fo r th e wo rk of the va ri ou s ci vilia n agencie s
7 2
Charles J. hole , Redic �!£� ' 19
4 2
,p.
2
5
4
.
7 3 Role , loc . ci t., :fu rther reporte d the t Lemmon
wa s able to obta �n PresT den t Hil son's pro :nis e that the
United States woul d inv e stigate the use of radi o as an
instrumen ta li ty of in t ern::ct ional inf 'onnc:. tio n . Regre ttabl y,
vi ilson did not find time to co mp ly wi th this pro mi se . Iiad
this been ac co mpli she d the ,'/o rld -, iar II short- wave pic ture
might hav e been co nsi derably altere d in fav or of t he United
Sta tes ' war effort .
7
4
.l:fran cis I\:epp el to T. S. DeLay , Jr. , 30 June
1950, p. 1.
that sp onsored ent ertainm ent and educati onal programs fo r
the soldiers . It was evident that the Commiss ion and the
68
morale agencies of th e 1-.. rmy had not integra te d their work .
The repo rt suggested tbe. t, in case of a fu ture ·wa r, the
Army should develop within itsel f a moral e ag ency and a
civilian n.:.or ale commi tte e which, fr om the fi rst, would
joint ly coordinat e the various ci vilian activities wi th
each other and with the projects of the Army. In accepting
this report, the J>. rmy created �n Educa tion and RecreE,tion
branch on 1 Novemb er 1919 . "By 192 2 it bad disappea red and
its fu ncti ons be came a part of the 'tiel fa re bra nch ·whi ch
al so assum ed rel igious and rec reational fun cti ons
. rt
?
5
howeve r, the Army pr ove d tba t it had not fo rgotten
the wo rk and exper ience of �.f unson and ..l!o sdick. In it s 1939
�·��obili zat ion Regulations a ,Pr ovisi on wa s rra de fo r the
establi shment of the sugge ste d guidance committee .
?
6 ]'
ur
the rmore , on 20 July 1940 As sistan t Adj utant Gene ral Jame s
A. Ulio vvas assigned the tc. sk of developing a Morale .Oren ch
7
5
Russel o. :Fudge , "' Nhy? The Story of Inf ormtio n
in the American i>X my
, 11
The ;: .. rmored Cavalry Journal, 59:5 1,
r.:ay- June, 195 0 . Thi s report doe s not give exact terminol
ogy and exact defi nit ion of mission .
76 .Fra ncis Keppel to T. s. DeLay, Jr. , 30 June 1950 ,
p. 1.
69
in add it i on to his ot he r du t ies.
77
.An early afi 'icer in
thi s branc h was Colonel E. Lym.on 1� un son, Jr. , a West Point
graduc: ,te and the son of the ai'orementi oned Ch ie f of the
�'/orld �·iar I .i.,lo rale .ora nch.
78
It is po ssible tha t su b stantial
portions of' credit for deve loping ,;orld Wa r II morale serv-
ices may be ass igned to t.:.J.is man. }fl orence Jill derson Rick
ard , an ea rly worker in the Arm y' s G- 2 Of fi c e of Spe cia l
Study , reporte d tht:t t in 19 41 J:.:Iun son calle�d man y ne. ti onally
knovm persons to Ja sh ingto n fo r ta lk s abou t pos sible soldier
r:1oral e activities.
7 9
She believed thb t his only ac tu al
du ty was to employ women as hos tesses fo r th e au thorized
Service Clu bs, yet he wa s exha us ti vely e:x;pl oring ev ery ot her
fie ld of activit y that mi ght poss ibl y be of assista nce .
lie envi sioned a la rge , ful ly deve lope d morale progra m up on
v.r hi ch the Army vr ou ld ev entually exp end a great deal of
ef fo rt, manp ovrer, an d money.
La te in 1940 , Ulio ca lle d a second man into hi s
77
Ru ssel o • ..t!u dge, u-Hhy? The .St ory of Inf ormatio n
in the Amer ican .A.rmy , n The Armored Cav alry Jour nal , 59 :52,
11 ay-June , 19 50 .
78
J:!l orenc e .A.nd.e r son Rickard,
7
Ap ril 19 50 .
7 9
70
if.;.or al e Br anc h to. devel op ra di o pl ans . 80
Gord on B. ittenma r k,
a ·,;ashington, D. c. , disc jo c key , held a Nati onal Guard
rank of Captain . Hi ttenma rk desi r ed to enter �cl cti ve serv -
ice, and throu gh appe al to an Ass istan t Secre tary of 'Nar
he obtained his ca 11 . 81
Ulio knev1 of liit ten rnar k's ac tiv-
ity an d believed that this man might be of as sistance to
the mor ale pr ogram. lie vms designated Head of t ffi Radio
Sect ion of the .i!ilor al e .or anch . ifudge re po rte d his duties
as fo llow s :
• • • pro vidin g publ ic speakers, writing and
re vewing speec hes ; pr epar ing ll OSter s, ca rtoo ns ,
and develo ping sl ogans ; develo p ing and man aging
ra dio pr ogra ms , rc .di o plays; handl ing rna tters
per tain ing to ra dio ent er ta inrr eq t ; Soldi e r-i n
Camp , and ca mp radi o rece ption
. 0
2
Hittenmar k' s ma in ac can plisb ment s app eared to be :
1. The Hed, 'Nhite, and .!:ilue Ne t'.; vo rk , a pro motional
scheme and song . Commerc ial br oad cast ers wit h
stations nea r troo p conce ntr ations were enco ur
aged to pr e sent pr ogra ms espec ial ly fo r th e se
tro ops. Hittenmarl c want ed his song
"
Red, �'i'hite ,
and .Olue Net · No rk" used in co nn ecti on with the
pro gra ms . 8
3
80
"Portab le Radi o-Phon ograp h-Lib rary Kit is Devel
oped for 1'-u: my Tr oop s .£1.-b rca d, " Broa dc & sting 12:49, 4 h:ay 1942.
8
1 Charl es A. Hend erso n, 9 Aug us t 1950.
82
Russel Cli ver .trudge, "The l:.. rrae d .f orc es Radio
Se rv ic e, " 1949 , p. 10.
83
Marvin Young , 30 �vl arch 1950 ; (C. Courte nay Savage J,
his to r ic al Notes , Novem ber 1944 , ,g • .E.•
2. A pr opo sed ser ies of carr ier cur re nt sta t ions
at Army camps loc ated in a
S
ea s with littl e or
no ra di o signal re ception.
4 These we re to be
the st:> tions of the "Red , �,i hite , an d .dl ue Net
wor k. "
3. The .Dud dy Kit, develo ped with Irvi ng L •. F'ogel.85
Ulio8
6
rep ort e d that the e.ctivit s of Hit tenma rk
we re main ly of a publi c relat ions nature and th at he was
7
1
sele cted be cause of hi s pr ominence in th e ·�·iashington br oa d-
ca st ing .Jic ture . i.lthough ther e is no rec ord of ea rl y
Hi ttenra. ark troo p br oadcasts , .F' Udge87 rep or ted thi s act ivity
wa s the fir st Army-p lanne d troop ra dio p ram. It was
intere sting to note that Fii ttenma rk had alre ad y be gun his
work when Boll en' s tro op ra di o re q_ue st fr om Ic eland wa s
sent to the Morale .Dr anch . Hitte nma rk did not rec o gnize
compliance with this overs ea s req uest as a part of his dut y
or a valid op_p or tWlit y to expand his ac t ivi ties , yet, out
of this re q_ue st deve loped one of the :oo st importan t fo re -
run ners of i..ti'RS , "Comma nd rforman ce."
8
4
(c . Court enay Savage }, Hi st or ical Notes, Nov ember
19
44
, £• J2.• ; Infra , .P.P • 9 3
ff.
85
Infra , p. 77 .
8
6
J
. A. Ulio to T. s. DeLay , Jr . , 6
J
uly 19
5
0,
.P. 1.
87
Rus sell Oliver :Fud ge , 11 The Arme d Jr orc es Servi ce , n
19 49 , .P· 10 .
7 2
About Jul y 19
4
1 the l.l orale Branc h was re des ig nate d
the i:lore le Ser vic e Div i si on and it s st aff and acti v it ie s
were enlarged .
Dur in g the s umm er months of 1941 the Army , in it s
expa ndi ng mobil izat ion pr oce sses, found its elf saddle d wit h
ser io us pr oblems of mora le . Possi bly the Jul y ..:Jlo ral e Ser v-
ic e Di vi si on de sig na ti on, together wi th it s expan d ed sta ff
and act iviti e s, wa s a re s ul t of ' th is fo. cto r . Rick ar d
88
repor te d sever al in ves ti gati ons of th e pr oblem made by th e
G-2 Offic e of Speci al St udy , a psychologic al se ct ion . She
especi ally emphasize d a st udy made in July at Camp Lee ,
Vi rg in ia, by Mun son of the i:ISD and seve r al G-2 psycholo
gi sts . Among the latter were Dr . Edwin R. Gut her ey, of the
Uni ve rsity of ·:;ashin gton, and Dr . P..l len L. Edvre.rd s, of
I�ort hvtest ern Uni versi ty. .i:rud ge
89
appeared to beli eve tha t
88
Florence And er son Ri c kar d, 7 April 19 50 .
89
Rus sel 0. Jfudge, "Why? The Stor y of Inform a ti on
in the America n ..:;.rmy ," � J\.rmored Cav alry Journa l, 59 :1 8,
1i arch -apr il 1950 . (.tr ud ge adds to this re por t o. s follo ws :
Ar thur Hays Sul zberg er, pu blis her of th e � Yor k Ti mes, as
a re sult of the Li f e ar ti cle ma de e. furth er st udy of the
morale si tuatio n:--In a following speech to the J: .. rmy Inf or
mE ttio n .Sch oo l Su lzberge r said th at th e Lif e artic le wa s a
ns und ay Schoo l ve rs io n" of th e pro blem. ---ne ha d sent the
i� ew Yor k Ti me s study to Pres id en t Roosev elt and Genera l
I:Ia"rs1iaiT. And, as a res ult , I.ia rs hall h�.d the fi rs t "Ori en
tat ion" pr ogra m developed by th e BPR. Thi s earl ies t prog ram
went into effect on 15 Dec ember 19 41. }
?3
a morale study reporte d in � mag az ine, 18 J.� ugus t 1941 ,
exert ed consi derable press ure on the .;ar D epe. rtm.en t and le d
to the appoin tment or :C're de rick Osborn as he ad of the
fu rt he r exp and ed rv;.sn . 9
0 The gene rel con cl u sion s of the se
stu dies sub stan t iate d th e know le dge that mo ral e in th e Arm y
v: as , ind eed, very low.
Jo int ��m y-Navy Committee .2£ -� /elfa re � Recre at ion •
.b..s he.s been devel oped earl ie r in th is chapter , the 21
Oct ober 1
9
3
9
Mobil izatio n Regul ati ons Lc lu ded a se ction
deal in g with mo ral e poli cies. One of th e agenc i es to be
devel oped wa s a civilia n advisory an d co ordinat ing commit-
tee . Kepp el define d tt� is commi tte e as fo ll ows :
••• vli thin th e 'Na r Dep artme nt to advise on the
esta blis hment of civili an gr oup s to ca re fo r th e
ent erta inment of troops wl 1ile of f- duty and to
9
0 Thi s study wa s DE de at a singl e_ cam p and it s
resul t s were ass um.ed to be t ypicr ti for a 11 camps . The
writ er stre ssed the fa ct th.&t th is moral e probl em wa s o·ne
of a "Civi lia n --...nn. y" instead of' on e th c,t mi ght be enc oun
te re d vfith career sol diers. by impli cation it fu rthe r
st ren gthened the pl ace of im11or tznc e la ter assigned to th e
media of n:a ss communic c:,t ions . i>.l tho ugh the reader na y tend
to doubt th e streng th of a singl e P:agazine art icle in in
flue nc in g the .: ar Dev rtm en t, it shoul d be re mem bered that ·
govern ment e.l e:. cies Emd ad':'l. ini st r,::; .t ors were con s tantl y
attun e d to rubl ic opinion , en d th e lsr ge cir culet i on of
this )a rt icula r n::. agazine could ec: .sil y cause ci vil ian pres
sure on the depL rtme nt . Life la ter rej_ )o rte d many rr Le tter s
to tile J:;d itOI'" regarding tl li s rti cl e on d too k credit to
itself for O:�;born ' s a� point� nent Lnd e:X: .J&ns ion af' th e _.'" sD .
provide liais on between the mil it :::; ry and th e
civ il ia n groups.
91
Keppel repo rte d that in 1940 , when Secre tary of o.ar henr y
74
1. Stir :1pson and Gene ral l.l ar shal l de ci ded it was t i.me to set
up the corr ...m it tee , the :F ede ral Secur ity Age ncy , under Paul
L:cNutt , an d the Navy de sir ed to pa rt icip ete. J!' or thi s
reason the join t co!lli!l. itte e we. s developed as reporte d in the
succeedi ng l;l ob ili zati on Regulatio ns.
The JJ�C vv-a s establ i she d lo.t e in 1940 or in Janua ry
19 41 vdth .ltr ederick Osborn as the chairm an . Os born bad
been a memb er of the Selective Service Ad vi so ry Corr �i tt ee
for -, lorld -.iar II and wa s a lif e-long fri end of Preside nt
Roosevelt . -.iork v:i th the Hed eros s in .J:f'r anc e during �lorld
.iar I l'!l&de him a logi cal sele cti on f'or this ne w comrnitt ee.
Roosevelt made the a1 Jpo in tmen t with the app roval of Navy
Secrete.ry ·;iill ia m :B 'ranklin Knox , li1cNut t, St im ps on , and
:,�e.r shall . Othe r me mb er s of the comrni tt ee came from the mil-
itary servi ce s an d ci vi lia n welfare and re searc h agencies . 92
91
.Fra nci s .i(e j_Jp el to T. S. DeLay , Jr ., 3
0
June 1950,
p. 1.
9
2
No hi sto ry of' the J)>.L"JC vva s di scovered. 'The
foll m vin g mem bershi p 1 1::; t wa s found on th e lett er he ad of
Fo vvler V. Ha rper to ThoJTIE.. s E.. A. Lewis , 4 I • .ia y 194 2 .
:B'o wler V. Harper , Ac ti ng Chai rman .
( Prof'essor of Law at
Indi ana Uni versit y and me m ber of the gen eral coun ci l
of the ] edera:l Securi ty .Agenc y . )
(
Cont in ued on the next page.
)
7 5
Off ices were es tabli shed in a .iar Depc:· rt nen t bui ld-
ing at 19th and "D" Stre et s in v ashingt on , D. c. , and the
Comrni ttee undertook its job of st imula ting and coor dina ting
civilian and ser vi ce moral e ac tivities. Since the Commit-
tee was an of f ic ial a ncy it wa s decided that it should
have no operat ional funct ions. It s major pr oj ect wa s to
ally several agenci es as the uso .
9
3 Act ual ly thi s work
took a co mpc: ra ti vely shor t time. JJ' ter it wa s fi nishe d the
Sheldon Cla rk , Vice Chai r man . (Oil exe cu tive and member
of the Illi noi s State Athletic Commi ss ion.)
'/Jayne Coy . (Assi stant admini strator of the J:i eder al
Se curit y Agency. )
Clar enc e Dykstr a . (Presi dent of the Univers ity of dis
con sin. }
Raymond .b. J:o sdi c k. (Member of the i�rmy 's .iorl d ii ar I
morale co mmi ssion and Pr es id ent of the hoch:ef elle r
i: oundation . )
l!'re d .. K. b.oeh l er . (Dir ector of the I.m eri can Publ ic
.ielf ar e Associat ion. )
N. D. Jay . (Banker and executive of the Amer ica n Red
Cr oss. )
Hob ert E. She rwoo d. ( COI- OYii staff member and play
wr ight. )
Harpe r Sibley, (Agri cult ura list and executive of v1e lfare
agencies . )
Charles P. Taft . {La·w yer and sta ff r:lem b er of the .Be deral
�e curity Agenc y. )
Channing Tobias . (Execu tive o1' we1t 'a 1·e agenc ies. )
Samuel E. l.l. Cro cke r, Executive Direc tor . (Psyc hologist.)
Jrr anc is Keppel , Secre tary . (Educ ator. )
Col . Livingston ', fa tro us , USA .
Lt . Col . ki. . • 1Iontgomery , USA.
Lt . Col . :b' . E. Partr idge , USA.
Capt • .H' or re st J. Lake , USN .
Cmdr • .: :.. ustin K. Doyle, USN .
Cmdr . Jo hn L. Reynolds , USN .
;:;;. aj . David 3. Barry , USU.LC .
9
3 Supr a, p. 54 .
76
Commi tt ee turne d its at t en t ion toJ'V ard the acti vitie s of the
mi li tary . Keppel reported the me thod as fo ll ows :
• • • 'rhe te chnique used was to stimula te the
mil itary thin ki ng in any way po ssible . In prac tice,
one o 1' the mo st successful technique s wa s tha t of
appo inting advisory commit tees of wel l known and
influential civilians to conf er vvi th the mi lit ary
authorities , who were in many cases ama t eurs at
th e jobs to vvhic h they were assigne d in � �ucation,
ente rtainment, recreati on, an d the like .
During the last fe w da ys of August 19 41 J.AN C Cha irman
Osborn was commis sioned Brigadier Gene ral and appointed
Chief of the Morale Se rvice Divisi on in pla ce of Ul io . In
January 1942, Osborn cha nged th e name of the divi sion to
the Spec ial Service s Branch . In July 1942 it v.: as redesig-
nated the Special Service s Divi s ion of th e .Army Service
:Forces . E'ran the beginning of th is job , Osborn devel ope d
hi s program by coll ecting a staf f of commi ss ioned civilian
sp ec ialists to head the expand ing mo rele ac ti viti es . A
large pe rcen tage of these men came from JiU\0 subco mmi ttees .
r.�un son wa s pla ced in char ge of inf oro o.tioru: l.l ac tivities.
;,.rth ur l!'ar l mv , from the San l!"ra ncisco af'f ice of the J •
. Ja lt er Thomp son Advertising Age ncy, and a ma:n .ber of on e of
th e subcommi ttees, wa s comm iss io ned and mad e r.:..un son's
94
J.i'ra ncis Keppel to T. s. DeLay, Jr . , 30 J-une 1950 ,
p. 2.
77
ass i stant .
95
In th e re gula r op era t ion of tt.e �ia r Depa rtment it
'iJa S dif ficul t to fi nd a so urce of fu nds for act i vi tie s tha t
had no t been es tabl is he d or anti ci pated at th e ti me the
budge t was prep are d. In 1942 thi s problem was espe cia lly
diff i cult for the SSD . Keppe l sta ted
96
that durin g the
earl y mon ths of the operatio n the JJ J\I C vva s able to secure a
grant of �100 ,000 from the Carnegie Corp o rati on fo r pur
pose s vv- hi ch we re spec ified in th e mos t gene ral term s.
Thes e fund s were used to sti mula te the deve lopme nt of the
new SSD acti v itie s .
Buddy Kit . 9 7
lioia jor Gordon Hi ttenma rk , th e fi rst
lliSD rad io Chief , concei ved hi s .bud dy Kit plan in the lt'all
95
Bart on A. Stebb in s, 2 ;;.u gust 1950, sta te d that
.lt'arl ow was responsi ble for the basi c planning of the inf o r
mati ona l acti vi ti es . St ebb in s was one of the Ab'R .S ",ia sh
in gton repres ent atives. However , Paul G. Hor gan , 9 Au gust
1950, be liev ed that th e orig inal Ii:.:D idea s be long ed jo in tly
to Osbo rn and l.iunson, Jr. The .l:!o sdic k rep ort and the
I.�un son, Sr . , book we re bot h undoubtedly knov vn , but Hor gan
did not belie ve that they were the ac tual source of the
id eas . He felt tha t lv:lun son, Sr. , probc: �bly se t forth the
IED philo sophy .
9 6
Francis Keppel to T. s. De Lay , Jr. , 30 Jun e 1950 ,
p. 3 0
9 7
..i' ill elabo rate color mult ig raphed pre se ntr. ti on of
the plan vra s fo und in th e fi le s of E·og el . l.ios t of th e
r:: Jat er llil dealt vJ it h tra ns cri_;Jti ons and th e ir supe riori ty to
phonograph re cords for thi s certain job. J.-. plan was sug
gested for rjlaying the tr en ;:; cri _;; Jti ons in & rc.. di o pro gram
IilEJme r. Hov,r ever , no ev i denc e of it s a _py lic at ion appe c:..re d.
J'l
1941 . 'I' hi s vm s to be a ph ono g!" dph machi ne packaged and
can ple te ·.v ith re cord s . 98
Ir ving L. Fog el ,
99
a Holl yvvoo d
?8
re co rdi ng specialist, v;as appointed a cons ul tant of' the lES D
in Janua.ry 1942 to assi st the devel opme nt of the pr oject.
The kit was deve lo ped by Hitte nmark and l!o gel under a gr ant
of th e Hew York Car negie Corpo r ation . It was rep ort e d as
foll ov; s by the Commi ttee of Trus tees on Defens e ·. relf a re
and Hecr o; tion E::t.. -pe r imen t al Pr ograms , th e adm. inistr ator of
th e ilOO ,OOO Car negie grant :
In ear ly J'anuary 1942 it becane evid ent tba t
radi o pho nogra ph uni t s to accompan y troops ov ers ea s
vm uld be an essential par t of' mor ale ac t i vi ties.
The J.tJW Subcoiillai ttee on J:.iu si c re que ste d tl le sum of
��30 0. 00 v1.hi ch w·a s gr anted by th e Cbe ir man on his
own author ity , to pr epare an especial ly constr ucted
mo del , str ongly built and with sh ort and lo ng wave
rece pt ion , able to operate both on re gular cur ren t
and with batteri e s, and wi th cert a in otter spec ial
features . As a res ul t of th is mo del which Vv as furthe r
tested v1 hen comple ted, the .h.rmy has pur cha sed ver y
large num bers of simila r units and is tod ay sh ipping
them to over seas t roo ps. lOO
rr he comp onents of th e B Kit , al l contained in one box, were
9
8
The ar t icl e "Port able Radi o-Pho nograph- Library
Kit is Develo ped for Army Troop s Abroa d, " Broo .dcasting,
12:4 9 , 4 I.;Ia y 1942, states th at kits v,re re sh i1 )ped abr oad
before npeEcrl Ea rbor ." ]'ogel , ? July 1950 , steted th at
Hi tt enma rk ha d a supply of ?
8
/33 1/3 RH.:I pl E,yback mach ines
on han d befor e :Fogel 's arr i v in ·,la shi ng ten .
99
Irving L. Fogel , ? July 1950 .
100
Rev ort of Committee 2.£ rr rus tees 2.E:. Defense �
� � Hecr e ation Ex peri mental Pro g!" dms , 1 hiay 1942, P• 4.
as f' oll mvs :
1
0
1
1. Portabl e long an d snort -wave AC/ DC/battery
re ce iver , inc ludi ng battery, extr a batt eries ,
anten nas , tubes , and extra tube s.
2. Hand wound 78
/
33 1
/
3 RPM turntab le wi th
acousti c and ele ctric pi ckups, and a supply
of' nee dles.
3. 48 current phonograph re cord s.
4. 25 one-half' hour tran scri pt io ns of' dome stic
comme rc i al br oa dc asts.
5 . 6 paper -back ed readi ng booJcs .
6. 7 harmonic as.
(
7.
)
ho. ic rophon e and two sm all speakers , to us e
kit as a publi c ad dre ss uni t . 10
2
79
The tv m-s peed play er and ra dio were comm on unit s in
the re cor di ng ind us try . The han dwound turn tabl e and the
acou st ic pi ckup were de ve lopm ent s natural to the in tended
fie ld appli c 2t ion of' the unit . The origi nal developme nt of
the plEn wa s found in the 33 1
/
3 P..Pl.i transc ripti on . ]'or
co nv enien ce in packaging C:tn d tra ns.;.Jorta ti on th e indu s tr y-
acc ept ed , six t een-inc h tra nt> cri 1Jti on was to o la rge . it' ur-
thermo re , th e usual trans cri pt ion vm s mad e of' l-s avy an d
101
R
adi o Sect io n , In struct ion s for � of ' Equipment ,
n. d. (.£. Spring 1942) , pp . 5 f.
102
The re were two ki ts; the b n.i t and the .b-1 Kit .
Irving L. :v·oge l, 7 Jul y 1950 , stat e d th at the two vv ere
id ent ic al except for the J?Ubl ic add res s aspect s of the B-1
Ki t.
80
fragil e sh ella c. F'ogel , under a se cond Carne gie Cor por a
ti on gran t of $400.00,
10
3
plan ne d a twelve-inch, vinyl it e
tr an sc ri pt ion with 156 groov es to th e inch whi c h vvcul d play
continuo usly for fift een minutes . Thi s wa s co nsi der ed an
ide al me thod of over coming th e ha nd icaps of the us ual
tra nscr iption . Use of vinyli te prod u ced a ligh t -v veig ht,
ne e.rl y un breakable tra nscr ip tion t hLt ·wo uld vvi ths tand
var iabl e over seas clima ti c cond itions
.
l04
An even gr e&ter pr oblem. wa s the ma tter of obta in in g
des ire d tran s crip tion s . The Radi o Section ha d no t· und s
th at c auld be expem ed for th em . Hitte nrna rk and :lfo ge 1, as
members of the ��ar Depsrt men t staff , did not be lie ve th at
they sh ould ask for gifts. However, .li'ogel turn e d ov er his
specifi cations to the 'Horl d Br ce.dca st ing Sys tem, a New York
tra nscri ption pr oduction co mpa ny , and expla ine d hi s pr ob
lem. The .� ·orl d company acted as an int erm edia ry for th e
J.rrn:y an d ci rc ular ize d th e va ri ous ad vertisi ng agen cie s an d
sp ons or s reg ard ing inc lu s ion of th eir pr ograms in th e .b
l0
3
Rep ort of Commi tt ee of Tru stees .Q!l Defens e �
�� Recr eation Expe r1 men t al Prog rams, 1 May 194 2, p. 4.
A re po rt of th 1s Commi tte e da te d 30 Jun e 194
3
states tmt
only �50.00 of th e gr an t was us ed.
104
Here , in ess enc e , was a for er unne r of th e rrLP "
re cord , although th ese tr r a.n scr ipt ions we re not cut by the
mi cr ogr ove process .
�·IGURE 3
The B Kit .
8
2
Ki ts .
10
5
Advantages to the adver tis ers we re obvi ous in a
co ntributio n to the war effort and a possi bility of keepin g
th e name of products and entertainers be fore the se rvic e
men . He re mi ght be the roots of co ntac ts that ev m tually
enabled AFRS to br oadcast the fi nes t domes tic progra ms
throughout the world .
l 0 6
Fogel
l 07
esti ma ted that the br oad-
cast in g ind us try donated over one mi ll ion of these twelv e-
inch, vin ylit e transcri pti ons.
It is imp ortant to note that these transcrip ti ons
were press ed exact ly as ai red. All commerci al announc e-
ments rema ine d intact .
The foll owing adve rti ser co mm it me nts for deli ve ry
of transcr ip tion s to the Radio Sectio n were found in the
AF RS fi les :
l0 8
Adve rti se r
Cit y Service
Coca Cola
�
Concert
Paus e that refreshe s
Num ber
2,000
1, 000
10
5
"
Radio Indus try Come s Thru Vii th Ideal Se rvic e
iv:en 's Ki t, " Radio Dail y, 19 : 1 and 6,
5
May 194 2 .
106
Thomas H. A. Lewi s, 22 Septem be r 19
5
0, th ought
thi s unli kely .
107
Irvin g L. li' ogel , 7 July 195 0.
1 °8
(
Irvin g L. lio gel ) , � Ki t Trans cri pt io n � ' n.
d. (.£• l•iay 19 42
) , p. 1.
(J-.dve rti ser)
]'i re stone
Johnson ·; ;ax
Lever Brot hers
" l't
" l't
Pepsodent
Pet 1:iilk
Ral ston Purina
i'lm . R. ', 'larne r
Vi/hi te Labs .
Sterl ing Prod .
Int . Sil ver
Kraft Cheese
P. Lori ll ard
(�)
Voice of l!'ir eston e
b'i bber McGee & Mol ly
Burns oc All en
Big Town
Lu:x: Theater
Bob Hop e
Sat. Ni t e Serenade
Tom i>'�i x
Gang .Ou ster s
Doubl e or Nothing
1\;.us ic Program s
Show
Bing Cros by
Old Gol d Program
(Number)
1, 000
1,000
5 to 6 thou
sand each
month
1,000
1,000 monthly
2, 000 monthly
1,000
1, 000
3,000 monthly
2, 000 monthly
2, 000
1, 000
The pe r sonn el concerne d vd th the Speci al Ser vi a e
Di vis io n 's Radi o Sectio n prio r to Lewi s ap peared to be
limi ted to Hi ttenmark , :bo gel , an d Cap tain vVilli am P. }J.ul
len , a publi c rela tio ns office r from the 29th Infan tr y ,
83
.for t George G. J:�;�e ad , Marylan d . Mul le n was brought to ·,va sh-
in gton to assis t the pr ogr - c.m p:r ior to 26 May 1942 . He had
been the commercia l manager and As sist&nt kanager of &ta
ti on WT.BO in Cumberland, Maryla nd .
Lewi s � � Rad io Sub c ommi ttee. The Mobil iza.tion
Regula ti ons , 12 Jun e 1942 , stat e the actual basis fo r
tr oop broadcasts sponsored by the War Departmen t :
The Chi ef of Sp ecia l Servic e is cha rged wi th :
{ a ) The operation in the ·r�ar Department of th os e
matters pertaining to recreati on and welf are and
other morale matters. • • •
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(b) Operat ing wi thin th e .iar Department a ser vi ce
fo r tbe pur ;x>se of dis semina tin g, to mil ita ry per
sonnel , in forn:at io n pe r ti nent to est ablis hi ng and
main ta ining a hig h st ate of .tno rale th rough th e medi a
of mot ion pic tur es, manu als , ra di o br oadcast in g
an d un of fic ia l and qu asi-offi cia l peri odi c als. I 09
l,.s was usual in th e early war period , the ac tu al rad io
di re ctiv e follo wed the in iti at io n of th e activ i ty .
Osbo
rn llO
st ated tha t Mun son, th e Chie f of th e
84
Infor, mat io n Br anch un der whose di re cti on the ra di o acti vi-
ties fell , ind ic ated that Hi tte :nn:a rk did no t have exp er i
ence or cont acts to de ve lop radi o a cti vi ty ar th e scope
that appeared to be necessar y ; namely
_
, "an at te mpt to re ach
Ameri can tro ops all ove r the worl d wi th ra di o news and
ente rt ain ment . n
ll1
Th ere fore , Os born st art ed 1 co ki ng f'or
a new man to he ad th e ra di o ac tivit i es . As was custo mar y,
he us ed the J.A.L'\l C proce dure of appoi nt in g a sub com mitt ee .
Bot h Ma jor Ma nn Holiner ,
ll2
late r pr ogram chi ef' of'
J.l'RS , and Lewi
s
ll
3
rep or ted t.ba t .Ba rl ow was appoi nted to
109
1 m, Mobilization Regula ti on !.-!Q. , 12 June 19 42 ,
p. 2.
110
I!'r ederick Osborn to T. S. DeLay , Jr. , 4 April
19 50 , p. 1.
111
Loc. ill•
11 £
Mann Holi ner, 13 Ap ri l 19 50.
11
3
Thomas H. A. Lewi s, 19 Jun e 1950 .
85
obta i n the new man . A Holly wo od man appeared to be desir-
able becaus e of th e probable re sultant cont acts wi th the
nati on's greates t reservoir of ente rta in ers . ll4
Ifa rlow
cont acted Dani el Danker, the Hollywo od repres ent &t i ve of
l!'arl ow ' s civ il ian f irm.
11 5
Dank er su ggested Lewis , then
Vice Presid en t in Charge of Radi o for the Young and Rub i
cam Adv ertis i ng Agenc y. Kepp el
ll 6
beli ev ed that Arthur
Page , Vi ce Pre si dent of the Amer i can Tel e phon e and Tel e-
graph Comp any , was one of the pers ons who suggested Lewis •
. Farlow arrived in Los An§3le s early in 19 42 to attend
a lunche on with Lewi s that had be en arran ge d by Danker .
Thi s lunc heon took place at the Hollywood br ovm Derby
Restaurant . At that time Farlow pres ente d Osborn 's plans .
Lewi s, interested in cont ribu tin g to the war eff ort ,
acc epted the job . .b'ar l ow said th at he would see th at a
Radio Su bc om mittee comp osed of top repre sentat iv es of the
adver ti sers and the agen c ies was appointed , that Lewi s
woul d be de le gated a "Special Consultant to the Secre tary
of '. ��a r," an d tha t an en gagement would be set fo r Lewi s to
114
Pr obably the exper ienc e of th e BPR strengthened
thi s desire.
115
M
ann Holiner, 13 Ap ril 19 50 ; Thom as H. A. Lewis,
Hi stori cal �ot es , �·
d., £· �·
p. 2.
116
F'ranc is Keppel to 'I' . s. DeLay, Jr. , 30 June 19 50 ,
8
6
me et Osborn an d Mun so n in Wa shing ton in th e nea r fu ture.
ll
7
Th e Radio Sub commit tee was co mpris ed of the follow
in g
me mber s
:
11 8
Arthur Page , Cha irman . Vice Pre si dent of A. T. & T.
An in t imate knowl edge of th e Army .
Nile s Tramme l . NBC . Th e vie v�oi nt of the broa dcaster.
'Ni lliam Paley. CBS . The vie wp oin t of th e broadc aster .
Ralph Starr Butl er . Exe cutiv e of Gene ral li'oo ds .
The sales poss ibiliti es of' radio.
John Reber. Vi ce Pre siden t of J. �I alt er Thomp son.
A kn owle dge of sell ing the pub li c the un known .
'rho mas H. A. Lewis. An indus try man wh o c auld go
in to th e Army and guide the program.
�ranc is Keppel . Secretary at' the J.ANC . Ex-Offic io
lv1em ber of the Radi o Sub commi tt ee.
As may be ascertaine d from the roster of na mes , these
men were of inva lua ble assi stan c e to the program throu gh
the contr ibuti on s of ' their companies an d associa tes . How
eve r, they coul d not be expected to active ly co nt ribute
persontil time and ener gy .
Lewis' qualifications. Lewis , a 1926 gra dua te of
Union Coll ege , Schenecta dy , New York, with an Engl ish
'
Literature major, se cure d his fi rs t radio empl oyment at
stat ion IIGY , Schene ctady, as writer-produce r- announ cer ;
11 7
Thomas H. A. Levd s, Hist orical l\iot e s, n. d. ,
11 8
Thoma s H. A. Lewi s, JANC Rad i o Subcom mit tee 194 4
Repo rt , 20 January 194 4, p. 1; Fran cis Keppel to T. s.
DeLay , Jr. , 30 June 19 50 , P• 2.
87
he la ter be came Pr ogram Di r ecto r . In 19 34 he moved to
Cl ev ela nd , Ohio , as NBC pr ogram i ng re pres entati ve fo r that
are a. In 1936 he joined th e You ng and Rubi cam Adve rt is ing
Agency in New Yor k City as a pr od ucer. 'dhile at that of fic e
he de ve lo ped and prod uced su ch se rie s as "The Kate Smi th
Shovr, " in which he intr odu ced Abb ott an d Co st el lo an d
evol ved "The Abbo tt and Costello Show!' n .F ollo wing this he
deve lo p ed the "Al dr ich lram. ily" and many oth e rs . Lewi s
et tri b uted much of the succ e ss of these pr og rams to th e
appl ication of re searc h te chni ques . Hi s intere st in thes e
methods led to th e de ve lo pmen t of the Aud ience Resear ch
.lto unda tio n with Dr . :B'rank Gallo p , a cowo rk er at Young and
Rubi cam. In 193 8 Lewi s de ve lo ped the "Scr een Guil d
Theater. " He move d to Holly wood to super vi s e it s pr od uc
tion and head the '. �est Coast office of his firm. At the
time he was conta cte d by .Farl ow , he wa s Vic e Pre s ide nt of
both Young and Rub icam and the Aud ience Research :b' ounda
tio n . he was also a member o1' the holl ywood Vic to ry
Coi!lDi ttee . Throug h his hol ly wood rad io work he had become
ass oc iated with th e perso nnel and ac t iv it ies of all the
entert a inment media of that lo c alit y .
Levli s wa s consid ered to hav e been esp ecially vr el l
suited to le ad the tr oo p broa dc ast ing ac tivi ti es fo r the
88
.. · FIGURE .q.
Col . Thoma s H. A. Lewis , AFRS '· li'ounder and First Comm ander .
following reas ons :
1. His com plete broad casti ng e:1. ':pe rience .
2 . lii s as soc iations wi th the hig he st offi cia ls
of the br ood castin g indus try.
3. Hi s kno wledge of and ac quai nt ances in the
mo t ion pi ctu re in dust ry.
4. Hi s me mb ership in the Hollyv v ood Vi ctory
Corumi ttee .
5. Hi s knowledge of and experie nce s vli th re
search te chni ques .
6. Hi s bre adth of vi sio n and fl exib ility as
demon st rate d in the deve lopment of maj or
comme rcia l program s .
89
Troou br oad cas t plan. Lewis, app oi nte d as an .Army v'
rad io consultan t early in 1942 , imm ediat ely bega n arra nge-
me nts for "leave" from hi s agen cy. A.l so , he began con
sider ations of a troop broadcast �an.
Through hi s wo rk with· the I-rvc· Lewi s had assi st ed
the JJPR "Command Perfonn ance. ,.
119
� was awa
. re of the
tal ent and product ion possib ilit ies in thg Hollywo od area.
Hi s mai n conc ern wa s the appr oach to soldie r program in g.
Lewi s ,
l20
in inter vie v ; , di d not r,ememb
e
r any spec i fic wri t-
ten pre senta tio n made before the da te of his c omm is s io n.
119
M. artin H. '•lo rk , 19 June 1950 .
120
Thomas H • .h. •. Lewis , 19 Jun e 1950 .
Howeve r, in the Lewis Historical Notes the fol lowing was
found :
• • • and did work out a gene ral id ea of wha t
we v10ul d do, ba sed fra n kly, on the "Swan" cam
paign. 1J.1hat wa s th e basis of this o rg aniza1ion,
actual ly . Th&t was Ma rch or Ap ril , 1942 •
.12
90
Lewis
l22
stated that "based f ra.n k:ly on th e • Swan' cam pai gn"
referred to a prewar Young an d Rub ie am projec t in whic h
��va s n:a de a comp let e an alysis of the prod uct (soap), me di a
(radio and program} , an d audien ce (housewives ). A simi la r
troop broadcast study wa s suggested. The resultant info r-
ma tion would ind ica te app ropr iat e me th ods to be em ployed.
If an y of the se met hod s seenie d no t to accom pl i sh the desired
result s , new .m ethods woul d be subs tituted. It wa s mos t
L1 portant tha t the total ac tivity remai n constant ly flexible
so tha t an y desi red change an d innov ation co ul d be ma de.
This wa s the troop broodca sti ng pl an .
Levd s
l23
be liev e d t l:B t t.l ds gener ali zed but com
prehens ive plan wa s presented to the Radi o l::.iub commit tee
about 20 lviay 19 42, im m ediatel y prior to the dt;. te of hi s
c omm ission.
n • .£.•
12 1
Thoma s H. A. Lev.ris, Ilisto rical Notes , .£• g,. ,
12 2
Thoma s H. A. Levlis, 19 Jun e 19 50.
12 3 b9.£.. ill·
91
.f>l 'RS establis hme nt . On 26 May 19 42, whi le in ·,·ras h-
ington , Lewi s re c ei ve d offic ia l v1 ritten noti fi cation of his
comm issi onin g as Major in the Army of the Unit ed States .
Offices vJe re established in 'v 'la r Dep c.r tm ent Tem p orary nuil d-
in g 11 G" in Vla shin gt on, and the fi rst activ ity und ertaken
was the re search plan proposed to the Radi o .Su bcomm itt ee.
Lewi s desired to app roach audi enc e re search from two
aspects : (1) He requested that a sc ientific sur vey of
soldi er lis teni ng reb it s and attitudes be ma de ; and (2 ) he
des ired to study the audi enc e and the listening problems
in the field.
1 24
The surv ey wa s ma de by the SSD Research Branc h in
July and August 19 42 . 125
Ei �p age mime ogrcip hed que stion-
ai res v: ere sent to the �pe cia l Servi ce Offic ers of fi fteen
.Army Ground .Fo rces and 1-.rrn:y Se rvi ce :b orces installat ion s . 126
These ca mp s were espec ia lly selected for the study . It
was believed th at the re sult s woul d gi ve ty pi c al soldier
habi ts and attitudes . The Special Serv ic e Officers were
124
I f
·
n ra , p. 96.
125
J
.
b.
Lindsey to T. s. DeLay , Jr. , 15 Septemb er
19 50, p. 1 .
126
The que stionna ire was found in h • ..:�ust in Pete r
son's files. Inf ormat i on on its ad mini stra ti on came from
J. b. Lin ds ey to T. s. DeLay , Jr . , 15 Septem ber 19 50 , p. l.
92
giv en a stipulate d tin1e in whic h to admini ster the survey
an d return th e coGpleted quest ionn aires to th e Resea rch
Branc h at 'dashi ng t on .
The mul tili thed repor t of the surve y, Rad io List ening
Habits of Enlis te d Me n, dated 3 Septem be r 19 42 , li sts the
foll owing findi ngs that were of si gnif i canc e to the Radio
Se ct ion :
1 2 ?
1. 46 per ce nt of th e men listen afte r 5:3 0 P. hl.
2. The li sten ing .Pe ak was betwee n ? P. lu . and
8:30 P. M.
3. Thursday was the pe ak listeni ng day.
4. The barracks was the ma jor li steni ng place.
5. One ou t of ei x men owne d a ra di o. Thi s owne r
shi p greatly determ ine d th e amou nt of li stenin g .
6. l'av orite pro gram types , in their order, we re
as follows :
1. Danc e mu si c.
2. News .
3. Come dy .
4. Sports .
5. Varie ty .
6. Swing Mus ic .
? • Rad io Plays.
8. Old fam il ia r mu sic .
9. �ui z Program s .
? . 40 per ce nt of the me n stated that th ey woul d
like to hear ce rta in p rogmms but co uld not
be cause of the following limita ti ons :
1. They had no conv enient radi o.
1 2 7
Re search Branch, Rad io Lis tenin g Habits of
Enliste d l1:e n, 3 Sept embe r 194 2 . 21 pp .
2. Progr ams were br oa dcast at th e
wron g hou r.
3. The me n had tr oubl e tu ning in
stati on s tho. t broa d cast th e
programs .
9 3
The seco nd pha se of re search con cerned th ose pe rs ons
who ha d had as soc :iat ed e:2q) erience wi th tr oop broa dcasts .
The act ivit y of Hitt enmar k and lo ge l was th e only
lolSD radio e::&p eri ence to May 1942 . l!'o ge l appeared wi lling
to wo rk wit h Le wi s on th e expa ndi ng plans . Howev er ,
co rre sp on denc e
l2
8
reveal ed th at :E' og el believed th e .D Y :..it
to be already adequc.t ely develope d. He had est ablis hed his
War D epc:l_r tmen t off ic e in the Taft .bu ilding, Ho llywoo d , 1
May 1942 .
129
Ei tt enm ark ha d wo rke d ou t a plan with th e
JJJW to tes t the uctu al value of the carri er cur rent sys te m
at .to rt Geo rge G. l��ea de, lv:ary land, and at th e De sert
Traini ng Cent er , Camp Young , Calif orni a.
l
30
On 25 Februar y
1942 he obta in ed a th ird all oca ti on in th e amou nt of
:;?3 , ?15.00 from the Carne gie Fo undat ion JJJ'J C grant to
12
8
Thoma s H. A. Lewis to Irving L. �o gel , 10 Jul y
1942, 2 pp . ; Irving L. lo' o;__-; el to Thom a s H. A. Lewis , 2?
Aug us t 1 9 42 , 2 p p •
129
";;P lO , 000 , 000 Talent on .ri.nny Radi o Shows , " Daily
Vari ety, 4
3 :4, 16 1�y 1944 .
130
(
c. Co urte nay Sav age), Hi st oric a l Not es, Nov em
ber l944 , _ __p. 3. The se note s st at e th at bo th th e l!'o rt �ii.eade
and Camp Yo ung st ati ons were put ill to op era tio n. No oth er
re ferences to the ...t! or t L�e ade sta ti on we re disco ve red.
94
pur cha se equi pme nt for th e Camp You ng stati on . l31
In la te
.&.a rch or Ap ri l 1942, hi tt enmark went to Camp Young to mak e
the ins t&lle.. ti on . l32
Thi s sta ti on was planned prio r to Lewis ' activ e
ent ra nce in to the pi ctu re . However , one a[ his earlie st
activiti e s was pe rsonnel procurer aent. .Sane of th is pe rso n-
nel wa s int e nded f' or thes e carr ie r current st&t ion s . Lewi s
caused an exte nsive ro ste r
l
3
3
of b.rmy men \Vi th com me rci al
radi o experi enc e to be compi led . On this roster was the
name of Private Ja ck V. Krus che n , ste ti oned at .Fort Kno x,
Kentuc ky . Proba bly Krus chen wa s the fi rst enli sted man
brought in to the SSD Rad io Se cti on. He vtas as si gned to the
Camp Young sta t ion . l34
131
Report of Committe e £!. Trus tees on Defens e We l
� and Re crea tio n Experi Eenta l Progra ms , lMay 1942, P.
5; Supra , p. 77 .
132
Loc . cit .
--
133
Thomas h. A. Le\ vis , 22 0ep te mb er 1950 .
134
Jct Ck V • .r\: rus chen , 6 Ap ri l 1950 , rep orte d that
while at .to rt Knox , .Kentucky , he rec eived Lev :i s' wri tten
offer of a job in the ne w radio pro gr dm. The off er was
accept ed and 1\:ru schen wa s trans ferre d to Can p Young ,
arriv ing the re 1 7 Jun e 1942 .
Up on arriv al , .L{r us chen f OWld hi tt enma rl \: buil ding a
re gu lcr 100 -v vatt st andard transmi ss io n st &t i on . .i{ru schen
assis ted the ass emblin g of the el ab oro te broecdc ast eq ui p
ment v, rh ic h included two Presto tu rnta bles , a Collins six -
95
.rJy the date of' his commis si on Lewis knew of the USO
carrie r cu rrent op er ati on and the ac ti vi ti e s of .Jork . He
belie ve d that this ma n and his e :xpe ri ence mi g ht be of im
portunt help in deve lopin g the new progra m. Lewis
l3 5
arra nged for a mutue l frie nd to in vite ·, ior k and hi mself to
a din ner at whic h ca rri er curre nt br oad ca sti ng and it s
place in the pr ogram might l;le di scuss ed . As a re sul t of
chan ne l contro l panel , a Gates one -channe l remote broadcast
uni t, and a 100-w att RCA transmitt er . Hi ttenmark beg:1n to
spend ti me in nea rby Pa lm Sp ring s. However , &fte r a re la
tively short peri od , Krus che n got the sta ti on on the ai r.
It appeared to .Kru sc hen th&t Lewi s had no command ove r the
stati on and that th e Specia l Servi ce Div isio n had li ttle
in terest in it s oper5t io n.
Afte r an unrepo rte d int erval Hi tten mar k was ordere d
bac� to ·,ia shing ton . Krus chen conti nued operation of the
station v.r i th ph onograph records and a few stray tren scrip
tio ns that he "promoted " in Los Ang eles .
Ma rtin H. ·,vork, 16 June 195 0 , co nfi rn: ed Krus chen's
conti nuing story whi ch told that severa l months later ·. ·i'or k,
as a ci v ilian , made a tour of ins pe ctio n at Camp Young and ,
fi nding regu la r broa d,__ castin g act iv it ies , wh ic h were ag ai nst
F'CC regu lat i ons, ordere d conver si on of the equip ment to the
carr ier current system. He furtm r orde re d thet prog ram
logs be sent to .A:ER S Los Angele s and arranged for some of
th e DR and H pr ogra ms to be sent to the stuti on .
',/ork s tCJ.t ed thc:1 t Ca mp Youn g vm s locate d in a par
tic ularly poor broadcast recepti on ar ea . The statio n was
planned to as sist exist ing morale problems . .'i ork beli e ve d
that SSD offic ial s felt thi s job could be completed by
Hi tteiL I'JJ.e rk and, at the same ti me, Lewis ' dev elopi ng radio
activ it i es migh t be free d of a possibl e encum branc e re
sult in g from lii ttenm.a rk's pr,::. sence in -.:ashi ngton .
135
Tho r:ne.. s Ii. A. Lewis , 2 2 Sep tember 19 50.
9 6
thi s me eting ·� Jork wa s empl oye d as an "Expert Cons ul tc. nt to
the Secreta ry of' ·ii ar" and detail ed to deve lo p ilar Depar tment
carrie r current pl ans.
l3 6
Dunham reported givi ng t be USO carrier current
stat ions to the SSD as fol lo ·ws :
••• 11 ener a 1 ]red Osborn • • • heard a bou t this
proj ect through our effectiv e publi city and asked
me if I woul � be wil1in g t
�
tu� the wh�S? pr oje ct
ov er to the J.,_rmy • • • I d�d tH� S • • •
Levds ' Al ask an trip . The fin al step of troo p broa d
ca stin g rese arc h wa s initiated as the resu lt of a meeting
between Le vds and Murra y brophey of the COI. brophey , in
cffi rge of eq_,ipment procu rement and stc tion es tabli s hm ent
for She rvwo d, the Chie f of the Ov erseas lfacili ties .our eau
of the cor , bel ieve d that Lewi s co uld never accompli sh the
necessar y job wi thi n the re strictive framework of the
Army . l3
8
'Th e refore, .ciro . ,t.::hey of fered to arrange fo r Lewis'
tra nsfer to the cor whe re he thought a sa tisfact ory jo b
could be done . Le wi s declined thi s offer .
Brophe y was e.bout to mBk e an inspection trip to the
13 6
Iv�ar tin H. 1vor k , 19 June 1950.
13
7
]'ra.nkli n Dunha m to 'I' . s. DeLay , Jr. , 6 Apr il
19 50 , p. 1.
138
Thomas H. A. Lewis, 22 September 19 50 .
I
97
Alask an and Aleutia n ar e a in or der to obtain better COI
tra n sui t ter coverag e . He in v ited Lew i s to join in th e
trip . This was an especi ally wel come in vitat ion fo r Lewi s
for he knew of th e existenc e of the 1C od iak stat ion and ,
fur ther mor e , believed that by go in g to an area th s.t he was
to serve he wou ld be better able to ascert s.in the type of
progr ams an d di str ib ut ion necessar y.
The tr ip wa s made th e fi rst of June 1942. In
P�aska, Lew i s realiz ed th at the "need fo und it s ow n answer
among the men in the field .
n
l39
He saw the ina dequa cy of
sho r t-wave tra nsmiss ion fro m th e United States to ov er s eas
ar e as. Proba bly the only answer to th e pr oblem v.ra s to be
found in install ation s si miler to th e one inspect e d at
1Cod iak . Sav age, in hi s histor ic al Prog res s Repor t, re lates
the outcom e of th is trip as fo llows :
An inf onu al a rrang ane nt, th eref or e, was made
in ..!fo rt Hich a rd s on • • • betv 1een .i.vir • .br ophe y and
Colon el Lew is. The COI had fu nds and so me trans
mitter s in pr oc ess of manufacture . .br ophey agre ed
to cause his or ganiza tio n • • • to supply tr& ns
mi tters and operat in g per sonn el to cover milita ry
areas in AlasKa an d the Al eutia ns . In ad di tion
to the Alaskan covera ge .Lv .r. .oroph ey was to conduct
th e ne cessar y negoti ations so th c:.t th e COI {lat er
O' ,JI } could ar rang e fo r the rc.d i o co vera ge of th e
Lmer i can tr oops in the United .i\:i ngdom . Iv�r . Bro phey
vva s to supD1y low-p ov1e red tr ansmitt er s, per sonn el ,
and also to ar range fo r the connecting land lines.
139
!&£ · ill·
Colonel Le'Ni s, in tu rn , v.-a s to cause th os e trans
mit te rs to be taken over and ma nned and maintc.lined
11y t.:C ·:: Arrny onc e the Al'RS wa s or Gfinize d and es
tabl i shed to th e poin t vvhen this vre s possib le . l 4 0
98
Lev:is rep or te d these agre ements in his hi st ori cal Note s and
fu r ther st at ed that lirop hey sai d: w,'Je wil l di st r ibu t e your
tr ans cr iptio ns . u
l 4 1
l:ious eman
l4 2
sta ted thet or ophey' s
com rni tm ent was most logi cal , for th is rn.an wa s able ·t o
obta i n any thin g that he wish ed and ke enly felt th e ne cess ity
for tr oop bro adca sts .
He re was es tabli shed the founda tio ns fo r th e "net -
wor ks" in i:.. laska and the Aleu t ia ns , and th e Jwe ri can :b or ce s
Netwo rk in the Uni te d 1Ci ngdom. iiu rt hermo re , here wa s the
footwork for all ar r& ngeme nt s wit h the B.bC , the ev entual
dev elo pment o1' the AE1rP , and the ori gi na l plan of tr anscrip
tion di st ri but ion . As an offic i al basis for thi s commi tment
Levvts
l4 3
quot ed bro phey as sayi ng : "The Chie f, Roos evelt,
sa id th at when peac e wa s declared he want ed his vo ic e hear d
by all the people ar ou nd the vvorld ." 'l' his wa s th e policy
1 4 0
(
C. Cou rte nay Savage }, Pr ogre ss Report , 26 M.a y
1942 to 1 De cember 19 45, p. 1
3
.
1 4 1
'r hornas H. A. Lewi s, Hi st or i cal Notes , n. d. , .B.•
1 4 2
Jot;n Hou seman , 19 July 1950 .
1
43
Thomas H. A. Le v.r is , 21 Ju ne 1950 .
99
sta tement through wh ich .oro phey planne d to cover th e world
by short- wav e and overseas long-·wa ve tra nsrn.itters . Also,
the "� av e sdropp ing te chni q ue" played an im portan t role in
thi s c ommitment . l
4
4
Levvi s probably re turne d to 'das hi ngton about the
mid dle of June 19
4
2. By th e ti me of his re tu rn , th e
op e: ·at ional sk eleto n of hi s new radi o act ivit y had taken
form in hi s mind. The t e.. sk of organi zatio n be came the
next step .
:Ci rs t organi zati onal st ep s. Cons id eratio ns of th e
broadc o. st me diu m jell ed into the f'oll owi ng pat te rn:
1. The fi rs t me ans was to be short- vmv e. The Sta te
Depa rtment an d the COr had emphasiz ed th e
possi bi litie s and effec ti v ene ss of this f orm
. l,15
Lewi s' li ai son wi th the cor through :tlr ophey wa s
fi rmly est abli shed. Ther efore , short- wave
loome d mo st e:A. -p edi ent from the standp oi nt s of
cove rage , cost , mat eri al , and man power.
2. The se cond mean s wa s the local e.. re a long-w ave
transnit ter . Thi s wa s the di st ribu t ion ag ency
found succes sful at Lod iak . J.. ga in ; COI liai son
appe ared to make it s expandi ng use re lative ly
easy.
3. Th e th ir d me an s vms carrier current and wi red
sound syste m di st rib utio n. The inheren t
factors of securit y and li mi tatio n found in
1
4
4
Sup ra , pp . 48 f.
1
4
5
Marti n H. �l'o rk , 19 Jun e 1950 .
the se methods accorded th is pl ace.
4. The fourth me ans was the .b Kit. Its pro duc tion
and di stribution had al ready been stc. cr ted.
Now it was neces sary to uti liz e the me th od
to its fu lle st extent .
Le·wi s briefly retaine d hi s bea dque.rters in the
100
'l1emp orary "G" Build ing in ,i a shingto n. But , from the first ,
it was hi s intent to establ ish the program produc ti on head-
quarters in Lo s l"i..n geles . Savage gav e the reason fo r thi s
Los Ang el es lo cation as fo ll ows :
Bec aus e of the fa ct tba t the tale nt fo r iJ:! RS
produ ced radio shows e.n d the la rger pr ocessing
and pre ssing pl ant s necessary fo r disseminating
the shows 1.v ere lo cated · in Los J.. ngel es , Ca lifo rnia ,
it wa s decided that Hea dquarteTs fo r Arme d 1: o1_ ces
Rad io Service should be lo cate d in that city.
4
6
The fi rs t pE, rt of this sta tement is t'rue. This thinkin g
Vias pa rtially respo nsible for the sel ection of Lewis as
head of the prog ro. m. .out the prewar recordi ng , ��·r oc essing,
and pressing o.c tivitie s of the ',le st Coa st were a ver y smal l
part of the nat iona l industry. h:ilto n Hurwitz,
l 4?
a
prom inent early me mber of ,,fe st Coa st re cording enterprises ,
pointed out that the production of "�lor ld or L. C. Smi th
in Nevv York wa s greate r than al l that fo und in the Los
Ang el es area . Ei the r the Col umbia op erat ion at Bridgeport
1
4
6
(
C. Cour tenay Sav age ) , Pro gress Report , 2
6
May
1942 to 1 De cember 194 5 , p. 5.
·
l 4 ?
lv lil ton Hurwi tz , 11 August 19 50.
101
or the RCA Camden op erat ion was far mo re exten sive th an the
total '.Vest Coast ac t iv ity. The ac tual reason for use of
th e West Coas t ind us try result ed from Fogel ' s
14 8
knowledge
that extensive transportation ar recordi ng mast ers wa s
detr iment al to final pressing q u.al i ty . ]fur th ermore on -the
spot production supervis ion was an im perative el ement in
the anticipated operat ion.
l4 9
Alth ough the program and te chnical headquarters was
to be located in Los Ang e les, Lewi s real iz ed that it would
be necessary to retain representation on the Ea st Coast
for lia ison with the IED and to supp ly sources of raw ma te-
rials, ele ctronic equipment , an d pe rsonnel . Mull en , the
public relat ion s and radio man wh o ha d jo ine d the IED radi o
act iv it ie s shortly before Lewis, was as signe d thi s job.
The organizat ional pa ttern of Alf'RS was establ ished
by th e mi ddle of th e Summ er 19 42 . uupon hi s return to
Washing t on , the lat ter pa rt of June 19 42, Lewi s set up the
Armed l! orces Ra dio Service with four ma jor departm ents. n
l 50
The technic al factors would be han dled by ]'ogel . Program
14 8
Ir ving L • .E'o gel , 7
July 195 0.
149
Perhap s it was this decision to prod uce the tran
scriptions on th e West Coast the. t le d to the expa nsion of
that ind ust ry to its pl ace of greatest nat io nal capacity.
1 50
(C. Court enay Savage ), hi storical Notes , Nov em
ber 1944 , .£• E.•
102
Produc ti on vvoul d be the job of a staff already bei ng gath
ered by Lewi s. '1iork would manage program di atribution.
Lewis, himself , would develo p the s hort-v vave dis tri bu t ion
throug h his lia is on with the COI . Al so , he would control
administrativ e and deve lopmental factors. The ]'agel suite
of offices in the Taft Building , Hollywood , would be the
first seat of the operation . Lewi s woul d ta ke up his post
in that city as soon as ne cessary agreements were culminated
in 'r'ia shington . Mull en co ul d handle all further problems in
Wa shington . All the personnel had been assigne d duties
with the except ion of Hitt enmark . AFRS was read y to operate.
Howev e r, it must be noted that this operat ion was possibl e
only throu gh a tremendous growth which dev el oped in a "boom
town " manner. Yet this growth always foll owed a definite,
expressed ne ed of the field as understood and interpreted
by Lewis and hi s organization.
IV . MISSION Olf AJ!'RS
Prec eding reports of AERS have tended to be evalu
ative and have centered around the mission of the activ i ty
with emphasis on the degre e of this mission fulfillment .
Mos t of the conclusions appeared to stem from the postwar
redefinition of the IED mission. Yet , they were not limited
to the po stwar product . At tempts have been made to appraise
10
3
the total produ ct from 19 42 to 19 50 . It wa s be lieve d that
th e evaluating individuals • fra mes of re ference wer e too
re stri cted to de ve lop valid conclusions . Th ey possess ed
ne ither und er standing of the original missio
�
nor co mp re
hens ion of the methodol ogy of the me dium, bro adccsting.
Neve rthe less , these re po rts hav e te nded to place iJ!R S in a
position that was somewhat de fens ive.
It was not the centr al purpo se of this study to re
att empt the ev aluat ion . It is impo rta nt , however , fo r the
re ader to be cog nizant of the factors which en te re d into
the wa rtime unde rstanding of the mission .
Offici al conceptio n Q! the mission. To be logi cal ,
missio n should foll ow need. The need for troop broadcasts
wa s found in disinteg rating troop morale which grew out of
necess ary se rvice proced ures, pl us pe rsonal loneso mene ss
cause d by divor cing the ind ividual from ce rtain civilian
insti tuti ons that had be come an integ ral part of his cul
tural milie u. The me n, them se lves, had pa rtially me t the
need through such activitie s as the Kodiak station . At
tha t sa me time the War Depart ment, through Hitte nma rk ,
officially attem pted to meet this need . Howe ve r , as stated
10 4
by Osborn
15l
and Ulio ,
152
Hi ttenm ark's acti viti es appeared
to re sult in some th i ng mo re nea rly a pu blic re lati ons
activi ty .
Osborn was cl early aware of the radio nee d of the
troops when he und ertook the redeve l opment of th e activ ity .
In 19 50, after suffic ient time had allowe d hi s retrospective
judgment to me ll ow, he stc; ted the miss ion in the foll owi ng
manne r: " . • • an atte mp t to re ach .Ame ri can troops all
ov er the wo rl d with radi o news and ent erta inm ent . n
153
Lieu t enant Colone l Paul G. Horgan ,
l54
Chief of th e
Inf orm ati on Branch from earl y 19 44 to J!e brua ry 19 46, be-
1iev e d that the real official va lu e of Army radio was in-
formati on . Ente rtainment was the carrier, or program
me dium , through whic h the informat ion mi ght be tran smit ted.
He felt ce rtain that this was Osborn 's conce ption of the
mi ssion, bu t believed th at Osborn 's plan was to accomp lish
fir s t thing s first . It was ne ces sary to build an audi ence
15 1
:F' re derick Osborn to T. s. DeLay, Jr. , 4 April
19 50 , p. 1.
15 2
J. A. Ulio to T. s. DeLay, Jr. , 6 July 1950 , p.
1.
153
]'re deri ck Osbo rn to T. s. DeLay , Jr. , 4 Ap ri l
1950 , p. 1.
154
Paul G. Horgan, 9 August 195 0 .
1 05
for troop broadcasts. It was im pe rative that the integrity
of those broadcasts be de velop ed and stabilized . Ther efore ,
the programing must start wi th en terta inmen t ; the informa
tional aspects , aside from straight ne ws , wou ld be de vel
oped when the time was ripe for their acce ptance . A con
sider ation of the li stenin g habits and desires of Ameri can
civilians will verify the wi sdo m of this approach. These
se rvice men to be ai ded by the SSD broo .dcasts made up a
civilian Army . They were civilians .
The first officia l stat eme nt of the mission to be
dis cove red was dated 1
5
Dece mber 1943 . In thi s letter to
inform comma nding gen eral s or the availability of .h..l! RS '
se rvi ces the mission is state d as foll o·ws : "'rhe mission
of th e Aree d ]'orces Rad io Se rvice is to provide radio and
sound eq uipment, servi ces , and perso nnel for the infor mation,
ed ucation and ente rt ainment of armed forces overseaa .
'
l
5
5
This wa s written after the in:r onn ational an d ed ucat ional
activitie s of the original SSD had bee n se part:.te d fr om the
enter tainmen t , athleti c , and re creat ional aspects and had
be en combined into a unit of their own call ed the Moral e
Servi ce s Division. AFRS was one of the major production
155
WD , Ad jutant Gene ral's Office Le tter, AG 311 .23
(4 De c 43), CB-S- SP:tJ .. ST -1'1 , 15 De c
e
mber 1 943 . p. 1.
agencies of thi s new divi sion . It was tak en for gra nte d
that if the pr odu ct wa s infonna tio nal it would be educa-
tional as well . Is not all in for matio n in some way ed
ucatio nal?
1 06
A furt her statement of the mi ssion of AER S was found
in an IED or gani zational letter , pr obably wr itten nea r the
date 9 Aug ust 19 44 . It re c: lds as follows :
Amy Infor mation Bra nch
Crea tes, pr oduc es, re co r ds , manufa ctur es, and
distribut es ra dio pr ograms for the in forma
tion, ori entation, and educatio n of tro op s
overseas by means of special even ts, enter
tain ment , and supplementar y education al
pr ograms .
l56
Admiral L. E. Denteld , in a letter to infor m "all
sh ips and stations " of the availabili ty of A.JrRS ' serv ices ,
wro te hi s co nc ept ion of the mi ssion as follows :
Ar med .For ces Radio Se r vi ce electric al tra nsc ri ptions
pr ovi de ente r tainment and re cr e atio n for naval
person ne l thro ugh re pr od uction of many of the major
rad i o ne tv·.'o rk br oadcast pr esentat ion s , fr om whi ch
all commerc ial ref er en ces have been deleted. Sub
stituti ons there for e incl ude indo ctrin ationa l s
�g
7
jects of perti nent in tere st to na val perso nn el.
He did no t place the emphasis upon the in formati onal aspects
of the mi ssion such as was found in off ic ia l Arm.y wri ting .
1 56
IED, Or ganizatio nal Statemen t , £• S•, p. 1.
1 57
L. E. Denfeld, BuPers Ci rc ula r Letter No . 236- !!,
26 Augu st 19 44 , p. 1.
107
Lewis ' conception 2£ the miss ion . In a rather
lengthy but clee r considerati on of the Al!'RS mission Lewis
stat ed as follows :
• • • There is one thing far more important than any
singl e item of ordinance or supply-- the sine gua nom
of a vi ct orious struggl e by ours elv e s an� r allies.
It lies in a single word , a word that we'r e sometimes
he sitant to use these days--i n fact , we almost never
use it directly to enli sted pers onnel . What I' m
speaking of is "morale." • • •
The form ula of vi ct ory is concerne d with habit ,
fear, and ambition, but not these thre e alone ••••
• • • To these things must be added : first , complete
knowledge of and complete confidenc e in the rrat erial
and equipment with which the fi ghting man is to do
battle . Se cond, and perhaps most impor tan t of all,
the soldier ne eds to know what it is he is fight ing
for ; what the war means to him as an indiv idual ; why
it happens ; who was re sponsible for it s happening
and what he may exp ect from the fu ture . He must
know what he must fear from defeat ; what he -must hope
for from vic tory.
It was upon the realization of these needs of
the obligation to in spire within the mind s and .be arts
of our fighting men tnis combination of confidence
and unders tanding, tha t the work of the Radio Se ction
of the Inf o rmatio n Branch of the Spec ial Servic es
Div ision was found ed •
• • • It is vi tally imperat ive that he shall always
cons ider himself a pa rt of the United States of
America •••• lvi any patt ern s of his existence were
rudel y shatte red , be cause they had to be . But t.ter e
are certain designs of that pattern that di d not
need to be shattered, certain habits of norm al life
that coul d be cont inued.
The se habits had to do with two ve ry important
sources of informa tion and enterta inment , namely,
moti on pictures and radio. • • •
In orga ni zing ra dio for tr oops , we were aware
th£-t we had two vi tally i_'Lp orta nt jobs to do; name ly ,
to inform and to enter ta in
. l5
8
108
Thi s was spoken in October 1943 . A year later, in a speech,
he simplified this definit ion in the following manner :
••• In its simplest ter ms that means that the duty
of JJfRS is to supply ra dio to tro ops •
• • • .AJJ'RS is rad io--r adio as we knov ,r it in this
count ry and as our men know it who have gr own up
with it.
l5
9
In a speech made 20 January 1
9
44 Lewi s stated the mis si on
of ."'.F RS in this way:
Our mi ss ion at the tim e of ou r meeting a year
and a ha lf ago was repre sented by our dir ective .
"To pr ovide education, inform ation an d ori entation
for our .Armed .li' orces over seas , by me ans of ente r
tainment and spe cial ev ent s br oadcasts.• t
l60
In re tr ospection Lewi s felt that the "commer cials"
of wartime AFRS were "mora le , l1.m e ri canism, secur ity, things
are goin g 'OK' at home , we ar e sending you the needed
mater ials , we ar e doing all 'Ne can to help yo u , this is
your countr y--Ame ri ca , you are th e best soldier there is ,
15
8
Thoma s H. A. Lewis, "Radio for the A
rm y
,
rt
Wr iters ' Congress , 19 44 , pp . 167 ff .
15
9
Th h. A L . ' r 1 i Add t th oma s
·
• • ew�s , .ie co mm ng ress o e
Arm y-Navy Comrni tte e Pla.nnin g � Combined Ope rat ion of IJI'RS ,
9 Octob er 1
9
44 , p. 1�
160
Thomas h. A. Lewis, � Radio Sub commi ttee 12!i
Repor t , 20 January 1
9
44 , p. 3.
109
the 'w hy ' of thin gs , and finally Z£U will win. n
l61
Enter
ta inment was us ed since it assisted in co nveying the se
'' c omm erc ials." All this may be s umm ed up in one word :
lv.i.ora le.
In a letter to Lewis , Augus t 1944 , Lie uten ant
Col onel Ted E. Sherd eman st ate d the mis si on in a co lor ful
but exc eptio nally clear man ner.
Radio is one of th e med i ums wh ich sGrve as
Em effective backdrop for the enti re lnfo:rmat ion
and Educat io n pro gram . The I&E Sect io n is con cerned
wi th th e men tal go od th at co roo s fr om men re ce iv ing
accurate and ti mely info nnat i on a bou t th e war, the m
selve s, the ir co untry and their hom e ; from men bei ng
st imu lated int o th inking a bo ut every thin g from
algebra to main tain ing a tr uck . Radio en t erta inment
as pro vi ded by yo u , serves as the shirnm.y dancer in
front of our me di cine te nt , and when th e dan cer is
thr ough, we sell the health medici ne of th e day to
the cr o wd that 's gathered , just as we so ld soa p when
the las t jo ke was told at home ••••
• • • We gathe r them in with Bing Cros by and the n
sell the m their at abrine.
l62
� to c anba t � br oad casts . 'r he reader mi ght
expect to find that a ma jo r part of the .l>..FRS mis si on wa s to
co mb at the demor ali zing effect of enemy broad ca st s to
Ame rican tr oo ps . Work
l63
in a 1943 rep ort from No rth
16
1
Tho ma s H. A. Lewi s, 19 July 1950 .
l62
Ted E. �herd eman to 'l' homa s H. A. Lewi s, 31 Augus t
1944 , p. 9.
163
Marti n H. 'No rk to Thoma s h. A. Lewi s, 18 April
1943 , p. 3.
110
A:rr ica, wrote thc: t both the Psychological Wa rfare Boa rd and
the ma were "seriously concer ne d" wi th th e effects of
nightly Ge rman swing sessi ons wi th inte rpolated propa ganda .
However , he believed tha t these agen cie s ove rrated th e
effe ct of this propaganda on th e .Ame rican troops . Captain
Vernon .N . Carstens en , Comman der of the � if th Army lv�o bile
Station , vvrote th e foll owing :
On orders from Lt . Gen . lua rK Clci rl c, the Chief
of Staff of the l!i fth Army made it ve ry clear that
good re ception (o 1' the J:oi 1' th Army h ... obil e Statio rO
at Anz io was im perative to offset German Propaganda
and "Sally" Qrogram s that ha d been enjoyin g a large
GI audien ce,
l6 4
A De cernbe r 1 945 articl e on Osborn in b..2.2.!£ ma gazine rep orte d
the "Tokyo Ros e" in fluen ce as foll ows :
In New Gu i nea , he Wsboriil dis covered remo te
v/
outposts ' rad ios co ul d get only Toky o Hose, who
mi xed porn ographic Propaga nda with swi ng re cords.
Result y�g establi shme nt of the Army 's broadcasting
system.
Thi s was the only disc overe d direc t ref erenc e to "Tokyo
Ros e" that related its elf to the .Al!'RS mis si on . Its
va lid ity ma y be ascertained by consid ering ; (1) the date of
the arti cle , De c em ber 1945, (2) the date tro op s we re first
bein g stationed in "radi o barre n " localiti es , duri ng 1941 ,
16 4
(
Vernon N, Ca rstens en) , .l!ift h � 1io bil e �'
n. d. , p. 3.
165
"
T.ea ch ing Soldiers to be Civ il ians ," 12.2!£,
8:3 0-32 , 26 De cem ber 1944 .
and ( 3) the date that the AF'RS mi ssio n be gan dev el op ing ,
la te 1942 .
111
Work,
166
in 1950 , di d not believ e tha t "Sal ly " and
"R os e" actually pla yed a ma jo r part in the deve lo pment of
.Ai'RS . He bel ieved that comm er cial Ame ri can rad iomen had
tende d to dr ama tize the se two br oa dcaster s in order to
poin t out the po we r of rad io . Levds ,
l 6
?
in 1950, stated
tha t .c'>FRS ' po licy was to buil d c onf' idenc e in th e men , to
giv e them the br oa dc�:. sts that they mis sed , and, as a re sult,
the GI wo uld find no ne ed to go to "Sall y" and "Rose. "
.A.l!'RS ' Los Ang ele s pr ogr am poli cy di d not pe rmi t tbe
names of' "Sally " and "Ros e" to be menti oned or impli ed .
16
8
The ir inf'l uenc e coul d be parti al ly min imized by ignorin g
th em ; to give credence to their inf' luence would he lp to
increase it.
It may be conclude d tha t broadcasts to comba t the
effect of en emy radio wa s no t one of' the maj or elements in
th e .A..l!'RS miss ion.
166
Ma rtin h. �J ork , 19 June 195 0 •
•
16
?
Thoma s H. A. Lewis, 19 Jun e 1950.
16
8
Loc. cit.
--
112
Summa ry .Q! �� mission. .F'rom the research it
was determined that the mi ss ion of .A.FRS was to present
radio that wou ld appear to be the kind of ra dio the servi ce
men had experi enced wh en they were civi li ans , but within
tha t framework wa s to be a disseminat ion of inform ational
materials that would faci lita te the accom pli shm ent of th e
All ie d vi ctory . Thi s was not radio merel y as entertainment,
nor was it radio as corr �uni cation ; it was a delicate bal
ance between the two. She rd eman 's me dic ine- show analogy
presented the clearest and most co rrect picture .
Thi s author believed that Osborn , Munson , Horga n,
and Lewi s wer e in co mplete agre eme nt up on the mis s ion of
AFRS , and the man ne r by whi ch it wa s to be achieved.
CHAPTER III
TB.E PRO GR.A.hl PRODUCTION SECTION
Confidenc e of the COl an d the BPR in wo rld -wide
short- wav e br oad ca sting assur ed early AE'RS person nel that
the or iginal :pr og ram dis tr ibu tion :pr oblem had been solved .
Established liaison with the COl appeare d to mak e cert ain
the ne cess ar y us e of this medium. Ther efo re , the fir st
re al AFRS :pr oblem was pr ogra m :prod uc tio n . Rese arch had
already indi cated the type s of pro gr ams that wer e desir ed
and thought to be necessar y. To determine prog ram philoso
phy it wa s essential to spe cify the steps by which tr oop
needs wo uld be met . Ho wev er , because of the immed ia cy of
the ne ed, ac tua l pr oduc tion was begun as qui ckly as possi
ble . Evap or ating time was no t expended on policy defini
tio n . The poli cy cou ld be wor ded later.
The :pr esentati on of the Prog ram Produ ct ion Se ctio n
in this chapter is no t chro nolog ical . It wa s bel iev e d that
gre ate r clar i ty would re sul t thro ugh consider at ion of the
sect ion 's ind iv idual activiti es . Therefor e , the info rma
tio n is fo und in the fo ll owing div isions :
1. Op era tional ac tivi ties of the sect io n .
2. Holl ywood pr od ucti ons .
3. Dom estic Rebr oad casts .
4. Tr oop Informat ion Pr oduct ions .
114
I
PR OGRAM PR ODUCTIO N SECT IO N
1
I
RESE ARCH PROD UCTIO N
LI BRARY TRAFFIC
DOMES TIC SCRIPT FILE
REBR OADCAST AND TRAFF IC
PRODUCD S
J
TROOP I NFORMA- TALENT
TIO N PRODUCT IO NS PRO CUREMENT
DI TBRS
I
II: D LIAISON
J
CENSORSH IP AND
SHORT -WAVE
EDITOR IAL
LIAI SON
J
SCRIPT SER VI CE
WRI TERS
I
HOLL YWOOD
RESEARCH
PRODUCT IO NS
PRODUCERS
I
PHOT OGRAPHY
zuNSC&IP'riO N
II &AU
I
�
ORCHESTRA
I
MUS IC
- IOS IC I
J
LI I&A&l A&&AJG.&II
Jri G URE 5
Program Producti on Section Operational Cha rt .
I. OP EliA.T IOHJ-,.L .AC TIVITIES O.l! ThE SECTION
115
.A:BR S prog raming devel ope d from the prewa r knowl edge
and exp erienc e of ea rl y pers o nnel , al ong with the troop
broadcasting e :x;perie nces of other agencie s. The survey ,
Radi o Liste ning Habits ££ Enl isted �,
1
wa s a basis upon
which preferences could be dete rm ined . Howev er , comm ercial
broad casting exp e rience had trai ne d AlfRS administrative
offi cer s to be on the lo okout for a const ant shifting of
these preferences. Po ssibly thi s shift wo ul d be espec ially
gre at when the men mo ve d away fr om the environment of their
native co unt ry and found themselves in unfamili ar circum-
stances ; probe.bly the progress of the war would di ctate
changes in the needs , desires , and preferences of the men
for vmom .AJ!'RS was called into existence . At its best ,
then, the su rve y could be only a temporary guide. Wisdom
dicta te d the keynote of the entire op era tion ; flexibility.
Program ph iloso ph ;£. AifRS philoso phy held that a new
ra dio audience had been developed. Erik :aa rnouw wrot e:
Alt hough the audi ence is composed of Ame ri can
Civil ians-in-unifor m, it is not a civilian audience.
Its tas tes , reactions, and emoti ona l needs ar e con
ditioned by a new diff erent lite, by remo tenes s from
unfamiliar surroundings , by constant fo cus on th e
task of war. Research • • • gi ves us mo re detailed
I Supra, p. 92.
insight into the facto rs involv ed •• • the Army
Res ea rch Bran ch , who se detaile d st udi es , repor ts ,
and analy ses on the psychology of th e enli s te d man
overseas ha ve formed an in valuE> bl e basis on whi ch
to proceed .
2
116
Late r inf ormation proved th at th e "moral e co mmerci al sn
enume rated by Lewi s
3
were the rea l ph il oso phical basi s of
LF"RS prog randng as it grew fro m the needs of the audi ence .
The general poli cy was enterta inment and in forma ti on, and
in the information mat e
ri als th e truth was th e only obje ct.
4
J.]'RS was not to be used as a propagand a medium in any of
its aspects .
5
Programing pl an . 'I1he first programing pla n wa s to
develo p a serie s of sh ov .-s especi al ly produce d for th e serv
ic eman audi ence . Major Mann Hol iner, the second PPS Chief,
2 Erik Barnouw, "Radi o Programs for Troop Education,"
Educati onal Outl oo k, 19:109, March 1945 .
3
Supra , p. 108 .
4
Thomas H. A. Lewis , "Radi o for th e Arm y, " Writers '
Congre ss , 1944, p. 169.
5
E. M. Kir by and Jack 'il. Harris, � Spangl e d
Radi o, 1948, p. 54, reads : u. • • special O'NI mes sage s we re
often pla nt ed in the troop broa d casts. The se message s we re
doctored so skil lfu lly that neithe r en emy , Al li ed , nor
Ame rican sold iers were aware of th e device. Thi s mate rial
capital i zed on the moral e- b uildin g nature of ou r tro op
broadcasts to teed in.f' orm ation to the enemy with an eye to
its e.f' fe cts." During many int erv i ews th is auth or expl ored
this thinking . All inte rvi ewe es emph aticall y repor te d that
.A.FRS progr ams were ne ve r use d for pro paganda .
stated in a 1944 speec h to the JANe Radio Sub co mmi tte e :
••• our audienc e was not availab le fo r questionin g
that would br ing im mediate answers. The alter nat ive
wa s to gathe r all inf orm at ion th at wa s readil y
availa ble , to apply
�
ur best judgment to the pro blem,
and the n go to wor k.
11 7
As a re sult a Memo ran dum of Pr oj ect ed In itial Pr ogram Sch ed
� was co mpiled, mi meographed , an d prese nt ed to the SSD
for approval . Pro bably this study wa s fin ished late in
July 1942 . It proposed the fo llowin g pr ogr am activ itie s :
7
1. Prod ucti on and distrib ution of the follow ing pro
gra ms :
(1) "T he 1�ail Call, n a half-hour
we ekly variety show.
(2) "M us ic for Sunday ," a half -hour
we ekly show of und eno minatio nal
hymn pr ogram reco rde d by recog
nized musicians of the nation.
( 3a) "Y our broadway an d lviine (F'ir st
Version) ," tape reco rdi ngs of
full broadway legitimate shows
whic h we re to be edited into
two thirty-minut e shows.
8
6 Mann Holiner in Thomas H. A. Lewis , � Radio
Subcom mittee 12±i Report , 20 Januar y 1944 , p. 20 .
7
Radio Se ction (.Al! 'RS}, Memorandum Q£ Projected
Ini tial Pr ogram Sc hedule , n. d. (pr e ll Augus t 1942 } , 37 pp.
and Radio Se ctio n (P�RS), Mem or andum gL Produc tion �
Tra nsc rip t ion Costs for Ini tial Progr dm Sc hedule ,
a
•
£•
(pr e 11 Augu st 1942}, 42
PP •
8 Both versions of "Y our Broa dway an d M.inen we re to
result in one sh ow for eac h week. The pr ogra m wa s to us e
nfor the fir st. t irrc e a ne w developmen t- -the reco rding p roo
ass • • • reco r ds sou nd on film vd th amazing fidelity. "
(3b) "Your Broa dway and Min e (Second
Vers ion) ," a thir ty-min ute "tri p
ar ound .broa dway" show that would
be assembled fr om wil d tr acks
and tr acks espe ci ally recor ded
by a star narr ator .
(4 ) "Yanks on the IVla rch," a half-h our
weekly dr amatized news stor y.
(5) "Home li'ro nt, " a half-hou r weekly
pro gr am or igin ating fr om differe nt
ci ti es.
(6) "Specia l Ev en ts," a completely
flexibl e show built to suit va r
yin g ne eds and occasion s .
( 7
) "The Spor ts Para de, " a half- hour
weekly round -u p of the ou tstanding
spor ts eve nts of the week .
(8 ) "Know Your Allies," a half-hour ,
bi -we ekly show desig ne d to cemen t
the feelin g of br other hood betwe en
.Amer ic an fightin g men and thei r
allie s .
( 9) "Yanke e Ro und - Up," a quart er -hour
dai ly news sumn:a ry of "what's
doin g " wi th tro op s station ed ar ound
the wo r ld .
(10) "Hi , Dad !" a half-hour weekly show
devoted to the activi ties of the
chil dre n of soldier s.
(11) "Meet the .ba nds ," a half- hour
weekly dance band show.
(1.8) "G. I. Jive , n a fif'teen-mi nut e
dail� guest dis c jockey show.
(13) "Yank Swing Shi ft," an hour- long
dail� liv� gu est disc jockey show
prod uced on both the Ea st an d ·)vest
Coasts for short -wave tr ansmissi on .
1 18
( 14 )
"Make Up Your Own band, " a half
hour mont hly " jam sessi on " mad e
up of mu si cia ns re que ste d by
servic em en.
(
15 )
"Servi c e . .oand Pro gram, " a half
hour we ekly mi li tary band p rogram .
(
1 6) "Soldier 's Sym phony," a half-hour
semiweekly program re c orded dur ing
established publi c perform anc es.
( 17 ) "Give 'e m hel l," a hal f- hour
mon thly dram ati zation of que stion
abl e Axis tactics .
( 18 ) ":Er eed om' s Pe ople, " a half-hour
weekl y Negro vari ety program .
The firs t ten programs would be
dravvn from an existi ng VIP A serie s .
(
19
)
"Hits , Runs , an d Errors," a fif te en
mi nute dai l� liv e spo rtscast to be
shortwaved from the East and 'Ne st
Coa sts .
(
20 ) "News, " a fifte en- minute dai ly,
li ve soldier ne wsc ast to be shor t
wave d from the East and West Coo.. sts.
119
2. Re cord in g, denat ur in g, pr ess ing , and dis tri bution
of the foll owing .Ame ric an ne twork pr ograms ;
(
1
)
"Uni te d We Sing, " stars leading
com mun ity sin gi ng .
(2) "Are You a Ge nius ," a qui z program.
(3) "Lou Holtz," storie s by Lou Holtz
and songs by �l ildred Baile y .
(4) "God 's Ccu ntry, " ho me spun tale s
with son gs by Be rl Ives .
3 . Recording fi ve an d one -half hours per we ek of
Am eri can comm ercia l ent ertainment programs .
These shows , minus can me rcial announ cem ents ,
w0ul d be held as fil ler programs fo r the sh ort
wave stt:. ti ons.
120
A Program Selection Board was es tablished to assist
vli th prog rami ng probl ems . rr his board wa s comp osed of Lewis ,
the PPS Chief, and the heads of the var ious PPS Subsec
tio ns.
9 Little evi dence was dis cove red to indicate the
exten t of the fun ctio ning of this board .
The ev entual products oi' the PPS diff ered consid-
erably fr om those suggeste d in the orig inal plan. Howev er ,
the thinking indi cated by this pla n was substantially in
agreement wi th the need and its fu lfill m en t • The PPS
product s, whi ch will be consid ered later in this chapter ,
were as 1'o llows :
1. Orig inal entertainment programs (H sh ows).
2. Dom estic Re broadcast program s (DR sh ows) .
3. Tro op Inf orma tion Producti ons (TIP shows}.
4. Basic Music Libra ry.
5. Basic Inf ormat ion Library.
6. Sound Eff ects Library.
?. Script mat erials.
Person nel. Lewi s began to gather prog rami ng person
nel as soon as he ac cepted th e SSD radi o job. It was not
9
Mann Hol iner in Thoma s H. A. Le·:vis, � Radio
_s_ub. c._ omm ___ i_ tt _e _e _ � Reoort , 20 January 1
9
44, p. 20 .
121
possible to ascertain the exact time th at key in d ividu al s
starte d their wor k with him . The date of their report to
active Army duty does not ne ces saril y in di cate the time
when they began their wo rk . Probably se ve ral mo nths '
program thinking resulted in th e Memo randum of Proj ect ed
Init ia l Progra m Schedul e
l O
whi ch was beli eved to have been
sent to Washington during July 1942. The first PPS person
ne l date is 13 July 1942, the date of Lie ute nant Col one l
True E. Boa rdman 's c omm is sion. He was assigned program ing
duty 16 July 1942.
Insp ecti on of the Mem oran dum of Proj ec ted Initi al
Program Sc hedule led to the beli ef' that the following
persons partic ipated in its comp il ation : Le��s , Boardman ,
:Bo ge l, Eolin e r, Ro be rt E. Lee ,
J
erome Lawrenc e, H. Aust in
Peter son , and Charles Vanda .
M
uch of the lit erary styl e
is simila r to existin g writ ings of Lewi s. The fo rma t and
plans of "The !·Jail Call 11 were reporte d to have been devel
oped by boardman ; Lee , a Young and hub ic am associate of
Lewi s; and Lawrence, a New York associ ate of Lee . "Your
Broadway and Mine " was a pr ewar idea of Vanda . "�'reedom ' s
Pe ople " foll owed a forma t th at was a sp ec i alty of Holine r.
The technic al approach followed th e id eas of ]ogel .
10
Supra , p. 11? .
122
Pete rson,
ll
in an inte rview, gave th e most com pl ete account
of th e pr eparation of th e memor an dum .
Boardman and Vanda , a former ',le st Coast CBS prqgr am
ing chief, be gan offic ial n�ili tary duty during th e la tte r
part of July . Board man appeared to ha ve been appointe d as
th e fi rst PPS Chief. Vanda v.ra s to produce shows. Hol ine r
came to active duty 2 September 19 42 as a pro ducer, but was
appointed th e PPS Chief in the late .Fal l 1942. It was re
porte d that personality dif ficult ies ari sin g bet we en Vanda
and Boardman caused th is early redesignati on of duti es .
12
Lie utenant Col onel Ted .!£. Sherdenan came to duty ? Septem
be r 1942 as a produce r-v .rri te r. Le e and Lawren ce were
appoint ed ci v ilian emplo yee s in June 1942. Later th ey vv-e re
ind ucte d into the Army . The ir first task wa s to write "T he
i>la il Call .
11
Peter son wa s emplo ye d as a civi lia n in the
Summ er 1942 to estc: .blis h the l:J!R .S editorial poli cy. He
began his active duty as a captain on 19 Januc: ry 1943 and
was appoint ed the third PPS Ch ie f in .May 1944.
Two ci vilia n employe es pla yed imp orta nt roles in th e
PPS admi ni stration . Th e fi rst wa s Al fred Scalp o ne , a
for me r adve rtis ing agency radio wTiter and producer.
11
H .
Austi n Peterson, ? �u gust 19 5
0.
12
True E. Boardman , 9 lvi ay 1950 .
I
123
Boardman
1 3
re por ted that Scalpone was actually res ponsible
for the op er at iona l or ganizatio n of the sectio n . He was
appoi nted a ci vi lian employe e 27 March 19 43 and re mained
with AE'RS un til 17 September 19 44 . Durin g hi s tenure he
was Assistant to the PPS Chief . Th e second imp or tant
civilia n PPS adm in i strator wa s c. Cour tenay Savage who was
transf erred to .AJ:!'RS Los .Ange les fr om the SSD in -vi ashingto n
on 4 December 19 43 . He res igne d 5 Ap ri l 19 45 and v.�a s re
employed 1 July 194 5 to assist l.] 'RS in it s tr ansitio n to a
peacetime activi ty . .At this time there Vi'S. S a ra pid
turnove r of PPS Chiefs. It appear ed that Savage was the
actual Chief dur ing the latter part of 19 45, although he
seeme d never to be offici ally appoi n ted . At that time it
did no t seem advi sable to assi gn a civi lian to a du ty in
which he woul d be in char ge of mi li tary pers onn el . Savage
left J:.:b'RS 30 June 1946 .
The PPS Chiefs th a t followe d Pet er son dur in g the
last half of 194 5 were Navy Li eutenant Sylvester L. (Pat)
Weaver, Navy Li eutenant Samuel :E'u ller, .Ei rs t Li eutenant
Eri c Li fner , and possib ly Captain John 1''1 . Conrad . The
rap id shift of pe rs onne l br ought a bout by demobi lizatio n
caused actual assi gnment s to become obscure .
l3
Loc . ci t .
--
124
The PP S p e rs onnel roster wa s develo ped as product ion
requirements grew. Importan t pe rsonnel are n a.tte d in this
study as indivi dual shows are described . hov.reve r, during
th e early days JJ.l'RS leaned heav i ly on gratis cont ributions
fr om the wr iters residing in th e Hollywood a rea . The
writ ing staff of the appearing artis t was general ly re spon
sible fo r the script used by th at par t icu r artist . Also,
these wr iters made gr eat contribu tions by assisting pro
ducers with material s fo r artists who did not mainta in
va- iting staffs.
Music Subsection . The product ion of va ri ety sh ows
made it imperative fo r .AlfRS to have a musical director .
Acco rding to c orre spondence
l4
Mere dith ·,·Jills on, a compo ser
and conductor of nat ional promine n ce , vo lunteered hi s
servic es to Leviis in the Summe r 1942. By September of that
year he 'WB.S a civi lia n consultant of .AF'RS rece ivi ng no
salary . Hi s of ficial duty began 4 December 1942 . .l:i.o v.>eve r,
records show that he began to condu ct an orchestra for AE'RS
at the re cord ing session of' "Mai l Call " numbe r ten , 28
October 1942.
15
App arently va rious civi lian musicians
1
4
Thomas H. A. Le'Ni s to Jo hn ]' . Davi s, 15 Jun e
19 45, P • 1.
1
5
.Oir dina E. Lewin, .itius ic Li st , .£. • .!! •
125
assisted the pr oduction of pre ceding "Mail Call " shows .
From De ce mber 1942 to July 1945 all A]'RS mus ical activities
were und er Vli llson ' s gu idance. The history of the PPS
1t. us ic Subse ction is large ly the stor y of Willson's activ
ities.
Du ri ng 1942 and th e fi rst half of 1943 .AIRS appar
ently employed union musi cians at an especial ly gr a nte d pay
scale. l6
It should be noted that , in gener al , on ly
"CoilllllEJld Per for mance" and "Mail Call n used this ser vic e.
For other pro gram s us ing live music the serv icesof star
players and or chestr as \vere schedul ed . Tbes e pers ons do
nate d their time.
Master Sergeant 11i chel Perrie r,
l
7
the wartime assis
tant to Willson, re por ted t. l:lat about June 1943 , Ali'RS began
to req uest the assistance of .Army bands sta t ioned near Los
Angeles. The 370th .Ai r .l!'or ce Band of the San Ber nardino
Army Air Base and the .Ai r .:Fo rce Band statione d at Gardn er
Field, Bakersfi eld, Califor nia , we re most req uested.
Per ri er e re called that the San Berna rdino band , of which he
was in charg e , made the tr ip to Los Ang eles on '1/e dnesdays
to play for "l.Vlai l Call" and on Thur sdays for "Command
16
Inf ra , p. 140 .
1 7
Mi chel Pe r rie r , 22 Septem ber 1950 .
Performan ce ." 'Nhen oth er commitments prevented his band
from fulf il ling the engagemen�, th e Bakersfield Band was
usually obta in ed .
126
The San Bernardin o Band was co mposed of over fi fty
men , but the Table of Organ izati on al lowed only twenty
seven. Will son, realiz ing th at Army procedure wo ul d ne ces
sitate a reducti on in th is pe rsonnel and that semi -weekly
trip s to Los Ange le s for day-lon g recording sessions were
too arduous an extra duty , reques te d tbat picked membe rs
of th e ban d be decl ared surpl us and transferre d to J>.] 'RS .
l 8
Captain Barton A. St ebb ins ,
19
then th e .A.E'RS liai son repre
senta ti ve in Washi n gton, repor te d that the Ai r Base offi
cials , AFRS offi cials, and SSD admini strators favored th e
pl an as did offici als of the Ai r :lt'o rce pers onnel he ad quar
ters in Wa sh in gton. Howeve r, Stebb in s ha d great dif ficul ty
in finding an Ai r .bo rce perso n of autho ri ty \vh o was wil l ing
to is sue the or ders ·�iill son reques te d. He rec all e d th at
just as th e sur pl us membe rs of t.I:E ba nd we re bei ng sh ipp ed
to anothe r stat ion, superseding orde rs were ob tai ne d to
tra nsfer Perr ie r and ten ot her men to AE' RS .
18
Barton A. Stebb ins , 2 August 19 50.
19
Loc . cit.
127
Perri er
20
stated that the ba nd nucl eus arr iv ed at
•
AFRS Chris tmas '/'l eek , 1943. Dur ing the fir s t two months of
1944 additiona l pers onnel were obtained. The band wa s
again able to play as a uni t in l!'ebr ua ry . Furthe r pro
cu rement af A.rm.y personnel was co nt inue d throu ghout the
rem ainder of the war . In the Spri ng 1945 the ba nd was
enlarged through the addition of seve ral en li ste d Navy
musicians
.
21
By t.l:E Summe r 1945 the re we re mor e th an fif ty
military mu sician s at AE' RS . They fur nished the mus ic for
all AF'RS shows and were used as one orchestr a or spli t in t
o
small sections acco rdin g to the re quir Eillents of the
pr ograms . Originall y , needed musi cal ar ra ng eme nt s were
v.Ti tten by civilians employe d on a per diem basis. However ,
Earl Lawre nce , one of these civ ilians, was dr afted and
tr ansfer re d to .f ...F RS to head music al arrangemen ts and
copying activi ties.
22
Although mu ch of t l::e later arra nging
was done by mil itary per sonnel , the copy-work was always
done by civilians .
A mus ic librar y is pr obELbl y the mast necessary
single element fo r station pr ogr&.m ing. Early PPS pe rsonnel
20
.Mich el
21
Infra ,
22
Michel
Perrier,
pp . 598
Perri er ,
22 September 1950 .
ff . and 641 ft .
22 September 1950.
128
planned that " Perso nal Album" and certai n othe r shows would
be recorded in a man ner that would enable their use as a
mu sic lib rar y .
2
3
Statio ns would re tain these trans criptions.
Correspondence regarding the establishment of North Afr ican
stati ons in dicated that some commer cia l transcription li brar y
units were obtain ed .
24
Evidently PPS admini strators planned
at that ti me to send comm ercial libr aries to overseas Army
stations. Howe ver, these libr aries were presse d wit h heavy,
fragile shellac. They were unsuitable for anticipated eli-
ma tic changes and wartime shippin g conditions .
Possi bly Willso n' s mo st importa nt AFRS contribution
was the Basic Music Library which he had pla nned by the
early Summ er of 19 4
3
. Because of the availa ble gratis tal
ent, the cooperation of the entir e re cordin g in dustry, and
the rapidly increas in g stock of AFRS wild tracks, this was a
2
3
H. Austi n Pe terson, 7 August 1950.
24
The AFRS fil e North African Reports revealed ma ny
notations concernin g the NBC Thesa rus Trans cription Librar y .
Work wrote in Martin H. Work to Thomas H. A. Lewis, 27 May
194
3
, p. 5. , that , to the North African statio ns, Thesarus
was the 11S ine qua non," but that it needed supplemen tation.
He told how No rth Africa n AF'RStations marked mus ical selec
tions on trans criptio ns of programs and indexed them to
build their mus ical libraries. Lewis called these passa ge s
of the letter to Wi llso n's attention wit h a margi nal pencil
notation. Perhap s Work' s letter provided the im pe tus for
the Basic Music Library .
129
logi cal and rela tively simple un dert aking . Mu si c track s
:t:or the library were to come fro m many sour ces. A reg ular
monthly dis tribu tion of five double-fa ced tra nscr iptions
containing appr oximately thir ty selections was to be mad e.
The firs t Basic Mu si c Library tra nscr iption \'VB. S
pr obsbly shipped in Augus t 1
9
43?
5
It contained the fol
lo·wing selections
:
26
Side
(
��
c
�;
de
�e��c5�� s
1
��
3
��
E
)Y Jame s Orche str a.
1. "He ' s Ivi.y Guy . "
2. "I Remember You. "
3. "I 'v e Heard tha t Song Before ."
Side P. 2. Selections by Dinah Shore .
{Recor ded 7 July 1
9
43
.2 6
)
1. "Spri ng is Here " and
"East er Par ade."
2. "Wh y Don't You Do Right."
3. "Great Day. n
4. "That Old Black Magic . "
The Synthesis Repor t
27
shows tha t by 25 October 1943 the re
were over 400 sele ctions in the library . By 1 Janua ry 1946,
V/
1, 030 .Ba si c ll.iu sic Libra ry tr an scr iptions containing
25
]'re deri ck b.. Grim es, 22 Septembe r 1950 .
26
AF" RS, Tra nscri ption, Bh.lL Nos . 1 and 2. {The re
cordi ng date leads to ambiguous informat ion. The tr acks
may have been especial ly rec: or ded fo r ..tUi'RS by the ar tists,
but pr oba bly they ''J ere rer ecor ded at thes e dates fr om
previous ly e:t; .: isting tra cks. )
27
Radio Section (JUiR S) , Synthesis Repor t, 25 Octo
ber 1
9
43, p. 4.
app ro:x:im.: t el y 8, 240 selectio ns had been relea sed.
2
8 At
that ti me thi s library was so mew hat rro re extens ive tha n
the co r.a.m. ercial transcr ipt ion librari es, but was ver y
1
3
0
simil.a r in mu sical co mp rehe nsiveness . The ma. j or differe nce
be tv; een th e Basic Mu sic Libr ary an d the com mer cia 1 li brarie s
lay in the variety of arti sts used . AifRS dre
w2 9
about 25
per cent of it s tracks from com mer ci al tran s cript ion li
brari es and phonog raph records ; a secon d 25 pe r cent came
fro m rad io sh ov.rs ; the remaining 50 per cent of the tracks
were especia lly recorde d by fam ous arti sts and the JJ'RS
mu sici ans. The mus ic type make -u p of the li brary was
approxima tely :
30
P 1 '" • • t:.O O J� opu &r MUS 1C • • • • • • • • v �
Sym pho ni c "po ps" • • 335 &
Jazz , "Jiv e," etc •• 2?%
',Ve stern Music • • • • •
Concert and Classical •
• • •
• • •
Religi ous • • • • • • • • • • •
l.ii scell aneous • • • • • • • • •
3
%
.An im por tan t rt of the misc ellaneous sel ect ions
was the so -ca lled " Basic Sound Effects (Lib rary) ." On 13
28
]'
rederi ck b.. Gri:n. es, 22 Septem ber 195 0 .
29
Harfield K. Vv eed i n, 18 Ap ri l 19 50 .
3
0
Freder ic k A. Gr imes, 22 Septem ber 1950 .
131
May 194 4 ·�lill son and the A.FRS Orch estra re corde d the fir st
sound effe ct tracks .
31
By Jan ua ry 194 6 fifty-one tran
scri ption sides of "Basic Sou nd Effe cts ha d be en relea sed .
Hov·.reve r, only one non-mus i ca l track was found in the entire
libr ary. Thi s was an ap pl ause trac k pres sed on the fi rs t
rele ase. There fore, this c auld hardl y be cl assifie d as a
true sou nd effe ct s li brary. In the E'al l 1945 spe cial foot
ball mu si c was re l eased. Later th& t yea r Chri stmas musi c
wa s added.
No at temp t was md e to maintain a co mpl ete sto ck of
Ba sic �iJ.u sic Li brary press ing s . ·,/h en ne w Al!'RSta ti ons wer e
ac tiv ated, :t�ius ic Subs ecti on personnel gathe red as many
pressi ngs as we re on ha nd to send to the sta ti on. The
co nt in ue d pr oduc ti on af li b ra ry transcri pt io ns wa s belie ved
suffic ie nt to provide a ba cklog of musical sele ctio ns .
Abou t September 19 45 a loos e-l eaf in dex to the
li brary \"18. S mimeo gra phed and di stri buted.
32
'rh is index
li st ed the sele ctio ns by arti sts and ti tle in acc ord ance
wi th the cus t om of comme r ci al libr arie s. No card ind ex of
the Basic Mus ic Lib rary wa s pr epar e d for dis tri buti on to
.AF RStati ons.
3l
Vi ctor ·�uan, 22 Sep tembe r 19 50.
3 2
J:' rederi ck A. Grim es , 2 2 September 19 50 .
1 3
2
Edit orial Subsecti on . Pete rson, ·who had original ly
establ ished th e San ]f r ancis co COl censorshi p pol icy, set u:p
the .AJfRS poli cy during the later months of 19 42 . He re
por ted 5
3
tha t an ela borate set of censorsh ip ins tructi ons
vvas v.T it ten, bu� the ent ir e poli cy hinge d around the
fo ll ovdng points :
1. AFRS shal l no t br oadcast an y thin g tha t will
of fend any pe rs on or grou p of.' pe rso ns .
2. J. •. li'RS shall not broo.dc e.st anythin g that wil l
giv e "co mf ort or ai d to the enem y. n
Cons ider at ions other than these v1ere rela ted to go od ·b rea d
cast sh ovrmansh ip .
The specific editorial procedures p eared to hav e
be en fi rs t wri tten during the las t ::-c. onth s of 19 44 simul
tane ousl y with tbe increased em1; hasis on the TIP shows.
The earlie st rel evant do cume nt O.i scove red was a memoran-
'
dum3
4
fro m Horga n to L�wis dated 13 Dece m be r 19 44 . It gave
\ the fo ll ov,ing instructions :
1 . Cl ear throu gh the ·,·lashin gto n IED of f ice any
portion of the scrip t that mi ght hav e. a comme nt
or im plica t ion concerning a fo reign gove rnm ent .
2. Cl ear tl1rough 1Lil itary Inte ll igenc e Servi ce
any mat e ri al s or le tte rs to for eign govern men ts ,
in cl ud ing the BBC.
33 H. Austin Peterson, 7 August 195 0
.
3
4
Pau l G. Horgan to Thomas H. A. Lewis, Memor andum ,
1 3
De cemb er 194 4 , p. 1 •. ..,
1 33
In Dec ember 19 43 Fi rst Lieu tenan t ..l:!r ancis J. Se el ey
wa s app oint e d head of the Edito rial Sub se ctio n. Under hi s
dir e ction th e se cti on develo ped its full stature . All
radio progr- dms rel ease d by the PPS we re re vi ew ed for
se cur ity , bi as, an d good sh ovm anship .
35
Ent erta inm ent
show s we re cl eared by insp e cti on of te st pressi ng s or
or igi na l aceta te tran scripti ons. Except in the cas e of
program s to be use d on O'JI short-wave tr ans mit ters, after
los Ang el es cl ea rance was accomplish ed no othe r revi ew was
ne cessary to broa dcast the pres si ngs on AFRS outl ets.
A compli ca ted procedur e for TIP cl earanc e dev el oped.
As ev entu& lly evo lv ed , the general procedur e fol lo wed this
out li ne :
36
1. The scri pt v1as wri tten or ch os en in ei ther New
York or Lo s Angel es .
2. Los h.nge le s scripts were cle ared by the Edit orial
Subs ection.
3. All scripts we re revi e we d by the Barnouw offic e
in Nev1 York for TIP polic y.
a. ]'or authenti ci ty an d author i ty .
b. ]'or inte r-grou p strateg y.
c. ]'or foreig n policy.
35
Fren ci s J. Se ele y, 6 Jul y 19 50.
36
Loc . ci t. ; Thomas H. A. Le w is , Pau l G. Horgan,
and Ji' . T. Spauldi ng, ll'lemo rand um !.£E � Re cord, 10 January
19 45 , 4 pp .
4. All scri p ts v1 ere cl eared by conc erne d ag encies
in Yl as hin gton .
a. The In for ma ti on Branch or the
Educat io n Branch of the IED .
b. Indi vi du al s or or gani zatio ns
out side of the ';iar D epart me nt .
c. The BPR .
d. 'rh e OIVI and/or the St ate Depc..rtment .
5. Vlh en ap proved the scripts we re releas ed for Ali'RS
pro due tion.
6. A test pressi ng of the re cor ded show wa s audi
ti oned by the Inf ormat i on Branch of the IED
befor e pressin g produc ti on and ev entual dis tri
but ion permi ss ion v-JE.. s gra nted.
134
Thi s ele. .bo rate TIP cl ee.ra nce procedure brough t ab out
much contenti on betvv een the IED an d .A.FRs .
37
PPS pe rsonnel ,
in atte mp tin g to fulf ill their missio n, beli ev ed that tim e
thus cons u med often rendered the produc tio n of li ttle or
no va lue . Sh O'.ri s wer e vvri tt en and produced to assis t
speci al conditi ons ; by br ca dcast tim e the condi ti on wa s
li kely to have disappear ed . Pe roo nne 1
38
felt that the
gre ct amount of' "red ta pe " na de much of' their wor k fu ti le .
Horgan
39
an Inf orma tion Branch Chi ef, reported that thi s
el ab or at e cl e E�.ra nc e wa s abso lu tel y ne ces sar y in orde r to
37
Thomas H. A. Lewi s, 23 June 195 0 , re ported tha t
the cle aran ce probl e m vm s co mmon to all IED produc tio n
agencies .
38
Thomas H. A. Levris , 23 Ju ne 19 50,
39
Paul G. Horgan, 9 bug us t 1950 .
135
keep th e IED production a.g encie s ou t of trouble , es pe cially
JJ! ,RS • .A:E 'RS wa s presentin g mate ria l on a world -wid e be.s is,
and , as suc h, thi s mate ria l appe ar ed to be of fic ia l 'Nar
Depa rtment and State Depa rtment i11 ..f orma tion. The influ ence
of the se sho v1 s wa s grea t. No single el an ent of th e pro gram
could be incorre ct . He al so sta ted tha t the act ua l loss of
time occurred in ag enc ies outsid e too SSD. The da shing ton
met hod of review -vva s such that a script mig ht lie in a
"hold ba sket " fo r man y days before it wa s given con s id era
tion .
An add itional insp e cti on of al l .A..F RS programs was
mad e by the US Office of Cens orship . This agen cy, wi th
pers onn el statio ne d at Los .Angele s, Sa n I!' ranc isco, an d New
York .AFRS offices , cens ored al l mat eria ls for se curity
before di strib ution wa s ini tiate d . Tl' ..i s proce dur e \IVB.S
est abl ished at ..t:;.FR S Los Ang ele s in 1944 and wa s dis continued
14 Au gust 1945 . Th e proced ur e apJ.B rently de ve lope d no
pro b lems fo r th e PPS . Navy Lie utena nt Rob ert Guggenhei m,
4 0
an officer of thi s censorship uni t sta tion e d at AFRS du ring
1945 , belie ved that the revie w wa s a waste of pe rs onne l
since the ��.FRS �) rogra ms woul d no t normall y cont ain any in
form ation that wo uld vi ola te security regula tions. He felt
40
Robert Guggenheim, Jr . , 5 Septemb er 1950 .
136
that the pr evi ou sly described edit oria l proced ure s wou ld
revea l an y mino r bre ac he s that might oc cur .
The Ed it o ria l Subse cti on w&s re spon si ble for th e
prepo. rc.ti on of radi o script s an d fo r the "Script Kits"
which \Ne re distributed to AFRS tatio ns . Th is se rvic e
ap peared to .ba ve been init iated in the Sumrne r 1943 . An
agre ement v,ras mad e between Lieute nant Co lo nel Marvin Yo ung ,
the SSD Sold ier Show s Bra nch Chief , and Le vr.i s throu gh whic h
su itable mc:.terials were ga the red and se nt to l"Jl'RS fo r dup -
licatio n and inclusi on in the nscri pt Kits." Al so , J...E 'RS
writers arrange d progr am s for tbe kit s. 'I'he Edi toria l
Subsecti on coll ected and com pil e d tbe mat eria ls fo r di stri-
bu t io n.
Tal ent Subse ct ion. Jfrom the earlie st do. te s tro op
broa dcasts were mad e wi th gra tis stella r talent . "Conm and
Perfor mance," insti tut ed jus t ef ter "Peo rl Harbor," w a s
bui lt on the idea thE:. t t.h.e GI coul d co mmand the tal ent s of
any ) ... ll'.le ri can pe rfor mer . Presumabl y th is pe rf orm er wo u ld
be glad to don ate hi s servic es .
The l.:.e rnor andu m of Pro ,iec te d Ini ti al Pro gram Schedule
app roach e d the tal ent proble m in a so mewha t diffe rent
man ner:
••• � ta ri cannot , how ever, be expecte d to provi de
an unlimited am ount of service free . It is the
I
position of the ar tists' org aniz ations that inas
mu ch E, s the gover nmen t does not ex pe ct an auto
mobil e ma.. '1ufacturer , for exampl e , whose stock
in-tr ade is autol:lobil es, to pr ovide them fr ee for
the ann ed force s--neither sh ould a perform ing artist,
whose stock-in-trade is hi s act ing , si ngi ng , or
pl aying an instrtll!l ent, be expe cte d to pr ovide hi s
ta lent s free. Exc eptions ar e gene ra ll y made in the
cases of outstan ding stars ';:ho re ceive favora ble
pu bli city for their coope ra ti on and wh o by vir tu e
of t.neir la rge incomes can better afford to con
tr ib ute a greater num ber of free perfor mances . 41
137
Tr ... is ec.. rly th inking wa s essential ly corr e ct , except tha t tJ::e
desires of the arti s ts v,r er e not corr ectl y apprai sed .
Stell ar pe rs ons of the ent er ta in r:.. ent indus tr y ·we re anxious
to app ear Et t service ent erta inrn ent fun ctions . Cor re s
pondence42 betw een Keppe l , Lewis, and Lyle Thaye r, Kay
Kys er 's agent, re veal ed thi s si t �..E. tio n. Kys er did no t
feel that enough of his rec or ding s v:ere being in cluded in
th e b Ki ts. He aske d that hi s agent fi nd a way by which the
·::a r Depa rtrr.e nt would use mo re of them. lie wa s even wil li ng
to donate re cords . As was ge ner a lly true with most of the
stars , this req ue st wa s beli eved to have been mot ivate d by
tvvo for ces: (1} Th e re al desire to be of assis tanc e in
making the se r vi ceman' s life more pl easant , and (2) a
desire to keep hi s name and reputation pr omine nt in the
41 Radio Se ction (AF RS) , Memor andum of Proj ected
Initial Pro gr- am Schedule , �· �· (p re 1
1
August 19
4
2}, pp .
3 !'.
4
2
]'rancis .i:�e ppe l to Lyle 'I' hayer, 15 December 19
4
2,
min d s of' th e se rvic emen. Resu lt in g fro m th is si tuati on,
138
�4..FRS wa s able to buil d it s entire pr ogram st ruc ture on star
ta lent . The .i:Jl' RS audie nc e "ba it " vre. s the extens ive array
of bi g-name talent on indi vidua l shov,r s. Pro gram s prod uced
wi th nam e talent beyond the finan cial re so urce s of th e
bigge st Amer ica n ad verti ser, became th e ru le . Sh ows wer e
pla nned to use as mu ch st ar ta lent as po ss i ble. Conn ell ,
in vrri. tin g "th e appe ar ances of over 400 st ar s and lesser
light s of th e st age , sc re en, opera, con cer t and ra dio \Yorld
in over 7 , 000 indi vidua l A.lfRS prog rams , n
43
only sc ra tch ed
the surface of the contr ibu t ion. Ne arly ever y ente rta in-
ment celebrity of th e Unit ed State s vre.s "on calln at .A.l!'RS .
It was necessar y to empl oy certa in no n -name tale nt •
The Memor andu m of Pro j ecte d In itia l Pro gr am Sch e dule re
porte d th e or igina l ar ra ngements as follows :
••• A comp letely elas tic re he ar sa l ar ran ge ment with
AFRA has been obtained dis pensin g vli th the us ual
hourly rat e. A fla t price may be pa id reg a rdl ess o:f
th e le ngth of re hearsa l .
Th e cos t of th e orcre str a may be re duced by uti
lizing the re s idue t ilr:e of sta tion-s tct'f' or cbe stra s,
at no cost to th e Arruy .
44
1. p. ; Lyle Tha ye r to Tho ma s H. A. Lew is, 22 December 1942 ,
l
. P•
43
.
J- . K. Conn ell , "Thi s is th e Arme d Jfo r ces Rad J.o
Serv ice, " !!· .£.• , P• 4.
44
Ha dio Section , .I:Lern or andum .2£. Pro duc t ion � �
sc ript ion Costs fo r Ini tial Pr ogram Sche dule , p. 40.
139
The foll owi ng char t , E'I GU RE 6, is be lie ve d to dis cl os e the
Summ er 1942 rate agre eme nt wi th t.be Amer i can li' ederation of
Rad io Artis ts and th e Mu si c ian 's Un ion . Exc ept for t'N O
sche dule s of payment , the agree men t , as il lu stra ted,
remaine d intact throughcu t th e war. Hend erson,
45
th e J.l!'RS
Purchasi ng and Contra.c ti ng Ofiic er, stated tha t by 1945
actors and announcers for non-audi en ce shows v.>e re bei ng
pa id ;jpl2 .50 fo r a fif teen-min ute show and ;Uil 5.0 0 for a
thir ty-minute sh ow. Although these rates vve re most liberal,
they vve re not ut ili zed to any apprecia ble extent. Star
talent was readily avai lable for any i..F RS pa rt no matter
how mi nor it mi ght be .
The pe rsons op eratin g the wartime rr alent Subse ctio n
;
were Staff Se rgeant Ge orge Ros enb erg, Se rgean t Le ster
Lin sk , an d Corp oral Barro n Polan . The se men bad be en
arti sts' mana gers and representativ e s bef ore their entrance
in to serv ice and vver e especi ally chos en for thei r exp eri
enc e and abil i ty in talent pr ocu reme nt . In follmv in g
acc epted procedures, the wri ter or produc er of a giv en show
would contact th e Talen t Subsecti on and reque st the desired
artis ts. In turn , the subsect io n woul d contact the Iiolly
woo d Victory Committee v1hi ch \'Ja. S the lio llyv'lo od indus try-
45
Jalter b. Hende rs on , 5 Sept embe r 1950.
t-3
(b
.a
0
1-3
lXI
�
::0
lXI
c:T
(b
r.o
1-1;)
0
1-3
:r>
;J
w
t-3
lXI
......
Cll
:;:!
c:T
•
l7;j
H
Q
�
LIVE AUDIENCE SHOWS (Such as �ai l Call•" "Your Broadway and Mine," etc.)
Fee tor 30 minute ,show
Actors and Announcers
Si ngers (4 or more voices)
NON- AUD IENCE SHOWS r
$20.00
Eaoh $15.00
* •••••
Rehearsal not over 6 hours.
(May be in two sessions on
differ ent days)
Rehearsal (One day only)
Not over 3 hours
(Such as "Yanks on the March," "Home Front." ftpers onal Al bum, " "Yarns for Yanks." etc.)
15 minutes 30 min utes
Actors and Announc ers t9.50 (2 :ho urs rehearsal) $11.50 (4i hours rehearsal)
Singers (2-4) $9.5 0 (l hour rehearsal) $11.5 0 (1 hour rehearsal)
(5-8) tT.OO (1 hour rehearsal) t 8.60 (2 hours rehearsal)
It is the establis hed principle ot the Radi o Section--and acceptable to AFRS--
m that Where "Name" talen t appears and receive s air credit the perfo rmance shall be gratia.
• • • • • •
Tempo
rarz
Kusi cia ns Rates
SO Min ute shows - Rate per man
Time and a halt tor leader.
Time and a halt tor contr actor.
3 ho ur session
- '"124. 50
Time and a halt tor musicians wor king shCJW alo ne •
No extra payment for dou bles.
2 hour session
- tzo.oo
......
If>.
0
141
wide coord inat ing agency th at schedule d ste llar gra tis
£:pp earances. Usually the serv ices of th e de sired art is ts
were obta ined .
]'rom th e vieV1J:: )Oint of the wri te rs and pr oducers
the re appeared to have been no tro ub le in obta. ining de sired
artis ts . However , AE'RS admini st rati ve personnel reported
some diff icult y in trlis area. Troub le in obta ining de sired
tal en t fo r ttMai l Call " appeared to be the maj or reason l.JTRS
vra nte d cont rol of "C ommand Perfo r mance. n
4 6
La ter tal ent
procurement problem s were de scribed in a 19 44 letter from
Lewi s to Colonel Will iam B. Haye s, th e lED 1i is cal Officer •
• • • The talent si tu e:' .t ion al one get s ti ghter all
the ti Le. ',ie recent ly di d four sll 01 Js a piece on
th e "big four" of the "li " se ries in New York , and
•.t ;e had sone dif f 'i cu lt y ge tt ing th e ta lent for the
shov m th ere. Too ofte n vi e get tal ent on persona l
understa ndin gs--personal conferen ces--rat he r th an
on th e performance value of a v:e ll kn ovm and hi ghly
succ essful global op erati on . If the ta lent which
goes overseas in usa- Cam p Sh aN s coul d he tJ.r the
name "Armed ];fo rces Radio Servicen in th e sta t ion
brealcs of th e Ame ric an Exp ed iti onary Stat ions , it
woul d give th em a sense of accomplishment- -a feeling
of .;:�r id e whi ch would be go od insuranc e against th e
days ahead when th eir enthu siasm may level off.
Having th e phrase in the record ing it self is not
enough . It must conne ct di rectly with th e Ame ric an
Expe d it ionary Sta ti on .
47
4 6
Infra , PP • 15 2 ff .
47
Thomas H. A. Le 1:: is t o ;dillia m B. Hayes, 20 Decem
ber 194 4, p. 1.
142
This le tter in di c at ed the three ma jor pr obl ems of the Tal -
ent Subsect ion : (1) At tiru es wr iter s, pr od ucers, an d
ad mini strators we re no t using the accepted chann els to
schedule tale nt ; ( 2) Ne w York talen t we,s not as re adily
obta inabl e as wa s that in Hollyw oo d ; (3) ov e rseas stations
we re no t usin g tt.e A.FRS ten JLinolo gy en ough to in sure that
stars on lJSO tours reali z ed their 1\..F RS co ntr ibut ion s wer e
usef ul an d im port an t .
In gene ral , however , it vre.s re cor ded that the gre at
cont r ibutio n of en te r tainer s to servi c e brood casts was
mo st graciously JIE.de. Rare ly di d artists fa il to appear
or ref use to part icip ate . Without their co ntr i but ions the
ent ir e AFRS activi ty woul d ha ve been im po ssi ble . Gra ti s
tal ent , the keyst one of J�·Rs , co nt in ue d to be pos sible
through th e e:f fici en t, ec onom ical , an d busin e ssl ike man-
ag ement of P.li'RS pr oducers, ;vr iter s , and adm inistr at ors •
. �_t al l ti mes ..tJfRS had the wh ole -hearted suppor t and
assistan ce of the ent er ta inme nt ind us try.
Other E.E§. activi t ie s. The ed nini s tra tive activities
of the PPS 1:1e re desi gna te d to the fo ll owing of fice s :
1. Pro e;rc. m 'I' raf fi c; assig ne d du ties to r.Titers and
prod ucers . lie.ndle d the gene ral 11 trr: J.ff ic lf or the
section .
2. 'I' raf'fi c r:c nd Script .t:i l es; hc :.YJ.,.i le ci al l '' fic 11
01 tl.:t e :;; cri�; ts r ror u th e , ir i ter s to th e J.C. di t ori al
Subse ct ion , Was hingt on lbD , tile U.S Ot'i'i c e of
Censor si:lip , and th e pr od ucers . hiaint &ined the
scr ipt fi le s.
3. Short -wave Liai son; handl e d al l mat ters rel ati ng
to the short-� �ve off ic es of AFRS .
143
A photog raphy ser vic e and labor ator y wa s mainta ined
v; ith in the PPS fo r us e Ci.f th e ent ire AFRS or gpn iz at ion.
Its pr in t s were in gre [�t demand ov erseas as an ai d to pro-
gram pr omo tion . ]'ur th ennor e, ;,.]'R S beli eve d th2t st a r pho-
togr aphs vl8 re of' gr et t mor ale value to its ov;n over seas
per sonne l. A Resea rch Subsecti on co nti nued the audie nc e
sur veys sta rt ed by th e SSD Resear ch Bra nch in 1942. This
Subsect ion v;a s als o re sponsible for much au th ori tat ive data
to suppor t various J:. FRS "campaigns." It s "Gar diogr: ,phi c
St udy" on the th erap eutic valu e s of mus ic wa s us ed to aid
the est a bl ishment of the AJ!'RS ho spita l Dis tr ibuti on Se rv
ice .
4 6
:bi na ll y , in connect ion wit h al l pr o gr '-:. ming act iv
it ie s , the onl y Radio Re search Li bra ry to exist in the
·,;'estern Unit ed Sta tes wa s establis hed e. t A:E'RS in th e ear ly
months of the oper ati on .
49
The libr ary assisted the pr epa-
ra ti on of both the pr og rs ms and res earch . It became espe-
ciall y impor ta nt with the unfold me nt of TIP acti vitie s.
48
Jrr anci s J. Se ele y, 6 Jul y 1950.
49
Bir dina E. Le·,, in , 15 Septem ber 1950.
II . HOLLYi'/O OD PRODUCTIONS
Early tro op broadcasting act i vi tie s led iJfRS
personnel to believe that their gre;;:�test contributions
144
could be made th rough shows especially produced for serv
i cemen.
50
Short -v vave \Vas to be the original l'ne dium of
transmission. In 194 2 the short- wave st Ltions wer e already
rebroadcasting domestic program s from which the commercial
references were eliminated. Therefore , the ma j or effort
and activity of the infant .ft..F RS wa s exp ended on special
productions ._ Not until the Sumrr e r 1943 was AE'RS enlisted
to supply the majority of programi ng ma terials needed by
overseas stations. The specially produced shows were given
th e name Hollywood, or H productions, mai nly because a name
was needed and tl1e _pr incipal source of origin for these
shows was Holly wood. The name applied to both the enter-
tainment and the TIP shows . Hov t ever, for purpo ses of
differentiation the so-cal led H enterta inm ent productions
are considered in this section, and the TIP sh ov ·,r s will be
discus sed later.
The PPS grew as shows were added to the production
ro ster . Individual s.hov;s of special importan ce to this
50
Thi s is clearly estLb1ish ed in the text of the
.'Radio Section {AFR S) , l.le morandu m .2£ Pro ,je cted lni tial
!Program bche dule, E.• .S ·
(pre 11 August 1942) , 37 pp .
145
deve lopment are cons id ere d in the order in whic h thei r
L:.flu ence was felt.
"1;I ai l Call." Boa. rdman
51
reported tha t th e id ea for
--
"1ia il Call " bloomed as he was tra vel ing to New York wi th
Lawrence , Lee , and Peterson . Thi s tri p prob ably was ma .de
prior to Jul y 194
2
, for the idea had beco me mature by the
time it was in cluded in the pro gram memoran d��. He re-
ported that this show wa s not to be a copy of the BPR
"CoiiJ.nan d Performance;" it wa s in no we.y asso ci at ed wi th
the ideas of that show. "liJla il Call " v;a s to be :
••• a letter, 'lvr i tten by the fo lks at heme to a
service man abroad . • ••
• • • By te lli ng v.r.ba.t 's go ing on at hom e we pre sent
a half -hour chock f'u ll of' the na tio n 's le adi ng
entertainment •••• Ye t the main ingred ie nt of the
program is headl ine materia l.
5
2
lio wev er, the entertainment si milarity of thi s new produc
tio n to the alread y prestige-laden BPH show coul d no t
escap e the ears of the listener or the rc.di o-wi se thin ki ng
of the produ cti on staff .
The first sh ow wa s p red uce d and recorded as a
regule. r ha lf-hour program at the E.oll ywood CBS studio s on
11 Augus t 1942. It was no t an edite d show . The sc ript was
51
True :L. Boa rdman, 9 May 1950 .
5 2
Ra dio Se cti on (.AI!' RS) , l> Ie:Tlor andum of Pro ,je cte d
Init ia l Program Sc hedule , !!. • d., (pr e 11 Lugus t 1942J, P • 5.
14 6
writte n by Lawrenc e and Lee , anc i Boardman was the pro
duce r.
53
The cast in c luded Loretta Young , as th e ta stress
of Ceremoni es, Bob Hope , .E'ra nce s Langford , and Jerr y
Colona .
Shor tly after th is fi rst pr oducti on Captai n Tom
Ivi ci:�nig ht be came p reduce r of the sh ovr.
"
Later, sev en1 1
othe r .L'..:B 'II.S pr oduc ers were responsib le for the rec ordi ng
ses sions . LavJ rence and Lee vrro te the es. rl y scri pt s in the
,se ri es , but eventuc_ lly rre.n y Li'RS v1riter s con trib ute d
mE teria l f' or the pr o gra. m.s .
The fi rs t sh ows in c lude d short se q_ uenc es from
current riJ. oti on pic tur es . However, after th e thirteen th
produc ti on th e fo rrut v1 as ch&nged to one in wh ich eac h show
feature d a si ngle uS State. Peter son
54
felt tha t the early
progrt:crus were filled wi th to o much sentirne nt e.lis m and
hokum . ne belie ve d th:.', t mo..ny ti ;,�e s the message s were talc en
th e wrone way , and thus di d no t help ra or ale problems .
Event ual ly the fo rmat v:as cha nge d fro m messages to enter-
tain ment ·,: lit h im pli ed or hi dden messages. It became a
star-s tudded musi c al varie ty sh ow wi th li ttle eo. phasis on
53
Jean �(err Cook, 6 Ap ril 19 50 ; The 11as produced11
scri pt ·wa s found in the Lawrenc e and Lee fil es.
54
h •. li .. usti n Peterson , 7 ;� ue; us t 19 50.
147
the idea of a letter from home . Eov vever , the servic e-m ail-
call id ea at the be ginnin g of the show was retai ned through-
out the war.
11Personal Album.
II
rr he Savage Progres s Renort
55
states that .bing Cros by re corde d the fi rst "Per sonal .tU .. b
um tt
the week of 11 �'iu gus t 19 42 . The LFRS Prog ram Lis t report s
the fi rst "Pers onal Album"
p
.s be ing recorded wi th Bing
\
Cros by on 1 Octobe r 1942 . The latter is pr obably true for
Lieut enant Colonel Ted E. Sher d e:n an, who came to l.]'HS about
the mi ddle of September of that year, stated
56
that h e was
the fi rs t pr oducer of the show. Howeve r, he also reported
tha t Di nah Sho re and Ginny Simm s recor de d t
h
e fi rst pro-
gl" dms . The Pro gram Lis t shm vs the second pr ogran wa s re-
corde d by Ginny Simms . She::.·de man said that the in tent lHa s
to produc e this seri es by means of especiall y re corded,
vo i ce-trac k announce ment s of girl si ngers whi ch were to be
comb in ed v.r i th the si ngers ' cornr:ii. erci al phonograph records .
'r hi s was to be a fi fteen-mi nut e "gir l-s in ger" progr am. The
Program � sh ows that girl si ngers appeared on tvventy-
three of the fi rst thir ty trans cri ptions . Later thi s
55
(C . Court enay Savage }, Pro
gr ess Report , 26 1-�ay
1942 to l Decem ber 19 45 , p. 19 .
56
Ted E. Sherdeman, 6 September 19 50.
148
pr ogram v;a s change d to a compl etely li ve reco rdin g with the
singer, acco mp anying arti sts , an d an an nouncer. The si nger
sp oke perso na lly to the lis teni ng servicemen, but dedica-
tions v1e re not used on th e pro gram .
''J:)�el ody RoundUJ?. " Savage
5
7 repo rt ed the t the firs t
"�"ie lo dy Round u_p " was als o recorded tbe week of 11 J:.. ugust
19 42. rr he JJfRS E'r o gram Li st dat es the fir st sh ow as 2
8
August 19 42 . Roy Rogers appeared on the fir st fo ur sh ov;s.
Later severa l �·iest ern enterta iners wer e used on each fi f-
te en-m in ute tran script ion.
"Yarns £2.!: Yanks ." Thi s show was adapt ed by Law-
ren ee an d Le e fr om thei r civil ian broadcasts, "Nit e Cap
Yarns . n5
8
It wa s fi rst recorded fo r ];] RS , 3 October 1942 .
It vms a series of fi ftee n-minu te , hurnan- int erest stori es
told in several voi ces by one man . ]f
r
ank Graham recorded
the fi rst ei ghteen pr ograms . Late r many Holly wood st&rs
recorded sto rie s fo r thi s series
.
''lEus ic for Sund a
y.
11
Hol ine r5
9
rep orted that the
5? ( C . Court enay Savage}, Progress Re�ort , 26 May
1942 to 1 Decemb er 194
5
, p. 19 .
58
Jean Ke rr Cook, 6 Apri l 19
5
0.
5
9
Mann Holi ner , 13 .Ap ri l 19
5
0.
149
first religious programs v; ere transcribed in the late Fall
r
1942 . '11 he .b.FRS Progra m f.ill dat es the first nlvl usic for
Sun da y11 as 2 J:e bru:::; .r y 19 43 . rr his was the major religious
sh ow produced by AF'RS and origina lly wa s mad e up of thirty
minutes of music of all faiths and de nominat ions . Thi s
sh ow establi she d the AFRS policy that no broadca st of mus ic
or speec h de al ing with a single religio n v1 oul d be prepa red.
A re aff irmation of thi s policy vva s found in a teletyp e from
rilulle n, in ·:la shin gtOJ:, to Ha rk , 18 July 1
9 4
4.
60
It state d
that the Army Chie f of Chaplains app rove d the policy in
1942 by rec ommending that no pro gram of a single de nomi
nation be sent overs eas .
"Music for Sunday" was origin ally an assemble d show.
Music tra cks we re obtained fr om many sources. Some wer e
first reco rd ed for purpose s othe r than broadc asting. Some
v;e re re cord ed from United State s broad casts . Occas iona lly
s_p ec ially rec orded tracks were m&de for the series . Hol
iner, th e original prod ucer of the pr ogram, mad e up the
shov; from tracks linke d with na rrution espe ci ally re corded
by an AFRS announcer.
p. 1.
"Jubilee. '' Th e program staf f :felt that a second
60
'dilliam P. Mull en to Ma rtin H. ',J'o rk , 18 July 19
4
4,
150
mus ical va riety sh ow was nee ded in th eir pr oduc t ion sched-
ul e. :i.iol ine r, th ro ugh his past exp er i ence , had be ca ue a
specialis t in the pr odu cti on of' Hegro thea tr ic als. He ha d
pr oduced th e famous "Bla ckbir d n revi ews on Broa dv�ay, and
had been instr u... '1l ent e.l in init iat ing the careers of many of
the mo st fa mo us Negro variety ent er ta iners.
61
Al so, he
had pr odu ced a highly su ccessful Negro rad i o show calle d
"Ju bil ee . n62 "l:tia il Cal l," "Command Fer fonna nce, " and other
shows ut il ized the ta l ent of whit e pe r fonne rs. The PPS
pla nne rs felt th at th e gr eat pool of colo red pe rf onner s
should be given a chance to �� ke a wart ime co ntribut ion.
A sho w· ti tled ttFr eedom ' s Peop le" .ba d be en su ggested in th e
orig :L. 'lal pr ograming memorandum . 63 This show was inte nd ed
to be sl ant ed for colored troop mora le . Or igin al ly a
series of ·,{PA tr ans cr iptions v:ere to st c:.r t the seri es.
Hol iner 64 repor ted th at he di dn't actual ly beli ev e
that the show shou ld be especial ly sla nt ed to any cer ta in
audi ence . It s ent er ta inment va lue would be of mo r clle
assistan ce to ill. troo ps .
As the prod u ct ion idea actual ly
61
J
ean Kerr Cook ,
6
April 195
0
.
6 2
l1lann lioli ner, 13 ril 19
50
.
63 Radio Sectio n {; .FRS ), �.lemora ndwn .2£ Pr oj ected
Initi al Program Schedu le , £.• £. •
(pr e 11 ��ug ust 19
4
2) , p.
2
7.
6
4
Mann Holiner, 13 April 19
50
.
151
evolve d, it liJaS th e inten t to pr oduce a fine Negro variety
sho w using fo remo st tale nt which wa s to be se lected onl y
fo r it s ent er tainm ent value. Slanting the program would
admit the ex istence of colored- whi te confl icts within t.te
ser vi ces, and would poss ibly intensi fy th e problem. The
name of Holine r's succes sfu l ci vi l ian radio sh ow , "Jubile e, "
'Ha s to be used ins too.d of "..b 'reedo m' s Pe ople," the ques-
\
tione d title sug geste d in th e ori gi nal memor and um.
"Jub ilee" wa s fir st pr odu ced 9 Octobe r 1942. Et .tel
\fat e rs , Rex Ing ram, Eddie "Roche ste r" And er son, Duke
Ellington and his Orche stra , and the Hal l Joh nson Cho ir
made up the fi rst cast.
6
5 The wri tin g wa s done by Vanda
and civil ian Hollyv;ood 1ATit ers wh o don ate d thei r mate rial .66
Dore Scba. ry, later to be Producti on Chi ef of Metro-Goldwyn
£,ia yer Pi cture s , wa s on e of th e re gula r ea rly cont ribu tors •67
It was th e de velopment of "Jubile e" that es tablished
the AFRS policy concerni ng the Neg ro proble m and problems
of oth er minor i ty grou ps . No sp ecia l Ne gro moral e programs
we re produced during Wo rld War II . La ter, a colore d
gene ra l made a specia l trip to Hollywo od to ask .A..F RS to
6
5 AFRS , Program h!2,l, p. 1942-43 J 1.
66
Mann Holiner, 13 April 1950 .
67 Loc. cit.
--
152
sl ant it s "Jubilee" for assist anc e to Negro mo rele . How-
ever , Holiner' s presen ta ti on of th e A.FRS policy co nvinced
th i s gene ra l of its ef" fective ne ss .
68
Late r in th e war
spec i al co ns iderat ion wa s given to "Command Performnce "
re qu est s for colo re d perfor:1e rs in order to assist a gene ral
Negro servic e bat talio n mora le problem , but no sp e cia l
indic at i on of th e proble m wa s rna de by th e si m ple fulfill
men t of th ese re quests .
6 9
Previous to thi s ti me it bad
been the cust om to use wh ite en t ertain ers on "Command
Perforrrance .n When Sta ff Sergea nt Robe rt L. Welch, the n
producer af bot h " Command Perfo nna nce" ani "JUbile et "
sta rted us ing colo red artist s on "Comman d Pe rfo rman ce" he
al so began using wh ite ent er tainers on "Jubil e e" whe n su ch
use would inc rease the showmansh ip of th e program.
7 0
"Comm and Pe rforrw.n c e. n As prev i ous ly me ntio ne d,
PPS pers onn el
7 1
felt th at the BPR produc ti on of "Command
Performa nce" wa s ha nd icapping AFRS ta lent pro cure r ren t.
68
Loc. cit . An in ti mat ion of th is in ci dent als o
was found � corre sponl enc e co nc erning Brigadie r Gener al
B. o. Davis' vi sit to AFRS cerca l:>Iarch 1944 .
6 9
Cli fford H. l!'r in k, 11 May 1950.
7 0
Robert L . Vlelc h , 5 April l9 50 .
7 1
Lowe , an early secretary , reporte d, in an int er
view, 5 Ap ri l 1950 , tha t writ ers an d pro:iuce rs wer e expe
riencing cons iderable difficulty in obtai ni ng ta le nt .
153
ll'u rthe rmo re , Lev r� s
72
believe d that the BPR and AFRS duplica-
tion of servicemen broa d cast pro du ction wa s une con omical
for the Army , and wa s also confu s ing to cont ributory
civilian age nc ies an d artists. He en vi sione d cons iderable
trouble ar is in g fro m thi s si tuation. On e of the earlies t
ma jor l1.FRS "campa igns" was ins ti tut ed to oota in a re solu
tion of th e problem. Kirby, the BPR Chie f of Radi o und er
who se gui dan ce nc ommand Perfo liil ance" bad been s uccess:full y
developed, wa s extreme ly ret ic en t to cease pr cduc ti on of
th e show or to tur n it ov er to AFR S. The sh ow, already
famous in the Unit ed States, bad obtained top pri ority
cooperati on from the en terta inm e nt in dustr y. Yet it wa s
impo ss ible f CD."' AFRS to accomplish its mis si on whi le in ter
departmen tal ten s ion and bickering cont in ued.
Lewi s
73
arran ged a me et ing of Ki rby, J:' arlow, Mun son,
an d him self wi th Major Gene rel .Ale c Sea rle s, the BPR Dir
ector . .A.t th is ne et ing t be si tua t ion wa s compl et ely pre
sented and reso lved. Searles, cl ea rly understa nd ing the
problems of .AFRS, di re cted that Kirby eitber dr op pr odu c
tion of the sh ow or imm ediat ely turn it over to AlfRS .
72
Thoma s H. A. Lewis, 19 Jun e 1950.
73
Loc . cit.
--
154
Corre spondence,
74
found at J�RS Los Ang eles, led this
au tho r to be liev e t.tat the mee tin g was he ld about the firs t
of Nove mber 19 42 .
Colone l Li v ingston Water ous , of· the IED , an d Colonel
Ea rne st Du pu is, at: the BPR, dr ew up a mem or andu m wh ic h was
signed by Sear les. It delineate d th e ra dio activ ities at
the BPR as "pr es ent in g the milit ary to the pu bl ic " and
those of .-\FRS as "all rad io inf ormation, educ ati on and en
tertainment bro adcasts to troo ps. n
75
The BPR pr oduc ed th e first for ty-f our ncommand
Perfo rmanc e" re leases . This compl e ted the pr ogram s thr ough
December 1942 . Hov1eve r, it wa s turne d over to JJ! 'RS
effective 15 December 19 42 .
7
6
AF' RS pe rs onne l gene rally bel ieve d thi s si tuat ion
caused the poor AFRS-BPR lia ison which seelll3 d to exis t
throu ghru t the re maind er of Kir by1s tenur e with the BPR .
74
E. M. Kirby to .A]' RS , 2 De cemb er 1942,
6
pp.;
Glenn V:heat on to Thomas H. A. Lewis , 23 Nov em ber 19 42 , 17 pp.
75
(C. Courte nay Sav age ), Progres s Report , 2
6
May
194 2 to l December 19 45 , p. 11 . 1fhe actw l memorand um wa s
not dis cover ed. Hov1e ver , a re sul t ant At lan t ic Base Section
Co mmand Circul a r No . 5
0
, 24 �e br uary 1943 , 1 p. , para
phrases the B'PR-i>.FRS mem or and urn as fo ll ows : nTbe War De
partment ha s issue d a dire ctive mak ing Speci al Ser vic e
Divisio n the so le au thor ity in the bro a dca sting to troops
on fore ign so il."
7
6
E. M. Kir by to AFRS , 2 De cember 1942 , p. 1.
155
The circ umsta nc e appear ed mo st detriment al to A]' RS in it s
inab ility to obta in vi tal dome st ic pu bli city releases
du ring the remainder of the war. Arm y ord er s mad e it
ne cessar y to ob tain BPR clea ranc e for any pu blic ity re-
leas ed on a nation-wide or news-se rv ic e bas is . .All 'RS was
cont inu al ly thwar tEod as it sough t to obtain this clearanc e.
Iur tbe rmor e, at later dates Kir by to ok incor rect pe r sonal
credit for AFRS accomplishme nts
.
??
we re :
??
The majo r AF'RS-Kirby co nt ro ver sie s dis cove red
a. Sev eral interv ie wee s rep or ted that Kir by mis
rep re sented .A:b" 'RS and it s activities to Sea. rl e s in an a ttem ,I:t
to retain cont rol of "Comman d Pe rfo rmanc e" am to dev elop
fur the r troo p br oa dcast activi ties.
b. The co nt inuin g BPR bl oc k to AlfRS dome st ic
publi city may be best illus trated in Mart in H. ·dork 's
letter to Paul G. Hor�n, 5 Nove mb er 1945, an d .F're deri c k
Osbo rn's Mem or andum !£!: Dir ector 9£. Inf ormat ion, BPR ,
·Nar Depa rtment , Su bject: "F·ailur e to Clear Army Hour
Scri pt , " WDSIE-V 311.23, 13 Nove mber 1945 . The se letter s
compla in that the BPR pr ogram "Army Hour " broa dcast via NBC,
4 Novem ber 1945, failed to give an accur a te account of AFRS ,
th e met hod by whi ch stars cont ri bute to soldie r broa dcasts,
and of "Coi!l!Il and Perforna nce." The latter prog ram was
credited to the BPR , and , al thou gh Ali'RS had been pr oiu c ing
the show for thre e ye ars when t 1:e broadcast wa s made , .F ... :FRS
was no t men t ioned in conne cti on vd th it s pr oduc tion. �io rk 's
lett er indicated the AFR S publicity clear fu J. ce l,)r oblem '>v ith
the BPR. It spe ci ficall y mention ed that t l::e co mbined Ann y
Navy Agree ment, an early and uni que example of se rvi ce
uni fication, had no t been re ported to mw s servi ces by the
BPR,
Ye t it had been an ac complis hed fa ct for ov er a year.
JJfRS had made re peated re que sts that pu blic announ ceme nt
and/or pub li ci ty be give n to this impo r tant ev ent.
c. Thro ugh .AEE 'P , a joint BBC -.AJl1 'J oper ation , Kirby
156
The spe cial 1942 Chri stma s "Command Per fo rma nce"
wa s prod uced by .A.:H' RS. Howeve r, it wa s initiated by the BPR
adverre l y affe cte d AFRS . AFN wa s actual ly a manb er ne twork
of AFRS . Kirby appe ared to have tal ke d hi s way into the
Co-Di recto rshi p of AEFP . Yet he wa s a BPR man . The
app ointment would .have be en expe cte d to ha ve th e approva l
of .� N , AFRS , or the IED . Supra , p. 15 .
d. In an inte rvie w wi th Harrie t Van Horne, radio
edit or of the N ew Yo rk World Tele g:ra m, Kirby appea re d to
ha ve le d Van lio rne to be li e ve that he vva s res pons ible for
and Chie f of ii.FRS . She re port ed this in hEn' column "GI' s
Get Radio 's Best ,t t 6 l.J:ar ch 1945. Sava ge 's sugges ti on tba t
a correc tio n be ma de cause d Kirby to vJri t e, in a Memo randum
]o r Act ipg Assis tan t to Dire ct or ill !§!, 8 Nove mb er 1944 ,
"in vie w of the unwarranted at ta ck and lib el up on the
cba. rac ter and re. eut ation of an or f'ice r or the Unit ed States
Army , and in view of the fa ct tb.a t this individ ual pres um es
to rep rese nt th e ','Ja r Depa rtmen t to the Pre ss in appraising
it of fa cts and policie s fo r wh ic h tbe bure au or Publi c
Rela ti ons is he ld ac coun table , it is re que ste d that an
imme dia te inve stigatio n be made an d an opportun i t y be giv en
hir . Savage to exp lai n or de ny stateme nt s he alle gedly mad e,
and furtbe r to de term ine his fi tnes s in a positio n of tru st
and res ponsibili ty as a civi li an empl oyee or tm Anny. "
The rratte r died a li ng er ing de a th arte r con sider sble
troubl e scme corr es;. ond enc e.
e. The 194 5 Peabody .lroun dat ion Award cite d Kir by for
hi s con tri buti on s to tro ops by ra dio. Thi s inaccura cy wa s
expla in ed by Brig. Gen . J. F. Davi s in a Me mo ran dum fo r the
Comma ndin g Gene ra 1, ASF, SFMSH 200.6, 3 April 1945. ASF
officials and Lewi s fe lt it was be tter no t to fur ther
agitate the Kir by-iJ!'RS relat i onship s, althou gh the Award ,
havi ng be en given nati on-w id e publi city , wa s considere d
to heve bee n de trimenta l to AFRS and its re lati onships wit h
donat in g artists .
·
Th is au thor be liev ed that Kirby hel d a cont inuin g
state ar rna. li ce towa rd s AFRS and es pec ially Le wis be cause
Ki rby's de vel opmen t of troo p broa dcasts wa s arre sted and
"Command Pe rforrra nc e" was re moved rrom his cont rol .
as foll ows :
••• that this fi r st dom esti c release of Com man d
Perforr .c. ance wil l be fro m 8: 00 to 9: 0(., PWT, ove r
all ne tw orks and al l ind ependents, sh o rtwave d where
logi cal on Euro pean and Easter n beams , vJi th re
br oad cast by BBC etc . on Chri stma s Day •••• It
is the iLtentio n of O'til and th e Bureau of Public .
Relati ons that President Ro os evel t appear ••••
78
15
7
It appeared to have be en bro adcast liv e on Chri strr � s Eve ,
24 Dece m ber 194 2 , as planned . The ca st, as repo rt ed in
the J\.ll 'RS Program Li st , 1JVCJ.S ma de up of :
Ken Carpenter anncr , Elm er Davis , Bob Hop e me ,
.P..nd rews Si st ers , Red Ske lt on , .ha rriet Hill iard ,
Spike Jones & th e Cit y Sli ck ers, Gin ny Si mms &
th e Bom bar die rs , Bing Crosb y & the Charioteers ,
Ethel 'Hat ers , Edgar bergen an d Cm r:li e Mc Carthy,
Charles Laughton , Kay Kyser � Com pany, Dina h
Shore , Ja ck Benny , .F'red Al le. n, Al fred Nevvm a n &
20th Century .Fo x Orche stra.
79
·
The show was importa nt for two rea sons ; (1
)
it wa s the
first "Comm and Perfonnan ce" to be br oadct.st for a Unit ed
States au die nc e, and
(
2) it may have initiated the AFRS
poli cy of produ ci ng speci £,1 sh o·w· s to ce l ebr at e sp e ci.al
holi days .
The us e of Captai n ke redith �jil lso n. as or c.te str a
co nductor on the 6 Januc,ry 1943 show make s ce rtai n the
belie f that l�'RS produc ed that show. .AJfRS co nt inue d pro
duc tion of "Command Performa nc e" thr oughout the writ ing of
19 42,
78
Gl enn .1 beaton to Thoma s H. A . Le-vvi s, 23 Nov emb er
P• 15 .
79
AiRS, Frof.ii ra�u �' p.l g42-43 C-6 .
158
thi s. study , alt hough it became an as semble d show in De cem-
ber 19 49 .
The BPR us ed several top nan:e s on ea ch of it s shovrs •
.:Fo r exam ple , on 7 Sli�ay 19 42, the tw elfth show , the cast was
as foll ows :
Paul Dou gl as, Bil l ·.iright (v oic e ), Bet ty Grabl e,
me , Judy Canova, Robe rt benchle y, Harry Ja me s and
hi s ore h. Clem 1i cCarthy ( re oo rdi ng of 68th Kentuck y
Derby), Jack .benn y with Don 'wi' il son , Mary Liv ing ston ,
Denni s Day, Phil Harris , Ro chester, Dave Roberge
(v oice ), l:ll ar y I,Iartin wi th Mu si c 1la id s an d Hal .
It v;a s a pre stige show for the .BP R. Bec a us e of th is fir mly
entrenched qu ali ty, A.FRS repl aced ":Ma il Ca ll " wi th 11Comrra. nd
Perf o rrnan ce u as it s speci al "show- case." Vvhi le the format
eve ntually chang e d fr om the or ig inal ov erseas servic eman
re qu es t to the story-l in e type, the polic y of us ing sever al
top-nam e ent er tainers on each show wa s re ta ined .
'rhe mo s t ce l ebra t ed "Co mm an d Pe rf ormance" wa s re-
corded 15 F'ebruary 1945 . This sho·a , pr oduc ed after the
story- line format had been ap pli ed , wa s ba sed on the
we dding of Di ck Tra cy , the po1mla r Che ster Goul d comi c
stri p cha racte r. The cast was :
81
80
Ib i d. , p. 1942- 43 C-2 .
8l
JJ! RS , Scri pt , "Comi!l8. nd Pe rformance " No . 162 ,
35
PP •
15 9
The Di ck Tra cy "C omman d Perfor manc e."
Di ck Tracy • • • • • • • • �in g Cros by
Tess Tru ehear t • • • • • • Di nah Shore
Old Judg e Hooper • • • • • Harr y VonZell
Police Chi ef • • • • • • • Jerry Col onna
Flat To p • • • • • • • • • Bob Hop e
Vitam in lfl inthe art • • • • ]'rank Morga n
SU!lJiller Si sters • • • • • • And rews Sister s
T
he Mole • • • • • • • • • Jimm.y Dura nte
Little Snovw flake • • • • • Jud y Ge.r lan d
Shakey • • • • • • • • • • lfrank Si natra
Gra vel Ge r ti e • • • • • • Cass Daley
160
The vt ri te rs of the show were Rob er t L. Welch, '>i ill iam
lv�o rro w, She rwood Schwart z, ]ra nk Galin , Di ck 1w Enigh t , Al
Lewis , Mar vi n :E' isher, Jack Ros e, an d Cha rle s Isaacs.
82
W1 llson ar ra nge d the mu sic. Jack bro oks \\TOte special
lyr ics . helch planned the ent ir e pr odu c ti on an d pr oduced
the show at its re cord ing session . It wa s re le ased as two
half- hour pro grams .
The worl d-wi de re putati on of "Comman d Per form an ce"
led c anme rcial br cs. dcast e rs to att empt po stw ar use of the
nc.me . however, the 'dar Depar tmen t bas re fused to rel ea se
the ti tle . Legal couns el believe d that thro ug h usage the
name belong ed to A]'RS .
Vanda '.§. �� prod uctio ns . From the firs t it was
planned that Vanda would pr odu ce AE'RS shCJNs in New York .
Th e pr oducti ons were belie ve d to have bee n ini t ia ted in
Augu st 1942. Th e JJ:. 'RS Pr ogra m f4.21 re veals pro du ctio n of
82 Rober t L. TNel ch, 20 Sep tembe r 1950 .
the follo wing se ries:
1. 11 "Ne .lho Fig ht, u an in terview-- "1•.la rch of Time"
type show. .l!' irs t show date 2 Au@.l st (1 942? ) . 83
2. "Your Brca dway and 1'..i ne , n the mu sic al vari e ty
show pr o pos ed in the ori gina l program ing me mo
rand um. ]'ir st sh Clli dat e 28 Septe mb er 19 42 .
161
Unda ted hi storica l notes
84
list these two shOJVs, ".b.. re You
a Genius," an d "G. I. Ji ve't as Vand a JJfRS prod ucti ons .
'rhe Prog ra m lli,l of 19 42- 43 reveal s "Are You a Genius "
wi th Me l Blanc . It do es not speci fy the ye ar . Blanc
85
rep orted that he recorded th ese shows in 194 3. No press -
ings of the show were t ou nd ; hov ;ever , an "Are You a Genius "
seri e s proba b ly was p rof u ced by Vanda in 1942 . Pressi ngs
of "G . I. Jive" wit h unu sual numbe rs and labels we re dis-
covered . Undou btedl y th is sh ow was produ ced by Vanda in
19 42 . "Jubi lee, " althou gh seemingly pl a nned by Holiner,
·wa s fir st prod uced by Vand a . A letter
86
revealed that he
prod uc ed at leas t the t irst fi ve shc:N lS in Ne w York. Near
the first of the year, 19 43 , Holiner, in Los Angeles, to ok
83
Ted E. Sbe rde man, 6 Sep t emb er 1950 , st ate d that
Ed\ rln c. Hill condu cted the int ervie ws.
84
(c . Co urtenay Savage), lii sto ri cal l� ot es, n •
g_. '
n.
.E. •
85
Mel Blanc , 19 Septem be r 195 0 .
85
Cha rles Vande to ThonE. s li. A. Lewis, n.
i
·
(Jan-
-
uary , 1943
)'
3
PP
•
162
over the show and it s p reduction re spons ib ilities.
Late in 1 942 SJE rd eman was tra nsferred to the New
York Office to assis t Vanda.
87
In Januar y , 1943, Vanda was
tr ansfer re d to Washington to join an SSD unit t.ha t was to
be sent to North Afric a . .iog el
88
wa s tra nsf er red to New
York as Chief. He and Sher deman continue d New York pr o
ductions unti l Jun e 1943 , vv hen the off ice wa s clos ed as a
pro grcllU center.
89
"G. l
·
Journa l . n The four th big mus ical var i ety shew
pr oduced by warti:ne l.J! 'RS was "G. I. Journal ." Peter so n
9
0
said that the form.at idea was inf orm at ion on activitie s of
ser vi cemen throu ghout the wor ld. It was as semb led from
tra cks of mus ic , inf orru at ion, an d of a star maste r of cere-
moni es . Kay Kyser star te d the t.. �irt y-minut e series on 29
June 1943 . He conti nue d as ma ste r of cere monie s for the
fir st seve n shows, and vvas su cceeded by Bing Cr os by.
Later, com e dy dialogJJ. e sp ots we re added to the sh ow.
The se were pr odu ced and re co rd ed before the servic e
87
Ted E. She rd eman , 6 Sept emb er 1950 .
88
Irvi ng L. ]'og el, 1
8
Decernber 1 950.
89
(C . Court enay Savage), His to rica l Notes, n. �. ,
n. E.•
9 0
H. Austin Pete rs on , 7 Augus t 1 95 0.
163
audi ences at the Hollywood Canteen. Pet er son
9 1
stated that
the music wa s always obtained fro m wild tracks.
"G. I. �" � "J ill . n
9 2
Probably th e favorite
wartime radi o pers onali ty of Ameri can servi cemen was
"Jill." Robert M. We rner, a San F'rancis co OWI pr oducer,
re alized th e ne ed for troop broadcasts and beg an hi s dis c
j ockey-like "Hi Neighbor" pr ogram dur ing the ea rl. y months
of 1943.
9 3
He had bee n order ed not to pr oduce troop sh ows .
Therefore , he gave " Hi Nei ghbor " a gene rali zed June ricana
slant that would be of inte rest to al l English-s peaking
pe ople inc ludi ng .Amer ican serv ic emen. The format emb ra ced
a young man and a woma n who we re supp ose dly ty p ical of
Amer ica. "Ja ck" an d "J ill " playe d re cords in answer to
re que sts. Th ey read news items abou t hometown even ts .
:He rne r wa s able to cbt ain but fif teen do lla rs to pay the
actors on the show. The re fore, he found it ne cessary for
hi s wife, liartha -,iilkerson, and hims elf to play the pa rts .
The show' s la rge li ste nin g audienc e wa s evi de nc ed by its
fan mail. Thi s wa s pr edominat ely mail fro m servicelll3 n;
9 1
1££· ill·
9 2
Much of the background ma te rial co ncerning this
show was supp lie d by Robe rt M. -He rne r, 21 July 1950.
9 3
Supra , p. 53 .
1 6 4
thus the produc er' s in t ent wa s accom plish e d. !J.1 he prcgra m
was broo d cast live six times a week for fi ft een mi nutes.
Hometo wn news wa s su ppli ed by ann ou ncers fr om lo cal sta-
throug hout the co unt ry . Many of these anno un ce rs recorded
th e new s an d ma iled th e trans cr ipti ons to '1'Jerner.
Po ssibly because of tbe large serv ic ema n audience
and the desirable radi o per so na lity of t.t:e charac ter
"Jill,' ' th e progra m was mo ve d fro m OVii to .Al!'RS produ ctio n
in May 1
9
43 . We rner re mai ne d as pr od ucer . nis wif e con-
ti nued to portray "J ill." And the sh ow was re corded in San
l!'ran cisco. It had been aired one hundred ti mes
9
4
prior to
th e fir st .AE'RS produ ct ion . The first A:E'RS "lii Ne ighbor"
was re cor ded a bout 22 .M.ay 1
9
4
3
.
95
Jfif ty-six AF· Rs-produc ed
shows of the se rie s were re corded , pre ss ed , and prob ab ly
broad cast vi a sh ort -wave . The fo rma t ren:a ine d essen tia lly
the sa me as the one used by ';Ierner fo r OWl produc tion.
Each con tained a salute to a certain Army pos t of fi ce num
ber. Transcr i bed intervi ews wi th celebritie s wer e scat-
tered thro ug hru t the serie s • .Al'RS pr oducti on ena bled tbe
cast to draw a substa ntial sa lary. Howev er, it was be
lieved
96
that hol iner, th en tb3 PPS Chief, fe el ing tha t the
9
4
AFRS , Transcription, "Hi Heighbor" No . 1.
9
5
.Al!'RS , Sc ript , "Hi Neighbor " No .
2 ., p. 1.
96
J. Carter I:ie rmann , 7 Sept em ber 1
95
0.
165
show wa s poorly writt en an d produ ced an d tm t it confli cted
with the fonna t of oth er AJfRS pro ducti ons ,
97
dis cont in ued
it . The la st dis covered recording date wa s 25 Septemb er
1943.
98
We rne r mo ved t .tE sh ow back to OWl produc ti on an d
con tin ue d its broadcast .
"G. I. Jive" wi th "Jil l" was first recorded by .A]'RS
25 Janua ry 1944.
99
Hermann
100
reported th at AI+RS programing
pe r sonnel decide d tbey wan te d to r::.L8. ke us e of the "Jill ''
persona lit y but no t th e "Hi Nei ghbor'' f arma t. The format
of the previously produ ced "G. I. Jive" was chan ged to
tha t of a wom an dis c jocky ans wering re que st s fro m se rv
iceme n . The sc ript was pe rsonali zed as com pl et el y as
possibl e, an d "Jill" atte mpt ed to an swer each fan le tt er
wit h a per son al rep ly an d a pict ure . The ma il , whi ch had
grown to several hundre d 1 ette rs a -wee k vllh ile "Jil l u was
an O'.ii person al ity , incr eased to we ll over 1, 000 a we ek at
the hei ght of the Pacif ic The at er Cam pa ign, wh ich wa s
approxim ate ly Augus t 1945 .
101
97
Poss ibly the conf li ct was wi th "Personal ..t-�.l bu m"
and "D01Nnbe at ." both ha d a somew hat sim il ar forma t.
98
All 'RS , Scr ipt , "h i Ne ighbor" No . 56, p. 1.
99
Al� Rs , Progiam �, p. 1944 G-1 .
100
J. Carter Herm an n, 17 July 1950 .
101
Robert M. '�lerner., 21 July 1950.
'
FIGURE e
"G. I. Jill ."
16 7
Pro bably thi s pr ogram was kn own by mor e Ame ric an
serv ic emen than any other wartim e rc. di o show. It con si s
tent ly drew a far grea ter known ma il res pons e than di d any
oth e r show. "Jill" has be en thoug ht of as the "T okyo Ros e "
or "Axi s Sall y" of the Uni te d States. Howev er, at no time
was her .h.FRS pr ogram use d for pro pagand a pur poses no r did
AJfRS admi nistr ativ e per sonn el thi nk of her in this li ght .
l02
She wa s to be "th e kid sis ter, the gi r lne xt doorn
l 03
to
every Am.e ri can GI .
"Jill 's .All Ti me Juk e box" (actual ly an addi ti onal
thir ty-min ute we ekly prog ra m of "G . I. Jive ") was st a rte d
26 Septemb er l944 .
1 04
"G. I. Jive" con tinued as a re gular
fif teen-min ute , five- show-a-w eek pr o:l uc tio n of AFRS unt il
29 November 19 49 when it v.as can celled du e to bud get
curtai lment.
S pe cial I?r oje cts. Thro ugh rut the war AF'RS pr oduc ed
show s re gularly to cele br ate nationa l holid ay s an d spe cia 1
even ts. The firs t appea red to be the 19 42 "T hank sgivin g
Pro gra m." Special Cbr is tmas pr oduc tions -wer e in i ti e. ted
1 02
Th oma. s H. A. Lewis , 19 July 1950 ; Martin H. Work ,
19 June 195 0. "
10 3
1l'
horna s H. A. Levds' c a11ment on the ori ginal dr aft
of this st udy .
1 04
AF RS ,
fro�ram lJ.a;t., p. 19 44 J.B -1 .
168
with th e 1942 Chri stma s Eve broad cast of "Command Per fonn
ance." In De cembe r 194 3 the first "New Ye ar' s Shovv" was
re corded. In each succeedi ng yea r, ela borate spec ial sh ews
wer e pro du ced to ce le brate each of th ese hol id ays .
Seve ral specia l p rog ram.s we re pr edu ce d to ce lebrate
mi litary ev en ts. On 23 Ju ne 1943 Joh nny Mc intyre re corded
a special sh ow for broad cas t on "D Day, n the date wh en
All ied tro ops mde their la ndi ngs on th e .F're nch coa st .
"VE Day " programs we re reco rded 4 and 5 Octobe r 19 43 . On
"VJ Day, " 2 Se ptember 19 4o , a sp ec ial "Conm and Pe rformanc e"
was heard over all contine ntal Unit ed Sta tes ne tworks and
ov ers eas thro ugh the re gular AFRS out lets. The key note of
the sh ow was a prayer of th anksgiving and humil ity .
Preside nt Harry s. Truman made an addr ess to th e
Arme d .F'o rce s on 1? April 19 4o . By means of a ne w te chnic al
de velo pment , 400 pres si ngs of th is address ¥.er e shippe d to
over sea s out lets tw enty-one h cur s and th irty minu t es after
th e speec h was fini shed .
lOo
During 19 44 the PPS be €fin prai uc tion of spec ia l
''Sal ut e s" to ove rseas .A.F'RS tat ions on th eir ope ning s and
annive r saries . Robert de la Torre , a post war PPS Chie f and
100
(C. Cour tenay Savage ) , Histor ic al .No te s, n. d. ,
!!. •
E. •
a war t im e PPS wri ter, st ate d
l0
6
th.&. t th ese were five- to
fif te en-mi nut e sh o.vs assemble d fro m mus ic tra cks and
1
6
9
specie.l ly recorded dialogue of a star and an announcer.
Many of the tra cks were cut before or afte r a re@l l.ar AF'R S
recording session. The programs were o ccas io m lly sho rt
waved to th e overseas st ations , bu t genera lly an instan
taneous acetate t,re. ns crip tion of th e prqgr am was se nt to
the s te. tion. The se "Salutes" ment iane d the na.m e s of sta-
tion p ersonnel and were cons idere d to be of mo ra le val ue
to th es e ov er seas servicemen as well as to the s te.. tion
audie nces. The productio ns wer e co nt inued intermi tten tly
into th e postwar period .
Summ ary .Qf.. l! produc ti ons. ]' ollow ing is a list of
the ente rta inment H prod uc tions , wit h :inf onn ation typical
of each series . Th e probable date s of each series are
included. This inf onna ti on was ga the red from man y sour ces
but is no t believ ed to be co m plete.
"A :l:e You a Genius, " quiz show with Mel bla nc , 15 mi n. , 2 a
week.
Start : 30 July 1943
.
St op : 19 May 1944 .
"At Ea se," slow popular mu sic, star 1 ... . C., 15 mi n. , 2 a weEK.
Start : 23 F'ebrua ry 1945
.
Con t inued af te r 1945.
"Command Perform an ce," sta r var iety sh ow , 30 mi n. , we ek.:ly.
Start : 1 March 1942
.
Continu ed af te r 1945.
106
Robert J. de la Torre , 30 Augu st 1950.
"Concer t Hall, " classical mus ic , Lio nel Bar rym or e or Ken
Ni le s as narr ator , 30 mi n. , we ekly.
Start : 17 Augu st 1944. Conti nue d af te r 1945 .
170
"Chi qui ta," Span ish v.om an dis c joc key , 15 mi n. , 6 a wee k.
Start : 28 Apri l 1945 . C ont in ue d afte r 1945 .
"Downb eat," popular music , 30 min. , 11\Ele kly.
Start : 23 September 1942. Con ti nue d aft er 1945.
":&'ro nt Lin e The ater, " (actually a DR show) dra mas asse mbled
fro m dome stic ne twor k br oa dca sts, 30 mi n. , we ekly.
Start : 10 Sept ember 1942. Sto p : 28 Au gust 1944.
"G. I. Jive (Ori gin al) ," popula r mus ic , st or lvl . C. , 15 min.,
6 a we ek.
Sta rt: 27 Jul y 1943 . Sto p : 25 Janw;; ry 194 4 .
"G. I. Ji ve" wi th "Jill ," woman di sc jockey, 15 min. , 5 a
week.
Start : 25 Januar y 1944. C ont inue d after 1945.
"G. I. Journ al," vari ety show, 30 mi n. , we ekly.
Star t : 29 Jun e 194 3 . Stop : 19 Octoo er 1945.
"Grea t Mu sic ," classical mus ic wi th -,ialter Huston or
Carlt on Kadell as nar ra tor , 15 min. , 2 a wr.ek.
Start : .£• 1 Mar ch 1943. Stop : 6 Septembe r 1944 .
"Globe Th eater , " {actually a DR show an d suc cessor to
"Fr ontli ne Th eater" ) dr amas asse mble d fr om do me stic
ne twork br oad casts wi th Herb er t Marsha ll as M. c. , 30
min. , weekly
Start : 25 August 1944. Stop : 7 Septemb er 1945.
"Hi Nei ghbor, " man and woman di sc jockey wi th han e town news,
15 min. , 4 a we ek.
Star t : May 194 3 . Sto p: September 1943 .
"H ymn s from Home, " relig io us mus ic , 15 min. , 2 a we ek.
Star t : 7 August 1943. Conti nued after 1945.
"Inte rm ezzo," concer t music, 30 min. , weekly .
Start : 11 Augu st 1944. Stop : 2 Feb rua ry 1945.
"Jill's All-Time JUke Bo:x:, " woman dis c jocke y, !30 mi n. ,
we ek ly.
Start : 26 Se ptem ber 19 44 . Conti nue d after 19 45.
"Jubilee ,n colore d vari et y show, !30 mi n. , we ekly .
Start: 10 Sep te mb er 19 42 . Cont inue d afte r 1945.
"Mai l Call , n star varie ty show , !30 mi n. , we ek ly.
Start : 11 Au gus t 19 42. Conti nued af ter 1945.
17 1
"Melod y Rou ndup , n We ste rn and Ji' olk songs , 15 mi n. , 4 a v.ee .l;c.
Start : 28 Au gus t 19 42 . Cont inue d after 194 5 .
"l£ usic for Sunday," rel igious mu sic, !30 mi n. , we ekly .
Start : 2 Jf ebr uary 194!3 . Continued after 19 45.
"Myster y Pl ayhouse" (act uall y a DR show) , dram as assembled
from domes tic netwo rk brotc dca st s with Pete r Lorre as
M. c. , 30 mi n. , week ly .
Sta rt : 7 Jul y 194 4. Conti nu:; d afte r 19 45.
"Pe rsonal Album, " popul ar mus ic wi t11 sta r .M. c. , 15 min. ,
4 a we ek .
Start : 1 Oct ober 1942 . Continue d after 19 45.
"Sal ute, 11 spec ial 5- to 15- minu te salutes for sta tion
birthdays .
Start : 14 Se ptember 19 44 (?) . Cont inue d af te r 19 45 .
"Remember , " nostalgi c popular mu sic wi th J:!'red Ma cMurray
or bob Youn g as M. c. , 15 mi n. , we ekly.
Start : 31 January 19 45. Cont inued after 19 45 .
"Ser enad e for Stri: ngs, n popula r mu s ic with Har ry von Zell
as M. c. , 15 min. , we ekly.
Start : 21 Novembe r 19 44 . Sto p : 28 Augus t 19 45.
1tShowt L"ne ," Broadway songs with Dinah Shore as M. c. ,
15 min. , 2 a we e k.
Start : 18 Jul y 19 4!3 . Continued af te r 19 45 .
"Song Shee t, n stars le ading popular sing ing , ? mi n. , ? a
we ek.
Sta rt : 28 Au gus t 19 42 . Stop : 17 April 19 4!3 .
"Sound Off," popula r mus ic, 15 mi n. , 4 a we e k.
St art : !30 January 19 4!3 . St op : 29 Augus t 19 44 .
"Sports Intervie w, " 15 min. , 2 a week.
start : ?
Stop : ?
"Swingtime ," swing music, lfi min. , we ekly.
172
Start : 21 Nov embe r 194 4. Stop : 12 Septemb er 1945.
"Word s with Music, ,. :poe try and mus ic , 15 min. , 6 a week .
Start : 10 Augus t 1944 . Conti nued a:f ter 1 94fi .
"Yank Band stand," mi li ta ry ban d music, 15 min. , 2 a week .
Start : 13 October 1944 . Stop : 24 March 1945.
"Yank Swing Session, " :po pula r mus ic wi th star M. c. , 30
min. , 2 a week .
Start: 17 Aug ust 1942 .
Re stored : 30 July 1943 .
St op:
Sto p:
28 Augus t 1942.
3 Octob er 1944 .
"Yarns fo r Yanks," storie s, 15 min. , 4 a week.
Start : 3 Octcb er 1942. Stop : 7 July 1944 .
"Your Br oadvmy and Mine, " broa dway music, 30 min., weekly.
Start : 29 Septemb er 1942 . Stop : 18 November 1942 .
Much conf l ic ting ev id e nce exists concern :in g the actual
quanti ty af' :pr ogmm ing ma ter ial ent ire ly cre ated and :pr o
duced by the PPS . The fol lowing figur es, can bined fro m
many sources, may ind icate th is production in a gen e ra.l way .
The total s are of all H :pr oduc ti ons in cluding the TIP shows.
It was not :po ssible to separate the enterta inm ent hours
from the TIP hours.
Date
-
1 Janua ry 1943
1 June 1943
1 January 1944
1 June 1944
1 January l94fi
1 June 1945
31 December 1945
Average Distribu tion
14 hours :per v.ee k
13 hou rs per we ek
14 hou rs per we ek
13 hour s per we ek
14 hours :pe r week
15 hours :per week
17 hours :per week
173
III. DOl VJ. "EST IC REBROADCAST S
The lar gest amount of PPS program ing materi al con
si sted of origin al .A.lll9 ri can net wor k broad ca sts from wh ic h
the comme rci al announce n:e nts we re delet ed . The se were
termed Done stic Rebrood cas t Progra ms . They we re the ac tual
program "meat" for th e ove rseas stations . Regardle ss of
the numb er of stel la r art ist s appearin g on "Comman d Per
forman ce," "Mail Call , u "G . I. Jcu rml, " and "Jubil ee,"
the serv ic emen , cond itione d by many yea rs of Ameri can radi o
li ste ni ng, waited for :Fi bber McGe e am Moll y , Bo b Hope ,
Bing Crosby, Bur ns and All en , an d suc h top- rated ente rtain
ers in thei r own Amer ic an ne twor k program s.
Dome stic Rebroadcasts , or dena tur ed sh cw.rs as the y
were call e d by war ti me AFRS pe rsonnel , di d not pl ay an
importan t part in the ori gin al pro gram pl a nning . As
stated previ ously , short-wav e b rre dcastin g wa s th e majo r
anticipated me di um for prog ram di stributio n, short-w av e
stations were alr eady rebr oad castin g these shCNl s. It was
not until AFRS found it sel f la den wi th the respons ib il it y
of supplyi n g t l::e lar gest percent age of program rna ter ial s to
be us ed by overseas Army sta tion s t.bat it felt the real
nee d for exp and ed prod uc ti on of DR shows .
The Dome stic Rebroadca st acti viti es are prese nt ed in
the foll owing secti ons :
1. Deve lopm.e nt of Dome stic Reb roadcasts.
2. Original SSD us e of ' Dome st ic Reb ro adcasts.
3. Policy for Done st ic Rebroadcasts .
174
4. Te chni ques of Dome stic Rebroadcast pr oduc ti on .
5. SWlliiB. ry of Done stic Rebroadca st pr oduc ti ons .
Deve lopment .2f. Dome stic Rebroo.dcas ts . .As ha s be en
reported,
107
prior to Worl d War II the short- wav e stations
of Ameri ca wer e rebroadcasting progra ms of domestic net
works . Pro oob ly one of' tm ma in re asons for starting th is
pra ct ice wa s to fill the air tim e. lVI ana gers of the sta
tions , operat ing on sma ll budgets, fou nd t re use of these
prog ram s economical . Jfur tre rmore , the program s were of
int erest to the stat ion 's Eng lish- speak ing aud ienc e.
The practice of deleting the co mmer cia l anno unc e
ment s seemed to have sta rted prior to tre war. Whil e many
persons repor ted tba t cri ticism receiv ed fro m ser v ic emem
station ed on Bataan
l0
8 caused the init iation of th is pro
cedure , Harris
l09
{ KGEI , San F'ran cisc o, pr ogra m Chief)
107
Supra , pp . 44 and 47 .
lOS
Supra , p. 40 .
109
E
. I
. Buck Har ris, 2 .Au gu st 19 50 .
175
stated that he uti li zed it long befor e the Bataan comp la int
was re ceived. Rob ert She rv wood , wa rti me OWI Overseas
Div ision Chi ef , wro te o1· the deve lopnen t of the practice
as follows :
The de-comme rc i alization wa s ent irely my re spon
sibi lity. I thoug ht it woul d be a se rious ij:ti st ake
far th e Unit ed Sta tes to speak to the wo rld wi th the
voice of sale sma nsh ip . I met a sur pr isi ng amount of
argurre nt when I directed that all oonme rcials mus t be
eliminated. Some officers ins is te d th at the men like d
the comm ercials , wh ic h mad e them feel at home . But
my ca se was clinched wh en it wa s rep or te d from Bataan
that hungry men were dis gusted whe n th ey heard
descri�f0 on s of rich , cre amy good ne ss at· some ice
cre am.
John Hous em
an ,
111
Ea st Coa st OWl sh ort-wave pr ograming Chi
reporte d that tm O' NI deleted comm ercial announceme nts from
th e beginnin g. He also stat ed tha t no ob jection was md e
at tba t time by the sp onso rs or the vari ous union s. The
Rowland Hi story 2! � Office 2£ � Coo rdinato r 2£ In t er
.A.I:IEr ica n At'fa irs re po rt s that :
• • • The princ ipa 1 show s fro m the IIB jar Unite d
Sta. tes loc al networks were transcri b ed and the commer
cial announc ements were deleted
1
throug h permis sian
of tl:e spons ors of these shows •
. 1 2
110
Robert E. She rwo od to T. s. DeLay , Jr. , 4 Jul y
1950 J p. 1.
ll l
John Hous eman , 19 Jul y 1 9 50 •
11 2
( D
onald ".V. Rowland ), Hi story 2f. lli Office 2.!
lli Coordina tor .2£ In t er-Amer ic an Mfairs , 1947, p. 61 .
176
By the time .A..:b RS came into the troo p broa dcast
picture , all agencies regula rly beaming pr ogr ams to over -
seas area s were rebroad casting dome stic sho w s fr om whic h
com me rcial announcemen t s we re deleted.
Origi nal §2Q � Q£ Dome stic Re broadcasts. The
earlie st dis covered use of .Ame ric an net work broadcasts by
th e SSD fo r soldier lis te ners was foun d in the twe lve -inch,
B Kit tran scriptions .
ll3
At the tim e the World Broad casting
Company relayed tbe Arm y' s nee d for transcr iptions to
comme rcial adv ertis ers , these agencies we re already accus
tomed to the use of thei r progr ams on short-wav e stations .
However, the B Kit tran scriptions were to be manuf actured
at the exp ense of the adv ert isers , and th e comm er cial
announcement s we re to remain intact . Actu a lly these tran
scriptions were consi dere d an aid to the adve rtiser's
campaign.
According to the ori gina l programin g memorandum,
Lewi s and hi s staff did not intend to make extens iv e use of
dome stic programs . They planned as follo ws :
Thi s back-log will be mad e up fr om selected
transcripti ons of' sho ws already . broadca st , such as
Lux Radi o Theater, Gulf Screen Uuild Theater, Gang
Busters, l!'i bber McGee and Molly and as man y other
suita ble shows as we can acquire •••• we will de lete
the comm erci als of these shows and subs titute a
113
S
upra , p. 80 .
simi la r brief mes sage of info:rm atio n of di rec t
val ue to th e soldie r. It is estimated that this
back- log wi ll be accum ula ted at th e ra te of appr ox
imately
5
t hours per week. As th e work pro gre sses
it will become appar ent whethe r or no t it sh ou ld be
accele rate d .
ll4
1 7
?
F·ogel
ll
5
stated that this pr ocedur e was star ted simultane
ou sly wi th pr oduction of the firs t "Mail Call . " The early
denatur ed pr ogram s wer e rele ased to the O'NI . The re for e ,
AE'RS was shipping comme rc ial pr ogr ams in the .b Ki ts and
was al so di str ibut ing denatured prog rams to short -wave
statio ns in th e :E'al l 19 42 •
.An in teres ting inc iden t , occur ing in Nove mber 19 42 ,
caus ed AFRS per sonne l to decide that the inc lus io n of
commer cial tra nscrip tions in the B Kit s was und esir able .
A lett er
ll6
revealed that the NBC Tra ns cri pt ion Div isio n
was plan ni n g a seri es of pro grams especia lly assembled from
their ex is tin g nTh esauru s" mus ic librar y for the Pepsi-C ola
Company . Th ese wer e to be in cluded in the B Kit s. Captain
Gri ffit h B. Thomp son, of the A:E'RS New Yor k offi ce , ·rep or ted
the plan to Vand a , hi s su perio r , and commente d as follows :
ll 4
Radi o Secti on {.PJ 'RS) , M.e mora ndum of Pro .j e cted J!!.
itial Program Schedule, B· d. {pre 11 August 194 2) , p. 3? .
11
5
Ir v ing L. :8'o gel, 7 July 19
50
.
11 6
Robe rt Vi ncen t to Gr i ffi th B. Thom pson ,
7
December 19 42, p. 1.
Sho u ld we cont inue to send pres sings of Network
shov vs Vvit hout tre comme rcials de le ted to troo p s in
vari ous parts of the world? It se ems to me Kraft
Chee se , Coca- Cola comme rcials , etc. , in su ch sp ot s
as Ind ia & Gre enland are very 1napprop 1i
�
te and
woul d certainly irri tate the li stener.
As a re sult of this report Vanda wro te th e followin g to
Lewis :
The danger of inclus ion of com mer cia ls in any
178
record accepted for the troops is in creasingly appa rent .
• • • Pepsi-C ola is payi ng for a re co rdi ng job wholly
constructe d and pla nne d for sell ing the troops .
I18
Lewis , reali z ing the morale dangers inhe rent in these
do na ted tran scripti ons , di re cted ]'ogel and St ebbins, .Al'RS '
Washi ng ton repre sentative, to caus e the gifts to be dis
co nt inued. In a Memorandum fo r � Record
119
Lieut enant
Colonel H. H. McDonald , Chie f of the Dis tri bution Branch,
Army Servi ces of Supply , wrote that the contribut ions were
disc ontinued as of 15 E'ebruary 1943 .
Holiner ,
l 20
among others, state d that ne twork pro
grams with their co mmerci al ann ounceme n t s intact , w� re being
11
7
Griffi th b. Tho mpson to Cha rl e s Vanda , Memorand�
8 Decemb er 1942, p. 1.
ll
8
Cha rle s Vanda to Thoma s H. A. Le wis , Memorandum,
8 December 1 9 42 , p. 1.
119
H . M. McDona ld , Memoran dum for � Record , 3
�a rch 1943 , p. 1.
120
M
ann liol iner , 13 Ap ril 1950 .
179
released in October 1942. Undoubtedly these pe ople refernd
to the programs included in the B Kits. Te chnical Se rgeant
Will iam Voele
�
l21
a w art ime Non-Commi ssioned Officer of
the Distrib ution Sect ion, sta ted th at the NBC "The sarus
Pepsi Cola plan ha d littl e to do with the All 'RS denatur i ng
policy, al thou gh the th inking surro un ding the inci d ent
was accur ate . "
Policy !..£!: Dome st ic Rebro adcasts. The Ali'RS ne ed for
dome st ic prog rams was the sam e as th at of the sh ort-wave
stati ons.
I
t was both im poss ibl e an d im pract ical for AFRS
to produc e a quan ti t y of special sh ONs large enough to
com pl etely program th e ove rse as Army stations . Dome st ic
programs were availab le at no exp ens e to th e gov ernme nt ,
and were the fines t prog rams tha t .Ame ri c an in dus try cou ld
prod uce. More imp ortan t , the se programs were th e one s mos t
desired by servic em en .
I
n filling that desire , AFRS was
mak ing a majo r contribut io n to mora le .
Th e .All 'RS reasons for denaturin g dom estic programs
may be enumerate d as follows :
1. :E'rus tration. Comme rcia l announceme nt s tended to
make the me n desire th ings not obta in able.
2. Seouri t:y. Short ages of vi tal ma te rial or evidences
of economi c dislocations could give "aid and com
fort to the enemy ."
121 W
il
lia m H. Voeler , 5 April 1950 .
180
3. Inapp ropria teness. Show mate ria ls written for
c
i
vil
i
an au di ences mig ht be detrim ental to morale •
. For example , jokes about coal st ri ke s and def ens e
workers mi ght not be funny to men in foxholes.
4. Timeliness . Becaus e of dis tri but ion problems ,
several mont hs migh t elaps e betwe en th e domestic
broad cast and the overs eas b roo dcas t . Timely
refer ences woul d becone outdate d by th e time the
servicemen bea rd tbe se programs .
5. Servicemen Com pla ints . Actua l co mpl a int s had
been re ce1ved from servic emen overseas . They fel t
co mm ercial announ ceme n t s were in appropriate.
6. El imination of Comm ercial Advant age . Not al l
co mm ercial programs could be used . Thos e used
could give advertiser s an unfair adve rtis ing
advantage . Denatu ring helpe d to el iminate this
advantage .
7. Agre ements. Pe rmissions obtained from the Ame ri can
F
eder at ion of Mus icians exempted AFRS from pay
ment of standby orche stra fees on the condi tion
that there be no com mercial ment ion in th e sh ows .
122
Als o, AFRS DR program s were rebrca d cast over the
facil iti es of the BBC whos e poli cy pennitted no
comm er cial announcements •
. Al tho u gh ther e were re .t; ort s t .l::a t some advertisers
se emed reluctant to release their prog rams for denatur ed
rebroa dca st , only one spe cific example wa s di s covere d.
Lewis, in a letter to the obje cting sponsor , ans wered :
H
ow can the Foxhole me n hon e stly thank a corpora
tion for letting them hear a radi o program? The men
oversea s ar e not ra di o men, but they have enou gh co mmon
sense to kno w tha t the only co n tri bution is in giving
pe rmi ss ion fo r the show to be re corded. The re is no
122
M
ann Holiner in Thomas H. A. Lewis , � Radio
Sub committee 12!i Report , 20 January 1944 , p. 27 .
,,
181
expense invo l ved , no time taken up , no wo rk perfo rmed.
It merel y happens that their pr ogram has a pe cul iar
valu e, abo ve and bey ond it s orig i nal purpo se , which
will mean a great deal to the men who are fi ght ing
to save t.b.a t co rpo rati o n, al ong wi th th eir co untry .
Shall tha t co rpo rati on ta ke a bo w fo r sayin g ,
••• "I nst ead of th ro wing that show in th e ash
can, we will le t the boys on tbe fi ghting front s he ar
it , provi d ed we get credit?
n l2 3
The duty of sele cting the do xoo st ic prcg ram s to be
re lea sed wa s dele gated to the AFRS Pro gram Boa rd . In gen
eral , the ir de ci sio ns fo l lo wed the ch oi ce of the Ame ri can
li sten in g public as indic at ed th rough the te leph onic radio
survey s, except t.ha t thi s deci si on wa s mod if ied by know l
edge obta in s d fro m the Su rvey 2t Listen ing l:iab i ts £!. 2-
li ste d �' its successor surveys , an d the bo ard me mb ers '
kn ow le dge nu rtur ed th ro ugh years of success:f ul co mm ercial
pr ograming experienc e. The to p-rated Ame rican pro gram s
we re the shews AFRS sel ected fo r it s do me sti c rebroa dcasts .
Dur ing the la st half of 1944 , IED all o wed ne twork
shows us ed by .A.F'RS to co nta in "a credit li ne stat ing that
th e prog ram would be he ar d oversea s th roug h th e facili ties
of Al' RS.
nl2 4
123
Thomas H. A. Lewis to c. G. Mortim er, 19 January
1945 , P • 3.
124
(
C . Cour te nay Savage), Prog ress Repo rt , 26 l�y
194 2 to 1 De cembe r 1945 , p. 2.
182
Te chn ique s £! Dome sti c Rebroadcast pr oduc ti on . The
actual te chnique of denatur ing , or editing, a progra m was
a relativ ely simple me chani cal process :
1. The orig inal show was recorded on acetate disc or
tape.
2. l!'rom auditory in spection an edito rial work sheet
wa s assembl ed wh ich designs. te d tbe dele t ions to be
mad e and the words or so und s tha t abut those cuts .
3. A rerecor ding wa s ma de in whic h tbe dele ti on s wer e
accomplished by stopp ing tbe cutt ing la the whil e
the original commer cial announ c en:e nt s were played,
or by subst ituting othe r words or mus ic fro m a
thi rd recording.
This wa s a simple mechanic al-ele ctro nic process long famil
iar to the recording in dus try. The qual ity of the final
product depended up on tbe theatrical abilities of the pro
ducer wh o compile d the editor ial work she et and the manua l
dexteri ty of the control l ing engine er.
Radio indus try per sonne l ha d become so en slave d to
the clock that strict adherence to a rigid , long-establishe d
time pattern was second nat ure. Thi s imme diatel y brou ght
ab out a problem of repla cing time lost when domest ic pro-
grams we re dena tur ed. Expe ri en ce and artis ti c "second
sense " made rad io-wise individuals re alize that a sinple
mus ic subst itut i on for deleted announc eme nt s pro bably wou ld
not be desirab le . The earl ie st plan wa s to replace "com
merc ials" with announc ement s that mi ght assist the Ann y' s
183
mission. Indoctrinal materials might be used. Immedia te ly
the use of mate rial s concern in g ot her SSD endeavors came to
mind . However , at the be ginning and in line wi th the early
intended use of th e Dome stic Re broadcasts , not much actual
att enti on wa s paid to the problem . The programs we re to
become a backl og for the conv enience of sh ort-wave broad-
casters . New materials were not usu ally inserted .
By the middl e of 1943 info rmat i on reache d AFRS to
inform PPS personnel that the ov erseas servic emen mis sed
the comme rcial annou ncemen ts. Lieutenant Colonel Melvi n
E. Williamson,
l25
a wartime BPR memb er, reporte d that a
censorship analysis of mail revealed that 85 per cent of
60 , 000 letters cont aining radio statement s indicate d tha t
the comme rcial annou nceme nt s were mis sed . Ov erseas serv-
icemen desired to hear the shows just as they were broad-
-
cast in the Unit ed Sta tes with commer cial annou ncelll3 nt s
intact . He re was a problem caused by the required de
naturing. Yet, the reasons fo r den atur i ng appeared to
rema in va lid. In 1943 Al!'RS began to subst itute "gagged"
announcement s fo r the deletions. However, mail react ion
to this procedure wa s also unfa vor able . The B.f:.iproa ch -vva s
125
Me lv in E. Will iam son, 24 May 1950 .
soon di scont inue d in favor of other s.
l26
In lfe bruar y 194 3 Staff Se rgeant Ell iott Lew is , a
leadi ng prew ar Hollywo od radi o ac tor and producer, was
ch osen to he ad th e Dome st ic Re broadcast bub section . In
184
De ce m be r 19 43 Corporal Dress er Dahlste ad , also from th e
hol lywo od radio indus try , was appoin ted assis ta nt to Elliott
Le wis . Togeth er these me n de velope d thi s se ction, and the
three spe cial te chni ques that en abled th e Dom es tic Re brca d
cast s to contri bute so la rge and satisfying a part to the
AlrRS progmrr .dng st ruct ure.
1. Thei r first technique was de velo ped to fill
the "t ime-hole" re sult ing fro m the de natu ring process . The
first approa ch wa s to bu il d a backlog of mus ica l numb er s on
the orchestr a usually heard during th e sh ow.
127
l!' or exam
ple , a specia l library of Phil Harris Orche stra se lections
was collected for use on th e "Jack Benn y Show. " These
num bers were inser ted to fi ll th e "t ime-hol e!' This was an
es pecial ly usable tec hni que for the "]'ibber McGee and Molly
Show. " In th i s show' s form at , announcer E:arlow Wilcox
120
Part of the ci ted de nat uring com plaint re volved
around thi s proc ed ure. The adver tiser bel iev ed tha t his
ori gina.l co mm ercia l announ ce men ts would be ot· greate r sati s fa ct ion to se rvice men lis tene rs th an we re the gags . Supra ,
P• 180 .
127
Dres se r H. Dahl ste ad , 18 April 1950 .
1 85
would paus e and then introduc e the musical se lection. This
sele ct ion would immediately be played by the orchestra . It
was ea sy to ins ert a Wllcox announc eme nt and it s contig
uous music tra ck. In many case s the insert ion of one orcb3s
tra se le ction repla ced all the time lost by denatur in g the
program. Late r , this proc ess was expanded by having orche s
tre �s and announcers cut spe ci al tracks for AF'Rs . l2 8
This
was espe ci ally he lpfu l in giving the special trac ks the sam e
ac oustic al cha racte ris tics til &t were fo und on the commer
cial program s . lfor example ; a tra ck m&de by th e Phil Harri s
Orche stra in the Benny program broad cast st udio was much
more ap t to ac ous tically fit the AJI'RS denature d "Jack Benny
Show" than a tra ck derived fr om a comme rci al recording of
the same or chestra . 'rhe latter was us ua lly re corded under
va st ly diffe ren t ac oust ical conditions .
2. The se cond technique was develope d to solve
problems re sult ing fr om the ope ning and clos ing fo rmat of
th e programs . It was usual to mention the adverti sed
product and it s sponsor seve ral times in the se se ctions.
This made the denaturi ng job especially difficu lt . How ever,
Elliott Lewis
l29
was able to have the cast and or chest ra of
12 8
Elliott b. Levds , 18 April 1950 .
129 �- ill·
186
man y shows record special J�'RS op enings and clos ings, and
these special tra cks were substituted for the original
one s in the process of assembl ing the AFRS mas ter acetate
record ing.
3
. The development of these special opening
and closing tracks le d to the th ird technique: The pro-
du ct ion of three new serie s of programs assembled from many
denatur ed broadcasts.
1
3
0
These thr ee series , released as
H productions , were :
1. "F'ron t Line Theater," a general dramatic progr am.
2. "Glob e Theater," the successor to "]'rent Line
The ater" with Herbert Marshall as the .A:IfRS master
of ceremonies.
3
. "M ystery Theater, " a dra mati c pr og ram wit h Peter
Lorre as the . .4..lf RS master of cerem onies.
As the te chnique evolved, it became more elaborate . How
ever, the act ual dra matic m terial came from domes tic
broo. dcasts. The .Jl-l'RS or chestra , announcers , and star
m6 sters of ceremonie s cut special o�ening, cl os ing, and
linking tracks needed to fit the domestic mat erial into
the AltRS format .
In reviewing these techniques, Elliott Lewia
131
emphasized the problem of matching acoustical qualities of
13
0
Dresser H. Dahlstead, 18 .A.pr il 1950 .
131
Elliott �. Lewis , 14
April 1950 .
187
the assembled mater ia ls . Poor ac ous tic matching woul d be
qui ckly discer ned by th e lis te ner. In ord er to ma ke the
audience feel tha t it wa s li stening to an act ual broa dca st ,
it was mo st impor tan t that diffe ring acoustic co nd itio ns
were not noticeable . Recor di ng spe ci al J.J!'RS tra ck s in the
exact studi o from which the dome stic broa dca st orig inated
he lp ed to ove rcom e the probl em . Identi cal mi crophone place
ment in that studi o wa s mo st desirable but wa s often
dif ficu lt to a ch i ev e. The great est problems were enco un
tered in th e H series derived fr om dome stic mat erial s.
�i crop hone pla cem ent , ech o cham bers , fi lter micr opho nes,
and many ot her engineering ai ds were use d to approximate
similar acous tic conditions on these sh ows .
Summa ry 2f Dome stic Rebro adca st prod uc tio ns . Mate
rials di scov ered during the research fo r this study did not
make possible a co mp lete report of the dome s tic progr am s
released by AE'RS . :!furthermo re , progra m vac a tion s and
lengths of serie s ca us ed .A..:F 'RS release procedure s to var y
from the network sch edule s. Of ten, sh� ; s were not released
by hFRS until many mon th s after the,r had be en aired in th e
Unit ed States.
In order for th e re ader to fo rm some pict ure of Do
me stic Rebroad ca st production s, thr ee li sts are presented.
188
The nine sh� vs that comprised the or iginal weekly release
of Dome stic Re broadcasts are listed fi rst.
l32
1. "Bandwagon" (:b 'itch Bandwagon).
2. "Bob Hope."
3. "Fibber McGee and Molly."
4. "Fred Wa ring."
5. "Hit Parade."
e. "Kate Smi th. "
7. "Kay Kyser. "
8. "Ma j or .Bowe s • "
9. "Telephone Hour."
The second list is repre se ntative o:t: the Domes tic Rebroa d
casts released about �ay 1943.
133
1. "Aldrich l!' amily ."
2. "lfred .All en."
3. "Bandwagon" (i itch bandwagon).
4. "Jack Benny. "
5. "Boston Sym phony."
e. "Major Bowes."
7. "Fanny Brice--Ifrank J:.ii organ. "
8. "Bing Crosby."
9. "Tommy Dorsey. "
10. "Duf fy' s Tav ern. "
11 . "hit Pa rade ."
12 . "Bob Hope. "
13 . "Hour of Charm. "
14 . "Harry James."
15 . "Andre Kostelanetz. "
le . "Kay Kyser."
17 . "Charlie McCarthy."
18 . "]' i b b er lvlc Gee &. Molly. "
19 . "Dinah Shore."
20 . "Red Ske lton."
21 . "Kate Smith."
22 . "Spotlight Bands" (6 time s each we ek) .
132
(C. Courtenay Sava ge), Historical Notes , Nove m
ber 1944 , .!!· .E. •
No certa in date :t:o r tL�S release wa s
acertained .
133
.AFRS , Li st o:r Productions, 26 1.i.ay 1943, 2 PP
•
--
189
23 . "John C.ba.r le s Tho mas."
24.. "Fre d Naring" (
4
time s each we ek) .
The third 1 ist is re pre sentat iv e of the domesti c broadcasts
being denatur ed and relea sed about lJay 1945 .
13
4
1. "Ald rich ]'amil y . "
2. "Jfred .All en. "
3. "Bandwag on" (]'itc h Bandwagon).
4. "Basin Street" (Cham ber Music Soci ety ).
5 . "Jack Benny. "
6. "Boston Symphony."
7. "]'army bri ce--l!'rank Morgan" (Man vell House ).
8 . "Burns and Alle n."
9. "Califor nia Melodi es ."
10 . "Cavalcade" (Cavalcade of .Ame rica) .
11 . "Carnival of Musi c."
12. "Comedy Caravan" (Camel Caravan).
13 . "Contented Hour. "
14 . "Bing Crosby" (Kraft Music Hall).
1 5 . "Bob Crosby" (.b ob C
rosby and Company).
16 . "Xavie r Cugat" {Doub onnet Dat e ).
17 . "One Ni ght Stand" (Dance .Band broa dcasts ).
18 . "Duffy 's Tave rn. "
19 . ttt l'he Great Gildersleeve."
20 . "Family hour" (Prudenti al ]'ami ly Hour}.
21. "Hit Parade" (Your Hi t Parade).
22 . "Bob Hope" (.b ob Hope Show) .
23. "Hour of C.ba. rm. "
24 . "Inf orma ti on Please."
2
5 . "Andre Kostelanetz" (Pause that Refre shes ).
26 . "Sammy Kaye " (Sammy Kaye 's bWlda y Serenade).
27 . "Kay Kyser" (Kollege of' Musi cal Knowl ed ge) .
28. ":F 'ibb er McGee &. Molly. "
29 . "Cba rlie McCarthy" ( Chase � Sanborn Hour} .
30. "Music from .Ameri ca" (Telephon e Hour} .
31 . "Music �ie Love" (Voice of .li'ir estone) .
32. "Nat ional Barn Dance ."
33 . "N.b C Symphony" (Genera l M.ot ors Symp hony ).
3
4
. "Dinah Shore . n
13
4
Theodore s. DeLay, Jr. , "The .Arme d l:o rces Radi o
Servic e and Its Use by the A.Ail Regional Hospital at Buc kley
l!'ie ld, Colorado, " 194 5
, p. 13 .
35 . "Kate Smit h" {Kat e Sm it h Hour).
36 . "Spotlight Bands."
37 . "Suspens e."
·
38 . "John Cha rle s Thoma s" {West inghcu se ho ur) .
39 . "Vil lage St ore" {Sealtest Vill age St ore).
40 . w:lal tz Time ."
41. "Fred Nari n g" {E.re d ':itl aring Victory Tun es) .
42 . "Your Radio The at er" {Lux Radio The ater} .
43 . ''Guy Lomba rdo."
190
As in the H prod uct ions, mu ch conf licting ev id ence
existe d re gar ding th e actual q_ua nt ity of progn "Lm in g mate rial
prod uced in the Dome sti c Rebroa dcast series. The f'ollo vdng
figures, colle cte d fro m man y sources 1 are ind icat ive ot
the hours of program distribu t ion.
�
l Jun e 1943
1 Janua ry 194 4
1 June 1944
1 January 1945
1 June 194 5
31 Decemb er 1945
Av erage Distribution
28 hours per week
28 hours per week
29 hou. rs per week
36 hou rs pe r week
37 hou rs per week
43 hou rs pe r week
IV. TROOP IN.E 'ORMAT ION PRODUCTIO NS
]'rom th e earliest pr ogram in g days of broadcastin g,
there have be en continue d at te m pt s to find a formula by
which radio could be effectively used as a dis sem ina tor of
in formatio n and ed uc ation. Ame ri can schola stic inst itu-
tions init iat ed ela borate progra m ac tivities. Many
191
colleges built radio stations in the hope that their broad
casting efforts would be of assistance in re laying kno wl
edge. Major .Ame ri can netv.or ks and sta ti ons have develope d
extensive and expensiv e educa ti ona. l pl ans.
Bein g of an educ ative bent , IED administrat ive
personnel believed that .A..F RS should co ntri bute inforn:at ive
and educ ative assistan ce to the Army . Thi s study is a
record of whet was done ; it was not the study' s maj or
purpos e to analyze the effectiveness of the product.
A satisfactory ana lysis ar the TIP aspect s of .Al!'RS
coul d not be accomplisood without a thorough study of the
educational activities of all l>..m eri can brca dcasting.
Possibly AlfRS undertook the most extensive single proj ect
in this field , but that project was built on preceding
experience s of the tota l Ameri can broadcasting industry.
In fact , much of the .A.F' RS TIP produc t was origim lly pro
duced for dome st ic broa dcast .
This non-exh aust ive and non-eval uative report of the
inform ative and educat ive pr ogram ing aspects of iJfRS is
pre sented in the following subdivisions :
1. Philosophy of TIP .
2. Controversies of TIP.
3. Development of TIP.
4. Summa ry of TIP production.
1
9
2
Philosoph y
£[ �
·
As deve loped in the preceding
chap ter,
1
35
thi s author believ e d that Osborn, Munson, Hor-
gan, and Lewi s were in agreement on the mission of A.ll 'RS.
The dis semination of info rmat i onal ma te rials tha t would
fa cilitate acco mplishment of the Allied vic tory wa s a basic
part of this mission. In accordance wi th the agre ement,
troop en t erta inment wa s nee ded fi rst to assis t morale
probl ems. Also, thro ugh enterta inme nt t ...F 'RS wa s to captur e
and secure its audie nce. It woul d be better to hav e no
inform ati onal act ivi tie s than to have no audience as a
resu lt of early inf ormat i ona l programs that wer e di slike d
by tha t audience.
Eric Barnouw, All'RS Educati onal Unit Chief , bel ie v ed
that consid eration of the audi enc e wa s the most val uable
L . .h'RS contribution to the de velopne nt of educational broad-
cast ing •
• • • lilea nwhi le the wri ters and di re ctors invo lved
in thi s expe riment fee l that the chief departure they
have made fro m peace-t ime practice s is in a far
gre ater attention to the problems of aud ience ps y
chology . Befo re the war an educat ional program wa s
thought of chi e fly in te nns of it s subject m..a tter .
Now we do not merely ask: v.rha t is the program to be
about t We al so ask: to whom are we tal king ; w.b.s. t
emoti onal drive s must we take into consi deration,
RrP we running headlong into those emot ional driv es,
or can they be at aid to us, wha t prejudi ces must we
take into consideration?
1
3
5
Sup ra , p. 112 .
Unle ss the progra m cor rectly anticipates tres e
problems , it will not be li stened to , and there wi ll
be no commun ication .
l
36
193
The second phase of TIP philo sophy de alt wi th subje �
rna tter. Afi'RS pr ogram s were dis tri buted on a gl ob al basis ;
ther ef ore , subj ect n:at ter ne eded to be rele vant to .Ame rican
servicemen stati one d throu ghou t the wo rld . He re wa s an
extre mely limiting factor . Pro bl ems differe d vastly in
each war trea ter. It wa s une c onomical to produc e inf orma
tional programs in Los Ange les fo r a sin gl e theater . :Fur
thermore, Los Angele s PFS personnel were not 1 jkely to have
the unders tanding of thea ter pr obl em s which woul d,be ne eded
for accurate and effective pre sentati on . Th e TIP philos
o
PQy
whi ch deve loped ou t of this circums tanc e limited AF� pr o
ducti on to such subje cts as the natur e of th e enemy , the
nature of the Allies, his torie s of va ri ous servic es and
branches to develo p prid e of outf it , redeployment , and
dem obil ization •
.A.FRS ' TIP philo sophy might be summed up as inf orm a
tional program production based up on : (1) a knowledg e
of the audience developed through American broa dca sting
expe rience and the meager research possible wit hin the
limitations of war activities , and (2} a realization that
1 3
6
Eri c Barnouw, "Radi o Pro grams for Troop Educa
tion, " Educ ati onal Outlook , 19 : 113 -4 , March, 1945 .
1 94
global distr ibution limited the subject matter to that of
a mos t gene rdl nat ure.
During 1 945 , and the imme diat ely following demobi
lization period , under the le adership of Lieutenant Colonel
True E. tioa rd.man, the subject mat te r was broadened to
includ e materials con cernin g the deve lopment of the Unite d
Sta tes, its gover nmental syste m and agenc ie s, and it s
influenc ing forces .
Controve rsie s 2£ �· Two major cont rove rsies de
velo pe d fro m the AFRS TIP activ it ies. Both revo lv ed about
the subje ct matter of the programs.
1. Possibly the most suc ce ssful use of servic e
broadc asting as an info nna tional agency was found in the
Pacific The ater commands of Gene ral Douglas Ma cArt hur .
Lieutenant Colonel Ted E .
She rdeman ,
l37
MacArthur's tr oop
radio officer , believ ed that radio broadcasting could be a
powerful agency for re solvin g command problems . He felt
that he used it succ essfully for this purpose. .E'ur thermore,
he believed tha t glob al distri buti on of programs shrul d be
limited to thos e which assi sted morale throu gh enterta inment.
He stated that, wi th the except ion of news and news
13 7
Ted E . She rdeman , 7 Au gust 1 950.
195
associated progra ms, AFRS ' TIP activities were in va in.
His own approc ch to the problem appe are d to achieve re sults.
This thi nking and activi ty crie s for careful , exhaus tive
in ve s ti gati on. It is understan dable that the radio audi
ence might be given too large a do se of inf orn:a ti on .
She rdeman
13
8
stated that it would be impos sible for writers
and produ cer s in .Hollywood to produce effecti ve informa
tion al p rog:ra.ms for an oversea s war the ater , since th ey
coul dnot have a satis factory gras p of theater problems and
soldier attitu des .
2. The second controversy arose between the
I.ED and AE'RS . Ho rgan,
1
3
9
a wartime Chief of the Informa -
tion Branch, stat ed tha t a subjec t area woul d be pres ented
to al l in.f onn atio nal media at the same time . That is , it
would be presen ted to AFRS , Stars � Stri pes, �,
Newsmap , Army News Se rv ice , Cam p News Serv ic e, Informa tion
Booklets, and other med ia . This pre sent atio n vre. s made at
the ea rlie st possible date so that the agenci e s could begin
their re se arch and preparati on for tre atment of' the subjec t.
Most of the ti me , the agenc ie s co mpleted their plans and
l
3
8
Loc. cit.
--
1
3
9
Paul G. Ho rgan, 9 Augus t 1 950.
196
were ready for prod uction befo re achie vement of a stabilize d
Presidential , State Departme nt, and/or War Department
policy. The cleare st example s of this situa tion may be
seen in wartime policies on China an d the Soviet . Not only
was it mos t diffi cul t to detenni ne stand s con cerning these
two Allies, bu t changing circumstances necess itated a
continual modific ation of thes e st ands. This situat ion
made cl earance of TIP prog rams most diffi cult . Peterson
l4 0
stated that .A:E'RS couldn 't find ou t what the IED wanted
done . He said Was hington wou ldn't commit itself . She rd
eman
l41
rep orte d that by the time the show was cleared and
release d to the stat ions , the rea l value had evaporated ;
the timeliness was gone . He didn't bel ieve that such
stric t control was necessary. It wasn ' t impose d by the
.t.'laci. .rthur The ater Comma nd . Lewis
l42
felt that the censor
ship was too strict con cerning minut e and unimpor tan t de
tails. On the othe r han d, Horgan
l43
believed tm t AFRS
pers onnel didn 't realize that their ra dio program s , released
on a global basis, were considere d by foreign governme nt s
140
H. Austin Pete rson, ? Augus t 1950.
141
Ted E. Sherdeman , ? Aug us t 1950 .
14
2
Thomas H. A. Lewis, 16 June 1950 .
14
3
Paul G. Horgan, 9 August 1950 .
19 7
and fore i gn people s as statenen ts or Unite d Stat es of fic ia l
policy. JJfRS progra ms might in iti ate dis astrous interna
tional rep ercuss ions . He st ated that tttd s lack of under
ste. ndi ng de vel ope d what he called "a pernicious bran ch
philoso phy" in which the produ c ti on agencies fe lt that
their Chief, the Info rma ti on Branch, was not backing up
the ir end eavors. He fel t that the age nc ie s bel iev ed the
Inforn:a tion Bran ch acted as a bloc k whic h did n't kno w wha. t
"WaS happe ning and pe rhaps di dn't care . He said that this
problem was fo und in all the Info nna ti on .Bra nch prod ucti on
agencies, but that it wa s pa rticu larl y potent within AFRS
be caus e of the mt ure of th e me di um . He fe lt that this
sta te of aff airs , being mos t regre ttabl e , deve loped in
evi ta bly fr om the maze of wart ime restrict ions and pr oblems.
3. A third pr oblem de alt wit h TIP produc ti on
te chn iques. How eve r, it was no t as tro u ble som e as the
preced i ng one s. Lewi s
144
and liar gan
l45
agreed that a
stra ightforwa rd presentati on of ma terial was mo st desi rable.
Horgan
l46
st ated t .t:a t Barnouw agreed with tt is principle .
l
44
Thoma s H. A. Lewis to Paul G. Horga n, 11 Janua ry
194 5 , P• 2.
14 5
Paul G. Horgan, 9 Augus t 1950.
146
f!2£ •
cit.
1 98
Howe ver , Horga n fel t tm t th e sh ow-bus ine s s-nurture d wri ters
and prod uce rs of .A.JfRS con ti nue d to pr esen t the ir sub je ct
mat te r in a more the atr ical manne r tha n wa s desirabl e . The
pe ople we re accustome d to produ c ing " Sh ovv Boa t," "T he Kra ft
�.1 usic Hall , " "The Eddi e Cantor Show , " "Command Pe rf ormance, "
an d such e 1a bor a te pr cg mm s . They be li eved th e work of
No:rma n Corw in to be the ep itom e of educat i onal radio. The y
were unable to pres ent in f orma tion minus it s fr ills . This
stud y did no t de ve lop a defe nse for the wr it er s an d pro
ducers , nor has it pa rt icula rly subs ta n t iated the th inkin g
of Barno uw , Horegan, an d Lewi s.
Evidence s fo und during this st udy did no t pe nni t a
con clu sive evalua. ti on of th e TIP produc ts of ru""RS . Th e
poss ibiliti e s of educ at ional pro gram in g for se rvic emen have
no t bee n exp lored. How ever , th e fol lowing comme nt de serve s
cons ide rat ion :
Bot h Gene ral Eis e nhower and Gene ral Bake r fe el
••• with Gen eral Solbert to the contrary •••
( that the AF'liJ servi ce is a mos t adequat e one and
th at th e co mp arati v e lack of or ientati on m te ria ls
on it ha s helpei �he se rvice wi th th e troops rather
than hinde r it. 4
Deve l opm en t .Q! TIP . rr he ea rly programing memor an dum
sta ted tha t inf orna tio nal progra ms woul d be pr oduc ed . It
1
47 Joh n s. Haye s to Thoma s H. A. Lewis , 18 Januar y
1945, p. 1.
suggested the fo llowi ng series
:
148
1. "Kn ow Your Alli es," info nna ti on on the Alli es.
2. "G iv e 'lim Hell," inform ti on on th e ene my .
3. "S peci al Eve nts," state ment at th e war aims .
4. "Yan ke e Round -Up," service unit inforrr.e ti on .
5. "H eme Jfro nt," ho me fro nt in f ormat ion .
199
'Nork
l4
9
sta te d th at the fir st progm ms in .t he "Know Your
All ie s" seri e s were writte n in Au gus t 1942. Ro bert E.
Lee ,
150
one of th e earl iest A.E'RS write rs , rep orted that
indi vi dua l inf ormati on shows we re prod uced du ring the first
year of .AF'RS ' op er ation , bu t th at no series or lo ng-range
pl ans were ini tia ted unt il tbe .If'al l l9 43 . It ap pe ared tha t
t.be orig inal pl an to develop t.l:e audience before sta rtin g
'J:l iP ac ti vity was follo wed.
The fi rst separ atio n of entertai nmen t and TI P shows
app ear ed to hav e been mad e in the Spring 1944 . Hor€fi n
l5l
repo rted tha t in Dece mber 1943 , as Assistant Chief of th e
148
Radio Section (.A.] ·Rs), 11ano randum .9.t. Proje cte d
Initia l Progra m Sc hedu le, B.• 9:.· (pre 11 August 1
9
42),
pp . 12 ff .
14
9
r�lartin H. Work, 19 June 1950 .
150
Robert E. Lee, 13 Sept emb er 1
9
5 0.
151
P
aul G. Horga n, 9 august 1950.
200
Inform ti on Bran ch, it was his duty to select a man who
would develop the TIP aspect s. He believed tba t Erik Bar-
nouw, a prominent network educ ational bro adcast er with who m
he had previou sly ta ught at t.be University of Colorado ,
would be eminently qualif ied for the task. He kne w that
Barnou w was like ly to be drafted int o military service in
the imm ediate future and arranged to meet him in New York
City so tba t arrangement s coul d be made to employ this mn
as a civilian. Horgan felt that ob tai ning Barnouw' s serv
ice s after inducti on v.ou ld be a lengthy and unc ertain
process .
Cho osing an inconsp icuous place , the tw o men met on
Christmas Night of 1943 at a Schrafts Re staurant in Manhat
tan. Hor@l:l.n outlined the plan. Barnouw, having spen t many
years in the deve lopme nt of educat ional broa dcasting, sig
nified his desire to acc ept t.be cha llenge. Hor@fl n then
return ed to Yiashin gton and, after coping with muc h Army
"r ed tape,n v'IB.s able to secur e a civi l servi ce appointn:e nt
for Barnouw just as he '� s ca lled by hi s Draft Board .
Barnouw was consi dered by the IED as the Editor and
Chief of the TIP activities .
152
He was to develop the
op erational pol icy, the approach to the probl em, and the
l52
Loc . cit. ; Cha rles A. Henderson, 9 Augu st 1950 .
program id eas . AJ.s o, he was to ret ain edito rial contro l
over all TIP shows.
201
As ch ie f of th e Educ ati onal Un it, Barnouw developed
fo ur classes of TIP act ivi t y.
l53
The fi rst cla ss cons is ted
of "regula r prog ram s of th e dome st ic net works, selected as
suit abl e fo r ov erseas us e. u
l54
Bca rdman
l55
reported th at
the se becam e the AFRS se rie s ti tle d "Hea rd at Home."
M:at eri al s were sele cted from suc h sources as "Ame ric a 's
Town Mee ti ng of th e Air, " "The
G
hi cago Roundta ble, " an d
"Pe ople 's Platfo nn. " The second clas s co ns is ted ot "occa
siona l pro g
ra ms profuc ed by domes ti c ne tw orks at the
sugg estio n of J(lj RS, an d in cons ulta ti on wi th l:JfRS , fo r
eventual re -use ove rse as .n
l56
"The y Cal l Me Joe," a ser ie s
of tw elv e (?) program s prod uced by NBC in the la te Su.mn:e r
and Jfall of 194 4 wa s an example . The th ird cla ss cons is te d
of "p rograms produce d by AFRS, and no t bro adcast dome st i c
ally .
ttl57
The "Sta te Dep artm ent Report s, " "The Na vy
153
Erik Ba rn ouw, "Radi o Pro gra ms fo r Troop Educa
tio n , " Educ at ional Outl ook, 19 :1 10, Mar ch 19 45 .
15 4
b.£.£. ill.
155
True E . boa rdman , 9 Y.La y 1950 .
156
Erik Barnou w, "Radio Pro gra ms fo r Troop Educ a
tio n, " Educ ati ona l Outloo k, 19 :1 10 , Mar ch 19 45 .
157
!:2.£· ill·
t
f
l
202
Reporter , " and "The War Departmen t Report s, " produc ed ·for
short-wa ve , and " Singing Country" pro duce d fo r overseas
sta ti on dist rib ution are exam ple s of th is cla ss. The final
cla ss was int ended to be "progra ms produ ced by men ove rse:t s
at overseas stations , poss ibly using mate rials supplied by
AFR
s
.
nl58
The extent of th is produc tion wa s not ascer
trained , but ma te ri als were supplied in the A.FRS Script
Kits. Program s produc ed by the st at ions unde r Sherdeman
in the MacArthur Comman ds are exam ples of this cla
ss.
About 12 July 194 4 Boa rdman begt n operat ing as
Chief of the newly or@an iz ed Troop Infonn at ion Planning
Sect ion at .l:Jl'RS Los Angeles. Ac tual ly mil itary orders
appointing him as Chief of this subsect ion of the PPS were
not wri tt en unt il 3 Novemb er 1944 ; however, th ey state th at
the appoint;nent was retroact ive to 14 July 194 4 .
159
While
the offici al title was Troop Inf ormat i on Planni n g Secti on,
it operat ed under the PPS . A mi sundersta nding exis ted in
the IED belief tba t Barnouw wa s the fim l aut hor! ty on all
matt ers conc erning A.I!' RS inf ormati onal and educa tional
programs 9 while A]� S Los �� ele s person nel apparently
158
Loc. cit.
--
159
A]' RS , Spe ci al Order li£• !§!, 3 Nov emb er 19 44,
p. 1 .
203
considered Boardma n to be the 1' inal eu thori ty fo r all such
progrcms . Heport s indicate t t tnis mat ter caus ed sever al
serious area s of content ion th : �t le d to cont.' erences on the
prob lems in ·. �a shin gton ;:;�n d Nevv Yo rk •
.boe. rdm Clll ' s tenu re as TIP Chief appe E .red to l1E. ve
been fi ll ed vd th preparation of el a borat e pl ans , edit orial
script edit ing, and tran �c:JC ription reviev r. He al so supe r
vised pr oduc tion and di s trib ut ion of pr ogre ms v1hich f'inally
achieved cl earance from t 118 cumbe rs ome mass of' ce ns ors .
Reseu rch le d to the bel ief that the gre s.test perce nt &ge of
'i' IP programs rele &sed by .AlRS bef ore 1946 v1ere ob taine d
and cle c.red by t.be Harnouw un it in l�e w Yor k City. "dhe n
bu rnouw resigned fro m thE ' t of fi ce 3 0 June 1945 its acti vi
tie s began to decrease as a su ccess ion of' mil itary of fic ers
took c ornm.an d.
Pernap s bo ardman's major ':i:'I P co ntri bu t io n v:a s the
11 .dasic Inf' or rr£ ti on Libru ry
.
II ritds appeared to h8 ve been
develo ped as a result of req_ ue sts from ov er�:e as Orienta
tio n Off ic ers . The earl iest .A:B'RS dis cus sion of the pl an
wa s foun d in the re;:-o rts of' the Exe cu tive Sta ff 1\cle et ing of
22 .L::. arc h 1945. In this meeting bOElr dma. n req_ue sted ap�) roval
of' ni s pl s.n to pre p& re an inf' orr!L ti on and ed uc at ion lib r�ry
siru iL r to the "b asic .L.: usi c Lib rc; ry
.
f!
The f ee.tures of' the
plan 'Ne re :
l 60
1. Incl usion of' s� ecl le s an d spe cia l pr ogram s .
'I'he se p r� ro .rus vm uld not be for re gular br oadcast
re lease alt hou gh tbe y m.it; ht pr ev i ou sly r.IEI. ve been
give n a reg ul£ , r r el ea.::: >e.
2. 'l' he un it s wo ul d be re gulcr ly pa cl'>: aged an d shipped
to each st c, tion to be he ld as a pe rman ent par t of
their li b rc;;. ry.
3. 'rhe stc :t ion could pr ogm m unit s fr om the basi c
lib rEcry es they deerned advi sable and, upo n
req ue st, wo ul d los.n ind iv idu al un it s to In for
mEt ion and Educ ation Offic er s.
It vvas the deci sion of tbe 11-}'RS Exe cut ive f' f th E; t the
plan wa s excellen t an d sho ul d be in i ti& ted as qu ick ly as
po ssi ble. 'rhe first sh ipme nt wa s to be rr£. de vv'it h Scr ipt
l.�it nu rnber 192 in Apr il 19 45 •
204
.Bo ardman pla nne d to sh ip ten, f'if' teen- mi nute tr an -
scription sides of the "b asi c Inf or:m.s. ti on Lib rar y'' each
mont h.
r..:;
J. ... e wtl:in ed th e se ri e s to be cont .:dned in the
libr ar y as fo ll ovv s:
161
p. 2.
1. 11 0ur Japane se En emy. "
2. "i l..I 'my Re adjust me nt -Redeployment Pro gr am. "
3
. liThe G. I. .bil l of Rights. n
4 .
11
'I'
he Heturn in g Vet era n. "
1 60
Exe c ut iv e Staff, kieeting Report , 22 Mar ch 1945 ,
161
Tru e E • .ore rdm an, L�ano randum £21: th e Hecord, 24
April 19 45 , pp. 6 f.
5. "These, Our Alli es.n
6
. n:rhe Cha. nging .io r l.d • n
7. nRoads to Pee. ce.r r
8 • '1 F ... rrn y Ed uc at ion Pro g:ra m.
"
9. n.sack gro und Report s. u
10 . "Our .ho reig n Poli cy.
11
11 . "lnforno ...a ti on Spe ci als" (S peeches ,
Speci al Eve nt s, et c. ).
It v1a s .do ar ima n 's int ent to pro duce as many spe ci al pro-
205
gram s as pos si ble for the li b ra ry , but, v1hen desi rable or
necessary, shows previo usly produc ed migh t be inc lud ed .
'rhe fi rst unit, to be sh ippe d te in Apri l 19 45 , was to
inc lude t.b e folloThing previo usly produced tran scri pt io ns :16�
1. nRoosev elt 's Yalta Heport."
2. 110ur ]'oreign Poli cy" (o ne program) .
3
. uG . I • .bil l of Righ tsn (o ne proc:;r am) .
4. ur� edic ine ut .var" (o ne pro(.ram ).
Alber t E. Duncan,
l 6 3
a ci vi li an employee at thet ti me in
charge of sh ipp in g, beli eved th at the fi rst sh ip ment was
m: �de in late .h pril or the fi rs t of l\iiiy 1945 . It pr obubly
co ntai ned no more than three, t.u ir ty-L:linute tl'b nscrip t io ns .
1 6 2
lvla rti n h. ·,/ork , Projected .h.cti vi t ie s Report , 21
ret 1945 , p. 8.
1 63
.� bert L. Uun can , 15 bept er ilie r 1950 .
206
Research led to tll e bel ief th c..t tJ:. is appr ox ti on of time
v;as co rrect . No in fo nna t ion reg&rd ing the e.c tur D. cont ents
of the first sh ipme nt cou ld be ob ta in ed.
SumrUE:. fY £f. TIP product ions . It was no t poss i bl e to
co mp ile an y �tuan tit at ive tc_ bu lat ion of th e 'riP programs
rel eased . is info n n.atio n wa s comb ine d in tlle fi gur es
reporting the s emia nnu6 l release ot h s.i.l O\!S
•
1
6
4
Actual ly
a su bstc. mtia l , regula r relea se of 'l' IP 1)ro duc ti on s v;as no t
atta ined w1 til the lat ter pa rt o1' 1945 .
Su.w:JB ry in:f orn£.t ion is presented in four sections
corre spon di nr; to the AJ:!'RS uni un r wh ich t be shows wer e
produced .
1. Spot producti on. Corres2;Jon denc e reveale d
that l:..:FHS pl ann ed infor ma tion and educe. tion spot s to re-
pL ce domestic pro m commerci al annollil c emen ts as ec: rly as
October 1942.
165
PPS per sonn el rep orte d thc. .t such special
ann ounc ement s wer e us ed in both li c. nd DR shows dur ing 1942
and 1943 . .'�t hough unf av ore �ble s te n er re c:.ctio n caus ed
dis cont in uan ce of tLi s actice, many overm.'l tiS stc: ti ons
adapted the metll oc.t to the ir us e. He)ort s from the .Ma cArthur
164
P• 172.
165
:H' • r_[1 .
Spauld i t 0 '11L l0Dl E:.. S Lewis, �� Octob er
1942 , pp . 1 f.
Comm and te ll of espe cic.lly sue ces sful resul ts. Probab ly
the me tn od vva s ::�ost ex te ns iv ely use d th er e . 11he fi rst
207
Pro&::: ram Lis t not at ion of prod uc t ion of su ch sp ots reveals
th at in Octo ber e.nd Dec ember 1944 a series v:a s rec orded to
assist th e .&· :.. rmy Conservc: ct ion Prog rEm.
l 66
2. TIP sliov,r s prod uc ed by .. 1\.F'RS Los ft ...n gele s pr i or
to th e fo rmat ion of th e BoE trd man 'riP Secti on . l,J.os t of th e
f' ol l o- ,- 'ing in fo nna tio n v:ra s obt ained from th e Program List .
::.>uf fi cie nt ev i denc e \JaS di sco ve red to lead tL is auth or to
beli eve the lis t to be in com plete .
1.
rt .K
now You r En emy" seri e s. iirst produc ti on 23
Octo ber 1943.
2. "..:ill oN your All y" ser ies. ..Ci rs t produ ct ion 10
1\iove mb er 1943.
3. 11Hep ort s (fr om wa r th eat ers ; u series. .!:'' irs t
produ ct ion : 11 Reii ort fr om New Gu inea," reco rded
22 Octo ber 194:3.
4. asurgeon Gene ral Sh ovv" series. .fi rst produ ctio n
29 Octo b er 1 943.
5. ",Je .:ho lfi ght '' series. Lir s t prod uc ti on 2
Au5us t 1943. .td ne si 10Vts fol lo vved in 1943 .
This v;r e.. s the eecrli est an d mos t exte ns iv e ser ies .
6. "Orientat ion Shovm." .l.'o ur spec ial shows are
lis ted in th is series . The fi rst , "1.i li tary
Censors h ip Sho>N, " wa s prod uc ed 2 0 Jan � ry 1944 .
7. "Ta n.. t..: ers in Tuni sia." A single sl1ow prod uced 28
Januc: ry 1944 . l� ot in c lu ded in any series.
1 66
r- -.:. 'R S' , P
L. t
1°4 C t• - t � ro grc:. m 2§_, p. .. 4- cn serve 1on ::Jl)o s.
8. "' I' hi s is the St ory . 11 A singl e
J·une 1944 . J�p pa rcntly not a
by the same name .
ow pro du ced 16
rt o1' th e seri es
3. Sha ; s pres u... 'U.ably prod uc ed by th e .board ma n
208
Secti on. rge q_u ant ity of .boa rdr Jan pl ans and re ports
vre re discov er ed. nO\'I ever, it vms no t _possibl e to diffe re n-
tie .te betv;een pla nned sh ow s an d tho s e e.c tually prod uced •
.t:ur tl len;J .o re, it was dif'f' ict1 lt to dist iDG uish th e sL. ov-r s
pr odu ced by the boc 1.r draan su bs ect ion !' rom th os e wh ich \Ve re
obta ine d by th e .r3a rnom v £.:d uce .t i onal Unit . The r ort s
often lac k de.t es or co nt ain dates knov m to be mis le ading.
'r he follov r.i.. ng lis t et te mpt s to pr esent a rep or t of th e
sh ovv s or serie s t.ha t were known to have been pr oduce d or
obta ined by l:Ji'RS Los ;. nge les . It wa s comp il ed fr om many
sou rce s bu t is no t be l iev ed to be compl ete &nd may no t be
ent irely e. ccurate .
1. "Arr ny .ri.du cat ion Pro c.;r a m" seri es. 'I'wo s. Lows pr o
du ced 11 Nove mb er and 21 De cer- ub er 1944 .
2. 11G. I. bill of Hights ." A singl e sho w produc ed
14 Dece mber 1944.
3. n' rhe Jap Goldi er."
h ov enlb e r 1 944 •
singl e sh ow pro duc ed 16
4. '�� Ser vice Digest' ' ser ies . �·irst produc ti on re
corded 15 .h.ugus t 1944 . El even sn a•; s ••;er e in th e
19 44 seri es.
5. "Shil li ng far Lu ck. " A 2.ri ti sh -i:.m e ric�m ami ty
series. .!Fir st of' tvw sll ovi s produc ed 1? ..�.ugu st 1944 .
6
. ��";[here do v:e go f' rom Here." A single show pro
duced 13 December 1944 .
7. "0 rient E�tion &ho ws." J:!'i rst sh ow prod uced 12
Jam.le ry 1944 . rl1 he 1' if't een sho v;s listed •ne re
e. s foll ows :
a. "S urge on Gene ral . n One show .
b. n, ;e ,/ho .!tig ht." }'ive sh o:v s.
c. 11.i.{ n ovl Your En emy." One show .
d. "V-E Day. " ..C' our shows.
e. tt G. I • .1Jill .1 1 Two sb. o v;s .
f. n1'his is tl 1e .St ory
. " On e shoviT.
g. "Pr id e of' rvice." On e show.
8. ".Announc ement s" on non -1 'rat erniz.&tio n . Pro
duced 10 .Ap ril 1944 .
209
9. ''Troo p Ini'o nnr �t ion Shows .
rt
'r h e :t'irs t sh ow pro
duced 4 .July 1945 .
1
6
7
Ei gh tee n shov.' s produced
during the :Fall 1945 fit in to the followin g series :
a.
rt
.Jh ere Do ,, 'e Go .lfr om lie re.1 1 Two sh m1s .
b. nG. I. jjill .
II
rr hree Sl l O'NS .
c. nR edepl oymen t.n .!ri ve shov :s .
d. "Jap e.. n. " Thr ee sl lOIS.
e. "Target •ro L1 0rrow. n Thre e shows .
f. Tvvo un cle ssifie d shmvs .
Th ere 'NBS al so a serie s of tra n.s criptions an d s.i. 10rt -
wave .P rogn:l ms present ed to fulf il l the provi si on s of :Pub lic
tion of this "S oldier Vot Lawu st;.te d the t tl1e :.:GD ·ua s
and v:as the only service c ge.t cy that could na ke
16
7
On 11 Jul y 1945 ooc. rdm.an w c..s re lieved 1' rom duty
as Chie f of t subs ection . ( ::.,pe c ie 1 Order tJ:.. 129, 11
July 1945 ) b. ppc,rently lli s �3 uccess or, l! irst Lie utend1 t
Davi d :2.. l'r ie d.ci: in, had already bee n func tionin g in th e
section. terminol oe;y .bE. d be en tcted. :No app:; .r ent
dif 'fere:u. ce e ted bet ·;;e en sh ovrs titled "0ri en ta tio:l" an d
thos e titled nrl 'r o op Inf orr ne .. tion. " Th is redesigp G. tion
&red to hL ve be en .wade i.:ibo ut 1 Ju ly 1945 .
210
recor di n,;; s o:C ;;.:o litic al broo. dcasts . AL"RS wa s to be the o.n.]y
agency to di s tribut e politi cal pr ogra ms to se rv ic e e.u di
enc es . l 68
4. Sll or1 s obtai n ed or produ ced by the barncuw
.2duc &tional Unit . I'he maj or source of inf' orr:.JC: tion re ga rd -
ing the se shows 'ilf::'c S th e Educ e. ti onal Dni t 's ,,"ee l:: ly r�e -, or t
to Ali'R S Los Ang eles . The se re l:; orts ar e con cise, cle c _,_r ,
and appe ar to give ac cura te inf on 11e tion of th e ent ire
activi ty. hov;eve r , actuE:.l re le E: se of' the ..:�e ·,., ·rork 11ro grems
V;'B. s made by tran script ions ma nu fc. . cture d and dist ributed on
orders of .. �1-iS Los i:.. ng ele s. The fol lov !i !lf; li sted serie s
were pro,�u ced and cl eared t·or rele ase by the £d uce.tiona l
Un it . Yet, da ted inf' ormat ion e. s to thei r ov erse�: .. .s shipm ent
or sl lort-we.ve bro:.td cas t vm s not dis cov ered. It is kno ·wn
that sorr.. :e >,J ere released befo re 31 December 1945 .
1. '' 'l'lle y Cal l l..J.e Jo e.. . T',\'elve or th irteen sl l O\\'S
pr o duc ed by NbC at the request of' Barnouv v. The
l�.oC br:l2d CE, sts be n 22 J'uly 1944 e. nd con cl ud ed
? Octo b er 1944.
2. "humLin .. t:.d ve nt ur e ." Taken fr om dom e stic bros d
ce. sts . •rran s cript ion rece ption be @fi ll & bout
12 .1\.ugus t H144 . 'rll is serie s vvas dis co nt i nue d
in favor of' ns cience azi ne of the
.n
ir . 11
3. '' CE 1V&lcc. de.
11
Take n 1' ron:. t! Cave:.l ccde o1' i ca
11
and othe r domestic pr o,::; re ..:: lS. 'l'ra 1>.:: crirtion
re cept ion bsgan about Octob e r 1944.
16 8
}f
rede rick Osborn to Tbo mu s L • .�: ... . l.e v:i s, 15 :.. .• ay
1944 , p. 1.
4. "'l 'hi s is the 6tory .n Gem rally tE lken i' rom
do mestic broedce sts . 'l1 ra ru:: crL ;t io n recepti on
be gEill c. b out Octobe r 19 44 .
�
5. "S ci enc e .M aga zi ne of the .tar ."
"human ..r\.dve nture . 11 '.r aken from
tif 'ic pr ograms . Tr a ns cri1 lt ion
eb out l� ov embe r 19 44 .
Su ccessor to
domes tic sci en
rece i) t io n be gan
6. 11 .l hs t' s Your .h.n gle.u Sou rce unl rno nn. Cl e&rance
pr oceedin ss begc,n ab out l� oven: ber 19 44.
?. a.r=es rd c. t Home • tt
end sp e eches. No
Dem ture d do mestic di scus sio ns
date as cert.:-t in ed.
8. no ur i!ore ig n Polic y. " Dome ::.: ti c prcdu ctio n s.nd
s:.;e cial A.FHS pr cdu ction. Cl e.=,_r ance pr oceedi ngs
be gan about Ap ri 1 19 45.
9. tr ;3i ngi ng Country . n 2dUCEtio n Unit _producti on .
1: irst record i n.g 19 Ju ne 19 45 .
10 . Short- Have seri es pr alu c ed under tll e supe rvi sio n
of the .bd uc�:c .t ion lini t.
a. 1' dar Dep artme nt :a.e.t1 ort. n l�o b e:::
gi nnin g dat e s. scertt� in ed .
b. nThe lJ&vy l"te.p orter. 11 .Se crem ry of
tt e Navy Jan:e s .bO rr e stal sp oke on
the 1' ir st shm v "'Jh ich W:.; s recorde d
5 June 1945 .
c. 11 St 1.. 1. te Dep crtr.1e nt nel ;ort . n JJis cu ssio n
pr ogrhms recor ded in ', l as hin gto n . l:� o
begi nnin g dute ascer te. ine d.
d. "� .• bn t' s the Deal ." �u est io n-an S\ii 'er
series . �v�ay .hs. ve been a redesig nt:. tio n
ot· u, .·.bB t
'
s Your .ring le." l� o begi nnin g
dat e & scerto ined .
211
CHAPTER IV
THE TECHN ICAL PRODUCTION SECTION
Unlike ot her sect ions of Al'RS , the basic procedures
for the Techni cal Product ion Sectio n had been kno wn throu gh
out the broadcas t ing indus tr y for some ti me . It was neces
sa ry only to adapt the se to th eir new purposes . Broadcas t
tra nsmiss ion and recept ion were not problems of first im
porta nce ; the OWI-AFRS agr eement of ' Lewi s and Brophey had
temporari ly solved the tr ansmission problem. Alth ough
early personnel were well aw are that program recept ion was
seri ously limi te d by la ck of receivers , a suffici ent numb er
existed to justif y placi ng primary emphasis on mat ters
dealing wi th tech nical problems of program production.
Lewis and hi s st aff were bui lding an organizatio n
whose programs would be released over many sta tio ns , perhap s
several hundred. These would be scattered throu ghout the
world wherever Ame rica n servicemen were st at ioned. It was
impossible to set up a networ k of conn ecti ng tel ephone
line s to di stri bute programs . The only known dist ributio n
med ium tha t ap peared to be practi cal was the tra nscript ion.
From the beginning it wa s determined tha t most AFRS shows
would be broadcas t from tra nscriptio ns . The major job of
the TPS was a satisf actor y productio n of the se discs.
213
The TPS and the techni cal ele ments of AFRS will be
present ed in the fol lo wing sections :
1. Deve l opment of AFRS techni cal
factors .
2. Operat ion of the TPS .
3. Trans mission equipmen t .
4. Receiver equipment .
I. DEVELOPMENT OF AFRS TECHNI CAL FACT ORS
AFRS establi shed three offices to wor k out the
te chni cal probl ems . Dur ing the Fal l and Wint er months of
I
1942 the se offices initi ated the basic technical philos op hy
and procedure s. In order to unde rstand these, some knowl -
edge of preceding transcriptio n activity is ne cessa ry . Thi s
sect ion presents cert ain techni cal proble ms and develo ps
transcription produc tion as fol lo ws :
1. Division of te chni cal
re spons ibiliti es .
2 . Place of the transcription
in prewar broadcasti ng .
3. Earl y World War II use of
the transcription.
4. AFRS tr anscription consid
erations .
5. Lo s Angeles pla nt devel opment .
214
Division of techni cal re spon s
.
ibili ties . Initiall y
the Program Productio n Section pl anned to produce shows in
Los Ange le s and New York . Thi s required an office in each
loca lit y. Foge l,
l
beli eving tha t the transp ortatio n of
instantaneous transcriptions , metal master discs, "mothe r"
discs, and sta mpers wa s detr imental to final pressi ng
qu alit y , agree d wi th Lewis that processing and press ing
activities should be accompli shed as close to the original
source of recording as possible . Thi s meant tha t pressing
and processing would be done in the vicinit y of Los Angeles
and of New York . Such a procedure would al so allo w produc
tion personnel to have close supervision of the manu fac
tu ri ng steps.
1. The Techn ical
E
roductio n Sect ion at Los
Ang el es . The gre atest amo unt of program produc tion was to
be done in Los �ng el es , the AFRS he adqua rt ers . As a re sult ,
the Techni cal Productio n Section was loc ate d the re . In
accordance wi th Lewis ' original pla ns , Fo gel was to estab
lis h and develop thi s office . The latter
2
beli eved that
trans cription man ufactur ing pla nt s in Los Angeles we re best
able to handle the lar gest portion of the AFRS orders.
1
Supra, pp. 100 f.
2
Supr§. , p. 101 .
215
Lowe ,
3
Fogel's prewar and early AFRS se cretary , gave thre e
other re asons for the West Coas t concentration of AFRS
press ing and process ing ac tiviti es :
1. The United States Treasu ry transcriptio n process ing
and pre ssing contra ct was he ld by the All ied
Record Manufac turing Company of Lo s Angeles .
This firm was cons idered one of the best in the
countr y .
2 . West Coast pre ss ings were considered by many
pe ople to be of superior quality.
3. West Coast press ing firms we re wi lling to give
the Gove rnment more favo rab le price quotations .
Probably the de cidin g factors lay in two circums tances :
1.
P rogram productio n was to center in Los angeles •
. Fogel believed that West C oas t plants were ab le
to handle productio n as we ll as thos e of any
part of the country . We st Coast productio n would
mean that extensive trans portation of manufac
turi ng components would not be neces sary . at
the same ti me headquarters pers onnel could
supervise and inspect the productio n procedures .
2. Fogel 's experience and contacts were most closely
as soc iated with the We st Coast plants. Thi s
would be of gre at va lue to AFR S dev elo pment , and
would assist in obtaining a T PS staffed with
superior pers onn el .
Soo n after activi ties be gan, AFRS obtained the se rvi ce s of
Te chnical Serge ant Will H. Voe ler ,
C
aptain Victor �uan ,
and Technical Serge ant Edward de la Penna . Al l these men
were highly regar ded prewar members of the We st Coast
industry.
3
Joan L. Lowe , 5 April 1950 .
21
6
2. The New York Offi ce techni cal activities .
Captain Charl es Vanda establi shed his New York office in the
F'a ll 1942 . Hi s major job was to produce cert ain shows that
appeared more su itable for .Ne w York production conditions .
4
Vanda al so supervised original instantaneo us tr anscription ,
editing , asse mbli ng , processi ng , and pressi ng of these
shows .
5
The se te chni cal activities were not extensive and
the re gul ar productio n of shows in th e East was di scont inued
early in 19 43, short ly after Vanda was selec te d to join the
North African Special Service Unit . No re cords we re dis-
covered to re veal the actual amount of te chni cal produc tion
accompl ished . Possi bl y th e New York Offi ce produc ed fewer
than thi rty shows . Undoubt edly no more than a few hun dred
pressing s we re actua ll y manu factured .
3. Washington Office techni cal activities.
Original ly Captain Willi am P . Mul len
6
was in charge of the
Wash ington Of fice. In addition to lia iso n wi th the SSD hi s
job inc lud ed assistance in pro curin g raw materials and
el ectroni c equi pment. The supply sourc es of these ele ments
4
Supra, pp . 1
6
0 ff.
5
Charles Vanda to Thomas H. A. Lewis, n. d. ( Janu ary
194 3) , pp . 1 ff .
6
Supra, p. 83 .
217
were locat ed in the Eas t. Gove rnment pu rse -string s were in
Was hingt on. A man stationed ne ar these sources could
ac compli sh much for the good of the organi zation.
In January 1 943
,
Majo r Henry M. Jackso n act ivated
the Equipme nt Pro cur ement Section as a part of the AFRS
Wash ington
O
ffice .
?
He was largely resp ons ible for ob -
tain ing the tr ans mit ters and receiver s that AFRS se nt over-
se as . The last two se ctions of this chapter relat e these
activities .
Pla ce of trans cript ions in pr ewar broadcas ting .
Presse d trans cripti ons had been a st andard programing
mediu m of broadcas t ers for many ye ars prior to Wo rld War IL
These mi ght be class ified loosely into th e following type
mat erials :
1. Mus ic libraries .
2. Comm ercial announ cemen ts.
3. Spe cial show se ries for
local spo nsors hip. (Open
end shows .)
4. Special show se ries produced
for nat ional advertise rs to
sp ons or on selected sta tions .
{S
pot placemen t shows .
)
7 (
C. Court enay Savage), Hist ori cal
.N otes , Novemb er
1
94
4
,
!l •
E.•
5. Special shows produced for
governme ntal or charitable
organi zations .
21 8
Probably the transc ript ion was us ed by broadc as ters almos t
as early as the phono graph record. Except for revolutions
pe r minu te and si ze , there was no diff erenc e be tween the
two.
Of the prewar presse d tr ans criptio n mat erials only
the mu sic libraries and comme rci al ann ounceme nt s wer e us ed
extensively. An average st ation would us ua lly pl ay but a
few trans cribed shows each day. Many large st ations had
policies forbidding the use of any trans cribed mat erials
whatsoever. Only one ma jor ne two rk , the Mu tual Broadca s ting
Sy stem, allowed trans criptions to be us ed on its programs
or its operat ed stations . As a res ul t of thi s limi te d us e,
very few manu fac turin g plants were equipped to produce
tran scr iptions . The ma jor pr ewa r production plants we re
subs idiaries of phon ograph re cord compa nies . The tot al
produc tion capacity of all the transc ription presses in the
United States was prob ably limi te d to less than 100 , 000
discs each year.
Lewis and his st aff plan ned a fixed weekly productio n
schedule fo r their large quanti ty of transc riptions . This
was ne cessa ry in order to mak e the programs available to
the transmitt ers on schedule . Trans crip tions , as us ed by
219
the prewar bro adcas ters , required no regul ar deadline -type
production. Usually plants could count on severa l weeks '
time to fill an order . Thi s was especiall y true of the
music library discs, prob ab ly the ma jor portion of the
prewar trans cripti ons .
Wi thin the char acteris tics of the prewar trans crip
tion industry lay a majo r problem whi ch the Tps would ne ed
to surmo unt .
Aarl y World War !l �o f � transcription. Wi th
the rapid war mobil :!. zation of the United States in 1940 and
1941 there developed an expanded use of the pressed trans
cription. The Treasury .lJe partment , recruiting orga ni za
tions , war informa tion ag encies, and many other private and
pu blic bodi es began to use pressed trans criptions to carry
their messages an d appeal s to radi o li steners . The army 's
Bureau of Public Relations release d its servi cemen programs
on pressed trans criptions . 8 Pagel , hims elf, in setting up
the early SSD B Ki t twelve-inch trans criptio n plan added
a production load.
9
'I' hi s conbinati on of ea rly war efforts already had
8
Supra, pp. 59 ff .
9
Supra , pp. 80 ff .
220
st rained the productio n capaci tie s of prewar industr y
manu fac turi ng uni ts -- units cla ssed as non-esse ntial to the
war effort . L
ewis, Fogel, and other members of the AFRS
st aff were clearly aw are of the problem wh i ch confronted
them . Here was a battle for mater ia l , equipment , and man
power that was to co ntin ue thro ughout the war .
� tr ans criptio n 'consideratio ns . Unquest ionably,
from the fi rst
L
ewis envisi oned AFRS program distr ibut ion
by means of pressed tra ns criptio ns . J:i'ogel , a recording
expert completel y in accord wi th thi s plan, was an invalu
able early ri ght -h and man . Lewis ' experience had been in
the field of creativ e programing and insta nt ane ous broad
cast ing . He had li t tle ttlmo whow 11 on recording . It was
necessary for him to lea n heavi ly on Fogel and ot her tec h
nicians while he gained knowledge vi tal to hi s new endeavor.
lt 'ogel did not consi der using the twelve -in ch B Ki t
tra nscriptio ns for AFRS programs . He recalled
lO
the se as
an expedient of inferior quality to the broadcast tra nscrip
tio ns needed for th ese programs . In a 1944 New York speech
to the JANC R.adi o Sub c ommittee .i.' ogel delineated the AFRS
tra nscriptio n consideratio ns as follows :
10
Irving L., Fogel, 7 July 1950.
(a) Securi ty --cont rol over the subj ect mat ter broad
cast . Thi s consideration makes it ne cessa ry to
trans cribe even the mat erial relea s ed ove r sho rt -wave
stati ons in thi s coun tr y .
(b) Flex ibil i ty --broadcasts from each the at er of
operat ion , at reception hour s best suite d for the ·
troo ps.
(c) Consistency-- a reception qual ity un affected by
cl imatic condi tions and the mut ation of atmospheri c
di stur bances.
(d) Conservation- -the wide st poss ible sy ndicati on
of tal ent to the la rge st num ber of broadcast outl ets
by uti liz ation of one recording fo r several Armed
}�rces Radio Stations .
(e) �urabil ity--a type of re cording or pressi ng
which coul d stand stre ss and strain, heat and col d ,
humi dity and aridity . Vinyl ite was the type chosen .
There wer e many other indi cat ions that the
foundation of the Radio Section mu st be elect ri cal
transcriptions but , as a matter of fact , we we re
faced wit h a tt Hobson's Choi ce11- -thi s me thod or
none at a11 .
11
The se point s cover the discovere d considerat ions .
221
However, it appeared that three neede d furthe r expansion.
t
he firs t point revolved arou nd the inh erent flexi bi lit y
of the transcription. The other two concern the mat eri al ,
vinylite .
1. Only thr ough the medium of pressed tr anscrip-
tiona could the ne cessary flexib ilit y be ob tained . Thi s
11
Irving L . Fo gel in Thomhs H. A. Lewis, JANe Radio
Subcommittee 1944 Report , 20 January 1944 , p. 35 . ----
222
fle xibilit y was as important in the manufac ture of tran-
scriptions as it was in the sc heduline of programs. Ear ly
in 1943 a small quantit y of pressi ngs was neede d to supply
a single program to the scatt ered trans mitters , for few
transmitters wer e uti li zed. In 1945 nearl y two hu ndred
pressi ngs of each program we re ordered to supply the rapidly
increasing numb er of stations . To meet thi s situ ation only
one si mple operation was ne cessa ry : The transcription press
was lo we red on an increasing numb er of bloc ks of vinyli te .
2. In hi s considerat ion of durabilit y Fo gel
re ferred t:J vinyli te :� an Ame ri can manufa ctured substance
al ready tested by the recording industry. Its selec tion for
Af.�S transcriptions solve d many trou bl esome proble ms. Three
additi on s need to be made to the disc us sion.
a. Actual ly :� shellac transcripti ons were no t sui ted
to AFRS di stributi on . The y were fragi le: � heavy :�
and extremely lia bl e to ship ment dama ge .
b. War conditions had caus ed the supply of shellac
to dimini sh to a cri ti cal point . Thi s materi al
was obtained from ln dia and French Indo -Chin a.
TPS perso nn el feared tha t the supply might be
comple tel y shut off thro ugh movement s of Japa nese
Armies or Navy uni ts .
c. An important du rabilit y characteristic was found
in vinyl it e 's lack of affinity for du st. Thi s
was esp eci all y pertinent to the Paci fic are as
whe re coral dus t qui ckly made ordinary re cords
un usable .
l2
12
Cli fford H . l'r ink , 11 May 195 0.
223
3. Und er cons ist ency Fogel has pres ented prob
lems of trans miss ion qual it y wi th specia l emp has is on short
wave di stribut ion. Hi gher quali ty prog ram receptio n in
troo p concentr ati on cent ers was pos sible throu gh trans crip
tio n broa dcast from near -by tra nsmi tte rs . Howe ver, us e of
vin yli te add ed a furthe r benefit. The broa dcasti ng indus try
general ly re cogni zed tha t this ma terial , throu gh pre ss ings ,
repro du ced tra ns cripti ons cont ainin g a freque ncy rang e
hi gher than that obta ine d when shellac was us ed . Further
more , repeated playing caus ed a �ore ra pid deterio ratio n
of shellac than vin yli te . The TPS took full adv anta ge of
thi s fa ctor . They demand ed that both the PPS and the
ma nu fac turers produ ce the cle a rest and gre ate st frequency
re sponse possi ble. All unn ecessa ry noi se s were elimina t ed .
In these ways every poss ibl e precautio n was ta ken to assu re
a hi gh qu a lity si gnal from fi eld st at ions . Even the poorest
trans mi tter should be ab le to broa dcast a liste na ble si gna l
fr om the hi gh qua li ty Al�S di scs . Thi s demand of the TPS
caus ed cont inual rej ecti on of many asse mb led, ma ster,
ace ta te recordings and presse d trans cripti on s . Both the PP S
and the manufa cture rs felt that the TPS sta ndards were un
ne cessa ri ly strict .
Many me m bers of the TPS felt that thi s qualit y re
qui rement subs ta nti all y ra ise d the recording st and ard s of
the entir e indus tr y . Ho wever, Ii.obert :r ·
. Sc huetz,
l3
NBC
West
C
oast Recording Chief , beli eved th at AFRS did �
22
4
do so . He felt that the real change was accompli shed when
NBC int roduced th eir Ortha coustic recordings in 19
4
0. He
said that Al hS st andards we re no bette r than the Orthacous
ti c ones , and al so st ate d that the same was tr ue in 1950 .
Se rgeant de la Penna ,
l
4
whi le beli eving AFRS raise d the
st andards, concluded the argum ent s by saying that the
records alway s cont ai ned more fideli ty than pla ying mecha
nisms could reproduce .
� Ange les pl ant development . Lewis and hi s sta ff
did not cons ider it wi se for th e War Depart ment to develop
its own tec hni ca l laborator ies and processing and press ing
plants .
T
he Army had not at te mpted to manufact ure ta nks
and munitio ns . Already vari ous Federal agencies , including
the Treasu ry Depart ment , the OWI , the BPR , and recrui t ing
programs , had cont racted wi th civilian concerns for tra n
scripti on producti on. It was logica l and expedient for AFRS
to follow the se establi shed procedures . During the war AFRS
did not even bui ld its own st udio from whic h programs could
13
Robert I' . Schuet z, 19 Apri l 19 50 .
1
4
Edw ard de la Penna ,
7
June 19 50 .
225
be reco rded . Howe ver, these decisions br ought ab out certain
kno tty problems for the TPS .
Wartim e AFF. S was to pro duce many special programs .
It was to edit these programs as well as many pro grams of
the Ameri ca n ne tworks . These activities required more
studi o and recor ding facili ties than wo uld be necessary for
a nationwide network . Alre ady , existing facilities were
over taxed. Regarding trans cription manufac ture , Fo gel
l5
and �uan
l
6 agreed that be fore the war the tota l ye arly West
Coast produc tion was les s than 5 0 , 000 disc s . They believed
that more transcriEtions were manufac tured on the We st
Coast than in the East . Fa cilities for thi s jo b were also
ov ertaxed. Ye t .AFRS perso nnel envi sioned a monthly pro
duction greater than the es timated yearly prewar ou tput .
Inde ed , the 1945 mon thly pro ducti on mo re than doubled that
output . The only so luti on was to as sist the indus try in an
expans io n program , assist an industry that had been declared
no nes sential . Thi s was an He rculean task for tho se years
of wartime sho rtages and increas ed defense productio n.
The majo r task fell to A.FES and SSD Wa shington
pers on.... "lel becaus e of thei r proxi mity to approval chiefs .
15
Irving L. Foge l, 7 July 195 0 .
1
6
Victor �uan , 17 Octo be r 19 5 0
.
Fogel
l7
state d that Colone l Li vings ton Wat erous , the SSD
E:.xe cutiv e Offi cer and a long -ti me 11Regular Army Mann who
226
11
k... "1 ew the ropes ," hea ded the cam pai gn . Munson and Ho rgan
were mainly res ponsibl e for the soluti on of the �n anp owe r
prob lems . SSD Ca pta in John Long was cha rged wi th procuring
ne cessar y pri ori ti es . And Ja ckson, of the APRS Washin gton
Jffice , han dled the ext remel y di ffi cul t task of pro curing
the act ua l ma te ri a ls .
The Productio n Urg ency Commi ttees esta bli shed a
hi gh ratin g and labor cei ling for those fa cilities producin g
transcriptions for AFR
s
. l8
An AA-1 prior i ty was placed on
all contracts . l9
AFR S he lped pro cure warti me bui lding
permi ts and equipment for the Allie d Hecord Manufactu rin g
Company , the Colum bia Recordin g Co rporatio n , RCA, NBC, Radi o
hecorders , and the c. P. MacG rego r Studi os . 20
Fina lly AFRS
as sista nce made it possible for a com pletel y new recording ,
17
Irving L. Fogel , 28 June 1950 .
1
8
Fr.ederi ck Osborn , Memor andum for Army Board .2.f
Productio n Awards , 2 Ja nuar y 19 45, p. 2.
19
AFRS , Progress Report , (1 January 1944 to ) 1 J
uly
1944 , p. 9 .
20
TPS , Te chni cal Produc ti on Section, Activitie s and
Standa rd Ope rat ional Pro cedure , £· £., p. 20 § Vi ctor Qu�
17 October 19 50.
22
7
processing, and pressing pl an t to be buil t.2
1
Thi s was
Uni versal Recor ders . It began operati on abou t the beginning
of' 1945 .
One of the most di ffi cult proble ms encountered wa s
that of manpower. F'ogel reported to the JANC Radio Sub
commi ttee that :
• • • the industry • • • was considered une ss enti al
in a manpower sens e and mos t of it s experi enced
Audio Engineers , Recorders , Maint enance Men , El ectro
platers and
P
res smen had either bee n inducted int o
the Arm ed .F'orces or had sought more luc rativ e and
more secure posi tions in aviatio n pla nt s and ship
yards which were cla ssified essentia l industri es .
2
2
The AA -1 priorit y al lo wed the War Manpower Commission and
the Unit ed Stat es Emp lo yme nt Servi ce to defer induction of'
essential workers and increase the manpower ceilings .
2
3
It als o enable d AFRS , when necessary , to place enlis ted men
and civi lian s in pl ant s to help fi ll AE �S orders .
24
The producti on of AFRS transcriptio ns required new
21 { C . Courtenay Savage), Hi stori cal Not es , No vember
1944 , £· £
•
; Vi ctor Quan , 1 7 October 1950.
22
Irving L . Pagel in
T
homas H. A. Lewi s, JANC Radio
Subcommittee 1944 Report , 20 January 1944 , p.
3
5
.
2
3
TPS , Techni cal Prod uction Secti on, Activi ties �
St andard Ope rati on al Procedure , £· £. , p. 22 .
24
AFRS , Progress Report ,
{
1 January 1944 to ) 1 July
1944 ' p. 9.
228
skil ls , new techni ques, new materials , new machines , in
crea sed quantities of materi als , and raised man po wer cei l
ings . The research and experi ence of ski lle d techni ci ans
and the eventual cooperati on of the vari ous pri or i ty bo ards
br ought ab out a satisfac to ry sol utio n to all these pro bl ems .
II . OPERATION OF Tn � TECHNICAL PRODUCTION SECT ION
Whi le the general opera tio n of the TPS fo ll owed lo ng
establi shed proced ur es of the recor ding industry , the exi
genci es of the APRS missio n gr aduall y developed majo r modi
ficatio ns in these acti vities. These changes and their
grounds hav e be en explained in a general manner.
'
l
'hi s
sectio n of the chapter re lates the function ing of the sever
al subs ecti ons and act ivi ties of the TPS in the follo wing
or der:
1. Administrat ion of the TPS .
2. Equi pment Subsec tio n.
3. Mater i al pro curement .
4. Reco rdi ng activities .
5. Processi ng (ele ctroplati ng) activities .
6. Pressing (s tamping
)
ac tivities .
7 . Inspect io ns .
8. TPS Librari es.
9. Summary of transcriptio n
productio n process .
10. Summary of T PS transcription
production.
22 9
Admini strati on of the �· A wart ime manual of TPS
procedure s and activ ities outli ned the dutie s of the se cti on
in four steps :.
a. To make avai lable and contact al l faci li ties
ne cess ary for the producti on of radi o programs .
b. To record the se radi o program s .
c. To process the acetates on which the se pro
grams are recorded.
d. To press transcripti ons in the quanti ty se t by
the Broadcast Servi ce Section for each program , in
order to obtain max imum effi ci ency in di s tribution.
In additi on to the se activities the Techni cal
Prod uction Section must give assi stance to the
various cont ractors in their procurement of criti cal
materi als used in the recording and manufacturing of
transcripti ons , such as : al umin um , copper , viny li te ,
etc . It mus t al so aid them in the maint enance and
repl acement of their equi pment , supervi se necessary
expansion, and help the studios and pla nt s in the
solu tion of their very difficult manpowe r proble ms .
25
The modi fying paragraph somewhat cla ri fies the se dutie s as
stat ed in the four steps . Actually , te chni cal processing
was not done by AF'RS personnel . Mili tary and civilia n mem-
bers of the TPS staff served in admi ni strative , inspection,
2
5
TPS , Techni cal Production Section, Activities �
Standard Operati onal Pro cedure , �
·
d. , pp. 1 f.
230
I
TECHNI CAL PRODUCT ION SECTION
I
I
MATER IEL PROCUREMENT
DOIIISTIC REBROADCASTS
I
RECORDIII G
HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTIONS
I
SPECIAL IVEKTS
I
STUDIO FACILITIES
AIID TRAFFIC
PROCE SSI IIG AIID
I
RESEARCH
I PRESSIII G l
COST CONTROL
AND CERTIFICATION
RESEARCH
I
EQU I PMEIIT
PROCURMMENT (lASH. )
I
IIAI NTBNANCI
I
ACETATE LI BRARY
FI GUHE 9
Techni cal
P
roduction Se ction Operational Chart .
231
supervi sion, and cler i cal capacities . Par thi s reason the
staff was not exte nsive .
2 6
Li eut enant Colo nel
I
rving B. �a gel , Hitt enmark 's
assistant in develo pin g th e B Kit, was com�issioned a Cap
tain and beg an milita ry duty with the SSD, 20 May 19 42 .
27
He was Lewi s ' lo gical choice as Chi ef of the TPS. The
firs t AFRS production activities were initiated from Fog e l ' s
Wa r Depa rtment Offices in the Holl ywood Taft Bui lding .
28
To thi s man's abil ity and judgm ent may be credite d mu ch of
the develop ment and success of the TPS . Pogel remained as
TPS Chi ef un til Spring 19 44 wh en he was tr ansfer red to Rome ,
It aly , to he ad the Army 's Medit err ane an Theate r radi o
operations .
In Janu ary 1943 , Captain Victor Qu an , a chi ef re
cording engine er of the Los Angeles c. P. MacGregor Studios ,
was given a direct commissio n and br ought to AFfiS as as sist-
to Fogel . Since the la t te r sp ent much of hi s time on de -
ve l op mental ac tivities \v hi ch necessitate d frequent absencss
fr·o u Los dlg els s , �.uan was responsible for the sati sfactory
2 6
In 1946 the West Coast short -wave operation was
moved from San Fr anci sco to .A.FES Los Ang e le s. Thi s ne ces
sitat ed an enlar gement of the TPS perso nn el.
2 7
Su pra, pp. 77 ff .
2 8
Supra, pp.93.
2
3
2
producti on of tr·ans criptions . In the Spring 1944 beca me
TPS Chief and cont inued in that capaci ty until hi s release
from the Army in Februar y 1946.
During January.l 943 , F'ogel succeeded in having Tech-
ni cal Sergeant Edward de la Penna trans ferre d from the
Signal Corps to AFRS . Prio r to hi s induction in November
1942 , de la Penna had assisted in assembling AFRS shows as
a rec ording engine er at the Lo s Angele s Radi o Recorders
Laboratories . He had he lped develop the editing techn ique s
and was an es pe ci ally valu able addition to the TPS staff.
Sergeant de la Pe nn a was the TPS Recording Di rector . He
retained that duty unti l hi s dis charge in February , 1946.
In the Spring 1944 , Techni cal Sergeant Wi ll H. Voeler
was transferred from the Broadcast �istr ibution Section to
the TPS . Vo eler had been brought into AFRS by F'ogel in
Dece mber 1942 especially to he lp solve di stributi on prob
lems . Hi s prewar trans cription production experi ence made
him a most valuable addi tion to the TPS . Undoubtedly much
of the TPS dev elopme nt during the last half of 1914 and
during 1945 should be credited to thi s man . Voeler was
di s charged 11 May 1945. However , he remained as a civilian
employee of An �S unti l 31 Augu st 1945 in order to assist
the activity at the he ight of its expansion.
Re se arch fo r thi s study revealed the above men to be
the key te chni dans of wartime Al' HS . Other members of the
2
33
PPS st aff were engaged in supervi sion and inspecti on of pro -
duction and in as sociated cl eri cal activitie s . A consider-
ab le amount of energy was expended on prob lems of 11traffic. 11
As the TPS acti vitie s developed , a ri gid production routine
evolved . Scheduling the several processes involved in man -
ufacturing trans criptions of a single show necessarily be -
came a deta iled series of interdependent activities . Care
ful 11tra ffi cn co ntrol was most important to enable tran-
script ion producti on to meet di s tributi on deadl ines. Work
order placement and payment certi fic at ion were also maj or
admini s trati ve activiti es . The Cost Control and Certif i ca-
ti on Subsectio n wa s respons ible for these duties . Its
records were the basi s upon which the i'isc al Section paid
the rec orders and manufacturers .
Equip ment Subse cti on. During the war AFRS , its elf ,
owned litt le ele ct roni c equi pment . The ma jor items were
trans cripti on players used by progr am producers to prepare
editing and assemb ling pl ans , and the demons trati on broad
casting equipment of the Armed F' orces nadia Servi ce School .
29
However , TPS personnel appeared to acco mp li sh much in the
2 9
1'1ovin g the short -wave operation fro m San .Fran
ci sco to Los angeles in 194
6
caus ed needs for added items .
-
I
234
way of equipment research. It is believed that the greatest
amou nt of res earch was don e in Los Angeles , alth ough the
actual equipment proc urement was handled by the Washington
Offi ce . Probably Lo s .rl.n gele s pers on nel developed the Fi ve
Suitcase Transmitter , the Ho spi tal Broadcas ting
S
ystem Unit,
and the studio co ntrol pane ls especially built for Arme d
For ces hadio Stations . So me experimentation was made on
carrier current radio. Nevertheless , by far the greatest
amou nt of TPS ene rgy was expended on trans cription produc
tion. Broa dcast transmiss io n and receptio n equipment is
discussed later in this chapter o
Materia l pro curement . All of the materials used in
proc ess ing and manufacturing of a}RS trans criptions were
critically shor t du ring Wo rld War II. Priority and material
pro curement was an exhaus tive task of nea rly al l A} �S ad
ministrative person nel .
J
acks on , in hi s Washingt on vantage-
point , was as signed the major pro curemen t duty , but the
combined effort of al l was necessary . Each lead had to be
fo llowed to its so urce . At one of th es e ro ots might be
found a helpful answer. Shortly before July 1944 the Pro
duc tion Urgency Co mmittee grant ed AFRS the AA-1 priori ty .3
0
3
0
AFRS , Prog ress Renort , {1 January 1944 to ) 1 July
1944 , p. 9.
'
235
It should be no ted tha t thi s was nearly two yea rs aft er pro -
du ction had been initi at ed . However , thi s was the ma jor
vi ctory which ma de the expa nding techni cal produc tio n
pos sible .
1. Alumin um . Alumin um was especi ally in dema nd
for the man ufac ture of ai rcraft . It was also the base for
ac etate trans cripti ons . As the ea rly war shortage of the
mat erial becam e noti ced , the broa dcasti ng indus tr y chose
glass di scs as a subs titute . nut , since it is fragi le ,
glass wa s not a sa tisf actor y substit ute in the extens ive
speedy AF'RS opera ti on . Much work and ma ny programs were
com pl etely lost thro ugh bre &kage in trans port a tio n and
processi ng . Wit h the AA-
1
pri orit y in ha nd , Ja ckson was
ab le to ::
• • • procure a di recti ve orde ring the Alumin um
Comp any of Amer ica to de li ver a suf fici ent qua nt it y
of al umin um bae e acet a tes to as sure a six-mont h 's
supply . Thi s ••• [m ad � it pos sible for Techni ca l
Product ion to di scontin ue the us e of glass ac eta tes . 3
1
Thi s st at eme nt is not comple tely true , for the Alumi num
Company of Ameri ca deli vered alumi num bases to Audi o �ev i ces
Incorporat ed at Glenbroo k , Conne cti cut . The di scs were the n
coated wit h ac etat e and forwa rded to AFRs. 32
The di rectiv e
31
Loc. cit.
--
32
Cli ffo rd H. Frink , 20 October 1 950 .
2
3 6
was periodicall y renewed until the shortage of al umi num was
over .
2 . Copper . Thi s mat eria l was in critica l demand
for amm uni tion. Ye t gold , silver, and copper were the only
metal s us able in the electroplati ng process. 'l'he cost of
goli and silver was prohibit iv e . Again the priority solved
the probl em. Previous to July 19 44 AERS had much trouble
obtaining copper , the materia l for which there was no
logical substit ute .
3
. Vinyl ite . Thi s relati ve ly new carbon de ri v-
ativ e of great resiliency was used in the production of
life raft s, medical gloves , and other materials of war .
Be cause of its newness, production was li mi ted .
As previ ously st at ed ,
33
the use of vinyli te was
essential in the pr oduction of A.F'RS trans crip tions . :Fur -
thermore , the climat ic variat ions to which ABnS discs were
subj ecte d made it necessary to us e vi r� n vinyli te . 3
4
Originall y thi s substance was manuf� ctured by the Uni on
Car bon and C arbide
C
ompany . Plants pressing AFRS tran
script ions had much diffi culty with ir:1 purlties found in
33
Supra , pp . 222 f.
3
4
TPS , Technical
P
roduction Section, Activit ies and
Standard Ope rati onal
P
ro cedure , £• £. , p. 18 .
---
2
3 7
the vinyl .
3
5
Often the y were forced to reprocess the ma te
ri al at increased costs . Ab out Spring 19 44 the Radio Cor-
porati on of America devel oped a new , unfilled , vinyl
material which they submi tt ed to J�Ff.S for tes ti ng .
3
6 Thes e
tests proved sati sfactory , and AFhS instructed plants to
use the new materi al . Thi s was a solution to an expens ive ,
trouble s ome process which often delayed press i ng production.
During the fi r['t two ye ars much difficulty was exper-
ienced in convincing pl ant s that AFnS press ings should be
manufactured with pri ori ty over comme rcial orders . By 3 0
June 19 44 an agreement was re ached through which 50 percent
of al l Army and Navy vinylite trans cription orders were
fille d be fore any shi pment could be made to co :n: aercial
concerns .3 7 Even then the comme rcia l deli veries were
limi ted t� 25 percent of the orders . Wb en that percentage
had been de li vered the remai ning Army and Navy orders were
filled be fore other commer cial shi pment s were made .3
8
Undoubt edly the new ease of vi nyli te procurement whi ch had
3
5
1.2.£ • cit .
3
6
AFRS , Progres s Report , (1 July 1944 to)
3
1 De cem
ber 1944 , p. 12 .
37
(C. Courtenay Savage ) , Progress heport , 2
6
May
19 42 to 1 Decemb er 1945 , p.
34.
3
8 A��S , Progress Reoort , (1
J
anuary 100 4 to ) 1 July
1944 , p. 8 .
238
been made po ssibl e by the AA- 1 priority le d to thi s agree
ment .
Recordin g activities . Luring the war AliRS made no
use of tape or wire rec ording . The process had not advanced
sufficiently to make recordin gs of a fr e quency range and
noi se lev e l suitable for rebroadcast purposes . Al l re
cordings were elec tr onical ly moti vat ed needle etc hings on
acetate discs revolving at thi rty -t hree and one -thi rd HP }ii .
1. Reco rding facilities . Program originations
we re of two kinds : ( 1) Domesti c bl�oadcasts recorded for
denat uring and eventual rebroadcast , and (2) show s especia.Ily
produced for A} RS . In both cases , especi ally bala nced
telep hone lines carried th e ele c troni c program signal s from
the original production st udios to th e recording machines.
Fo r the special AF F,S shows , previously existing Lo s Angeles
studios were us ed. New studios were constructe d at Radio
Recorders , Universal hecorders , and the C. P. IvracG regor
Studios to hel p al lev iate the space short age brought about
by AF'RS uses .3 9 The TP S 11 traffi cn office booked productio n
of AF'RS sho ws into Lo s l1.n geles studios in acc ordance with
the ir avail abiltt y and the producti on needs . "Command
39 Victor "�-u an , 1a Oc tober 10 50 .
23
9
Perfor mance ," 11M: ai l Call ," and "Jubilee " were vvri tten to use
the reac t io ns of an audi ence . Po r the se show s the NBC, CBS ,
and Don Le e -Mutu al studios were rented. Most of the other
li ve productio ns di d not requir e an audien ce , so they were
schedul ed int o smal ler s tudi os . Part s of
11
G
. I. Journal 11
were produce d at the Ho ll ywood Cantee n to capture the
enthusia sm of the ever -present se rv ice audi ence •. These
responses were anti ci pated in the writ in g of the shows .
fiecordin g machi nes lo cated at several pla ces were
used . General ly , programs produced in NBC or ABC stud ios
we re re corded in the NBC la boratorie s. Show s ori ginat ing
from CBS and Radi o Recorde rs ' stud ios we re usually recorded
at Radi o he corde rs . Machines of Uni ver sal Re c orders , the
Uon Le e -.;�J1u tual Studi os , and the C. P. l':! ac
G
regor Studi os
were als o us ed . Record ing was scheduled by the "t raffi c"
offi ce in the same maw�e r in vn ic h they booked studi o
space .
2. Recordi ng proced ure . The re were four major
steps in the man ufacture of AFRS transcrip ti ons . The first
two were accomplished in la boratories equipped wi th re
cord ing machine s and pla yback machine s.
The first step, as ol d as the recording in d us try
it self , was the process of et ching the sound track on the
ori ginal ins tanta neous recordin g di sc. From the
2
4
0
int ro ductio n of el e ctroni c recording in the 1920 's, there
had been no major change in thi s process.
4
0
The sou nd
waves , picked up by the mi crophones , we re transformed into
electron i c imp ul ses whi ch pul sated a cutting styl us on the
surfac e of a revol ving disc. Thi s disc was coated with a
compara t ively soft subs tance , usually a lac quer product
cal led acetate . The pul sati ng stylus etched a channel into
the moving disc. Most of the chan ne ls were et ched in a
spiral beginnin g near the ou t side edge of th e disc and
terminat ing ne ar the center. Thi s out side -inside method
was used to recor d AFRS shows .
Be cause show s lo nger than fi fte en minut es could not
be continuo usly recorded on a single side of one disc, it
wa s ne cessary to deve lo p a me thod by wh ich a cont inuous
progra m could be re corded on more th an one disc without
los ing sound waves as discs were changed . To do this, two
re cording machines we re used . Before the entire surface
of one disc had bee n fille d wi th etched spi ral tr acks, a
second machine was activated. Fo r a sho rt period of time
the sa me ele ctro ni c program curren t was pul sating the
cut ti ng stylu s of each machine and et ching the sa me tracks
4 0
There existed a contr oversy regarding the rela tive
importance and meri t of the NBC Ort hacousti c and NAB equal
izing systems . These wer e intr oduced in the lat e 193 0's.
on oat h records . This was ca lled overlapping. By thi s
me thod th ree , sixtee n -i nch discs revolving at 33 1/3 RPM
were used to recor d a tni rty -minute vrogra m.
2 4 1
No st andard me thod of overlap recor ding had been
develop ed by the indus try.
4 1
Each st udi o, net w ork, ste;.tio n,
and ad vertis ing ag ency chose the met hod favored by its
tec hni cal advisers . A speciali zed terminol ogy denot ing the
desired sy s te m was developed
.
Recording st udios knew the
desired syste m when th e wor k order cont ain ed su ch phrases
as 1
1
10- minut e side s wit h 3-minute overlap," 117 -mi nut e side
plus 6- minute overla p .
11
:Furth er more, many clients requeste d
two -c omplete ove rlapped sets of' records for a single show .
In this way the re would be protect i on ag ains t dam ag e or
breakage . This was es peci ally importa nt in the early war
months sinc e fragile , glas s- ba s ed acet te disc s were use d .
This prac tice was called ttorder ing a prote ctio n cop
y
.
11
It
simp ly meant ordering two copies .
!rom the be ginn ing , for prot ectio n , APRS or dere d
dou"ble overlapping copies of almo st ever y program .
4
2
How
ever, aft er an ample supp ly of al lli �i num -b as ed acetate disc s
was as sured, the process wa s gradually eliminat ed on some
4
1
Victor �uan , 18 Octo ber 1B5 0 .
4
2
Edg ar V. Price , 17 ucto ber 1850.
24 2
Domest ic Rebroa dca s t pr o6rru ns .
In the be gin ning AFES used no spec ial overlap me th
od .
43
But , as techn ical perso nn el beca me more sure of
themsel ves and their ne w pr oject , they es taoli shed tne so-
called "7 -min ute side pl us o-min ut e overla p n as the standar d
:?.te tnod . Actual ly the ter minolog y was conf us ing and somewhat
of a misn omer. By thi s method al l but tw elve min utes of a
th i rt y -minu te pro gram was cut twi ce . lt was fo und di ffi cul t
to de scribe the sys tem. An und ersta nd ing �nay be rea dil y
ascer t aine d oy studs ing the follo w ing F'IGUL E . Thi s method
re mained st andard lo r all .AFRS recor din g un til sever al
mo nths aft er the en d of the war . Most fi ft een- min ut e shows
wer ·e re corded in dupli cat e .
3. Edit ing and as>e rnblin g. 'l' he se cond step in
the manu! 'ac ture of AFhS tra nscrip tions was that of audit-
ioni ng the avai lable re co r ded mater ial , select the parts ,
B.c"l d as s embl in g them intD a prog r&,m of the desir ed le ngth .
This 1r oce ss ha s been de scr ibed at le ng th in the PPS chap -
ter .
44
The steps in the pro ce ss were as follows :
a. l''r orn auditor y inspe cti on of the re cor ded mat eria ls
an edi toria l wo rk sheet was as s emble d w11 ich
43
Vi ct or �uan , 1:3 Uctober 1850 .
44
Sup ra , pp . 182 -187 .
"? -minute side plus 6-minute overlap"
Length of ' program in minute s :
0 10 20
0 13
Side # 1.
7 20
Side # 2.
14 27
Side # 3.
21
Side # 4.
Backing of sides on discs :
First trans cription ; sides one and three.
Second transcripti on ; side s two and four .
FIGlJ hE 10
AFRS Overlap Re cording �ystem
243
30
30
designat ed the del e tions and addi tions to be made
alonb wi th th e words or so und s th at abut te d th ose
cuts.
b. By us ing s ev e r �;;;. l playba ck macJ:lin es linked elec
tr onica ll y to a rec or din g machine , a r e r ec or u1 n g
was ,nade in whi ch the deletions were accomplished
by st opping ti le cutt la the whi le the unwant ed
rna teria l was played , or the ad eli t io ns v;ere made
244
by swit ching fr om the signal of one playb ack machine
to that of anotne r. In tni s way ... aan y recor dings
were often combined in to a si ngl e assembled pro
gram .
The qua lit y oi ' the final prod uct depe nded upon the the at ri cal
abili ty of th e pr odu cer who compiled the editoria l wor k
sheet ani the ;�1 anual dexteri t;y or the contr oll ing engi ne er.
'l'he final assemb led acetate rec or ding was called the mas ter
aceta te. Usually a copy of thi s ma ster · was made for pr ot ec-
tion ai:'; ain st dB.l nage in processi ng , the n ex t manu f · act ur i n g
s t ep .
The development ol this edit i n g and a s s embl i n g tec h-
nique is pro bii uly tne most import& nt contr ibut ion aH1.& made
to the broa dcasti ng ind us t ry . 45
In fa ct , .&F'RS ' editin g and
assembling is beli eved by many to have br ought ab out a
cha ng e in Ame ri can broadcas ti ng cl aimed to be se con d in
impor t ance only to tele vi s io n in the deve lop ment of ' the
broadcas ting ind us tr y, since Dr • .1..1 ee DeForrest in vent ed
45
Por a more ex haus t ive tr eatment of tni s sub j e ct
see : Theodore .::> . DeLay , Jr ., 11An .:li stori cal Study of the
Raciio Seri es 1C orrunand Per1·ormance ,
111
18 50, pp. 70 -82 .
245
FIGURE 11
Equipment for Assembling an AFRS Program .
2 4 6
tne v acuum tube . 'I'hi s ct1a nge l1a s been made po s s ib l e thr ough
t.c1 e po stwar , indus try -wide acceptance oi the techn iqu e .
be fore the po st-Wo rld War II perio d 1it;C , the Bl ue Network,
CBS , and many important statio ns forba de trans crip tio n
broa dca s ting ov er their fa cil i ties o
Well -informed ele ctroni c engineers in the recor di ng
industry knew the te chni que bef'o re 19 42. Se rgeant de la
.t:'e nna
46
recall ed that a program serit s was assembled at
Radio Recorders in Holly wood from mat erials recor ded by the
S ons 01 the Pio neers . Voele r
47
st&. ted that there was so me
edi ting done berore tne war , out usually a snow c ont ai ni ng
a i'law wo uld be co mpletel y re rec orded . He state d that
the re was no general use of · the te clmiq ue .
'rhe first 1i p ro du ctio n s of a:b'Rb were no t edit ed and
assemb led .
48
H oweve r, use of tr1e te chnique on the Do mes tic
Eebroadc asts so on led PPS pers on ne l to re alL:�e the advan
tage s or u s ing it on rn o st sho ws . Wel c h,
49
a major produc er
•t
•
of 'C o mmand Perfo:rma nce,1 st !::l. Led that by the mi ddle of 19 4 3
most snows v,ere produced in tni s manner . Eac h rec or ding of
46
Bdward de la Penna , 13 April 1950.
47
Wi l l H. Voe ler, 5 April 1950 .
4
8
Supra , p. 1
4
5.
49
hob ert L . \�elc h,
5
Ap ri l hi5 0.
247
11Com::n and .Pe rformance 11 was pla nned to las , in the reco rding
session, Lor from io rty-! i ve to fifty Jdn u tes . \Ju t or this
over-time session the best mat6rials wer e as s emb led into
tne thirty- minut e broadcast show . Welch also said that as
soon as the perform ing artists reali zed that in A.FnS shows
they need pay no attention to the slave -master , Time , they
Degan taking advan t., of the situatio n . Ho wever, this was
turned to the advantage or the show . Welch believed that
by allowing the relaJca t on of time fac tors , .AFhS captured
superior perfor mances on the records . 1'hi s was espec iall y
the case with 11 C orrun and Perfor mance .
1
1
Prob aoly through 1
1
Com.' nand Perfor mance ,n more than
any other show , the AFnS -developed edit and as2 erub ling
te chni que was trans ferred to the Ame rican broadc as t ing
indus tr.Y . Bing Crosby , having .nade twenty -nine appe ara nce s
on the show from l�4G to 1
9
4
6
, had becDme accus tomed to the
ease afforded by the recording techn ique . Jennings Pierce ,
for me r West Coast NBC Stati on Relati ons Unief, anal"J Zed the
develop ment in the fo llowing manner:
Cro sby wanted to cut a nwnb er of prog rams so that
he could spe nd hi s time at othe r activities . NB C 's
policy wo uld not �tand it . NB C fe lt the poli cy was
more impor t ant than Mr . Cros by . '.i' herefore , NB C
refused to allow assembled tr�;;.ns cribed Crosby pro
gra.. 'll s to ot: broadcast on thei r ne t .. ork. 'l' hi s was in
2 48
the Fall of 1�45 . 50
Hadi o-Tel6 vi sio n News , a tr ade ��1ag azi ne , rel)o rte d the
proble m as fo ll ows :
AF'RS expe rie nce wit h sb.ow s and es pe cia ll y Corrh 'Iland
snow s th at grin d of week-oy -week broadcast not ne ces
sary . Crosby said to be h9luin g off broadc asting
contracts because o1 t;::. is .
ol
John I. bdw ards ,
52
West ern Program .l.JirE ; ctor o1 ABC ,
st at ed that ni s ne tw ork wa s tr yi ng to st rengthen it s pro -
gram str uct ure . It had no rule or pol ic y against the use of
t ranscrib ed snows and was wi l li ng to accept an assemb led ,
t: rans cri bed Cro sby serie s.
53
In the Fall 1946 the l.iro sby
sh ow began on ABC . lt was cons i dered a most import ant
addi tio n to th" '-t netw ork 's programi ng .
liS was cor&11on '; no wled f�e v; l t. hi n the t) roadcas ting
indus tr y , Cro sby 's success wit h the asseffib led tra ns cribed
snow led :no t 01 the ot her top- narae st &. rs to demand that
50
Jeru1ings Pie rce , 12 Apri l 1950 .
51
"Sta rs 1 Hec;. ues t l!Iay Change 'l op Shows fr om £i ve to
lJi Ec �t atus , n Radi o Telev isio n .L'l ews , (page unknown ) , 5 De -
1945 .
52
John I. hdwa r ds , 23 �i.pri l l::t 50.
5
3
·m �i le credi t for plac ing the edi ted show on ABC
maJ be exten ded to Cro sby , it is necessary to report that
Tom Breneman 's 11B reakf'a st in Holl ywood n was being broadcast
fro m unedi ted tr ans crip t i ons over Ad C some time bef ore the
Crosby show .
249
tneir snows be proci uced in thi s manner. l.Ju ring the 1950-bl
broaacas t �ear most oi the maj or s ows we re empl oying this
tGchnique . Le adi ng broadcast er5 agre ed th�t edi ting and
assemb lin g , as develo pe d to mee t the needs of AFhS pr oduc -
ti on, had bee n most infl ue nti al in maki ng pos sibl e the pro
duc tion o1' more perfect radi o pr ograms .
54
A se cond attri -
oute of majo r import anc e is th�,t the shows :n ay be recorded
at the conveni ence oi the parti cipants . By 1950 all
Nne ri can networks were us ing the te clmiq ue ext ensivel y to
all eviate pro gram ing proble ms in many ways .
Proce ssing (e le ctrop lati ng ) ac tivities . The thi rd
step in :na nufac turin g AH�C) transcripti ons was the proces-
si ng . Thi s was an elec tropl� ting �e thod that had bee n
standard in the phonogral Jh rec urd indus tr y for many years .
}�llowing is a de s cripti on of the pro cedure :
From the ma2 tE. r acetate is rr;ade a Llet� ,l master.
Thi s is ac compli shed by ii.n me rs ing th e acetate in an
electr olytic bath , and co ating it wi th co pper . 'lhe
new metal ;_1a ::: ter di sc is then separc ;teci l'rum the
nas ter s.cettJ. te . From the ne gativ e -cut metal master ,
by simi lar process , a posi tiv e -cut �eta l pl ate , known
a mother , is produced. This se rves as a mold for the
54
John 1. b.d wards (West CoaBt ABC Program Chief) ,
23 April 1950 ; hobert �. �chuetz (We�t Coast NBC Recording
Chief) , 19 hpri l 1950 ; clark Fi nl ey (D on Le e Mu tual Broad
casting iJy stem Publi c Re lc.tions Chief) , 4 Apri l 19b0 ;
Evelyn �ibs chal tz (Western CBS Producti on Su per ·vis or) , 4
Apri l 1950 ; and others .
2
5
0
nega tive - cut metal pl at e rrom w h i ch the act ual press ing
job is done , 1Nh ic h is tm own as a stcnn per·. A s tampe r
is als o produced in an ele ctrol ytic oath . At first
gla nce it mi2,ht seem th c_ t m aki ng thre e metal plat es
be1 ore startin g the p roces sing process is a wa ste of
time and labor . It is d one be cau ::: e tne con tinuous
press lnB pro ce ss ot·t en destroy s the ille tal �t wnper.
lf the metal Qa ster were u�ed for press in8 purposes ,
and was de s troyed ru1 0ther nl &s ter would have to be made
from the acet'-'. te . But the ac eta -ce loses Ll uali ty eac h
time it go es thr ough the b ath, and also, is ap t to se
d a m ag ed in the process , w h er eas a (-,u tG. l i!lOt her pl at e
does not . So i t i s po ssible to ;i l�ke as man)' stampers
as ne cess a1 �y .!'rom a mo ther pla t e .5 5
the original ;Jr ocess used a f'l ow of fifteen to twenty arn pere s
of ele ctri ci ty between the copper electr ode s and the mas ter
aceta te . The bath wa s me c�ani call y agi ta ted by a pad dle •
.l.' ourteen to sixteen ho urs were ne eded to deiJOsi t ea ch
coat ing or copper .
In April 1945 a �li Cl- 1-speed syst em of ele ctr opl s.t ing
was in augurat ed by RCA at the request of AFRs.5 6 by the
use of a fl ow of ��0 wnperes and an ag itatio n of the bath
thr ough r evol v ing the di sc tha t was to be pl�tEd, the
proces sing time was cut to appro xim atel y £our hours . Thi s
55 Nav y Sub t \ec tion, Man ual of ur gani ;:�&ti on and heo--
- . __ :...:.;::.o.
ul ation s ,
il
ay 1944 , A.:_ ).,.Jen dix F-C402 . .cos twar T?S pc:r� :onne l
el iminEctc ;Q all out the r·irst .st ep of tl1is pr oce s s r·or the
majori t)' of AFh S shows . Wi th the deacti vati on of man y
Af�Stations the ne ed !o r pressings de cre as ed . The r efor e ,
it was po ssible to produ ce the needed pr ess ings rrom a
si ngl e s tw 11per. 'l'he metal mas ter wa s us ed.
5 6 A}fiS , A c t i v i ties heport , l Janu �ry l84t to 30
June 194
5
, p. 8.
251
was of gre c:: ct importa nce to i:...F' RS . It expedited the entire
process and made it possible to release spe ci al ev ents show s
within a few hour 's of their actual broadcast .
Tt 1i s revol uti onary change {the first ma jor change
in el e ctroplatin g in over 2
5
years ) made it possible
tor 400 copies of Pres ident 'l' ruman 1 s Address to the
Armed Fo rces, 1 7 April l'd45 , to be recorded, processed,
pres sed , inspe cted and deli vered to Broadcast Service
Se ction for Sllipmen t --in exactl y 21 hours 30 minutes
after the pro gram went of'f the air.5 7
Jame s Ba3lessP 8 then hCA pla nt mana0er, stated that
thi s process had be en us ed before the war but vJas considered
unacceptable . Throu6h experiment&ti on and with the use of
ne w e4uipment it was satis factori ly deve loped to meet AIHS '
need for a swif' t , la rge quantity producti on. Howe ve r,
Lowe , 5
9
.Fog el 1 s secretary , stated. th& t the nevi gh-speed
process did not as sure the qualit y of el ectropl ating that
was obtained by the sl ow -speed me thod .
Pressing (s ta mping) activities . The fourth manufac -
'":�
turing step was that of sing or :;:. tamping the transcrip-
ti on. Like the el ectroplat ing pro cess, the pressing pro -
cedures had been st andardized in the inclus try for many years.
5
7 Loc. cit .
5
8 Ja me s W. bayless , Sr . , 1 .::3 Ju ly 1950.
59 J·oan L. Lowe , 5 .np ril l .::J 50 .
FIGURE 12
The Hi gh-speed Electroplating Process
25 3
When the st amp er is comple te , it is put in the
press. The press lool {S very nm cll like a large waffle
iron , wi tnout the grids . In the center of the plate
is a spindle , which for ms the hole in the ;d dr5_ le of'
the re cord . A sm al l biscui t of ho t vinylite is put
ove r the spindle, the top or the press is pulled down
and left for several mi nutes . Whe n the top of the
press is rai sed , the trans cripti on is com pleted. 0n
a sinsle -faced tr anscription, the stamp er is put on
only one half of the press. For double -faced tr an
scripti -::m s, st am pe rs are &t t ache d to both halves of
the press . �FRS transcripti ons were ne arlJ� alway s
double-faced ] 'l he edge of the com ple ted trans crip
tions are tri��e d . 60
During the early · tont ns .'-i _i_'I-\� trans cripti ons we re
presse d so that the first nalf of one program would be on
the fi rs t re cord and the se c ond nalf of one progr8.Ill would be
on the second record. A second show in the sarn e S( : ries was
presse d on the remai ning tw o sides . alth ough thi s procedure
allowe d the broadcas ting engi ne er to cr1ange from one re cord
to the ot he r wi thout listener det ectio n wrt en using two
turnt able s ru1d two pi ck-ups , it caus ed trouble when one
re cord of the pair was lo .:o t or damat,; ed . In such cases
ne:L tner program could I:Je played. After ma y 1943 "" �.t:' 'hS
61
order8d all s:10VJS presse d 11back-to-oack11 on a single re cord .
Thi s simp lified 1L any _;.rob lems of di s tributi on and produc -
ti on. Ho ma j or caang e in ti : li s st andar·d 9ressing process
was ma de during the war years .
60
ulati ons ,
Gl
l�&vy �ut_�se;ct :L on 1 r .. anuE,l o1 · Organi:c.a tion and heg
••i ay l0L l4, .i--' .p pen ui x 1'' -04027
'l h::nns. s .1. t> • .!..l ewi s to J. b. Stanley , ;:,. ··"ay l' JL.co ,pl.
254
FIGURE 13
A Transcription Pressing Machine .
255
Insp ecti ons . AbhS cont racted pla nt s to recor d,
c t, as .:: le , proce ss , and pre ss tl1e pr ogr& . ns . Therefore ,
it was de emed ne ce ssa ry to es tablish in s�ectio n con trols at
three points .
1. Duri n g the as sembl proce ss it was cus tomary fo r
a P.PS pro du cer to ,';ork wit h the ass er:ib ling en gin eer.
In thi s wa y the mas ter acet c... te was au tomati cally
inspected.
2. An audi tory insp e ct ion was made of the me tal mothe r
to be certa in that TPS stand ard s had been mai ntaine d.
3. A l'i na l audi tor y in spe ction was made o.r the stamper
by means of a te st pre ss A s e pre s sin g was
st amp ed and then audi tione d by a member o1 tile 'l'pS
bef ore actual pr oduction be gan . 62
rl1 0 accompli sh thc.se ins p6c tions , per s onne l we re
stD ; .. i(med in roo ms at tlle cont r. \Ctin g pl an ts. A.l:' FlS ir 1-
stalled it s ovm pl ayb ac k equipment in these ro oms . By
de te ct ing fla ws and un ac ceptaole wo rk during the manu fac -
turin g stage s mucn time and money was saved . rr hes e inspe c-
ti on s al so el imin ated troublesome inte rpla nt bi ckeri ng .
TPS Lib rari es . Dur ing the war ye ars AYES made no
or gani zed ef for t to main t ai n a compl ete lib rar y of re cor ded
and sse d mat erials . Howe ver , the TPS kept most of the
ori gi nal 11 of'f -line rec or dings ,1 1 mas ter acet at es , and copper
62
'l1
est pr essings of 'l 1IP sn ow s wer e audi tioned and
cle by Il:!..D per ·s on nel in \�as:ni ng ton be fore prod uction
was au thor i ze d .
di scs .
The ace tate
256
scs formed the firs t A.1. ·h� L ib rary . It
became a storehouse of ::m t eri al priceles s to progra m produc
tion. lr o"rl these original trac}cs Al-h;;,;,. asse mb l ma ny of it s
poe twar sh ows.
6
3 Per' laps no ,1 1ore comp lete as semb ly of war
time .Ainer i can humor , so ngs , and hi st ory exis ted . It is to
be regretted that government funds did not allow establish
'nent of s torage quarte rs whi ch wo u ld efi'e cti vely delay thi s
m ateri al 's deterioration.
In rec ent years mo st of the coppe r di scs have been
sal vaged f'or the i r sc rap meta l value .
Summ ary of the trans cript ion produc tion oroce s s .
Following is a recapitulation the four maj or st eps us ed
to manufa cture AFR.S trarL: crip ti ons .
1. He cording . E le c t r onic program si gnals ,
ori gin at i ng in the studio , were transmi tted by te lephone
wire to the re c ording machine s and et ched on alumi num -based
ace tut e tra:::w c ri p t i on discs . These were c al led Hoff-line
recordings ."
2. As semb li ng . The 11 off-llne r e c o 1• din g 11 was
audi
t
ioned by a producer who pl anned and charted the
63 Supra, p. 158.
257
de letions and ac ''- cli tions to be made . Through rere cording ,
the pr •o grc.m was as semb led from the se lected compone nts .
This as semb le d di sc was call ed the ma ster acetute .
3 . frocessi ng . Thi s st ep is di vided into three
parts .
a. By ele ctropla ting, th e mas te r acetate was coated
wi th coppe r. Tili s new negative metal mas ter was
separated from the :naster s.ceta te .
b. Dy ele c tropl ating , the �eta l ma s ter was coated
with copper . Thi s new positive di sc , called the
mo the r , was se p ar �ted from the metal ma ster.
c. By elect roplating , the mot her was coated with
copper . The final negat ive disc, the stamper ,
was se parat ed from the moth er. Thi s tr lird disc
was the one actually used in press ing.
4. Pre ssing . Copper stMJpers were placed on
t!1e pres s, Wcli ch looked mu ch like a waffle iron . A sm all
biscuit of vinylite was placed on the bottom st � 1per. The
mac hine was
'
closed. Thi s caus ed th e tw o stam pers to press
the vinylite into a di sc. Aft er a fev J mi nut es the press
was opened and the tran2 .cripti on was remo ved . The rough
edge s we re trimm ed . The tranbcription was then re �dy to be
played .
258
fPRlSS!NG
(POSITIV t)
FIGURE 14
Di scs Used in the Man urac ture or a Tr ans cripti on .
259
Summ ary £f. TPS transcription production. Satisfac-
to ry TPS producti on figure s were not dis cover ed . �vailable
data came from various report s of the TPS to .;:,.e wi s and the
lED . There was reason to bel i eve tha t the di sc overed re -
ports were no t always ac curately labeled.
The totals found in l•'I GUFi.E 15 we re compi led from
sever al Prog ress hepo rts , as well as many othe r sources.
6
4
Prob ably these figures repres ent quantity of press ings
orde red. .J::; ven though they may not be enti rely accurate ,
the se figures indicate the exp anding trans cripti on pro -
duction re quiremen ts. They may be accepted as generally
ac curate .
G4
No sati sfacto ry fi gures were discovere d for the
pe riod pri or to 1943.
Probably the fi rs t �avy pre ssings were orde red
during Septe mb er 19 44 .
M.onth
1943
Jam.u.cry
l•ebru ary
.:.v.t arch
Ap ri l
May
June
July
Augus t
Septemb er
October
November
De cember
1944
Janu ary
Feb ru.ary
!>�� arch
Apri l
May
June
Ju ly
Augus t
Sep t embe r
October
No vember
Dece mber
1945
Janu ary
February
h· �arch
Ap ri l
May
June
July
Augus t
September
October
November
December
Press ine s Ordered
}'IGUFi.E 15
7,891
1 1,9 83
12,9 22
14 ,4 47
14 , 622
16,020
16,859
10 , 741
17 ,869
23 , 422
31 , 561
36 ,252
30, 055
26, 401
34 , 650
25, 697
33 , 889
36,254
56 , 575
54 ,75 3
r/ 4 1379
71,339
62 , 662
69 , 317
721 r/71
53, 237
32 , 837
83 , 515
112 ,2 59
83 , 094
88 , 089
96, 385
>a7 , 723
11?, 695
104 ,46 7
32 ,06 6
260
ch.rti cal Productio n S ectio n World War II .2x'e ss ing Orders .
2
61
}IGU
h
E 16, on the follo wing pac.;e , pre sen
t
s a somew ha
t
co mpreh ensi ve view o
f
T.l?S
t
rans cr i p
t
i on pro duction ac tiv-
i ti es . It co :m1Jares produc ti on of 1>1a:y 1945 with pr ev ;ar pro-
du c
t
ion of
t
he L·J S A11ge les trans cription indust ry . Also , i
t
gi ves s:J me
t
o
t
al .t:.. i'hb prod.uc tio n quanti
t
ie s up to
t
ha t
mon th . O
f
spec ia l in
t
erest are monthly average
f
igures .
'
l
'
hi s FIGURE was mad e as a repor
t f
rom Vo eler to .wewi s. It
\Vas s
t
andard TPS prac
t
ic e to Ke ep the AF.hS Cornn andin g
Off i
-
cer advi sed o
f
' ac ti vi
t
ie s in such a manne r. Thi s par
t
ic ular
repo r t wa s selec
t
ed for incl us ion in the study beca use o
f
i
t
s generali ze d presentation of total produc
t
ion.
65
Al tho ugh l.• IG
Ulill
S 15 and 1
6
do not com ple tely reveal
Ti S transcr iptio n produc
t
io n
t
otals
J
they may serve to
di s clo se the gro wth and cnagni tude of the opera
t
ion .
6
5
r:I GUhE 16 fro m \Nil l H. Voeler to Tho1nas H. A.
L
ewi s
J
L
i
em orand.um , 15
J
une 194
5
, l p.
L
.
/'
.rl.o Plant s
.f'ress ings
J:l ont hly ,o oo
.ueliv ersd to Jan . 1�43
Al"RS -5 -8 8_ 4 __ ,
Urderec i by
Jan . 1943
A.i:" hS 7, d9r-
N'tay 1·�45
-
1':.:0 , 000
Ma;y
�
87 , 312
May 19L l5
112 ,'2"59
262
Increase
9335 S
1, 460j;;
1,422 7o
Total �r educ tion pressings ordered as
of operation • • • • • • • • • • • •
May 31 since st art
• • • • 1, 140 , 684
'Iotal nurnuer produc tio n pressings received as of kay 31,
1945 s ince start of operation • • • • • • • 1,108 , 684
Av e rag e montnly copper requir e1r 1ent s • • •
Av era(�e monthly vinyli te requi re:;:,1 ent s . .
• • •
• • •
6, 000 lbs.
dO ,OOO lbs.
Prewar man ur..: , _c turing of matrices in Los .Ange les area •••
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 5 00 per month
?re s ent out put or matrices in �os Ange las area • • • • • •
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
,000 per month
Avera6e nu�nLer of recordinG hours used 1aont:i:1ly by .ti.J:.ES in
Los Ange le s area • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3, 500
Average n:z .aber of acetates cut per month :
Ave
16
tt
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
17·ttt . . . • • . . . . • . • . • . • • . • •
num Der test es sings c�'le Ci{ed rr:.o n th
2,300
2,000
1, 100
Inspecti on Su bsection ins pects an
tio n pres s ings per .noi 1th.
of 48,000 produc -
Los Angeles and l�l;IlS 'I' PS JJa ta.
263
Although tt 1ere 'Jve rc �J.t l e ast 179 A ... :hStati ons 66 on the
air at one time , it app ea r ed i;:up o ss ible to de t e r m ine the
actual source of ea ch of ' these tr ansmi tter s and t he i r asso-
ci ated ec r\.li pme nt . In fact , .AJ:i hS and th e OWl pro cured :nore
than 179 t ran s:;.t i tt ers for .a FES t at i ons durin g the war .
Thi s se cti on narrat es the devel opment of transmi ssion
media, the procurem ent of tra nsmi tters and associated equip-
ment , and a de s cr i rJ t i on of other ne tbods of progra111 di stri -
buti on. 1Ihe subsecti ons conta.i .ni thi s informati on are :
1. Development o1' tr ansm i ssion medi a.
2. Jhl tranELr :i tter ;)ro cure nent .
3. APE.S trans;:;li tter pr o cur em ent .
4. Various uses of sou nd sys tems .
5. Summary of transmi ssion equi pme nt .
Develo +)mEmt of t r ans , .nis si on :�1edia. S i nc e the
stati ons were alr·e ac:y· av a:;. ble , short -wave prosrt:tm st r i -
bu tio n was considered mos t im p o rt ant durin th e e ar ly �onths
of A.l:nG op er at io n . The OWl c ont r ol led th e .)r ogra mi n�� on
existing .nrne r ic an short -wav e t r a ns �n i tters . Fr om lJ42 to
1845 the OVH enabled COrnm.e rcial bl'Oac :.caste rs Of the Jni ted
66 J.
A.
C on nell , �� is t�w .o�.ri ,Kc l .i.' o r · c e s Hadio
S erv i c e ,11 n. £.. , p. 7.
2 64
States to ere ct seve ral ne w short -wave stations . AFRS
progrruns wer e scheduled on each of the stations as they were
activated .
Fo r security re asons , �ewis and s assoc i ates be-
li e ved that carri er curren t radi o would be an impor t ant di s
tribution medium . Wor k , as an employ ee of the us o, was
engaged in carrier current rese G.rch . In Al'RS he continue d
thi s study un der the guidanc e of Ar thur Page , a memb er of
the JaNC Radio Subc ommittee and a
V
lce -Pre sident of Ameri can
Telephone an d Telegraph .
67
T
ha t fi rm had us ed carrier
curren t for in tracomp any communi cations . Page was ext reme:zy
inte res ted in the system and spent much time on the re
se arch .
Th er e is little questio n but that �ewi s reali zed the
value of Army -owned stati ons wh i ch were lo cat ed in troop
concentr ation areas . Hi s Alaskan tri p had demonstr ated
their value . It must be rememb ered that at the time of
that trip the groundwo rk i' or the AFI1.S Al askan J. 'l etwor k and
the AFN in Gr eat britain was established . Ho w ever, .uewi s
also reali zed the war caus ed problems of equipment procure
ment . The Al:'HS tation was to oe a later dev e lopment .
As a further expedient , cont racts were made with
67
Martin .ti . Wo rk , 23 June 195 0 .
265
exi sting commercia l and goverrunent st at i ons located in over
seas troop concentrati on areas . Boardma n made suc h arrange
ment s in the Central .Ame ri can area , as did Vanda in Egypt
and Berger in Aus tralia
. 6
8
many times it was ne cessary to
pur chas e broadcast time . In these cases vWI funds were
us ed . However , many of these agreement s were unsu cce ssf ul .
Broadcasters were retic ent to program their best listeni ng
hours wi th Ameri can .iirmy show·s . .Some attempted to associate
local spons ors wi th the nr.my programs . �urthermore, it was
not feas ible to continue the use of' OWI info rmational fund s
i'or thi s .tirmy purpose . As the troops advanced in the Eu ro
pean �heaters of Operatio n the y ent ered terri tory in whi ch
broadcas t ing faci litie s did not exi st or had been destroyed .
Advancing troop s in the Pacif i c 'l'heat ers entered lands that
had never known radio. It becam e evi dent that government
and/or commerci al stati ons could be used to augment othe r
fa ci liti es , but they could never be cons idered the major
program di s tributi on medium .
Du ring the early Winter, 1942 , a headquarters .Spe cia l
Se rvi ce Uni t was assembled to move into the North Af ri can
'l'h eater. Major Jeneral Arthur R. Wi lson, Theater Chi ef of
Se rvi ces and �upply , re quested a broadcast ing stuti on fo r
68
Infra, pp . 369 f. , 385, and 458.
hi s troo ps . Vanda, charged with ge tting t.ht.,_t station on
2
66
the air, was to enter th e Theater wi th th e newly orga ni zed
Spe cial Se rvi ces Unit. Work was to obtain the tra nsmitter
and its associated equipment in the United �t utes . A one -
ki lowatt transmitter and a 250 -watt transmi tter were shippEd
to Vanda at Casablanc a on l oanuary 1943 .
69
Howeve r , he
did not succee d in ge tting either of them on the air. In
the Spr ing , 1943 , Work was dispatched to North Afri ca to
seek a solution to the theater troo p radio problem.
Wor k 1s trip was of paramount cons equence to AF'RS
thr ough stabili zing admi nistrative thi nking on th e impor-
tance of the severa l med i a of prog ram distribution.
On 9 Dece mb er 1942 Majo r Andre Baruch and hi s st af f
of propaga nda broadcaster s establi shed one of the earliest
troop stations at Casablanca .
70
Work inspe cted thi s opera-
tion, at tempte d to re ceiv e progra ms fro m Ameri can short -
wave stations , and inve stigated Army Ai r Force carrier
curren t installat ions . Prom thes e activit ie s he deve loped
69
R. W. nardenber·g to Spe cial Serv i ce Supp ly Di vi -
sion, New York Por t of Emb arkation, 24 April 1943, p. 1 .
70
(C. 0ourt enay �a vage ), �rog ress Report , 26 �ay
1942 to l Decemb er 1945 , p. Addenda 19 . A full description
of thi s installati on will be found in the follo wing chapter
o f thi s study .
the follo win g ev al uat ion of the media
: ? l
1. Sh ort-wave broadcasts could not general ly be
receive d by servi cemen listeners . Expens ive ,
ela borat e receivers were ne eded to pick up the
signals .
1
l' his medium was us eful to A.F RS only
for rela y purposes.
2. Carrier curren t tran smission was difficult to
install and ma intain. Its restr1 ct ive qualities
were unimport ant in troop broadcasting .
3. Gove rnment and /or corr� e rcial station time wa s
difficult to obta in and hold .
4. Army -owne d stand ard broadc as ting stations ,
called Army Expeditio na ry Stations and later
called AFhStations , were the only lo gica l
medium of progrrun distribution.
267
In a series of lette rs to �ewis, Work reported his
fin ding s and ev alu ations .
72
Upon his return to Lo s Angel es
he discus sed the prob le ms f'ur the r with the AFES stai'f. By
the '=>um.:._ JJ.e r 1943 , AFRS transm ission pol icy had been set.
The ma jor med ium of program tr snsmission would be
servi ce owned and operated sta'nda rd -wave broadcasting sta-
tions . Experienc e had ver ified the May 1�42 bel ief of J.Jev 1is
and Brophey . The sol ut ion to the proble m develop ed by
lo ne ly se rvi cemen in AOd iak, Ala ska , in De cember 1941 was
correct far> other ove rseas are as . .fr om the i;>um.:._ ne r 1943 the
71
1vJ.
art in H. Work , 23 June 1950.
72
These le tt ers were found in two Ai. ·hS l'iles titled
11North Africa n Reports . n 1Nor k wrot e the letters during
April and May 1943 .
26 8
transmi ss io n energies of A:i/F\S were concentr �:.. ted on es tab-
li shin g and operatin g AFR Stati ons . 73
M:a int enance of ele ctr·oni c broadc ast equip ment , and
the associa ted equip ment , was a con s tant prob le m to wart im e
A}hS fiel d and headquarters personnel. Thi s was partie-
ul arly troubleso me when th e main tenance re({ ui red acJ.d i ti ona!
radio parts . The probl em was sol ved on paper by the War
Department Ci rcular
No. 1Q.7.,
74
15 .t11 arc h 1944 . Thi s plac ed
the respons ibility for majo r main tenance and repair on the
Ar my �i gnal Corps . The
C
hi ef of Ordnanc e was re spons ible
for major mainten ance of powe r generatin g uni ts and con-
ve rters . Howev er , the co nt inui shortages of tech nica l
rsonnel and parts ci rcu mvente d the Ci rc ular in most ca ses.
Nec: .rly al l the work was done by AF'RS pers onne l in the manner
most expedien t .
OVVI transmi tter pro cu rement . During the Al as kan trip
Brophey promi sed .l...t ewis tha.t the v�n would help procure the
origin al A.FRS transmi tters . 75
Brophey knew the proble ms
73
Carri er curr ent st ati ons establi shed la ter are
disc ussed in followi ng secti ons .
74
\\'D , Circ ular .1.'l o. 10 7 , 15 lviarc h 1944 , 2 pp .
7 5
Supra , pp . 9 7 f.
.i... ewis would enc ount er in outaining n.rmy funds . als o, he
knew tha t th e war had caused a cri ti cal sho rt age of all
elec tr oni c parts. A.l:;RS would have great diffi cult y pro -
26
9
cur ing transmitters . The OWI had inves t ight ed such exi sting
equipment and had reser ved it for fu ture pur chase. Br ophey
intended to set up some of these transmitters and ope rG.t e
them for troop broadcasts . When Lewis obt ained funds and
pe rsonne l the se stations would be turned ov er to Al'RS for
Ar·my opera tion. OWI transmi tters for troop broadcasts were
used in two overs eas ar eas .
76
1. The earliEst installa t ions were in Alaska .
Thi s radi o -isolat ed ar ea app eared to be mo st in ne ed .
• • • The F'ede ral Communications Commission grant ed
permission for the installatio n of such transmi tt ers
in areas under its juri sdi ctio n pr ovided thht they
were of suffici ent ly lo w po�t ver to pre vent undue
covera ge of civil ian are as and competi tion �Jv i th
exi st ing commerc ial .?. tations . The power was f'ixed
at twenty -f i ve watts .
77
Prob ab ly th e fol lowing sts.tions were based on equipmen t
pur chas ed by the owr :
78
76
In addition, in 19
45
OWI snort -wave station KSAI ,
Saipan, was transfer r ed to Ai ,hS for opera t ion.
77
(C. �ourte nay Savag e), ni storical Not es , Nov emb er
1
944
, !l· .£·
78
'l1 hi s infor mation , collect ed !'rom many sources , may
no t be complet e or wholl y ac curate .
/
\ I
I
1 . WVC Q, �t. Gre ely , �o diak .
(A re pl acement tra nsmi tter.
)
2. WVCX , Ft . hay , Sitka.
(A replace ment tr ansmi tter. )
3. WVCY , Ft . Raymon d , �eward .
(A repl acement tra nsmit ter. )
4. ,,,� xLA, Pt . Gl en.. YJ., Unm ak .
(
Th e origi nal tr u.nsmi tter.
)
5
. 'J vXLB , Adak .
(The orig inal tra ns� itter. )
6. ijVX LL , Attu , or wXLO , Sh emya.
(The or i ginal trans mi tter. )
2
7
0
2. In complia nce wi th hi s pro mise, tH'O ;; hey sent
Bre ws ter Mo rga n , of the OWI staff , to Gr e�t Bri tain for the
es tabli sh. '1l. ent of the Ame rica n Porc es .�.� etwor k . 7
9 I t began
operat io n 1
5
I'lia rc h 1943 . Al though in 19
4
4 it was made up
of mor ·e than fifty member st ations , it is belie ve d tha t only
twenty-e ight of these wer e pro cur ed and establi shed by the
owr .a o
Orig inally the total ne twork operat io n was und er the
super vi sio n of O�� I engine ers . 'Ihey, in tur n , we re re s pon-
sible to the Brit ish \iirel e ss 'l'el egr &.ph Boa rd , the co unt er -
part of' the L.Jn it ed States le de ral Communi ca t ion s Comrn is
sion.
S
l
7
9
�a rtin H. Work , 23 June 1
9 5
0
.
3 0
(C . 0ourt enay Sa vac e ), rti stori cal �o tes , �o ve mb er
1 9
4
4
, £· .2.·
3
1
hadi o Bra nch (. td •RS), Ameri can ..c· orces .:� etwor k , £
•
d. (l at e �pring , 1940) , p. 6.
271
� transmitter procuremen t. The majority of the
transmi tters use d by AFR8tation s were procured by the TPS.
General Wilso n 's reque st for a North af rican stati on was the
fl rst apparent impetus to transmitter procure ment . To fill
thi s reque st Work, follo wing the lea d of a recent nation-
wide NAB su rvey , toured the coun try in December 19 42 to
locate nnus ed equi pment. 82
As a result of this trip twelve
1000- watt and eighteen 250-watt transmitters were procured .
It was reported that most of these treasu red elec troni c
pie ces had been held in reserve by Ameri can broadcasters as
insura nce egains t fai lure of other eqt:.ip ment . Undou btedl y
a combination of patriotic du ty and seeming Army comman -
deering pressure s persu aded the stati on owners to relea se
tb e transmitters .
The duty of procu ring elec troni c equip ment fell to
82
(
C . vour tenay Savage), .t!r ogress Report , 26 l'vla y
1942 to 1 December 19 45 , p. 46; Barton A. Stebbins , 2 Aug ust
1950 , stated that wi th the cooperati on of l�BC and CBS , he
discovered thes.e transnli tters . A phone call was made to the
station owners . Du ring the conversation he consumate d the
purc has e agreements and ordered the transmitters crated for
shi pment . rte told the owners that instruct ions and purc hase
orders would f'ollo w.
Stebbins bel ieved that the owners were under the
irupression that the equip ment was being "drafted" and that
they were speaking to General Osb orn , himself.
It appeared to thi s author that both Work and Steb
bins probably worked on procu rement of thes e transmitters .
Both were working out of the Washington offi ce at that time .
2?2
the Army Signal Corps . During World War II AFRS was not
granted equipment procurement authority. At the request of
AFRS the �ig nal Corps procured the trans mitter� located by
Work and , early in 19 43, contracted the haymond hosen and
Company of Phila delp hia to man ufacture needed broadcast
studio equip ment . 83
It was believed that this stue io equip-
ment was to be used with the thirty co mme rcia l transmitters
discovered by Work.
84
The studio equipment (NAl}, the tra nsmitters {1 RCA-
1K, RCA 250K) , and other program ing materia ls were co mbined
to make broadcast statio n units. The component s of a unit
were :
85
1. One 1000 -watt or one 250-watt transmi tter complete
with extra parts .
2. One six-cham1el (?) control pa nel.
3. Two 2-speed tr�ns criptio n turnta bles and pickups .
One turnta ble was equiped as an insta ntaneous
recorder.
4. One Scott all-wave broadcast receiver.
5. One 200-foot steel tower.
83 AFRS , Recommendati ons on the Installat ion and
Qpe ration 2.£ !!!! Ame rica n ExpeditiO naii Statio n , !1· f!_:--T c.
15 December 1943) , p. 2.
84
It is possible that additio nal trans mitters were
procured. However, it did not seem prob able to this author .
Wartime personnel contacted could not clear this problem.
85
AFRS, Recorr �enda tions 2n � I�� £f�� ation and
�e�at1og fl.!. an f?er1A f. Cpe(ntj_Qnary s ,
u. d:-T.c. .
ecem er 1943 , p. •
6. 24 ,000 feet of acous tic panel material .
?. 2 microphones .
8
. Speake rs , wire , wiri ng parts , auxi li�ry parts ,
and spare parts .
9.
500 blank acetate re cording discs .
10. AFRS and comme rcial mus ic and sound effe ct
transcriptions and records .
11. {When re quired ) One gasoline generat or .
2?3
The se comple te stat ions were to be shipped upon the re que st
of overs eas the at er comman ders . Several of the tm its
ac companied AFRS-trained pers onnel into the Pacifi c The ater
of Vperati on .
In 1943 Si gnal Uorps contracts were dr�wn up with
the T. W. T. Company of Los Angeles for the manufacture of
126 complete 50-watt transmit ter and studio units .
8
6 Each
v
of these was packaged in five armored trunks . 'J. hey bece .me
known as the Fi ve Sui tcase Transmi tters . The diminutive
complete stati ons {PB-50) , available upon the reque st of
theater commanders , contained the foll owing items
: 8
?
l. One 50 -watt transmi tter.
2. One power supply for the transmi tter.
8
6 {C. vourtenay Savage), .J:>r ogress Repor_;, 2•.) May
1942 to 1 December 1945 , p. 1?
8
?
AF RS, Recommen dati ons on the Ins tallatio n and
Vpe ration £f ga Ame rican Expedi tiO nar;j Station, £• £:-fc .
l5 December 1943) , p. 4.
3. Une pres sure cooler and voltage selector uni t.
4. One four -cha nnel progra m console .
5. One 2-speed phonogra ph tu rnt a ble and pi ckup .
6 . Two dynami c mi crophones wi th cables and plugs .
7. Une an tenna kit.
8. Tub es, pa rts , cable, extra tube s , extra par ts ,
and tools .
9. Two books of instr uctio n�.
274
Assemb ly of the se st ati ons was so simp le that a pe rs on wi th
li t tle electroni cs knowledge could set up the sta tio n and
sta rt broa dcas tin g . Several of these tr ansmi tte rs were used
as memb er stati ons of the AF
N
. 88
�b ile the tr ansmi ssio n equi pme nt obtaine d and di stri
but ed by the Signal Gorps at the re que st of aFRS und oub tedly
became the ba sis for the ma jorit y of the AFRSta tions, it
should be no ted that man y AF'RStatio ns were bui lt by in gen-
ious Ame ri can Se rvi cemen fro m part e gathered wherever
possible . "Ca nni ba lism" of dam aged ta cti cal equi pment was
autho ri zed . 8
9
Wa r-born was the Mobi le Statio n , a compl etel y
., _
tiona ry type of ra di o un it. Ea rly in the
�
orth Afr
8
8 (
C. Cour ten ay Sava ge) , Hi stori cal Not
19 44 , !!.• .E. ·
89
WD, Circular No. !QZ, 15 March 191
275
FIGURE 17
The AFRS F1v e Suitcase Transmi tter.
27 6
cmnp aign radi o men reali zed that it would be most diffi cul t
to servi ce th e rapidly advanc ing fight ing uni ts wi th low
powered , fixed tr ansmitter s . In a letter
90
to �ewi s, 2 7
roay 19 43 , Work reported that he had establi shed pla ns to
asse mble a 400-wat t transmitter and it s studio on a one
and one -half ton Army truck. Thi s was to be accom pa ni ed by
a po wer uni t mount ed on a hal f-ton trailer . Equipment on
hand woul d be used. Necessa ry clea rances and perm issions
had been secured from hi gh-ranki ng the at er officers . The
"r ig 11 that Work had started was to become the famous F'i fth
Army Mobi le Station of the Italia n Campa i gn .
Fro m the patter n establi shed by the highly successf ul
Fi fth Army Mobi le Station si mi lar uni ts were asse mble d for
the Frenc h and German battle front s,
9l
and the invasion of
the Phi lip pines and Japa n .
92
Those us ed in the Pacific
the ater wer e the most ela borate. 'l' hey bro adcast on several
fre qu encies enabli ng standard-wave and. tacti cal equi p ment
to receive the sig nals . Al so they could be asse mbled into
sh ort -wave net wor k of stati ons . The Mobi le Stati ons would
90
Martin H. Work to Tho�as H. a. Lewi s, 2 7 May 19 43 ,
p. 6 .
91
True E. Boardman , 9 May 19 50 ; Cla ud e c. Turner,
11 Apri l 1 950 .
92
Ted E. Sherdeman , 6 oeptember 1950.
277
advance wi th the troops. Gis near them could he ar the
programs and news re ports from spea kers of the publ ic ad
dress system wh ich was an integral part of the uni t.
Here was the most specia li zed example of radi o that
was develo ped to me et the troop morale and informat ion
needs. Sherdeman
93
sts .t ed tha t one of the most tax ing
morale proble ms was that of lo nen ess. Men , fighting in
smal l di sp e rsed un its , te nded to feel tha t in the ir isola
tion they were no t a pa rt of the total activity. 'l 'hey
seemed to believe that they we re los ing their pri vate
battles . 'I' hr ough the Mobi le Stat ion these small , scattered
uni ts could keep in touch wit h th e enti re battle . by the
short -w ave netw ork each stati on could report the activi ties
of the who le .fr ont . Fu rtherm ore , the radi o signal s of the
Mobile Station could be used for direct conunand activit y .
Truly , here was radio at its great est assista nce to the war :
morale, contact , and command. Fo rtun atel y changes in the
mili tary picture made fu ll use of the Mobi le Station 's
potenti ali ties unne cessary. An invasion of Japan was no t
needed. However , these stati ons were the first to brin g
morale -bui ldi ng programs to the Ui s as they ente red the
Manila area and the various isla nd s of Japan .
93
1.2.£. cit.
278
Va ri ous � .2f. so und sys tems . Dis tr ib uti on of APRS
programs by me ans of pu bli c addre ss sys tems was ve ry im por
tant in the total picture . tiow ever, this mediu m wa s mo st
diffi cul t to mea s ure . Althou gh wartim e perso nn el knew that
thous and s of so und systems were prog r· amed wi th AF�Rs tran
scripti ons , they had no way of app roxima ting the sco pe of
thi s dist r ibutio n. Only the largest or mo st unu sual sys tems
were known .
1. Sound equipment made avai lable by AF' RS .
Early in the war , Signal Co rp s contr a cts were ma de for the
ma nuf acture of pu bl ic addre ss equi pm ent . 'l' he fo llowing
it ems were avai lable : 9
4
1. PAS-15A. A 15-watt am plifi er wit h two 8-inc h
spe akers and a mi cr ophone .
2 . PAS-15B. The sam e as ab ove wi th two outdoor -type
speaker s .
3 . PAS-2 5A. A 25-watt amp lifi er wi th tw o 12 -inc h
speakers and a mi crop hone .
4. PAS-25B . The same as the �AS -25A wi th two
outd oor- type spea kers .
5. S-lOOA . A dual -spe ed turnt ab le wi th pickup
and mi cr ophone . ..t'o r us e wit h the PAS uni ts .
6. MC -3 64C . A dual -spee d turnt ab le wi th pickup,
mi cro phone , 10-watt ampli fier, and spare parts .
94 AF'RS , Broa dcas t Ser vi ce Memora ndum , No . lliJ
Revise d edi tio n, 11 Septemb er 19 44 , pp. 1- 4.
7. WR -1 . A small electr on ic uni t whi ch was use d
as a short distance transm itter or a feeder for
a carrier {curre nt ) line . It was to be attached
to a program signal source whi ch produced approx
imat ely 5 watts of power. Thi s unit was a
comp ani on of the MC -3
6
4C .
279
rrocurernent qua nti ty of thes e units was no t discovered .
However, it was believed that the actual di stributi on was
exten sive.
The B Ki t was so wide ly is sued that it beca me a
major program distributio n unit . Many Naval vessels were
equipped with pu bli c address syste ms to whi ch transc ripti on
players were attached. Several carrier current syste ms
were ins talled by the Army Ai r Force at their Ai r Trans -
portation Oo�nand out posts . These items pro cur ed by the
ser vices , plus the small transcr ipti on playback systems
purch �d locally in overseas areas and those bu i lt by
ing eaious servi cemen, made up the bu lk of the sound systems
scattered throug hout that part of the world that us ed A.!:RS
tra.. '>'l scriptions .
2. The London sound sys tem. Un d ou bt edly the
largest single syste m was that establi shed in London as
part of th e Ame rican Forces �etwork . Servi ce Clu bs,
officers ' and enlis ted men 's quart ers, mi litary ins tall-
ations , and other places where service personn el were
stationed or cong regated were fed AFI\S and AFN programs by
280
means of pu bl ic address sys tems connected to the London AFN
Headqu arters by tel ephone lin es .
_t) robab ly there we re ab out
seventy -five ou tlets in thi s sys tem dur ing the height of
the operation.
9 5
Thi s type of program dis tribu tion was
sele cted rather than a regular transmission so that Afl�
signal s would not compete with the BBC for a list ening
au dience . Equip ment for thi s ela borate telep hone network
cam e frcr m many sour ces. It began its operation simu lt ane
ous ly with the AFN , 4 July 1943 . 96
3. Hospital sound sys tems . In September 1943
the .n.rmy Su rgeon General 1s Offi ce entered into A.F'RS activ
ities . Many doctors beli eved in the therapeu ti c values of
mus ic . Certainly it was of a morale val ue to patients
confined to a bed or a single hospi tal ward . Befor e the
Fall of 19 43, several Army hospi tals had bui lt or bought
sound sy stems to distribut e radio and record programs in
the wards . Possibl y the first sy stem was install ed by s.
L. (Roxy ) Ro thafel d at the Ar.ny 1 s Walter Reed Gen,
Hospi tal , Washingt on , D. c. , in 19 23.
9
7
95 Loyd C. Sigmo nd , 30 Uctober 1950.
96
Char le s H. Gurne y, � is � !Y
Network, 7 Augu st 19 43 , p. 1.
9
7
Meyer Berger, "Good Li stening
� � Times Magazine , 15- 16, 5 Decer
In 1944 the Surg eon General 's Offi ce asked the Signal
Corps to design and standardi ze a four -channel program
distribut ion system and the associated stud io equi pment .
Alth ough thi s equi pment was not reque sted or its manufac ture
sup ervised by AFRS tecm1i cians , it hel ped bring about the
deve l opment of the AFRS Hospi tal Distribu tion Section. Thi s
was actual ly a su bsection of the Bro adcast �i stributi on
Section. In 1945 the Webster �l ectric Company of Chi cago
manuf actured six hospi tal distribut ion syst e�s in accordance
wlth Si gnal Corps speci fi cati ons . 98
These were used with
small speakers whi ch the liste ner could place und er hi s
pillo w . Only one person could hear the programs of these
speakers . The pati ent in the next bed was not distur bed .
This Hushat one Speaker was manu fa ctur ed by the Brush Devel
opment Company of Cl evela nd . It is estimated that the
total cost of the equi pment and installat ion fo r a hospital
sys tem was approximatel y
$
25,ooo .o o.
99
Thi s incl ud ed the
expens e of bu i ldin g a small stud io for loca l program
produc tion.
The fi rs t Signal Corps Hospi tal Broadcasting System
was ins talled at Percy Jones General Hospital , Battle Creek ,
98
Cla ude c. Turn er , 25 October 19 50 .
99
�·
ill ·
,,
•
•
•
� ·
� .,
� . .,
• • •
•
•
•
• •
• •
• • • •
FIGURE 18
The Hospita l Di str ibut io n Sy ste m Co n sol e .
282
283
Mi chigan. Program i ng starte d in June 194 5.
1
00
Probably
the follo wing sys tems were operating by 1 Januar y 19 46.
10 1
1. Percy Jones General Hospi tal , Mi chigan.
2. Cushin g General Hospital , Mas sachus etts.
3. Letterman General Hospi tal , Cali fornia.
4. Beaumont General Hospi tal , Texas .
5. Tilto n General rlospi tal , New Jersey.
Summa ry of transmission equi pment. An adequa te
summary of equip ment used to transmi t A.FRS programs could
not be compi led because of insuffi ci ent data. However , the
sourc es of most of the standard broadcast transmitters were
prob ably discovered. Equi pment use d for othe r type s of
transmissi on was procured by AFRS, the A�y Signal Corps ,
overseas lo cal pu rchase, "cannibalis m" of darp.aged tactical
equi pment , and ingenui ty . With the exception of the B Kit,
all equipment dist ribut ed by wartime AFRS was actual ly
contracted for and bought through the Signal Corps with
Signal Corps fun ds.
Foll owing is a sw mary of known equi pment and
1 00
Daniel M. Hou se , Hospital Di s tribution Su bsection
Activi ti es ReEort , 18 Ju ly 19 45, p. 6.
1 01
Cl aude c. Tu rner, 25 October 195 0 ; John B. Lanum ,
18 October 195 0 ; James W. Chadwick , 18 October 195 0 .
sour ces . It is acknowledged as be ing incomp lete .
1. Tran smitters suppli ed by the OWI .
a. At least six st a nd ard-wave broa dcas t
transmi tter s were suppli ed to AFRS
stat ions in Alaska.
b. Twenty -eig ht 50-wat t tra nsmi tter s were
suppli ed to the AFN . These were probably
the sam e as th ose contain ed in the AFRS
Fi ve Su it case Statio ns .
2. Tra nsmi tter s dis tribut ed throu gh AI •'RS .
a. Twelve 1000 -wat t co��ercia l st an dard
wave trans mi tters located by Work were
purcha sed by the Si gna l Corps .
b. Eighteen 250-wat t commerci al stan da rd
wave transm itte rs located by Wo rk were
purchased by the Sig nal Co rps .
c. St udi o equi pm ent for the ab ove eighteen
transmi tt ers was man ufactured for the
Si gnal Corps .
d. One hund red and twenty -six 50-watt Five
Sui tcase Sta tions were manuf ac tured for
the Si gnal Corps .
3. Sou nd equipme nt di s tribut ed thr ough AF RS .
a.
A la rge , unde termin e d numb er of B Kits
were man ufac tured for the Speci al Servi ce
Di vi sion.
b. At least one thous and publi c addre ss
systems and turnta ble s were purchas ed
by the �i gna l Corps . (Probab ly thi s
numb er was much greater .)
c. A large numb er of tra ns cript ion players
(MC -3 64 C ) wi th self-conta i ned amp li fiers
were purchased by the Si gnal Corps .
284
d. An undete rmine d numb er of short di stance
or carri er curr ent tr ansmi tte rs (WR- 1 )
we re purchase d by the Si gnal Corps .
4
. Hospital so und systems .
a.
Prob ab ly six Ho spital Broa dcast ing oys tems
wer e manu factured for the �ignal Co rps in
19 45 .
IV. RE CEIV ER EQUI PMENT
285
Und oubt edly AFRS ' mo st di ffi cul t proble m was that of
findin g a wa y in wh ich ove rs ea E se r vi ce men could ob tai n
broa dcast re ceiv ers th r ough whi ch programs co uld be he ard .
Fr om the be ginnin g throu gh 1
9
45 the proble m was one of grave
conc ern, but no sati s factor y so lutio n was worked out . �he
ma jo r tr ouble lay in that sam e wart ime sh ortage of elec -
tr oni c parts whic h caus ed tr ansm itter pro cure ment diffi cul -
ti es . Howe ver, com pared to recei vers , few tr ansmi tter s
wer e needed . Gener al •ar k Clark dispatched special cou riers
to Rome wi th $10, 000 in cash to buy any re ceiv ers they co uld
fi nd.
102
The y retur ned emp ty handed. Ai r .t' orce men flew
thous ands of miles from Foggia to Buchare st to buy radios
at "f antastic figure s. n
l0
3
The 108t h General Hospi tal in
10 2
Ri chard E. Hall and Jero me Lawrence to Thomas H.
A. Lew is, 13 Mar ch 19 45, p. 1.
10
3
�· ill·
286
Pa ri s had four recei vers to serve 3, 500 men . l04
The 6th
Gene ral Hos pi tal at Rome had thre e recei vers for 2, 200
men . l05
It seemed impo ssible to all evi ate this si tu at ion.
The prob lem was ne arly the sam e in every theater of wa r .
The ma teria l on re ceiver equipment is pre sente d in
the following subsecti ons :
1. Di fficulties of receiv er dis tributi on.
2. Recei vers procur ed by AFRS.
3. Receivers procured from othe r sour ces.
4. Summ ary of re ceiv er dis trib uti on.
Di fficulties of receiver di s tributi on . From the ea r�
days of the wa r each Port of Emba rkati on had establi shed an
order fo rbiddi ng enlis ted men to ta ke personal re ceivers
oversea s . It wa s believ ed that regene rative curre nts of
these sets mi ght be tra y to the enemy the lo cati on of
Ameri can troops . Thi s prohibit i on was a se curi ty me asu re
that ap peared us eless to AF 'Fi.S admin i strators
l06
and the ater
comman ders alike . Offi cers were allo wed to tak e the ir
receivers overs eas as personal ba gga ge. By Nove mb er 19 43
10 4 �. ,
p. 2.
105
Loc. ci t.
106
Martin H . Work to 'l'h om as H. A. Lewis , 18 April
1' :143 , pp . 2 -3 .
287
both Genera l �I'LacAr thur and Gene ral Bi s enho wer had asked that
enli sted men be perm i tted to talce port able recei vera ov er
seas . l 07
�e verthel ess , for the mo st part the crippl in g ban
remained . F'rin k,
l0 8
a 1950 AFRS Executiv e Officer and a
wartime South Pacif i c Theat er Radi o Offi cer , st&ted that
late in the war the POE Comman de r at San Fran cisco was
persuaded to lift the prohibitio n. Fri nk also bel iev ed
that the �e w York POE removed the ban at �b out the sam e
tim e . Man y servi cemen owne d po rtable receiv ers , bu t tr �i s
ban was wi de ly known . Had it not been in ef fe ct man y mor·e
men would probe.bly ha ve procured recei vers by some means .
Here would have been one of the si mpl est , easi est , partia l
sol ut io ns to the proble m.
Sinc e se rvi cemen were , fo r the mo st part , prohibi ted
from takin g their own receivers overs eas , the only alt er nate
sol utio n was for AFRS, or some other agency , to obtai n
recei vera and fin d an equi table rr. an ne r of di strib utio n.
J::' rocurement woul d be di ffi cult re gardl ess of the agent
attemptin g to obtain the set s . 'l'he secon d proble m concerned
the me thod of di strib ution. Should sets be made avai la ble
for purchase? Ur , should they be is sued? 'l'he men had
107
( � a r· t i n n. Work) , The Broadcast 1i s tributio n
Secti on, U• d. (£. 1 Novemb er 1943
}
, p. 7.
108
Clif ford H. Frin k , 7 ..te bruary 1950.
sufficient funds to purchas e recei vers . Post Exchange
Officers tried in vain to procure receivers .
l
0
9
In 1945
288
Navy �hip's Stores obta in ed a quantity of low-pri ced, seven
tube sets
. ll O
Howev er , these did not ac tuall y come int o
the stores unt il af ter V-J Day , 2 September 194 5. In
gen era l, Post Exchanges and �hip's Stores were most un suc -
cessful in receive r procurement .
As a part ia l solut ion to the problem, Al:'R S officials
decided it was better for the War Depar tmen t to procure the
sets and at tempt to obtain an equita ble distribution. AFRS
techni cia ns and procure�en t person nel had an extens iv e
kno wl edge of the avai la bilit y of sets and set pa rts whi ch
could make possible some success in receiver procurement .
L'i nally , on 30 October 1944 , War Depa rtment Circula r #.. ill.
was releas ed. Thi s outl in ed offi cially , for the first ti me ,
the desired and atte mpted basj s for receiv er di stribution }
ll
1. Thea ter ha dio Officers could requisition re
ceivers on the ba sis of one to ea ch 50 men or
maj or fractio n thereof.
2. Theater ha dio Officers could requisit ion one
receiv er for eac h isol ate d uni t of less than
fifty men .
109
Cl ifford H. Frink , 11 l!ilay 195 0 ; True E. Boa rdm an
to Thoma s ri . A. Lewis, 2 June 19 43 , p. 9.
llO
Cl ifford H. Frink, 21 July 195 0.
111
\VD, Circular No. !§!, 30 October 19 44, p. 4.
3. Comman ders were respons ible for the equi table
di s trib ution of receiver s to troops .
4. The re was to be no iss ue of receivers to
offi cer clubs , offi cer re cre&tio n rooms , or
groups of offi cers un til the enli sted men of
the command had ad equa te broa dcast re ceptio n
faci lit ies .
289
Despi te th e di re cti ve and the vigila nce of overseas ra di o
offi cer ·s , the inte nt of thi s order, and that of AF' f:S
offi cers , was circum vented in ma ny ca ses . In a •'ll. arch 19 45
letter to Lewi s, Sergea nt s Hall and La wrenc e reported :
Here at Caser ta , U. ta ly ] the entire enlis ted men ' s
billets bbaste d on8 rad io , whi le the great �aj ori ty
of the offi cers ' bi llets had rad io s, mo re tha n hal f
of which were gove rnment iss ue sets . ll2
Se rgeant Welch
ll3
reporte d tha t in the ;:;unr ner of 19 45 , he
di scovered Qua rt erm as ter Warehous es , in the Eur opea n Tl1eate�
fi lled wit h is Due receiv ers . The Quart erm aste r Offi cers
refus ed to rel eas e the sets , si nce they beli eved the
comman ding offi cers wanted the wareho us es well fi lled wi th
stock . Other re ferences to si mi lar ci rcumven tio ns were
di e, covered in writ ten ma teria ls and intervi ews . Hrre was
an exam pl e of hum an nat ur e working for the di sa dva nta ge of
the many . Thi s prob lem wa s bound to rema in as long as
shorta ges exi st ed .
112 hicha rd E. Hall and Je rome Lawrence to Thomas H.
A. Lewis, 13 March 19 45 , p. 2.
113
nobert L. Welch, 5 Apri l 1950 .
290
A fu rther proble m was to be encou ntered in procuri ng
and distribu ting repla cement parts . In the natural lif e of
a small , inexpens ive receiver , parts wear or burn out . The
extreme cli matic condi tions encou ntered in foreign la nds
and the vary ing sour ces of power SU
P
i)ly greatly magnifi ed
this proble m. The proble m was especiall y acute fo r battery
operated sets . The difficul ties of procur ement and di s tri
but ion of parts releg ated a major porti on of al l the servi ce
receivers to the inoperative cla ss .
These were problems brought about by wartime short
ages , Arm y procedur es, and human nature . Lewi s and hi s
staff fought valia ntl y to overcome them.
Recei vers procured 12.z �· lt'our ty pes of broadcast
receivers were procured by AFRS for di s tribu tion at Ports of
Emb arkati on� and in overseas areas . These were bel ieved to
have been pur chased with fund s of the Spe ci al Servi ces
Divi sion. Ac tu all y , the true procurement agency was un
doub tedly the Qu artermas ter Corps .
1. The fi rs t receivers procured by the Sp eci al
Services Div ision were contained in the B Ki ts . This was
a combination trans cription play back machine and broadcast
receiver . The receiver could not be operated wi thout an
elec tric power sour ce . The specif ications of thi s receiver
291
were unk nown . However, it pro bably w�;.;..s an A. C. , D. C. , 110-
120 volt uni t conta ining 5 tubes and capable of receiving
from 1700 to 550 kilocycles .
2. The second receiver was made by the North
Amer ican Phillips Company of the Uni ted States . Probably
it was simila r to the set contained in the B Kit. These
were int ended to be di stributed with transmitters . Very
few references conc erning thi s particular am erican
P
hi llips
set were discovered . Work
ll
4
reported tha t in 19
4
3 one
hundred of them were in use in North Africa .
3. The third set , the SSD- 1 , was assembled from
receivers proc ured in the re ts.il stores of commercial
de alers throughout the United Stat es . ll5
These were col
lected , treated for protection against tropical fung us , and
placed in an especially manufactured cabinet.
T
hey were
A. C. , D. C, 110-220 volt , 5-tube receivers , capable of
receiving from 1700 to 550 kilocycles . ll6
Confli cting
reports reveal that be tween six and eig ht een thousand of
these sets were proc ured .
11
4
Ma rtin H. Work to
T
homas H. A. Lewis , 13 March
1943 , p. 10.
11
5
Thomas H. A.
L
ewis , JANC Radio Suucommittee 194
4
Report , 20
J
anuary 1944 , p. 1; � Courtenay Savage) , -
J:' rogres.:. Report , 26
ll'l ay 1942 to 1 December 1945, p. 50.
11
6
Information found on a labeled picture .
292
4. Contracts for the fourth set, the SSD-2, were
signed in 1944 . 11 7
The re existed cons iderable confusio n
between the actual procurement procedures of th e SSD -1 and
the SSD -2 . It was beli eved th at, in the case of the SSD-21
AFRS techni cia ns and procurement offi cials loca t ed elec -
troni c parts thr oughout the Uni ted Stat es . The se lo cati ons
were then discl.osed to a manufac turer
(
probably the North
Ameri can Phi ll ips Company ) who , wi th the A.BRS priori ty,
procur ed the parts, as se mbled the m into receivers, treated
the receivers for protectio n agains t tropical fungus , and
placed them into specially bui lt wooden cabin ets . The se
were
A .C., D.C. , 110- 240 vo lt , 40-60 cycle, 5-tube sets
ll8
capable of recei vin g from 21 megacycles to 550 ki loc ycles .
Savage
ll9
reported that in 19 44 contracts were signed for
the manufac ture of 901000 of th ese recei vers .
Late in the wa r a modif i catio n of the B Ki t was made .
One of the SSD sets was placed in th e mod if i ed B Ki t at
tha t time . Probably the SSD -2 was used.
ll 7
(
C. Courtenay Savage), Progress Report , 26 May
1942 to 1 December 1945, p. 50.
118
Info rmatio n found on a la beled picture . Al so,
inspection of several of th ese sets exist in g at AF' RS .Los
Angeles confi rmed thi s informati on .
119
(C. 0ourtenay Savage), Progress Report , 2 6 hl a
y
1942 to 1 December 19 45, p. 50.
293
FIGURE 19
The SSD-2 Rece iv er.
294
Receivers procured fro m other sources . Undoub tedly
the ma jority of receiv ers used by servi cemen were procured
by other than AJ:'RS personne l. .Pro c. ably most of these were
ndevelo ped11 through the ingen uity and Yankee
1
1hoss -tra ding"
sense of the in div idua l GI. Experienc e had tau ght Amer ica n
Service men that if they wa nted somethin g bad en ough, there
was a wa y to ge t it. Many did get broa dcasti ng receiv ers
in one way or another.
This subsecti on list s the known sets procured by
others than AFRS personne l.
1. There was some ove rsea s distribution of the
Signal Corps SX28 receiv er, manufac tured by hali craft er .
Frink
l20
bel iev ed th:"t :no st of these were is sued to officers.
The quantity of these sets whi ch ap pea red in war SU11plus
sales led thi s au thor to bel i eve that the ove rsea s distri -
bution may have been exten sive .
2. Late in 1944 , at the request of AF RS , the
Signal Corps let contr acts for th e ma nufacture of it s
E./100/U HR receiv er .
l 2 1
Thi s was an A.C. , D. C. , 11 0-220
watt , 40-60 cycle , .:3- tube , 13- mega cycle to 550-kilocycle
120
Cl ifford .._-1 . Frin k , 7 .F ebruary 19 50.
121
A.f''R S, Broa dcast Servi ce lv lemo ra ndum !'!2..· VI I,
Eevi sed edition, 11 September 19 44, p. 1.
receiv er •
122
The quantity of receiv ers ordered is no t
know n , but it was believ ed to hav e been la r3e . rroba b ly
the sets vv ere no t in fiel d use un ti l the middle of 13 45,
a late da te.
295
3. In late L�42 and 1943 Gene ral hi sen hower's
Co��an d bought 750 receivers from the Hritish.
l2
3 In 1944
the British loa ned tha t Cow11 and 500 set s .
l
2
4
Sava
g
e
l25
reported that the British Army gave .n.m erica n troops "two
or three thousand11 receivers just before D Da y, 6 June 1J
4
4.
No description of the se sets was di s covered .
4
. Co��ande ering beca me an important source of
receivers . Sa vage reported that "· •• Ita li an and Germa n
Telefun ken sets were ca ptured in Africa and Europe , Jap anese
sets in the Philippines ."
l26
Hermann wrote that IED
officials in the Europea n Thea ter 11 ••• had uncov ered
approxima tely 35,000 five -tube , Tel efunl �en type , receiv ers
122
I I
Erom in spection of an R 100 URR set at AFhS Los
Ange les .
123
J
. Ca rter tier �ann to Thoma s H. A. Lewis, �
randum, 26 December 1944 , Ta b. "G. n
124 1.2..£· ill·
125
)
(C. l.iourt enay Sa vage , J?rogr es J!_ Report , 26 ilf.ay
1942 to 1 December 19 451 p. 50 .
126
Loc.
ill
•
296
whi ch th e German s ha d eithe r in process of production or on
order with the Phillips Company in Paris."
l2
7
Probab ly
thes e were the sets Savage wrote ab out . Both Frink
l2
8
and
�herdeman
l
2
9
report ed that 60 , 000 Dutch Phil lips sets were
di scovered on a ship in quarantine at Sidney, Au s tralia.
These wer e bui lt on the Telefun -: en pattern. Sherdeman 1
1
3
0
��i acArthur 's Radio Officer, said that the General comman -
deered the sets and purchased spe akers for them in �ustral� �
Severa l of these speakers would be ti ed in to one receiver
to give wider program distribut ion.
5. Pr ior to the war , Japan and Germany flooded
their �arkets with smal l, inexpensive rece ivers whi ch they
hoped would be tuned in to axi s propaganda bro adcast
a.
l
3
1
0ndoubtedly man y of these civi lian-owned sets w·e re bough t
by Amer ican servicemen . Prob ably the prices were high.
12
7
J .
Carter He rmann to 'lhoma s H. A. Lewis , �
ran dm n , 2 6 Dec em ber 19 44 , p.
7
.
12
8
Cli fford H. Frink , 17 October 1950.
1 2 9
Ted E. She rdeman , 6 Septemb er 1
9
50 .
1
3
0
Loc. ill•
1
3
1
This se t distribution by the
J
apanese is reported.
in Fra11k J. Taylor, "He Bomb s Tokyo Eve ry Day," Saturdai£
Evening �� 215 : 9 -10 plus , 25 July 19 42 .
297
6. The final type of recei ver was a "Rub e
Gold berg1 1 assembly , made by the Ameri can Gi s themselves .
They were made of all sort s of scrap metal and wire . 'lhese
sets were bui lt on the old -tim e crystal receiver princi ple .
Headphones, the most complic ated part of the crystal set,
could easil y be secured or "b orrowed " from Sig nal Corps or
Ai r I' orce personnel. neflectio n on th e si mpli cit y of the
early crystal receiv ers lead to the beli ef in such a set 's
existe nce . Lewi s
l
3
2
assured this wri ter that stories of
these receiv ers were not the dreams of public ity agents .
He said these sets exi sted and worked to the sati sf actio n
of the owners . The two most famous 11 Rube iiold. berg1 1
receiv ers were those usin g a razor blad e as a crystal
l
33
and those assembled in a mess kit . Such sets def y techni
cal di script io n.
132
'rhomas H. A. Lewi s, 19 July 1950.
1
33
This set is explained in a di agram found in
nBeac hhead Gadg ett, " � .. 14 :88-9 , 17 July 1944 .
,-- ,
, -- - , ,
, ,
, ,
,, , \\
'' llc. •J ''
,
, ?It t:J, ...
FIG URE 20
The Razor Blade Recei ver .
2
9
8
299
FIGUBE 21
The Me ss Ki t Rece iver .
300
Sun�arl ££ re ceiver di strib uti on . It was impos sible
to co mpile a co mplete summary of ove rseas receiver distribu-
tion. Fo llowin g is a list of' the known receivers and the
repor ted di str ibutio n numbers .
1. B Kit. 6,000 report ed . Undou btedly there were
many more man ufactured .
2. Nort h Ame ri can Phillips . 10 0 report ed in use.
Po ssibl y there were 3,000 pro cured .
3. SSD-1 . Between six and eight thous and sets
pro cured.
4. SSD-2. Co ntracts wer e placed for at leas t
901 000 sets .
5. Si gnal Co rps SX28. No figure s were ob tained
for thi s Halicr after receiver .
6. Signa l Co rps R/100/ UHR . No quantity fi gure s
were ob tained for thi s receiver.
7. Brit ish re ceivers . Pos sibl y 4,250 rece ivers
were bo ught , loa ned , and do nated .
8. Co mman de ered receivers . Undoubt edly more than
95 , 000 were obtai ned in this mann er .
9. Propa ganda receivers . No fi gures ascert ained.
10. "Rub e Go ldberg " sets . No figures ascert ained .
Rec or ds di sco vered in research revealed a poss ible
to tal of 20 6,2 50 broa dcas t recei ver s ob tained by Army and
·� avy Offi cers for overs eas di s trib utio n to servi cemen.
frob ab ly thi s total doe s not appro ach the actual nmnber of
sets so pro cured o
CHAPTER V
THE BROALCJi.ST DISTEI 3UTION SECTION
AN.Li Trill BH OJu.ICAST OUTLhTS
The AFh.S me thod of tram :crip tion di s tributio n was
prob ab ly bas ed upon an emb ry oni c prewar comme rcial pl an.
Bu t, to AFRS the me thod was the result of broadcast ou tle t
expansion and programing requi rements . �or thi s reas on
transcription distributio n and the out lets cannot be dis
associated . The Br oadcas t �istr ibut ion Se ction1 later
called the Broadcas t Servi ce Section, was comparable to the
Traffi c Se ction and the .::> tation Relations Section of an
Ame rican comme rc ial ne twork . The mana gement of shippin g
circui ts wa s a direct counte rpart of the manageme nt of
telephone lines . The BDS was the principal liaison agency
betw een AF hS Los �ngeles and the broadcas t out lets . 'I'hu s,
it performe d the station relati ons fun cti ons .
The first sections of thi s chapter deal with the
devel opment and ope r&tion of the .t:SLS . T he rema ining sec
tion s pre sent the historical development and a su mmary of
a.lh.S ' broadcast ou tle ts. Thi s information is dis closed in
the followin g sections :
1. Developme nt of the di str ibu tion sys tems .
2. Ope ra tion of the �roadcas t �istribution Se ction.
3
. Outlets in the Alaskan .LJefense Cornmand in cludin g
the .n.le uti ans and Northwest Canada .
4. vu tle ts in the At lant ic Oce an areas .
5. Outl e ts in the Afric an and :liedi terranean areas
in clud in g the .l?e rsia n Gulf Comman d .
6. The Ame rican Forces Hetwork in Europe .
7. Outl e ts in the Chin a -Burma -India 'l'he::�. ter.
8 . Outlets in the ;;;. outh Paci fic C ommand .
9. Outl ets in the Mid- Pacific �ornman d .
10 . Outl e ts in the Sou thwest Pacific and Japan.
11 . Hospi tal outlets in the Uni ted States .
12 . Summary of al l AF'RS outle ts.
I. DEVhLOPMENT OF THL DISTfiiBU Tiu N SYSTEMS
3
02
Durin g the Alaskan trip, ini tial arrangeme nts were
made for AF'fiS transcri pt ion di stri butio n.l The OV'H accepted
that responsi bil i t y. The y forwarded the transcript io ns to
Ame rica n short -wave statio ns and to certain overseas poin ts .
As new outle ts developed, the OWI was to see that they
rece ived transcript io ns. Howe ver, in many cases the trtin-
scripti ons did no t arrive .
I t was the devel opme nt of overseas outlets and the
dissat isf actio n wi th OWI transcrip tio n di strib utio n me thod s
1
su.e ra , p. �8.
303
that led to the esta blishme nt of the broad ca st J.)i strib uti on
Se ction. This Sectio n was not one of the original compo-
nent s of A�RS. In essence , the major plan of distrib utio n
wa s develope d by the Summer of 1943 ; additi onal growt h was
bu t a modification to meet new dist ribut ion problems .
The development of the syste m is revealed in the
following sub sect ions :
1. Media development .
2 . ve ve lopment of the Uni t �is tri butio n Sys tem .
3. Navy distrib uti on.
4. Troop Transport distrib utio n.
5. Ho spital distrib utio n in the United St ates .
Media development . Lewi s ' original plans st at ed th at
troop broadcas t coverage would be obta ined thr ough th ree
media :
2
1. America n short - wave st ation s .
2 . Carrier current st ati ons .
3. The B Kit .
Neverth eless , he reali zed that the use of st anda rd-w ave ,
Army-o wned tr ansmitter s located near tr oop concentr atio n
areas would be the only satis fac tor y answer to th e
2
Radio Sectio n {A.F 'RS), Memorandum of _tiro ected
Initia l Program 6chedule , a• £• (pre 11 Augu st 1942 , p. 2.
304
probl em. 3 Su ch a solution would enta i l an expendi ture of
large sums of money on criticall y short el e ctronic equipme nt.
In the early day s the infant SSD , wi th its civilia n-s oldier
adm inistrators , was in no positio n to accept this so lu ti on
and push plan s through hideb ound Army red-tape .
4
It wa s
necessary to take one step at a time . AFHS would produce
programs . I n the due course of events so me thi ng woul d
happe n to make it possible for �ewis to ask for Army -owned
and-ope rated transmi tters .
In the meant ime , Brophey and the oWI helped set up
the program transmis si on media by purchas ing equi pme nt for
the Ala skan stati ons , and by purchasing air time on
commercial stati ons in the alas kan and Ca ribb ean are as . He
reali zed tha t the ev entua l solu ti on was the Army transmi tter;
however the use of existing facil ities could be he lpful .
The OWI repo rtedly spent mo re than two thous and dollars a
week fo r comme rcia l statio n air time in the al as kan and
Caribb ean ar eas .
5
Thi s was used for so ldier broadcas ts .
1. Us e of gove rnme nt and/or comm erc ial stati ons .
�ewis and his staff bel ieved that us ing exi s ting governm ent
3
Thomas H. A. Lewis , 17 vctober 19
50.
4
�· ill ·
5
True .h.. Boar dman, 9 May 195 0 .
305
and/or comm ercia l st at ions in ar eas of tro op concentrat ion
was an expedient th at should be employed to it s ful lest
advanta ge . In the late Winter of 19 42 Boardman made a trip
to the Alberta and britis h Columbia �rovinces of Uanada
to procure ai r ti me on exis tin g commercial st at ions . 6
In
the Spring of 1943 he made a similar trip to the Caribbean
area. Voeler
7
made arra ngements on cornn ercial statio ns wit h
6
Loc . ill
•
7
Will H. Voeler , 5 ap ril 195 0 . Voeler relate d the
following intere st ing st ory about the se arr angement s.
�hartl y after he was br ought to AFhS , Lewis and lo gel
tol d i:lim of the ir desire to obta in grutis air ti me on
existin g st atio ns . They wanted hi s help . Before the wa r
Voe ler was the am erican representa tive of a number of
stati ons scatt ered through out the world. Therefore, he was
especially ab le to be of as sist ance in thi s plan.
Voe ler as ke d �e wis where the tr oop concentrat ion
points we re located . Lewis answered tha t he didn' t know .
•�'J.ili tar y Intell igence refused to give thi s informatio n to
AFhS . Voe ler, Lewis , and Fogel sa t down in front of a world
map to at te mp t to decide the logical place s to st atio n
troops . One of the selected places was the nort hern coas t
of Uolumbia , Sout h America, the eas t flank of the Panama
Canal .
Voe ler contac ted one of hi s former asso ciat e st ati ons
in Barrinquilla, Colum bia , saying that if the re were
Ame rica n troo ps in that localit y A} nS would li ke to have
gratis ai r ti me to play show s especiall y produced for th ose
tro ops . The Barrinquilla statio n manager did not know
whethe r or no t b.me rican soldiers were st ati oned wi th in hi s
primary list ening area . He requested informat ion from the
Columbian Government whi ch , in turn , referred the questio n
to the Ameri can Embassy. This bmbass y , hav ing no power to
releas e such information, fo:::- warded the quest io!'l to the
306
which he had been associa ted prior to the war . In the
Sprin g of 1943 0aptai n Hal Berger
B
was sen t to �e w Zeal and
and 11.u st ralia to obtain air time on th e governcre nt st atio ns
in tho se count ries .
In each case where A.l/hS rey_ ue sted time fr o::n com.,:n er
cial and /or government st :ttio ns it was unde rs tood that it
woul d be donated in re turn for the privilege of broadca st ing
the fin est Ame rican radio prograrns . In order to protect
AFHS , a nd its contr a cts wi th donatin g talent and agen cies ,
an agre ement was drawn up to guarant ee th at no atte mpt
woul d be made to capitali ze on the free talen t . 1'he seven
points of th is ag reement were as fo llo ws :
( 1) No Al ItS prog r:.ml will be associated in an y way
State JJepur tme nt in Vi ashin.gt on. The State :i.Je1 Jart men t sen t
it on to the War Lepartment •
.r�.. lt hough the re were a numb er o f Army uni ts st ation ed
in the ba r 'rinquilla area, the Vlar · l,;ep art ment was apprehe n
si ve aoout the way in whi ch their clos el y guarded mili ta r�
Ee cret had bee n as cert&.in ed . Voel er hl::t.d be e n a Corporal
in the :i iorld ll•ar · I uer man Army . Could tr :i s man, with radio
contacts thr oughout the world , be an en emy agent ? Nli li ta ry
Intell igence made a tho rough in vesti ga tion.
Voeler sa id that Mi li t=. ry ln te ll igence Off 'i ce!'Ei woul6.
not accept his expla n s. +;io n that a man of avers.g e intelli
ge nce would rea li ze cha� th e �n i t ed States woul d want to
@J.a rd so valua ble a possess io n as the f'an ama C anal . It was
lo gical tha t tro ops would be stati oned in th&t area . The
inves tigation lasted several mont hs .
Voele r believ ed that
be cause of this in cident ulili ta ry Inte lligen ce al ways ques
tio ned hi s lo yal ty .
8
Hal Berger, 1 Nove mb er 1950 .
with any comme rcia l spo:1sor either by actual spon
sorsh ip , St )O t announcements , or any broa dcas ting
device , which might su ggest or imply ass ociation
of an .t-i.i:'F. S progra m with the comme rcia l spons or .
(2) No payment will be mad e by the Army or Navy
to such station for the use of their facilities in
br oadcasting thesE: pro e::; rams.
(3) All time perio ds allotted to the br oadcasting
or .ri.F'nS pro grams must be suitable lis tening times
for the United States armed force s wi thin the
station' s broa dcas t coverage .
( 4) Permission to broadcast any or al l a.FnS
pro grams may be suspended or withdra wn wi thout
notice at any time it is deemed advisable by the
theater or depar tment command er or by tl:e ArES or
the War and Navy Depart ments.
(5 ) Stations will not make duplicate re cordings
of any l"' .l•hS tr anscri ptions either in whole or in
part .
{6 ) Progr ams will be br oadcast exactly as tran
scri bed without de letions or additions .
(7) All AfliS pro gram materials remain the pro pert y
of the War and l�avy .i.Jepart ments , and no program
material will be re tained pe rmanently by suc h
stations.9
30 7
These points prob ably grew out of early experience
wit h comme rci al and/or goverrune nt broa dcas ters . However,
it is dou b tful that such agreements were actually signed by
tr: e ma jor ity of stations us in g .n.FhS programs . Many inter-
viewees st ated that the tr oubles anticipated by these points
were actualities. 'lui s seemed especially true in Aust ra lla ,
9 A.B 'R.S , •'il emo randum , £• £• (post 14 October 1944) ,
p
p
. 3 f.
308
Cen tral America, and Nor thwe st Can ada . Such difficul ties
were reporte.d to be on e of the forces that caused AFhS to
prefer the use of ArmJ� -owned statio ns .
lO
Broadcasts of tro op prograrr;.s over co.:nm .ercial and /or
govern ment st ati ons were gradua ll y dis cont in ued . O:.u ch
arran gements were un satisf actory for the fol lo wi ng re ason s :
1. Bro adcaster s were ap t to atte mp t to use the
programs for co�n ercial purposes .
2. Broadcas ters wer� re ti cen t to giv e good soldier
lis te nin g hours to nFES progr@ll s.
3. Broadcas ters could no t give en ough hour s to
fil l the ne ed for tr oop programs .
4. Sched ules were no t st abili zed . Troo p progrBms
were often shifted in favor of comme rcia l sh ov 1s .
5. Troops advanced into areas wh ere commercial an d/or
gove rnme nt statio n signals were no t he ard .
The follo wi ng list show s the exp andin g an d dimi ni sh
ing use of commercial and /or governme nt ou tlets
.
ll
10
.AFES , Rec on:ne ndu ti ons on the In s talla tio n and
Ope rati oQ of !!!!. Ame ri can Expedi tiO nary ::.-.t at ion, �
·
d:-T .£•
15 De cember 19 43) , p. 1; Thomas H. H.. Le wis , 19 July 1950 .
11
Thi s mate rial was compiled from the semi -ann ual
Progress hepor ts an d other heport s.
309
Date Numb er
-
1
J
anuary 194 3 18
1 April 1943 70
1 July 1943 105
1 October 1943 117
1 January 19
4
4 13
4
1 July 194
4
81
1 January 1945 70
1 July 1945
4
9
1 January 19
4
6 2
6
2. !Jevel opme nt of AFRStationa . Major General
Arthur h. Vals on' a request for an Anny -owned-a�d-operated
statio n was the tangible im petus for that type of outle t
.
l2
Stebb ina
l
3 stated that Lieutenant {..; olonel John .c>. Stanley ,
an SSD admini strator, ins tigated the re quest by telling
Wilson that he could obtain an Army station to help the
mo rale problen1s of hi s service troops ; all that was needed
was the official re quest of a high-ranking comman der.
�Hlson, in ma king his reques t, set the future Al' 'hS station-
procureme nt policy. fl'rom that time request s for Army
stat ions were initiated by the comman der of the area to be
served . Amon g others , Generals .Patton, Clark , hiaenhower,
and MacArthur re quested installation of st� tiona to serve
theiz· troops . Some time s it was necessa ry to use somew hat
circuitous me ans to stimu late the re quests . Neve rtheless,
1
2
�
upra , pp. 265 f.
13
· Barton A. Stebbins , 2 August 1950.
310
once the advantage s of th e service we re impre ssed upon a
comman der , his reque st followed and his cooperat ion was
complet e . General Nla cA.r thur was a particula rly strong
exponent of th e Army st &t ion. Undoub te dly his early Bat aan
expe rience wi th troop bro ad cas ts had proved thei r value .
l4
Work , in his let ters from �orth Afri ca , analy zed the
relat ive value of th e vari ous media.
l
5
In writing of the
nightly l1er man swing sessions and the ir inte rpolated propa-
ganda , he reported :
• • • (t he Psyc hological Warfare boar� PWB-O ' vVI
seems seriously conce rned wi th the problem. It is
belie ved that the y overrate the effects of su ch
propaganda on rtme ri can troops . 'l'his doe s not , how
ever, re liev e Special Servi ce of the res ponsibili ty
of ge tting Ame ri can programs to the soldiers ; nor
the b
l
ame for no t having adeq uat e radio cove rage of
this The&ter earlier
. l6
Ou t of the se factors was shaped .t:�..FF.S out le t .t.JOlic y.
The major medium was to be th e ar my st ation. By Octobe r
1943 this policy was written •
• • • The se medium-wave stat io ns are however , the
basic and most generally effec tive media for pro
viding fu ll regular broadca st cove rage .
For the ave rage so ldi er liste ne r--med ium -wave
1
4
Supra , pp .
4
0 f.
1 5
s ?67 . up ra , p.
-
16
Mart in H. Work to Thomas H. A. Lewis, 18 April
1943 , p. 3.
transmission is more
"
lis ten able " than shor tvave .
A lo cal statio n is easily tun ed , less affected by
atmosphe ric cond iti ons and of depen dab le si gnal
st re ngt h . .ru rther--the exi stence of such a stati on
wi th in an overseas th eater allo ws a degree of lo cal
partici pa tion by the pers on ne l of th at the ater
A
wh ich is of definite and pr oved morale value .
l·r
311
The st atio ns were to be cons truc ted and run by th e
en lis ted men .
l
8
Th t:: se were to be the ir stati ons .
'
l
'h ey did
no t be lon g to the offi cers , to A} nS in Lo s ang eles , nor to
U1e "brass 11 in Washin gton. The statio ns bel onged to the
en li sted men. They we re "ours.n Only thro ugh su ch a polic y
coul d the complet e effe ctiv en ess of th e med ium be reali zed .
In Macart hur 's Comman d the follo w irlb polic y was es tabli she d. :
No offi cers are allowed to broadcas t on an y SWPA
[ .Sout hw8s t Pacif i c Areij radio stat ion wi th the ex
ceptio n of Chaplain s and in special cases where th e
appe arance of a Base Co�Jtande r or Jen e ral Offi cer
seemed de sirable . • • • Th e progrwn dire ctor , an b1vl ,
is re spon sible to the 0/C @ff i ce r in Chargi for
all program matter s exceptin g cens orship. He ma in
tains th e concept of "by an d for enli st ed men. n
l9
Dy the tall of 1 94 3 it was decided th at th ese �rmy
stat i ons sho uld be call ed Ame ri can Expediti onar y Statio ns .
A Vi&r I.;epa r tn:e nt letter , writ ten by a.i: hS officials , stated
17
Radio �ect ion (A.r;R s) , S_y nt he si s R eport , 25 October
1943 ' p. 7.
1
8
Th om&s H. A. Lewis, 22 �eptember 1950 .
1 9
Ted E. Sh e rdem an to 'l'h oma s H. A. Lewis, 31 Augus t
1944 , p. 10.
312
th at uall U. s. Army radio stL.J ti ons servic ed by th e .h. rmed
ro rces hadio Ser vi ce wil l be known as i�rmy E.x.p edi tion ary
n '"' ·o
Stati ons . :::. Howev er, ea r ly in 1944 the name Armed l' orces
La dio Statio n, or AFRSta tio n, was bein g used. The actu al
origin of th is nome nc latu re is no t cle ar. It was a log i cal
develop me nt from the name "Arme d Force s Radi o Ser vic e .t t
'tu ite natural ly it was accepta ble to AFhS and its st aff .
Sher deman
2 1
beli ev ed th�t the nome nc lat ure
,
.nl' hS te:tt ion
was dev e loped in the South we st .e acific 'I'h e at er. He st&te d
th at Ma cArthur would no t allo w the use of the wor d mora le .
He be lie ved the st igma at tac hed to th& .t wor d def' eate d the
purpos e of th e acti vi ty . At the ti me whe n the in forma tion al
and educa ti onal act ivi ties of the SS� wer e sep arated fro m
th at i)lvi si on an d grouped into a ne w ;, lorale Ser vices
uivision
,
2 2
cA rthur adopted the name In forrn c.. Lion and
Education Se ction for use in his Command . ;;:;h e. rdem an
belie ved that the thin kin f!, of u;.a chrth ur ' rigad ier ne ral
1�enne th .i..J yke , a:ld himsel f deve lop ed the ne w name for Army
st ati on s . He sa id tha t the word ex pedi tio nar
y
was a hol d
over from �orld War I. It was no t used by World War II
2 1
Ted E. Sher de ma n, 6 6e pt em ber 19 50 .
22
Octo ber and Novem ber 19 43 .
3 1
3
uni ts and , theref ore , was inap1)ropria te . Programs were
broa dcE tS t for the ear s of ill Allied service men. Theref':)re ,
the word Ame rican was not a1 )cJrop riate . i·.I ac.�.-� rthur held in
hie; h esteem the fCct V1at he was comr:uandi forces of the
.l'. llied i�a ems , no t just tho se of .t1.m erica . The sub s ti tu ti:::n 1
of A.F hStat ion for Ame ri can Exped iti onary Station was
logical .
Jy the Sprine; of 19
4
5, the :l& -ne a.b.hS t&tion was
accepted an d firmly entren che d. 2ubli c ity -wlse station
managers r�ali zed th e value of the AFfiS "plugs " on ea ch
transcription. Th is would help es tablish the identity of'
the i r O'l'm s t at i o n. l'u rthe rinore , r:1a ny the .:1e n run:. dng
these s t'- ,t ions were f or me rly at tache d t J A:FhS Lo s .;.. ngele.s.
;td �S and alh S t at i o n we re standar d nome nclature in every
th eater of operation except the .J.:.. uropean.
The following l i � t shows the wart ime exp an sion of
AFhS tations :2
3
�
1 January 1';14 3
1 April 1943
1 July 1943
1 October 1943
1 January 1944
1 July 1944
1 January 1945
1 July 19�"' 5
1 Jan uary 194 6
N1.1.m "'Jer
3
15
40
44
57
102
145
17 9
11 2
� 23 This material was compiled fr :::>m the semi -3.nn ual
Progress Re Dorts and o the r AFRS F.eo or ts .
31
4
In c ons idering the se figures it must be remembered th at the
�ltation s we re L.. Ct ivated and closed in a ccor d an c e wi th the
ne eds of th e troo ps . I n many in s ta nc es a s ta t i o n wa s shut
down and tra ns porta t.ed to a ne w l o ca t i o n . Thus it follo wed
the tr oops . at tin es a react i vated sta tio n was as signed
ne-v v c al l le ttt.:ers and frequencie s. .bo r the se re as ons , an d
because of' uncert, ,_,in chan ne ls of c omin uni cat i on , an exact
presen tat ion of st ation sta ti stics was no t possible . At
best , the figu re s are re lative . AF�S was ne ver certain of
the exact number of' outl et s us ing th eir trans cr1ptions .2 4
llev elo pm�nt of � Un i t Lis tri but ion Sys tem. In the
beginni ng h�hS t rans cr ip t io ns we re distri buted thr ough the
0WI. 2
5
By the Sum "11er oi 1' 342 th &t age ncy ha d personnel an d
represe nt atives stati oned throughou t the world . It was
t�e ir dut;y to di sseminate Ame rican info r::n at i onal mate rials .
lhe ovn ' it sel f , h ad trans cribed rad i o programs to distri -
hu te . It was a s imp le mat ter for the ir �e n to di stribut e
.11 .f:RS pr og rams to the same governme nt and /or comme rc i al
2
4
�upra, p. 2
6
.
25
Irving L. l ogel , 7 July 1950 ; hadi o Sect ion (:�. rF ,S),
�:.emo ran dum of .t>rod uction
�
Trans cription Costs for
In i t i al Pro
g
ram S ch edule , g. £
•
(p re 11 rlugu st 19
4
2) , p.
38; 'l'r ue E.. Boardman , 9 " 1 ay 1350 ; i�lbert b. Du ncan, 27 Ju ly
1950.
3 15
st at io ns that were recei vi ng OWl shows . A} tr anscript ion s
were �ai led to the OW l offices in New York and San Fran-
ci sco. At ti1o se points the ;r ess in gs for rtme ric an sh ort-
wave statio ns we re tw:en ou t and th o se remainin g we re
div ided intJ pac�age s to be forwarded by boat to the over
seas OV� I age nts .
26
rl' he early productio n of J-l FhS proe;rams was so me'.v hat
irreg ular. The OWl tr anscription ship .n ent and de liv ery also
appeared to be y_u ite ir re gular . As productio n increase d
.aFhS wa s able to release tr anscripti ons on a sc hedule . By
late 1942 we ekly ship me nts ·were achi eved .
27
Howe ver, the
O
VVI had no t ke pt pace wi th Ai:• h0 production, and th e ir ship-
ment s remain ed irreg ular. About th e fi rst or the year ,
1943 , a rudime nt ary circui t dis tribut i::m syste m was set up
by the OW
r
.
28
No inf orm�t ion regarding the principl e s or
scope of th is sys te m was di sco vered.
At an eu ·ly date it Wb-S reali zed that Oi �I di st ri bu -
tio n was unsatisf acto ry . In th e first place , shi;> pin g tr an-
Gcrip tio ns by boat was uncertain and most unde sir able . All
26
A
FR S , Prosres�. he po rt , n. d. ( 1 Janu ary 19 44) , p. 17.
27
Albert E. �uncan, 2 7 Ju ly 195 0 .
2 8
Loc. cit. ; True b. Boardman ,
9
May 1
9
50 , st ate d
th at he se t up 'the' orig in al circ ui ts and ship1Jin g sc hedules
wit h the ova.
3
16
program ti melin ess wa s negated by this method. At ti mes
car tons of trans cripti ons we re lost. .nt otf:ler tim e s they
would arrive month s late. It was impo ssi ble to achi eve
regularit y of programin t; by the i..l vv i ship ment methods .
Second, some OWI overseas representatives seemed to beli eve
that aFHS trans cription s were OWl property . al th ough these
men were no t able to obtain regular broadcast of the pro -
grams , the y would no t release the pressi ngs to .n.rmy of-
fl eers . Work
29
reported fin din g large stac ks 'o f �FnS tran
scripti ons in North Af.r ic an Jwn offi ces. lie said he could
neit her obtai n the discs hi mself , nor persuade the 0\'� I men
to release them to commerci al and/or gove rnm ent statio ns .
Su ch ci rccu:ns tances1 among others , 3
0
made A:E'hS program
29
Marti n H. Vior k , 19 June 19 50.
3
0 Hal Berger 1 l November 195 0 1 told of the foll mv' .mg
confus ed dis tri bution problem.
Tne ,�;;.u stralian broadcas tin g Company , a governme nt
owned ne twork comprise d of approximat ely twenty percent of
the stati ons in Au stralia, was recei vin g A}'hS transcrip
tio ns from the OWI repre sentativ e in Australia. There
existe d great programi ng riv alry between this nbtwork and
the in dependent commercial stati ons of Australia. These
s ti ons obtain ed hl'' RS trans cri pti ons thr ough the ir Lo s
Angele s representati ve . AFRS of fi cials were anxi ous to
obtain the wi dest possibl e program release in are as of hea�
troop concentratio n. By 194
3
there were many Ameri can
troops in Aus tralia. Apparently .�-...t• ns tranacripti ons were
s�1ipped to Aus tralia , by the OWI and the Los Angeles comr aer
cial stat ion representdti ve s at ab out the same ti me .
In the ir contest for the lis teni ng audien ce the
317
dis tribut ion spo radi c, tardy , and undesi rable . �ew is and
his enti re st aff realized that an imm ediate change was
necessa ry . On 1 July 1943 the Uni t Distributi on Sy s tem was
in augura ted .
31 I
n esse nce this was the as soci ation of
se veral outle ts in the same ge ographic vic in i ty into a ma il
circ ui t.
A
pa ckage of trans cripti ons , the Uni t, was se nt on
this ci rcui t. It was forwarded from one station to the next,
as scheduled , until it had been used by al l.
It was no t possi ble to place credit for the exact
origin of the Uni t Distribution System. At the ti me of it s
inaugur ation, tran s cription dis tribu t ion was a part of the
TPS . Foge l was Ch ief of the TPS wh ile Ra lph Lo ckwood , a
civ ilia n emp loy ee , and Techni cal Serge ant �ill H. Voeler
were in charge of the dis tri bution offi ce . In the prewar
peri od the se thre e men had been doing ess entia lly the same
Australia n co�ne rcia l and gover nment station s attemp ted to
'' scoop " ea ch othe r wi th such star-laden progra n1s as "C omman d
Performan ce ," "Mail Gall ," "The Bin g Cr os by Show ," and "The
Bob Hope Sh ow . 1 1 Ac tuall y this cause d a rnnst unde si rab le
riv alry between all stati ons . The co�n crcia l stati ons ,
thro ugh the ir Au stralia n uni ons thre atened to com plain to
the Ame rica n talen t uni ons .
In May 1943 , Berger was se nt to Aus tral ia to so lve
this prob le m. Su ch compl aints could jepordize the entire
producti on of nl: E� pr ograms . Happ il y , Berger was able to
re s olve the si tuation be fore actual com pla ints we re mu de .
�ew dist rib utio n met ho ds made certain this re sol ut ion.
31
(C. Courten ay Sav age), His tori cal Not es , No vem ber
19 44, n. E.•
...
...
UNI T LEAVE S L.A.
4IJ' 41Jt
0. �
j
DEC. 2nd
4
UNI T IS HE LD AT KISK A #
FOR REL EASE TO TRANSPO RT
#
#
OR HOSPIT AL SHIPS #
�� ---- F'IG1JF.E 22
A Typical AF'RS Distr ib ution Circuit .
31 8
319
work . They produced tr ans crip tio ns , handled trans cribed
shows , booked trans cribed shows on fore ign stations , and
rep re s ente d for e ign st at i ons .
3
2
Their pr ewar work was
cl osel y all ied wi th the activ ities of the de ve lopin g BDS.
Their me thods of handl in g trans cri ptio ns were simi lar to
thu.t of the Uni t .Ld s tribution Sy st em. .hl tho ugh Bo ardman
pos si bl y es tablis hed the e&rl y OW I ci rcui t sys tem , he gave
credit to Voele r for actuall y maki ng the new A�hS sys tem
work .
33
Undoubtedly Boardman was corre ct . Voeler ap pe ared
to be the one mo st re spons ible .
A basic ele ment of nm erican radio was regul arit y -
regula rit y of ti me , schedule , arrl pr ogr�m . A show began
at exact ly si x o 1 cloc k. It ended at si x fi ft;y -nine and
fi fty se conds . This sh ow was hE ard every ll' ion day evenin g
at si x o' cloc k. At se ven o' clo ck it was fol lowed by the
same sh ow each week. Sin ce regulari ty was basic to hme rica n
radi o pr ogramin g ; servi ceme n overseas undoub tedly de si red
this quali ty. The;y had been ac customed to it all the ir
liv es . They prefe rred to heur the "Radi o th eater (Lux) "
at si x o' cloc k •l'lo nd ay evening. This was a sm all mat ter .
6ut , from a ho st of such frc:. gments came the general q'.la lit y
3
2 Hal Berger,
2
Novem ber 195 0 .
33
True h. Boardm an , 9 May 1950 .
320
known as mora le . Ma ster Ser geant Gilbert R . Somne r
34
re -
called that for four weeks ann ounc ers at statio n WXLC ,
l.Jut ch Har bo r , Al aska , had been advert ising a gr e&t �"ew
Ye ar's l!.ve pro gra m wi th thir ty Holl ywo od stars . Howeve r,
the tr ans crip tions of this sl1ow did not arrive in time .
They wer e shipped by boa t and were de livered se ver al mo nths
lat er . That New Year's l:.ve was chaotic for the small
statio n sts. ff . A so luti on was demanded . The iso late d men
listening to that st&tion had bee n lookin g for ward to the
show , and fai lure would deal a severe blo w to mora le.
Ingenui ty develo pe d the ttnswer · . Hurri edly announc ers devi se d
a 11star -studded11 spec ial show from trac ks fo und on ol d
tra nscrip tions and phonogra ph re cor ds in tr� e station' s
li br ·ar y . A lo cal imitato r helped link the track s togc tLer
into an impre ssive performan ce .
hegularity was a basic ele ment of the �nit �is tr ibu -
tion Sys tem . Yet , ir reg ulnrit y and undependability had
been char act0r istic of es rly �e thods , since the se wer e
inevi tabl8 re sults of bo at shipmen t . A so lut ion had to be
found. The on ly ans� ver that se e{ned practi cal was shipmen t
by air priorit y . Sue� a pr io ri ty would need to be
34
Ji lb e rt h. So:a mer, 3 November 1950. This was for ·
brou dcas t on 31 uec ember 1943 . nl tho uch the Uni t i.. is tri l :u
tlc n .Sys tem had bee n established tlle dl sc w&s la te . The
pro b le m was the sam e.
3
21
f.ufficientl y high to guarE •ntce deliv er y on schedule . 'I'h is
de liver �i would ne ed as much care and atte nt i on as wa s given
1:;.rm;y Or d e r s wi th high priori ty . This so lu t io n was almost
unattainable . Only the overseas theater co mrrr anders could
re que s t such a pri or ity .
All l ia i so n be twe en o v ers e a s the aters and s>.rmy
perso nne l stationed in the Uni ted States was maintained
thr ough the s �rmy 's Opera tions Divi sion. All official
corre spondence 1ni tiating fro m uni ts or · person s in the llni tal
States and inte nded for uni ts or perEo ns ov erseas was to be
cle ured thro ugh this .Uiv ision. The o nly e x c eption w&.s in
cases wher e an ov ersea s theater comman der spe cifl cally
au tho riz ed dir e ct co rr espondenc e be hteen 11state-side 11 uni ts
or pen :.on s and him self or per son s of his COlmnand . AFfiS had
no s uch au thorizatio n. It coulC. send no o1'ficial commu ni -
cations to the theater commander:: • or its AFEStations wi tb -
out cleara nce thr o ugh th e Oper a t i o ns J..J ivision. This
cleara nce was ne arly imp ossible because of red ta pe , and
the Ope ruti on s J..J ivision' s evaluatio n of the unimportanc e of
'7.5
bro adc as ting matters .u Matters of m a ter i al of war wer e of
urge nt concern. Th e impo rtance of radi o enter ·tainmen t
programs could hardly be c om p o. r e d with munitions and
3
5 Barton i� . St eb b ins , 2 Augu st 1950 .
manpower. How could h.F E3 ask for an air pr io rit y? VJhy
322
should an air prior·it y given radio entert& inne nt progr·ams
when the shippin g space was so badly needed for bullets ?
In so lvin g this problem AF'hS employed one of it s
most clever and justifibble courses of action. The solutio n
was attain ed after an extrem.ely di ffi cult and studied
cir cumven ti on of red tape . Ther e was hardly an in fraction
of the reg ulations . The solutio n was as follo ws :
Most of the ove rseas the ater radio offi cer s had been
sent ou t from AFI\3 or we re selected by A.F 'l>.S men touri ne in
the th e aters . In general , throu g.. hout tl:e war th ese me n
n:a. inta ined a loyalt y to A.b hS Los .nnge les and a sens e of unl t
attachment . Le wi s encoura ged this in ever ;] way possi ble .
This was im perativ e to the pro ductio n of purpo si ve prog rams
and th e res olution of common problems . Air prio ri ty was
such an in stance .
In the early 3UIIL nel ' of 1943 , Berger was wit h Yla c
Ar thur in Australia , J ackson was wi th St ill well in India,
Work had selected Major Andre Baru ch as the l'lorth Africa n
The ater Radi o Offi cer , Captai n Dani el Hous e had been chosen
hy Bo ardman as the Alaskan -Aleut ia n 'l1 hea ter hadi o Offic er ,
and Brophey had se nt breviS ter Morgan , of the OVJI , to
Ei senhower 's Command to set up the Al:N in Gre at Britain.
Lew is sent a te legram to the commanding genera l of
3
�2
3
eac h theater c al l ing hi s at tent ion to the radio servic e tha t
he had been receivin g. Thi s telegrblil stL.ted that onl y a
hi gh air priori ty would guarant ee a con ti n uatio n of the
service .
3 6
At the same time Lewis sen t te l e gram s to his
frien ds , the the ater radio offi cers . He kne w the se men
woul d be called to adv i s e the ge nera l s . He kn ew th at from
the se men the COl lli'11 anding generals would ob tain the ne ces-
sary in forma tion and guida n ce . Sa vage repo rted the re su l t s
as follows :
A.F hS received #2 air-prj orities on a con tin uin g
we ekly basis , by re tu rn ca� le , from al l areas but
two. Those two priori ties took on ly as lon g to get
as the s i tu o. tion took to be un der� . tood . 3 7
Thi s appeared to be an over-simp lificb tion. Appar -
ently all of the comman ding ge n erals , reali zin g the morale
value of the radio programs , did advise the Ai r Trans port
Comriland to extend a priority to Al hS car t o ns . However , it
seemed that thi s orig inal priori ty was no t high enough .
Stebb in s 3
8
reported that the cartons did not arrive with
satisfactory regularity in S t i ll we l l ' s OB I Co�nand or in
3
6
ThomG. s H. A. Le wis, 21 June 1950 ; Barton A.
Ste bbin s , 2 August 1950 ; (C. Courten ay Savage), l:'ro gre§E
Rep ort , 26 May 194 2 to 1 Dece mb er 1945 , p. 50 .
3
7
(c . Courten ay Savage ), Progre ss Report , 2
6
May
194 2 to 1 .Ue cember 1845 , p. 40 .
3
8
Barton A. St eb b i ns, 2 A ugus t 1950 .
3E4
�• lacArt h�r 's We st Pacifi c Com: aan d . rl 'h ese Generals se nt
se cond tel egrams askin g whe re the transcriptions wer e fo i'
which they had au thori zed air priori ty shipme nt . Stebb ir .s
state d that with these latter te legrams he convinced the
Air · Transport Command that the numb er tw o priorlt y was
nece ssar� . Only thi s high pri ority wou ld as sure de l ivery .
The reque st was granted and ext ended to all .tt:r ES shipm ents iS9
rl' he point of the proble m is thi:.t .A.F 'hS cou. ld not
ask for the estential priori ty . The reque st had to come
from the ove rs eas comman ders as a re sult of th e ne ed whi ch
they fe lt. Ye t, APRS could no t de liver transcriptions on
schedule withou t th e priority . AFES did not � for the
prjori ty . It s tim ul a.t ed the co rn...'nan ders to feel the need
and n:ake the necess ary reques t.
The first units of the ne w sys tem were sent from
A.J:' ES on 1 Ju ly 1943 . There were nineteen uni t dis tribution
circui ts at that time .4 0 In No vem ber 1944 there wer e
thirty-e ight circui ts . At the height of the wart im e ope ra-
tion there were more than fifty circuits . The sys tem was
3
9
r'ro bab ly these wer e +-. h6 two late priority re que sts
reported in lc. Courtenay Savage), Progress Report , 26 May
1942 to 1 De ce mb er 1945 , p. 4
0
.
4
0
(C. Courtenay Savase ), di s tori cal .Not es , Nove mb er
1
94
4
, 11 ·
.E. •
325
so conceived tha t it wo.s simple to add and dele te stati ons
or cir cui ts . There was a con s ta nt l)ro cess of revision for
better delivery . vnce the scheme was f'ormulated no essen
tial change WEi S made during the remai nder of the wa r . 4 1
Du ring th e Summe r of ' 1943 the Basic Music Library
was planned . �robably the first B�L suppleme nt s were
shipped in August 194 3
.
42
Jriginally the B:ML press ings
wer e put into special envelopes addressed to the individual
stations . The envelope s for the membE r stat ions of each
circuit we re inclosed in the same cardboard carton tha t
conta ined the Unit transcriptions for that circuit. As the
bo x arrived , each st>tion took out its BML envelope and
retai ned the content s as p&rt of its permanent library .
Later the Basic ..i.. nforms tion Lib rary pressings were boxed
and shipped wi th th e BML .
43
With the increase in program produc tion the Uni t was
split into two cartons . The H producti ons were usu ally
41
No information revealed the exact numb er of
circui ts for the height of A.F h.S ' wart ime operation. The BDS
Jutlets Circui t Lists of 1 October 1945 show s 45 overs eas
ci rcuits but does no t ennume rate the domc;s tic hospi tal
circuit s . .c1o wev er, it uoc s list ;il Ore than one hL�n dred
;,wmber hospitals . Ji r·cui ts usually had no :nore than five
member ou tl ets .
4
2 Supra , p. 1
2
9.
4 3
Supra , pp . 203 ff .
326
_pack aged L1 one box. The .iJom estic l\ebrca dc "'-st s wer e in a
second. Certain out lets au thori zed to re ceive only the H
prod uct ions we re sent th e on e box. Jthei' ou tlets received
both. This �ad e the packaging pr ocess relatively simple •
. Few major criti cisms of the Uni t J..; istri but ion Syst em
were dis covered . In general it worked qu ite satisf actor
ily .
4
4
Du ri ng the Su m.rner of' 1943, .�:�..r h;:, personnel managed
to get the car tons aboard military aircr aft for tr anspor-
tation to the fi rs t station on the circui t. fhe st at ions
wer e most he lpful in for ward .in g the Unit on to the next
stat ion by the most expedient me ans . However , this shipment
process was done by 11p ro moti o�1al" me thods . The se were not
offi cial .�:�.rmy au thori zed me thods of tr ansportation.
l�a v.x dis tr iou tion. Althou gh hobert J. Cole son,
45
the f' ir et BP h radio prod ucer , repo rted that the Navy had
some morale ru.dio activities by the l''all of 1941, the re was
no offi cial N avy -wid e parti cipation in A�R2 un til the �in ter
44
W. Mason �•right , Jr ., 12 ••lay 1950 , stated that at
timE s man y boxes of pre ssings would appear simu ltaneousl y
in the China are a. 'lhe n it might be several months befor e
an o ther shipmen t was re ceived . The pr'oblem of flying th e
boxes acros s the Burma 11h ump 11 fr om .in dia to
C
hina was
dii1'icult to solve . Nevert heless , Wr ight believed tha t the
manatr in which pr ess ings were received was re markab le in
cons ide ru tion of th e ver':f dif .fi cul t shipmt:nt pr oblems .
45
hobert J. Coleson, 28 March 1950
.
327
of 1944 . fccc t, cor TE: spon de nce4 6 i ndic a ted th& t the "" avy
bure au of Pers o nnel de �ired to takB puni tive ac t i o n a6ai nst
pe rso ns wL o ''lade un au th ori mater i als .
�eve rt heless , a siz Navy trans cription stribution
developed du ri 1943 .
J.' rom the beginnirlE a large (iua.nt i ty of pres s i ng s was
shipp6d to t"he 0'i� I ofJ:ice s in San J.'r ancisco Hew lar k.
�•he n Al'E.S br an ch sl lort -wt.tve ofli ces v:er e established in
the se c it
i e s in 1943 , the p ers onne l of the se offices man aged
the schedul:' ng and dis tribut ion of presainga . .&:f te:r they
were used on the short -wave st�t ions, the transcriptions
v1er e re turned to the br anet1 off i c e s . al so , a l&I ";_;e qua.nt1 ty
of pres s
i nBB or iginall y s6 nt to overs eas stations was
continu ally being re tur.:1ed to the New iork an d San Francisco
r' orts of ..t:.m barka tio n l'o: c disposl tio�1 . The e were forwurded
to the A� hs branch offices . hS a re sult large �lles of
pr'ess ings were ac cumu l c.. ted •
.J.� avy pe1s onne l soon le arm ;; d ot the fl.i' h.S sho';vs . The
entertain m.e nt and rnor·�le needs of havy :ne n were identlca l
Vi th thor;e of .c. rc ny :rne n. Therefore , e c..r l y in 1943 an ex
pe. n'l lng quantity 01 u no .I 'J. i c i al r·e '-iue �Jts wo. s re ce ived
,., 1, o.dmini stl .;;; tors . J.' r·o: :J. the •· &.11 of 1043 , the e lsted
-4 6 Eandal l Jaco b s to .�: rede ric k Osb ort l, 31 lnay lJ43,
.0• 1.
[fle n of the New York and 0an l· rs .nc isco offices :..:1et lJ c Art of
these sol.i ci t"-'.ti Oi lS by givin c.; toxt:. s of surplus tr ·�r wc rip - tion s to Navy and -·ia rine ofi leers who acc. :ompr.u 1ied the ir
r-s '-l ue s ts w :� th any l::> gi cal , nor:: tle - purpos e jus t if i c u tion.
47
Al though no approxima te fi gure s could be ob tained , undoubt-
edly a si zable numb er or t rans cr i p t i ons found their way to
Navy ships and stO_t ions th rou gh the se unofl i c i al cha nnels .
liJ:• K-:, of fi c i als sa nctLmed this d ist r ibuti on an d were glad
to gai n the ad diti ona l us e for their trans criptio ns .
ln l•' ebruary 1::14
4
the first offi cial Navy di stribut ion
agre eme !l t was made . Thi s was bet w EO e n 1 •. di.S and the Subordi -
na te C o rt1t 11 and , Ser ·vice F'orces , .Pa cific Fleet. 4 8 Through
thi s agre ement surplus trans cription s at �� h� �o s hngeles
were b oxe d and se nt to �an rrancisc o to be distributed to
shi ps of the Pacific Fleet. Hlso , used t r ans crip t i o ns
were stock-piled at s e v e r ci l over seCs por t s whe re they were
is sued upon the re quests of ship comrna21de rs . ji.t this same
time the Subordinate '-'o mmand orde red pr es sings for its
ships from the plb. nts man ufac tur in t; .'-l . fh S pressine; s. 4
9
4
7 Fl orence t>.:n derson hi ckar::l , 7 "•p ril 1950 ; N o rman
E. Noyes , 26 Ju ly 1950 .
4
8 Willi am l'• bakewe ll, u" emoran dum for the he cord ,
24 F'eb ruar� 1944 , 3 pp .
4
9 I b i d . , p. 3.
31 39
An o ff ice r from th e Co m�:1 and was s tc t ti one d with the TPC. to
help wit h thi s �rocure :ne nt . Howe ve r, no fu rt her b:US li - zations to Navy dis tribution were made at that ti me .
On 14 Jctobe r 1944 ctn agree men t w�s signed by
offi c ia of the Navy the IbD making .t�.lh S a co1nb ined
l'. r�ny -i.� a vy ope rati on. This agre eme nt re sulte d in au thori za-
tio n of the distrib utio n of tran scripti ons to llavy -opsrated
stations by me ans of the Uni t Distr ibut ion Sys te m.
50
Also,
expanded Naval pres2i orders wer e placed wi th the m anu - fae.t urers . 'l' he se comp anies forw�rded the inspe ct ed tr an-
scripti ::m s to the Ser v i c e J:o rce ti e adqu art e rs at �an .F'ran-
cisco and No rfo l : ..c , Vi rginia, whe re they we re packaged and
distrib ut ed to ships and st ""t io ns of the flee ts .
51
The
greater portio n of wart ime Naval distrib ut ion of �bhS
tra ns cript ions was not supervi se d by the bl.JS .
was de
Tr oop Tran soort di stri butio n. By the en d of 1943 it
ed that a distri but ion of en ter t nt an d infer - mati onal trans criptions to Troop Tran s�ort � hip s would be
5 0
?robab ly mos t of the se sta ti ons we re alr e ady on
the cir· cuits . Army troops w0re statioL le d wit hin the
listen in g area of the se st1.:tti on s . On such a basis n...b h;:)
tr ans cription dis tributio n to the se st �ti ons could be
authori zed upon the re quest of an .'U'my c onn nand ing offi cer .
5 1
bmi l ,{. l:r ank , !.ler noran dum to Ghief ' , BuS , 2 .Le ce::n-
ber 1944 , p. 1.
330
de sirable . hlo st of these ship s we re equipped wi th public
addre ss systems . lt would be e to couple-on a trans cri�
tion player . A b.US report, written about l No vember 1943 ,
outline d a pl� n to �ac special units .
52
�hese wou ld
contain eno-,.q_::;h tr&n cripti ons for two hour s of entertain-
ment for e�ch day of the voy .N o informat ion revealed
t�e extent or s u c ce ss ol this e�rly p l c.. n . il owe ve r, it was
undoubtedly used , at lea s t in part .
A Staff Meeting repor·t of 28 Ju ne 1945 outlined an
extensive plan for ,c-;.r my -l� avy Trans yort Ship Ki ts .
53
bach
of these kits was to con :L n 225 hours of entertairunen t
trans uripti ons . The b�S was to pa ckage 400 of these ki t s
an d include in ea ch a sugt �es ted pi -·og raming schedu l e . The
kits we re to be repl aced periodi call y . troL ab ly this
elbborate plan was never completel y ac complished.
lnformc.. tio n revettlin g; the ex ten t to wh i ch A,·
scriptions were used on Troop Trans port ships was no t
t ran -
found. However, many talks wi th \• orld Wt ;i r II serviceme n
di sclosed that .t� J:hS programs were pl!:!. yed over the pub lic
addre ss systems of Tr ·oop Tran spor t Ships . I>OSt of th ese
52
(�artin H. Work ) , The Broadc as t �istr ibut io n
Section, g. d. (£_ . l No vembe r 19, 13) , p. 9.
53
Exe cutive staff' , •'"eetinei I·,eport , 28 June 1�45 ,
pp. 2 f' .
331
me n remem bered he arin6 redepl oyme nt or readjus tment pro -
grams .
Hos pi tal di stributio n in the united States . hfter
a lo ng cam paisn, fl.l 'I.S admi nist rators succe eded in m aki n g
arrangeme nt s to distri bute trans cripti ons to the se rvi ce
hospitals in the United States. Thi s was announced to the
hospitals in a lett er fro m the Offi ce of the �u rgeon
General, Septe mb er 19
4
3.5
4
The Hol ly wood Vic tory C or:lill i t tee
agreed that al l H shows could be us t:d in this man ner . 55
The Do mestic hebroadcast �h aws were not sent to these
outl et s . 1l ospi tal receiver s coul d tun e -i n domestic programs
du ring the ir original broadcas t and channe l them ove r pub lic
address sys tems . The practice of packag ing all rl shows in
one box re su lted partially fro ::n this dis tribution.
The BDS set up re gula r circuits of the Uni t Lis tribu-
t.ton System for the "s tate side 11 hospi t' ..tl s. The plan was
essentiall y the same as that use d for AF�S tations , except
that air priority shipmen t wae . no t ne ces sary .
5
4 (C. Cou rtena;y �avage ), Hi storical L� otes , November
1
'.:! 4
4
,
!!· .12. ·
55
Ir vln g �. Fogel to Thoma s rl . A. Lewis, 1 5 May
1
94
4
, p. l.
332
F'ol lowin;_;; is a li st of the dev e lopment of hospi tal
circui ts .
5 6
Date Circui ts Hospi tals
- 1
li1
a
v
"
1944 8 32
1 October 1944 11 53
1 uc tober 194 5 ? 113
1 Janu ary 1946 ? 92
II. OPER.t �TI ON O.l:t' THE oHOALiCA::.: T .UISThiBU TION SECTI ON
The Broadc as t .�.;ist ributio n Sect ion was activated 5
Augu st 19 43 , the date tha t Work was appo inted th e Se ction' s
firs t Chief. As the new offi ce developed, Vw ork included
activiti es somewha t fore ign to the original activity . It
beca me the liaison agency between progra m ou tlets and .n}'RS
itse lf . In Ame rica n comm ercial broadcas ti ng thi s fu nction
was known as statio n relati ons . The name "Broadcas t
.L.d st ribut io n Section11 did no t indic ate thi s new duty .
Therefore , ab ou t May 1944 ·wv'ork deve loped a new name : the
nBroa dcas t Ser ·vi ce Section. 11 Since transcription di st ribu tio!
56 This informatio n was compiled from (C. Courten ay
Savage ), His tori cal .L�otes, l"l ovember 194 4 , .£ · 12J AFRS ,
Circu it Ou tlets Li s t, 1 Jan :1ary 194
6
, p. 1. Th e �ircui t
Outl ets Li sts do no t revea l the ac tual number of' do mestic
hospi tal circui ts .
333
remained the principal du ty of the new "Bro adcas t Distribu -
tion Secti on11 this name is used throughou t this study . I t
is believed that this wi ll he lp rsons unfa miliar wi th
AFRS to recog ni ze the Se ction and its activi ties .
The several activitie s of the BDS are cons idered as
follows :
1. Pers on ne l of the Section.
2. Circuits and hequirements Subse ction.
3. Shipp ing �b se ction.
4. Station relation s activities .
5. Swnmary of trans cription distribution.
Pers onne l of � 5e ction. 5
7
In Augus t 194 2 , Alber t
�. Dunca n , a forme r vaudeville performe� was employed as a
civilian to superintend the sh ipping room. He assisted
with program di stribution until b.p ril 1
9
4
7
. Th is man gave
mt;,c h color to AFhS . He made an important mo rale con tribu-
tio :::1 by padding shipping cartons wi th funny papers instead
of othe r materials of no interest to overseas servicemen.
The se papers bec ame a valued addition to overseas recre a-
tion rooms .
5
7
The following information was obtained from
Officer and Lnl isted Me n Pers on ne l riles, Civilian .Pers onnel
Fi les , and Interviews .
334
I
BR OADCAST DIS TRI BUT IO N SECTIO N
I
CI RCU IT S AND RE QUIREMENTS
I
SHIP PIN G AND TRA FFIC
I
EQUIP MENT DIS TR IBUT IO N
J
FIL E PRESS IN G LI BRARY
I
STAT IO N REL ATIO NS
I
CORRES POND ENCE I
"P LA YBA CK "
I
"
ROUN D-UP"
I
l· IGunE. 23
Broa dca8t �istri but lo n Sec tion Ope rati onbl Chart .
335
Ralph Lockwood , fo r.:n erly e n0a�_s ed in productio n and
plac eme nt of trans cri bed progra.. 11s , was employed as a civi l
ian in J c tobe r 194� � to head pro gram di stri butio n. He
supervi sed th e se activities until about il.ugu st 19 43.
In l.Jece mber 1942 l' og e l had Techni ca l Sergeant Will H.
Voeler transferred to A}'RS ·
58 He was a� si gned as pl&.nni ng
assis tan t to Lockw ood . Vo eler, wit h .L..ewis and Fogel ,
arranged for mu ch of' the original program di strib u ti::> n via
co mmercial and/or gove rnment station s . hit h Lockwo od and
�ogel, he developed the Uni t Di stribu tio n System. He
became execu t ive assist hllt to Vvor k in Augu st 1943 and re -
mained i n tha t capaci ty until the Spring of' 1944 , when he
was tr 1.:1 n s ferr e d to the TPS . .Pr obably ,1uch of the B1JS
planning sho uld be at trib uted to Voeler. Yet , the extent
or his contributi on ap pe b.red to be somewhat unre cogni zed .
He could not be appo icted a sec tj on chief be cau.se was
not an hr nl-;)' officer . The refo re , hi s name appe cr ed on
rel�-;. ti ve few do c-..un en ts . Th is ca us ed his name to be
ecli.psed by the name s of oth era .
Hav in g comple ted his tour of rl u.ty in th e ;.Iedi ter:r ·h-
ne an 'ihE; er, 59 'i•ork re turne d to AFhG Lo s .t-�.n geles. Lewis
58 SU)2I '8. , pp . Z·Oo f. ; Sugra , p. 232.
""' '
v� ln fra , pp . 38 5 ff .
336
creat ed the B�S on 5 bugu st 1943 by spl itti ng the distribu-
ti on planning and shi1Jp a c ti viti es from the T r?S . Nark
was abJ pointed f. The Uni t �istrlbution Sy stem had be en
developed before tll. i s ti rr �e . Probat,l;y V•ork 1 s ma j or contrl
tution to hi s new section was i n the e v olut i on oi etat ion
rela t i ons acti vit:i.es an d the s t. ,. biliz ation of operati onal
pi·oc edures. l·� o ess en tial changes were made by s wart ime
succe�sors . On 29 May 1944 Work was relie ved as Chi ef of
tt.e BLS and appo inted A.i:"ES Ex ecutiv e O ff i ce r .
V�hen v;o rlc was a ppo i nte d BDS Chie f on 5 Augus t 194 3
Captain Willi am R. Ba kewell was as s ig n e d as an ass i s tant .
rle he ld this assignme nt until s.b ou t 26 .Fe br >u&�.r y 194 6 v:hen
he was di scharged. To Bakewe ll fell the t&sk of ex e cutin g
many of the s ti on relatio ns du ties . He al :::: o was acting
BlJS Chi during the absen ces of appo i n t ed chie fs .
V'J ork ' s su c c e s so r was Capt &.. in .F'r· cu: k G. Ki who was
Chief from 29 �ay 1944 to 11 October 1944 . Ma jor
.Purn e ll H. Gould was appointed Chief , 20 liece mber 1844 , an d
he ld the posi tio n until 19 Ju lJ� 1845 when he was su ccee d ed.
by 1••ajor Hun ton L. Downs . On 26 uc tobe r 1945 , ;.lia j or· Ed ga r L.
T id wel l was appointed the fi fth BlJS Ch i e f . He remained in
this capa city un ti l the Sprin g of 1946 .
337
Circui ts a nd Hequire!E_e nt s �u bsection. Before 5
Au gu � t 1943 the Circuits and he quir er .1e nts Su bsection was
populc. rl� knov.n1 as the Lo ckwood -Voeler Offi ce . lt was
n: de signated with the establi shment of the Bl!S . Actually
the new Circuits and he qui remen t :: 1 Su bsection inclu ded the
adm inistration du ties of the entii·e b.LJS .
The ill Ost ur ge nt mat ters were those of circui t man
age� e nt and the de termin ation of the extent of pressi ng
product ion. The original nineteen circuits we re es tabli shed
by 1 Ju ly 1943 . The se incl uded existing ll.H1.S ta ti ons and
govern me nt and/or comme rcial s tc_tions . To add a ne \• stat ion
to the circui ts it was ne cessary for a cor m;_ 1.an der to re Y. ues t
the tran s criptions for use on an existing or pl an ned sta
tion. 'Ibe let ter did not need to clect r throug h intervening
channels . lt could be sent directly fro m the comma nder to
i\.. FhS . A-c tual ly all Al ' IlS wanted to know was that an ou tlet
exis t6d and that the transcriptions would be he ard by
f.merican servi cem en . Stations wer ·e withdra wn fro m the
circuits as AF.F1..S le arned thut the trans criptions wer·e no
longer of use . Many time s thi s info rma tion was obtained by
the �os t ob s cur e me ans . Circuits were es tabli shed and
rearranged as the ne ed arose .
The Ci rcuits Ou tle ts Lists were compiled as far in
advance as poss ible , and fr om. the se tb e re quired qu anti ty
338
of pr essings was as certained . J:.o r example if the list for
1 l.Je cember 1943 contained fort�· -five circui.ts , the Gircui ts
and heL iUii ' eme nts Su bs ection would de c i d e that a!)p! 'o:x imately
fi ft y pr essings of ebch pro grM m would be needed . It would
so advi se the TPS which, in turn , would order the pr essings
fro m the man uf&ct ur ing plants . These . plants would deliver
the inspected pr essings to the Shipping �u bs ectio n on a
schedule. The Ci r 'cui ts and .i1.e quire men ts Su bsect ion re gu-
larly orde red more pr essings than were r�q uired in order to
take care of unfor eseen needs . bach week it reported the
re quired number of pre:sings to the TiS.
The or iginal VYar .0e ps.r tment letter
60
infor mi ng over-
seas cor.;manders ab ou t ArhS 1 ser vices stated that us ed tr an -
scr' ipti ons would be reas sembled &t st orage points deter mined
by those corru::J. anders . 'rhe MSL was to be advised of the
location of the st orage po ints and the quant it y of tra n-
scrip ti ons so asser:1 bled. When this word was recei v ed , AF'hS
was to se nd furt her dispositio n ins tructi ons . Actua lly
mo st of the pressi n gs were assembled at the key stations on
the circu it s . The re many were defaced by scra tching the
tracks to mak e them unplayable . Man;y tra ns cr ·iptio ns were
60
WD ,
Adju tant Gene ral '� Jffi ce Le tter , AG 311 . 23
\4 Dec 43) , CB -S -S PI,IST -Iv� , 15 J.Je c em ber 1943 , 4 pp .
33
9
sent to overs eas .nrwy nlo ti on 2ic ture Exc hange s wb. ich re -
le�sed them to the il avy or defa ced them . A quant ity was
re turn ed to am erican Ports of l!.mb arkation whe re they were
relea sed to the Na vy or re turned to .t:. FhS l.Jo s ange le s to be
sal vaged for their vinylit e content .
The final di spositio n of pre ss ings was a constant
pl' oble m. It wa s mo st im port ant that none fall into the
hands of' comme rc ial broadcaster s . Conunercial us e of the
II· essi ngs could qu ickly ne gate the AFRS agre eme nt s with the
tal en t uni ons . appar ently in certain is ol ated ins tances
a few trCl.ns cription s we re use d for conm 1e rcial pu rpose
s.
61
In ea ch cas e the viol ation was hal ted be fore any gre�t
damage was done . No im port ant unau thori zed use of A.F'H S tran -
script ions was dis cove red.
The Circuits and Re quir·ements Su bsection worked out
the distribut ion of AFnS trans cripti ons to Nav al ships and
stati ons wi th the �a vy representativ e s stat ioned at AFRS.
Originally these press ln gs were drawn fr om those on hand
in Lo s Ange le s and thos e that had st ock-pi led at various
po int s thr oug hout the world . Later , Na vy re qu irements were
comb ined with those of the cir ·cui ts , and the total
61
Will H. Voel er , 9 No vem ber 1950 ; Iv iartin H. \w ork,
16 June 1950 ; Thomas H. A. Lewis, 16 June 1950 .
340
re quiremen t s wer e re ported to the T.?S . Pr essings so manu
fac tured fo r the �avy were no t deliv er ed to the Shipping
2ubsec tion.
In its adr:Jini str o.tiv e capacity , the final duty of
the Circuits and hequir emen t s Subse ctio n w&.s to manage the
tra ffic of the ent ire BDS . This was of great import anc e
and a raost de taile d job. All manufa c ture and shipment was
done on a stri ct schedule so that the Uni ts would arrive
on time at the outlets . �inc e mo st of the traffi c origi
nated within the Circ ui ts and he quirement s i::. ubsectio n there
was no ne ed for a separa te unit.
The dis tri bution of te ch�i cal e�uipmen t was cons id
Ared to be a du ty of the .J3LJS . However , this was no t tr ue
in act1.:;. alit y . he y_ue sts for equipment were rou ted throu gh
the bl;S and for warC .ed to the a,Jpro priate is suing age ncies :
the Signal Corps and the Al.'h S Washint_>;t on Jf fice . }r·om
the se re que sts and associ ated le tters import ant info rn 1ation
was co mpiled and passe d on to the TPS for gui dance in
equipme nt de s igni ng and pro cureme nt .
Shipping Subse ction. }'ro m the beginni ng, AJ:'HS tra n
scription s wer e se nt ov erseas in card bo ard c c::. rton s . i.:lo me
of the early pr esslngs we re de s tro yed in shipping. How
ever, when air · tr ans vor t a tion was suos ti tu ted for shipme nt
by boat , mos t of th i s de s truc tion ce as e d .
Vrig lnal l,y all co mpo:1en ts of the Uni t were pa ckag ed
together. by 1945 it had been de cided that trans cri p -
ti on s sh oul d be pa ed in two in ne r cartons . The first
car ·ton contai ned the follo win g items :
1. Th e we e k ' s rel ea e of H sho ws.
2. An envelope of phonogra ph ne edles .
3. A copy of the mime ogr a.p hed. program pr omotio n
publi cation hound -QE..
4. Pho t o graph s of radio stars.
5. •J.·he weekly Script Ki t . 6
2
6
. A m ime og, ra;:: 'hed li st of the inclosed i:i transcrip-
ti ons. 1nis was ted on one of the lid -fl ups
of' the carton.
'. ihe se co nd carton of the Uni t cont ai ne d the f o llo wi ng :
1. The week' s release of DE shows .
2. A mime ographed li st o f the incl ose d Dh tran
scriptions . This was pasted on on e of the li d
flaps of the carton •
.ru :tny p ap ers were us e d to fill any extra space wi thin these
inner cartons . Trans crivtio ns of the Bas ic Library , usually
released mo nthly , we re packed in smaller cart ons . Whi le a
circui t of outlets receiv ed only one H and one .uR carton ,
ea ch station of the cir·cuit . recei ved a small Bas ic Libr ary
62
�up ra , p. 136 .
342
.FI GUFili 24
A�hS1 World �ar II Unit.
carton. The pressings in the se c a r t o ns were ret c.. i ned by
343
the i nd i v idual stations a�;:; part of their pe rm ane nt librar ·y .
The original lin i t, shippEd 1 Ju ly 1943 , was :Jlade up
of forty -ei6ht l)ressings packe d firs t in a co r rugat ed card -
board carton especially made to tightly fit the stack of
trans cri.t:-�tio ns . 63 This in r1e r c c....r t on �.as surrounded by a
corr "uga ted cardboard liner. The package wa� then vlace d
int o a tight-fi tting, c orrug ate:l cardboard outer carton.
The final packac; e was tied together wi th bands of steel.
The same pa cki ng proces s was retained after the U ni t was
split into two parts . For circuits authori zed to receiv e
th e entire Unit th e p r o ce dure was as follows :
1. The two parts were ind i v id u al� y boxed .
2. Loth boxe s 1ii €I'e surr ·ounded by a single liner.
3. The entire lined Unit was inserted into a large
outer carton.
4. The final pa ckage was tied with ste el bands .
Vih en th e mo nthly oasic Library releases ar.;co mpa ni ed the
we ekly Units , a still lbrge r outer carton was use d .
The Units were packaged in the shi.P J?in g room by
production line procedures. Packing of the inne r cc: .rt ons
was begun as .J.ui ckly as the first :.Jl 'es sin gs of the Uni t
63
(
, ...,
v.
1944 , n. J.
- C our t enay 0avugt.; ), ili st o r i c al J.� Otes , ·"'O vemb er
344
0
FIGURE 25
AFRS' Shipping Room Uni t Assembly Li ne .
34[ ;
were r e c e iv ed from the man ufact urers .
After the ai r pr iori ty had been esta blished it was
possible to deter::ni ne the exact ship ,Jin g route of each Lini t.
An en ve l op e cont ai ni ng comp lete shipp ing ins tructions was
pcc.s on th e outs ide 0f the 9ac;,;.age . The complc ted uni t s
were tr�ck ed by a�h s to nearby Army Ai r }orce b a se s . The
ca rri er agency , �suall y the hir Trans yort Com�arrl , forwarded
the pa ckage s in acc orda nce wi th the rout ins t ru ct i ons
co.clt ai ned in the s hi pping en ve lope .
The only exte,isi ve libr t..ry of A.rE.S pl 'essi s was
foun d in the shipping room . 6
4
as the tr an:.:. criptio ns 1Nere
received fr om pl ants one ·was rE:mo ved , _,lark ed n !' ile
placed on the library shelves . 0ur)lus pre ss inss
were also place d in thi s library . These we re used to sapply
backlog programs for ne w statio ns, to b ld the origi nal
l'Jav:> ; packages, and to r epl ac e da ruaged or wo rn - ou t pressin t;s .
vu rin g World
'
;�ar II a 11 le Copy
n
of almost every J!l '06ram
was ret ain ed .
64
Tw o pos tw�r snl)pin g room �oveme s caus ed th i s
libi'ary to be reduc ed to a mi nimum number of dis cs . The
greate:->t percent t -1. ge of the
n
File Cop;{ n pre ssi we r e
di c ard ed . Only a fraction of the total ••.1.'h S prog rams w&s
a vai l a bl e on l uecember 19 50 .
34 6
Stat ion re l&tio .�s - ac tivities .G 5 li o single office
handled the st.� tio n re lations a� t1 vi ties of the BJJS . se
were usuall;y called public relati-Jn s functions . Th :1 s was
some what of' .s. mi s nomer since ;nost of the ene rgy was expended
on intra -or ga ni zat ional al fairs having to do with AlR�� and
its outlets . JJ uri th e war it W G..S diffi cult to stimulate
corres ponde nc e from the outlets . Yet, it was o:1 ly through
letters that the world-wid e value of i-il •h S progra,ns could �oe
as cert ained. Only by evaluating information conta ined in
corre sponde nce could production be mo di fied to better
accomplish the tota l mi ss ion. In general , the duties of
statio n relations ac tivities we re :
1. To stimu late corre s9ondence from outlets .
2. 'l1 o evaluate correspondence from outlets.
3. To clasfci 1'y .knov vle gaL "led th rough eorres -
ponde nce evaluation and pass it 01 1 to
appropriate sectio ns or pers ons .
4. To di stribute certain progrs.min g aids .
Supe rvisio n and evaluatio n of corre sponde nce was an
extens ive actJ vit :r. The oi fice perfo rning thi s duty had
t two official nacn es: the llpe rati on.al Information
65
l 'or a clG.r ·ified picture of the se ac ti vi ties th ey
hav e been organi zed 1 o simi lar groups . actuali .t y no
ar -c mt offices or gr :::mps of rsonne l existed. .l::' ers onnel
�e re shifted from one activi ty to the other in accordanc e
wlt h the work load. This pre sentation of' the st : .. tion
re h, tions acti vi ties is undoub t an ov er- s imp lific1:1 t:ion.
347
;::; ub se ction, and the 0ve:r 'seas �iai son ::> ub s ect i o n . All un -
official correspondenc e and all offiei al co rre ;J;_Jon denGe
9e rtainin� to dis tribution and outlet s cle&red through this
office. h e ad e r s gle ane d inf o rma t i on th �L t mig ht be of use .
Letters we re synthesized , combined , and forwarded to th e
ap)roJriate secti ons or p e r sons . The offi ce mime ographed
and dis tributed material s of general i nt erest
.
Lew i s '
pe rso: 1a l corr es p ondenc e with staff ;nem bers of the overseas
outlets was managed by thi s otfi ce . Vioi 'k and bakewe ll v;rote
origin al dr·c.i fts f or man y of these l ett e r s .
6 6
The seco nd ma jor st ::,.tion reL �ti ons ol'fic e was origi -
nally called Spe ci al Pro jects a1ld l1:iter re m1.1 ned the
Stati stics and Anal y s is Subsection. � e r g e ant Vd llia r.l 'I' .
Raphe l and � t �fi �erge ant Edw ard h
.
ili e rri l wer e the pers ons
mo .c::t conce rned with the ::>e ac tivities .
67
It was the duty
of these m en, and their a s s o c i at es , to undertake spec ial
re searc h studies. App &r entl y ;·nuch of the r es e ar ch for
/·d ES n caLl paigns , 11 off icia l r ep or t s , uno: C fic ial reports ,
speeches , and presentat ions was the produc t of this offi ce .
6 6
l li arti n .G . w' io rk, 16 June 1950 ; 'l'li llia :n h. bakewell ,
d � � ove m be r 1950 ; Thoma s :1 . A. Lewi s, 16 J�ne 1950 .
67 Supra , p. 143 . The se me n appare rrt ly wo rked in
both the 3.0S and the .l?? S . i.'iany of the i r ::; tuclies s e em ed to
be join tly s pon sore d by the two s ect ion s .
348
.i... lso, it was the duty 01 the office to stimu la te au dience
re.:
:
.earc h in the overseas areas . Several surveys v.: ere made
by th eaters and s tc:. ti )US . .nl th:Yugh wart ime circu.ms tan ces
iJreven ted the se studies from ·oein g co mpletely satisfying ,
their find in gs were of gre :.-. t pl a n n in g value to overseas
outlets and .n} hS. The iol lowin::.; ov erseas r ese ar ch re port s
were foun d at �}h5 in 1950 :
1. WVTI , Boug ainv ill e , �urve;y of lLac1io Li s teuin g
Habits , 1 � e ptemb er 1� 44 to 1 vcto ber 1944 .
2. �edi terrane an Theater of Operation, uni ted
States nrmy , Ac ce:.: ;sibilit;y !£. Eadio an d
.ha di:J Prot:
:
;ra:n 1?r eferen ces , 24 Ja n uary 1945.
3. In dia-3urma The ater, Infor mation and Educa
tion ;:;,ect ion, Radio Li stel1in g_ .l• mon g En listed
:·.1 en in India and burma , Ja nu &ry 1945.
4
.
hVTY, Ul ithi , Ul ithi Li stener .Surv ey , 28 Ju ly
1945 .
5. V�XLQ , bermuda , .\iX LQ Sur-vey , 31 .h ugus t 1 J45.
A thi rd office , SU l) e rv ise d by c ivil ian employee Sue
Clark, produce d .nl:• h3 houncl -QE. and l1.an dled fan mail. hou.:1d -
Q£, a mimeographed publi catio n of program infor mation, was
produce d to acco mpan y the Units . 'I 'he first issu e , Numb er
101 , was forwarded wi th the fir::it U n it, 1 July 1944 . As
the publi cation gr cvJ it in c luded gen eral infor mation ab ou t
the pro3ram s , cas t lists , 11spot
"
an noun cement s, and back-
e;r ::)Un d 1na terial . Clark origin ated Eoun d -� and contin ued
as supervisin g writer un til the en d of 1946. Actually ,
349
fro m 1 J uly 1943 to ap1n�oxirn ately 1 January 1945 CL ... rk was
a :nem ber of the .PP S staff .
68
how ever , he r public ; _1 .ti;)n was
mo re cl o se ly al lied wi th the activi ties of the BDS . She
reported that the re was lit t l e supervis ion of he r work by
i?PS Ghiefs . ab out 1 Janu&ry 1945 hound -� was mad e a
defini te part of the BLS . among other thi:1gs th i s office
collected provocat iv e photographs of women sttJ.rs appeo.rin g
in the show s of the Unit . These pho tographs wer·e shipped
with the Unit. Al tho ugh this pr·acti ce was que s tio ned , the
pioture s were reported to be of definite morale value to
the overs eas statio n pe rs onne l and the servi ceme n i n the
station' s area. Many of them were reproduced in lo cal ca mp
newspapers .
69
J.Jos t wer e us ed as
t
t pin- ups.
11
Cl ar k 1 s sectio n
rece ived , answered , and tabulated the Al'ES Lo s Ange les fan
mail. Extens ive records were maintained . heguL.:. .r · reports
of fan mail receptio n were fo rwarde d to the lED in Wash-
i n
g
ton . In acco rdanc e with c rn�Je rc i al b ro ad c asting c ust oms ,
these le tters eventual ly reached the per fo rming artists
concerned . This was especia lly important in the case of
"J il l . " She built he r entire program around her mail.
70
68
.)..; o :' othy Sue Cl ark , 9 November 1950 .
G9
Lo c . c it .
70
Supra , p. 165 . An unexp lai nab le dis cr ep ancy was
noted betwe�v n fan :nai l toLals reported by V�i e r ne
r
,
11
Ji ll 1 s ''
husban d , and those dL covered in ofl ic ial reports.
350
The eurliest di scovered fan mail records slww that �n3
letters were rece ived in april 1943 . 7
1
By the en d of 1945
thi s h&..d incre ased until more th&..n 1,600 le t t6r s were bein g
recei ved eac h month .7
2
These figurGs reported on ly the
mall rece ived by h�hs Lo s hnge les . The sh ort -w ave offices
in San .tr an cisc o an d l� ew York rec e i ved many letters . un-
doub t e dly the gre ates t percenta ge of the fan mail was re -
c eived by the indi vidual overseas o utle t s .
In th e l ate Summe r or J.' all of 1944 , the :n imeograjJ:t:l ed
news letter Pl &..yb ack was s t arted .
7
3
It c ont a ine d in forma tia'l
about the outlE; ts , 11..f h;:) Lo s An�j eles , the en tertai mnent and
rb.clio in duc;tries , and tec hn ic al ideas an d diagrains . This
several -p. s. ge l e tter was .Pu blished weekly through 1945. It
was distributed to overseas outle ts through their theater
radio headquarters .7
4
Person ne l of the B�S was respon sible for recei vin g,
ev&.. luatin g , an d an swe r in g letters from American servic e
hospitals . By the ;;J iddle of 1945 t':l is activit y had so
71
Iv:a rtin H. V�ork to 'i' ,ill iam .P. Mul l e n , 18 l'ebr uary
1944 , p. 3.
p. 13.
7
2 ' .t' 'l r ('
.h \.U I
Progress Report , 1 Ju ly to 31 uece mber 1945 ,
73
}'rancis J. Se e ley , 9 iJ o v em '.J e r 1950 .
74
Loro thy �ue Clark , 10 �ove nili er 1950 .
351
ex pan ded that it was des ig nated the :a ospi tal .l.Ji .stribu ti on
Su bsection. Lat er in the ye;;a r it wa s ren amed th e Dom estic
Liaison .:lu bsection.
Curriculum ""un ageH1ent r the J1.i-''Ii..S School Wi;;.. S the
re spons ibilit y of BDS peroonne l. 'Thi s was a lo gi cal sta-
tion relat i on s duty since stud en ts of the school were to
become th e s tCl ff ;nem bers of the overseas outlets . In
accordance with usu al army procedure, th e schoo l itsel f was
operated unde r the 1-' • .t• F,�, S- 3 Pl ans an d Train in g Officer.
Summa ry of trans cription distribu tion. Before 1 July
1943 pressings were shipped in bulk to th e OVH. No ade qu ate
account of these shipme nts was found . Duncan
75
stat ed that
a relativel y smal l numb er were shipped in 1942 . Work
7
6
wrote tha t 2,
5
00 pressi s we re shi 1Jped ln Janu:Ary 1943 .
heports of :n. ont hl y shii) me nts from 1 July 1943 , the
in augur al du te of the Uni t Dis tribution Sy st em , '\ er e avail-
able . The totals inc lud e shipm ent s tJ overseas ou tl ets and
do estic hospitals . It was no t possible to isolClte ship-
1IGnt fig u rEos to the lat tel"; however, the e were undou b tedl y
7b
. H.lbc
h.
uunc&n
,
2
7 Ju ly 1950 •
'76 l\J.ar tin :r. ·;; o rk , h;:;di o
}e bru�ry 1944 }
,
p. 4.
the Bat tl e r'r.Jnt s, n. d.
3b2
s il all. ste;. t ecl. thut til e 1944 -194.5
l L cal lea r the dome .::: c ho��pi tal dis tribut i•Jn amounted to
only 2.3 pe rcent of tot :.::.l ship :.n e: ::.. t.
o�i ng arc the �v ail 80le monthly shipm ent totals
Lor pE r iod oove l )
y
thi s study :
7
8
i' ,b£ 1th
�
1944 15 ·� 15
-
Janu aPy (2,500 ) 85, 52 ,0L8
.t• e'o ru& PJ' 291 4r 1 6 6
7
,682
lHUY'Ch 27 ,9 74 ,408
Apri l 23 , 827 66 , 32 1
I�iay 39 , 362 '/8 ,865
Ju ne 32 , 6Jl 86,364
Ju ly , 54 ,021 80 , 616
August 11, 681 51 , 33? lOf J ,2 2r 1
September 13,373 69 , 602 93 , 9ld
uct ob e r 15, 155 62 , 605 112·,
7
33
i:� ovember 18 ,725 60,945 85,7 69
.uec elllbcr � 23 , 642 65,634 11S3 ,536
-- -- --
TOT.ti.L 92 , 5t ±3 , 1 1,024 ,4G7
.!? res sings t he !J av y \·Jei'6 shipped di rect
from the manuL:ct1..r ing 11lant s t o l� avul supply depots . The
follow
p. 6.
rt- rl
figures i
Year
-
1944
1945
cate the yearly totals o f those ship-
;.cu anti t;,y Shi,r;,) ped
123 , 950
31 3,085
BLS , Gen era l nnalvs is 2.£ � OJ? er& ti on, l.lay 1945,
7
B �ata gut hered fro m B�S bhi ng �t& tistics Fi les.
79
The �:;E f:i � s wer E: comp i from several A} hS
Progress heports .
III . OUTLETS IN TH h ALASKAN DEFENSE C0Vl1IAND
80
353
Troo ps we re bein g amas se d and trained in the Alaskan
and .Aleu tia n areas bef ore the lln i ted i::> tates entere d �� orld
War II. The .fi rs t Ar-:ny bro adca ::: :t statio ns deve loped in
t::1 is rem ote , unc om forta ble region, ne arly devoid of en ter
ta inme nt .faci lities .
8
1
Thi s sparse ly pop ulat ed land had
but a ve ry few com me rcia l rad io statio ns . The se did no t
adequa tel y se rve the troo p are as . The Army st at ion s , built
by the ser vic emen thems elves , grew as a natural sol utio n
to the ir is ola tio n proble ms .
Lew is tra ve le d to Alaska to make his ini tia l inve s
tigatio n o.f the troo p broa dcasti ng prob le ms .
82
Durin g the
80
The .fol lowin g se ctio ns of thi s chapter prese nt
histo ri cal s um1n aries o.f the AFRS out lets . They are inte nded
to give the rea der a fac tual acquaintance with the ma ter ial .
:�hey are not considered to be exhaus tiv e or exten s ive re
pDrts.
Most of the infor ma tio n found in this firs t outl et s
section was gathered .fr om an AFRS file ti tle d Al as kan
�io Hepo rts . These .reports are act ually le tt
�
rs from
True .t.. Bo ardman and Daniel .!Vl . Hou se to Thomas n. A. Lew is
writ ten duri ng the 5um mer of 1�43 . At that ti me Bo ar dman
was se nt on an inspec tion to ur in the Alaskan-Aleutian Area.
While the re he ob tained the ful l tim e ser vices of Hous e,
one of the bui lders of A.F'R Stat io n KODK , For t Gre ely, Kodiak,
Alask a. Thro ugh this channe l House beca me an AFRS st aff
mem ber .
8
1
Supr�, pp. 63 .f.f .
82
Supra , pp. 96 ff .
354
trlp he inspect ed the st at ion at l'ort Gr eely , Kodiak . Also,
during th i s trip he made some of the moat importa nt troop
broadcastin g arr angements . Here , alre ady esta blished , was
the radio pat ter n whi ch could best serve in accompli shi ng
the AFRS mission.
H is tori ca l developme nt of � outl ets . Two wart ime
AFRS out lets vie for the honor of being th e first service
st atio n on the air . Within th e hi stor y of th ese st at ions
begins the hist ory of Army broadcas t outl ets and the devel
opment of radio in the al aska n Defense i.lo mmand . F'ollowing
are summa ries of the major st eps in th is growth .
1. WXLN , Nome . 83
During the .v·al l of 19 41
Civilian Defense Gomman der Ga rnet Martin decided that a
radio st atio n would serve as an ideal ai rcraft warning
device for the inha bi tant s of the Nome area . No radio
facilities exist ed. Therefore , in a Nome schoolroo m he ter o
geneous electron ic pa rts ,
84
gat hered from every possible
source , we re ass embled into a ca rrier current st at ion
83
Additi onal informatio n from : Air Tranaoort
Uo mmand , 14 69 AAF Base Unit , Publicit y Relea se , 24 January
1945 , 5 pp ; "The Voi ce of the art ie ," Alaska Life , pp . 48 - 50 plus , November 19 44 .
84
Sta ti ons bui lt wit h such equi pment were called
11bal ing wi re " statio ns . Herea ft er thi s ter m is employed in
th is st udy .
355
li nked to the cit y ' s electri c power lines . .i:' 'or the benefit
of the sta t ion, the Nome Home Arts Club held a dance in th e
high school gy� 1a sium. This was generous ly supp orted by the
entire population of the cit y, the majorit y of whom were
Eskimos . The st atio n began operatio n late in De cember 1941 .
Volunt eer operat ors made up the st aff. Programing consisted
of phonograph records inte rspersed wit h disaster instr uc
tion s and public affairs announcement s. At a later date
the tr ��smi ssion equipment and st udios were moved to the
second- floor public library room of the 0it y Ha ll.
In channe ling the program signal over the cit y's
power lines , the st atio n served the Nome Army garrison as
well as the loca l civil i an populati on. In the late Slli �me r
of 1942 the co�nan der of the garrison, reali zing th e pro
gram' s morale value and the st atio n' s personnel problem,
as signed tw o enlist ed men to help wi th the operati on. How
ever Army orders soon tr ans ferred the se two men out of the
Nome area. oy early Swmne r, 19 43, a Lieuten ant and several
enlis ted �en were as signed to run the st ation. Possibly an
actual broadca s t tr ansmitter had been developed by thi s
time ; however, it was of the bail ing wire type .
By November, 1944 , the Nome Ar my Air Bas e had come
into full contro l of the sta tio n. A new tra nsmitt er was
purchas ed. St udios were constr ucted in the �nli st ed Men' s
356
Service Glub at the i� rmy Base . Us e of the se new fac ilities
began 21 November 1944 .
Appare ntly Lewi s did not know of thi s st ati on during
his Ala skan to ur . H owe ver, by November 1942 the sta ti on was
receiving aFR S tr ans cripti ons .
2. ViVCQ {K ODK) , Fort Greely , Kodiak . During
',/
the las t few days of 194 1 the firs t Army -o wned sta tio n was
bu.ilt at Fort Greely , Alask a . bot h Major Willia m Adams and
Captain Dani el M. Ho us e have been given credit for it s
originatio n. This baling- wir e station firs t operated eit her
late in December 19 41, or on 1 Januar� 1942 as KODK .
Sa vage
85
reporte d that one of the OWl tr ansmitt ers wa s
install ed at Kodiak in 1943 . uurine that year the st atio n
was licens ed by the FCC and ass igned the call lette rs WC VQ.
It was KODK personnel who requeste d Holl ywood enter
tain ers to send tr anscription s for broadcas ts to the lonely
Gis . Thi s request supposedly led to the r6alization by
Washington Ar�y officials that th e Army owned a radio sta-
tio n. The exis ten ce of the outl e t was one of the fact ors
that led to Lewis ' Alaskan trip.
3. WVCX (KRA Y), Fort Ray , Si tk a. Probably WVCX
85
(C. Courte nay Sava ge}, Progress Report , 26 May
1942 to 1 December 19 45 , p. Addenda 1.
357
was the thi rd , Army-owned st ation. In February 19 42 two
enlist ed men began broadcastin g by means of a wireless
record-p layer.
86
The list ening area of thi s tr ansmit ter
wa s limited to the radius of about one mile . Possibly parts
we re soon added to convert the player into a tr ue tr ans - mitter . In April 1942 House was trans ferred from Ft .
Greeley , Kodiak , to J:'ort Ray to he lp build a new tr ansmitter .
This went on th e ai r as st ation KRAY 16 Augus t 1942 . In
November 19 43 the st atio n was licensed by the Fc c and as
si gned the call lett ers WV CX.
Statio n WVCX was so popular wit h the local civilia ns
th at the y cont ributed over $2 ,000 to as sist its operat ion.
In early 19 43 the Sit ka Rot ary Club donat ed $1, 000 to
purchase a tra nscriptio n library .
4. WVCY { KSWD) , F'ort Raymon d , Seward . The
fourt h Army statio n was KSWD at Fort Raymond , Sewar d , which
went on the air in Augus t 1942 wi th bal ing- wire equipment .
In 1943 the st at ion was li cens ed by the PCC and given th e
ca ll le tte rs WVCY . Sav age
87
reported that one of the oWI
trans mitters was ins ta lled at Seward .
86
Supra , p. 279. {See WR-1 ) .
87
(C. Courten ay Savage }, H is tori ca l Not es , November
1944 . Ot her sources contra dict th is report .
358
5. Ot her early st at ions . During the early
mont hs of 1943 Gls asse mbled baling- wire st atio ns at Ga lena;
.Fort Mears , Dutc h Har bor; and Fort Randal l, Cold Bay. They
were built in direct answ e r to the needs of the men, wi th
no assist ance from AFRS or the owi . Soon all of the se
stati ons we re li cens ed and ass igned call lett ers by the FCC.
6. OWI tra nsmitt er as sista nce . During th eir
Alas kan trip , Brophey promised Lewis th at the OWI would
procure and ins tall tra nsmitt ers at Army cam ps in the
Alaskan and Aleutian area. It is believed th at si x were
procured from the T. w. T. C ompany in Los Angeles . Howev er ,
researc h verified the existence of only one such insta ll
at ion; thi s was st ation WXLB at Adak which went on the air
27 April 1943 . Nevert heless , the ot her tr ansmitt ers were
undoubtedl y used for Army st at ions in the Alaska n Defense
Command . Probably most of the inst allation work was done
by Army pers onnel.
7. Use of commercia l st ati ons . Late in 1942
or early in 1943 the OWI contr acted for soldier broadcas ts
ai r ti me on the following st at i ons at a tota l expens e of
$1,0 00 each month : KFAR, Fairbanks ; KFQl) , Anchorage ; KINY ,
Juneau ; KTi.:N , Ketchik an .
On 1 July 1943 the se contr acts we re ter minated and
the st ati ons d)nated air ti me to AF'RS . In one insta nce a
359
statio n- owner atte mpte d to recoup some of the lost money by
sell ing the .nFRS show s to local sponsors . Preprogram
courtesy annou ncements st at ed that the sponsor had made the
ti me avai lable for the A.FRS program. Th is was qui ckly st op-
ped when AFRS informe d the stat ion-o wner that such prac tices
would cause wi thd rawal of the shows . The manager considered
the sta r- laden broadcas ts more importa nt than the money.
L
ate in 1942 several commer cia l stati ons in Nort h-
we st Canada were added to the OWI distri butio n li sts .
There was no indicatio n that the air ti me was purchas ed.
After 1 July 1943 the se statio ns were served by the BDS.
7. Boardman's Alask an trip . During the Su�ne r
of 19 43 , Boardman made a tou r of exist ing st atio ns and
proposed future sta tio n locati ons in the Alas kan �e fense
Command. Uuring the tr ip he held conferences wit h le ading
Command Officials , made arrangement s for equipment and
personnel , sele c ted H ous e as the aFRS Alas kan representa
tive ,
88
and set up the circui ts of the Uni t Di s tri but ion
Sys te m. Ho use accompanied Boardman on much of thi s trip .
He a�peared to be a parti cul arly good choice for the new
ass ignment. He had he lped es ta bli sh the st ati ons at Kodiak
88
Th omas H. A. Lewi s to John B. Sta nley , 21 April
1� 143 , p. 3.
36 0
and Si tka and was well acquainted wi th the ar ea a .. •1 d its
prob lems . Lat er House we . a transferred to A.F.HS Lo s Angeles.
Having fi rmls es ti: >bli shed AF.HS in Alaska , Boardman
re tur ned to Los Angele s in the .Fall of 1943 . He had spar ked
the entir e Aleut ian-Alaskan Networ k developm ent .
8. Summary of stations us ing AFRS pr ogram s . The
AF RSte.tio ns of the Al askan De fens e Command we re es tabli shed
as follows :
Year Num ber
- 1941 2
1942 2
1943 11
19 44 5
1945 6
- TOTAL 26
Appare ntly the United States built st& tion Cl' 'WH at w\hite
norse , Ca nada , in Fe br ua ry 1944 . By 31 Aug ust 194
5
six of
the AFR Stations in the Command had been deact ivated.
AFRS pr ograms we re broa dcast over 4 Alaskan comme r-
cis .l stations fro m 194 2 to 31 au gu st 19 45. KFAR , .Fai rb anks ,
an d KF'QD , Anchorage , cont in ued as AFRS outl et s aft er that
date . The prog rams we re broa dcas t ove1� 8 Nor thwe st Canadian
co mmercia l stat ions . No gover nme nt stations in the Ala skan
Defens e Command tr an smitted the pro grams .
The Arm:; Air .For·ce 1 s Air Transpor t Command operated
20 so und installa tions at their Ala s kan Wing Bases . These
36 1
all used Af'RS progrruns .
Probably 27 AFRStations , 12 commerc ial �·tat ions , and
2
0
sound ins tallations used AF'RS programs in the Alas kan
Defense Command Area du rine World War II.
Relationshf.E of � outlets to � Command . It
appeared that from the earliest days the value of soldie r
broadcasts was recogni zed by adm inistr�tors of this area.
The mo r&le pr ob lems were acute . The Nome , Kodia k , Sitka ,
and Seward stations proved that radio could be of assistance .
Al though dur ing the earliest day s mil itary personnel were
as s igned fo r station operation , this research did no t reveal
an actual authorized Table of Organization and Equipment .
Several of the stations were comb ined Army -Navy operations .
In those cases both branches of the service supplied funds
and pe rsonnel.
There was no indication that stations of the Ala skan
Aleutian area at tempted extensive informational or educa
tional cam paigns . The ir servic e appe ared to be mainly in
the field of soldier morale through entertai nmen t programs .
This area was th e testing ground for AFRS. Apparen�
satisfactory administrative cooperation was extended throu§P
out the war .
Stat ion List. Fo llo wing is a tabulat ion of the
362
discovered informa tion concerning stE.t .tions in the Alask an
Defense Command that broadcast AFRS transcriptions during
the period of thi s study :
89
89
Data for the Station Lists wa s gathered th r ough
out th e en tire peri od of re search for thi s study from
inmune rable sour ces. Un doub te dly mu ch of the information
is only re la tivel y accurate . Nevert hele ss, the se lists are
the only A.F'RS wart ime out le ts tabul ation availa ble .
The follo win g speciali zed abbreviations are used
in the Station Lists'
w - watt .
kw - - - - kilo watt .
kc - - - - kiloc ycle .
xmtr - transmitter .
c - - - cerca.
Comm - - - commercial .
Gov - - governmen t.
SS - - - - Special Services.
I&E - - In formation and hduc ation .
ATC - - Air Tr ans port C ommand .
A - - - Army .
N - - - Navy .
USMC - US Marin e Corps.
OTI
-
- Ofi'ice of Technical Inform a -
tion.
Gov/Comm - governmen t and/or cornxnercia l.
CALL WC ATION
POWER
FREQUENCY
OWNER OPEN ClOSE
N
OTES
-
-
-
-
?lXLN Nome
50 w 1400 leo
ATC Dee 41 ?
Eet ab
by
Civ
Defense
Or
ig
baling wire xmt r
To
Ar
my
in Winter
42
FC C license
in 43
1:1>
1410 1ro
ss Dec 41 t I-'
WVC Q
Ft. Greely
50 11'
Orig
bal ing
wire xmt r
P'l
Cll
(KO DK) Kodiak
OWl xmtr replaced (?)
�t
�
FC C
lice ns e
in 43
t:l
t;;
wvcx Ft. Ray
15 11' 122 0 ka
ss Feb 42 pre 46
Orig b
aling wire
xmtr
(tl
(KR AY) Sitka
OWl xmtr replaced (? )
1-1:1
('!)
FC C license
in 43
::s
Cll
1-r'
(tl H
Ft. Raymond
25 11' 1450 k:c
USMC Aug 42 20 Mar 46
Orig baling
wire xmt r
Q WVCY
c c:
( KSWD ) Seward
OW! xmtr replaced (?)
�
� FO e li
oense in 43 �
1400 kc
ss Jan 43 pre 46
::s
� WXLM
Ga lena
25 w
Orig baling wire xmtr
p.
GI donation for new
Cll
ct xmtr FCC license in 43
$1,
ct
lS w
1400 kc
A&M 12 Mar 43 ?
Or
ig
bali ng wire xmtr
....,.
WXLC
Ft. Mears
0
Dutch Harbor
Fir st
joint A&N oper
::s
L'
Navy
do
mina nt
.... . FC C lic
ense in 43
CD
r.t
•
ss 24 Apr 43
WXLJ
Ft o Randa ll
25 w
1420 k:c
'
Or
ig
baling
wire
xmtr Cold Bay
FC C lice
ns e in 43
'\'fXLB Adak
25 w
1402 ka
A&N 27 Apr 43 '
Or
ig
OWl xmtr
Joint
A& N
oper
FCC
lic ense
VI
en
VI
CALL LOCA TION POWER FREQUENCY OWNER OPEN CLOSE NOTES
- - WXLA Ft . Glelll'l 25 'W 1420 kc A&N 18 May 43 ? Ori g OWI xmt r
� Umnak Join t M-N oper
1-J
FCC license
f\"l
co
�
W.XLD Bethel ? ? by 1 Jun 43 sn ? ? X
lj
e
WVVE Yakatat ? 't ? c. 1 Jun 43 Sep 46 X
(l)
� (WX LH)
(l)
::s
co
"l:j
? Cot'dova
(l) H
? 't ? o. 1 Jun 43 ? X
0
0
� WXLT Ki ska 20 'W 1450 ko ss 29 Aug 43 Feb 46 Call probably
0
§
wrong
!l'
::s
� WXLK Amoh itk a 25 w 1400 lee ss Sep 43 ' Inc orrectl y
p.,
(.Q
- call ed WXFL
ct" 0
jl) 0
WXLL Camp Earle 20 Vf 1400 ko ss Sep 43 1 Incorrectly
ct" ::s
...... cT
Attu
called WXFR
0 1-'•
lj
s
t-'1
(l)
WXLO Shemya 25 'W 1450 lee ss Sep 43 ? X
...... p.
co - ct"
CFWH Whi tehorse 75 . 1240 ko ss 24 Sep 44 ? Possibly Comm from
Canada
start Becam e Comm
0
c. 1 Jun 46
0
lj
ct"
WXLS Excursion 25 Vf 1400 kc ss 4 Dec 45 (?) X
......
pre
::s
Inlet Jan 46
�
(!)
p.
WVUF Annette 2w 1280 kc ss ? Oct 45 X
..._..
WXLY Northway 5w 1000 ko AT C ? Sep or X
CN
Oct 45 (J)
�
CALL LOCA T ION POWER FREQUENC Y OWNER OPEN ClOSE NOTES
- WXI.If Whi ttier 26 w 149 0 ko ss ? Jan 46 (?) X
ll>
....
WVUG Ft. Richa rdso n 50 .. 1450 ko ss ? ? X
!XI
to
Anchorage
I';'
§
? Ft . Morro w 6w 1070 ko ss ? Sep or X
t;l
Oct 45
('!)
"""
(')
WXLT Nakne k 5w 1110 ko ss ? Nov 45 X
:::1
co 1-:Ij
(!) H
MAB Ft. Ne lson 1000 ko AT C 'i' May 45 (?) Possibly Carrier Q 6 .,
0
�
Canada
Current May have
0
� reo pened and
;::s
closed Mar 46
§ N
p. Q)
{/}
WVVD Atka ' ' ' ' pre Pro bably public
- cT 0 Jan 46 addre ss
!XI 0
cT �
I-"' cT
WYQM
Mingan ? ? ? ? pre X
0 .....
t:S
g
Jan 46
t-1
(!)
I-"' p.
IFAR Fairbanks 10 1cw 660 ko C omm. Early 43 ? Orig OWI contract
to - C"t
KFQD Anchor age 250 ., 790 ko Conn Early 43 ? Orig OWl con tract
0
0
KINY June au lkw 1430 ko Comm. Early 43 31 Aug Orig OWl co ntract �
C"t
45
I-"'
g
KTD lkw 930 ko Comm Early 43 31 Aug Orig OW! co ntract ('I) Ke tchikan
p.
45 ........
•
CFPR Prince Rupert 50 w 124 0 ko Comm Late 42 Aug 45 X 01
Canada
Q)
(11
CALL IJ)CA TION POWER FREQ UENC Y OWNER OPEN CUJSE NOTES
- CFRN Edm onton lkw 1250 kc Comm Late 42 May 46 X
lt>
can .. da
1-'
jl:)
m
CJCA Edmo nton 1kw 930 ko CoDllll Late 42 May 46 X
"'
ll'
Can ada
::s
t:1
CFGP Grand Prairie 250 w 1340 kc Co
mm. Late 42 14 May 46 X
Cl>
1-+;
Canada
Cl>
::s
tD 1-ri
CFAR Flin Fl on 250 w 1400 kc CoDllll Late 42 Nov 45 X
Cl> H
0
Canada
0
Ci
� �
CKU A Edmonton lkw ' Co :mm. Nov 45 Jan 46 X
8
ll'
Canada
� ro
p. (J')
(l.l
- CFSU st. Jo hn ' ' Comm (?) ' Jan 46 X
cT 0
Canada
� 0
cT
�
f-lo cT
CFDC Dawson Creek f ? Comm ('1)
' Jan 46 X
0 1-'•
.t:l
s
Canada
l:"i
{'f)
f-lo p.
Ol .._..
cT
- 0
0
�
cT
1-'•
g
(I)
p..
- •
�
(J')
(J')
lt>- 1-'
!Xl
CD
�
!Xl
::s
t::J
(I)
....,
CD
::s
CD
(I)
0
0
s
s
ll'l
::s
p.
Cll
rt
111
(1- 1-"
0
::s
t-'
......
[I)
rt
-
0
0
::s
(')
1--'
�
r ..
(I)
p.
..._..
•
�
H
Q
�
tx:l
l\?
(J'j
0
0
::s
0
1--'
!=!
p.
(I)
p.
-
ATC sound installati ons as of 14 MarCh 44 (These were mainly MC-364C units )
Edmonton, Canada Prince George , Canada
Calgary, Canada Ft. St. John, Canada
Ft . Ne ls on, Canada Watson Lake , Canada
White horse, Canada Northway, Canada
Tanacross, Canada Big De lta, Alaska
McMur ray, Alberta, Can ada Emba rras , Alberta, Canada
Ft. Smith, MacK enz ie , Canada Ft. Resoluti on, MacK enz ie , Canad a
Bay River, MacKenzie, Can ada Ft. Providence, MacKenz ie , Canada
Ft . Simpso n, MacKenz ie , Canada Wrigley. MacKenz ie , Canada
Norman Wells, MacKenzie , Canada Skagway, Alaska
{A
m
-:1
IV. OUTlliTS IN TH.h ATLANTIC OCE.AN AREAS
Al�S outle ts in t�e Atla n tic Ocean ar ea s were
368
scatt ered throughout the jurisdictions of sev era l Arn1y and
Na vy cornman ds . The rno s t extens ive us e of AF'hS programs was
proba .bly ma de by the ATC . This Command ha d at least fifty
sound ins tallat ions , mainly ca rrier current , at bases
throughout the ar eas .
90
America n troop broa dca st ac tivities
in th e Ca rribean are a were extens ive . However , the progra ms
were mainly transmit ted through exist in g gover nme nt and/or
corr�erc ia l st at ions .
Sin ce li ttle ac tual infor mation on the hi storical
deve l opment of the outlets in th e Atla n tic Ocea n are as was
discove red, these media, scat tered throughout a wide expanse
of water and la nd are reported in a sin gle section of this
cha pter .
His torical develo pment 2£ � outle ts. American
troops were sent into the remote Atlan ti c Ocea n are as at
ab out the sa me time they were sent to Alaska . The duties
of the troops were similar- -tr�ini ng and defens e. It will
be remembered that the ea rli est troop broa dcast requests
90
Ra dio Section (AF'RS), Synt hesis Report , 25 October
1943 , p. 10 .
369
came from Icela nd .
91
The mann e r of approaching the radio
proble ms of this area wa s very si mila r to that discovered
in Alask a . Stations we re bu il t by the servicemen on the ir
own ini tiative as a re sul t of the ir need , and the OWI
arranged for transmission over existing commercial and/or
government stations .
1. Out le ts in th e Sout h-Cent ral At lant ic.
92
Late in 19 42 , at an expense of $1 ,000 a week , the OWI made
the original provisio ns for broadcasts of AFRS shows in the
Carri bean area. This organi zation contr acted for si x hou r s
of air time each evenin g . This was divided between three
stations in San Ju an , Puerto Rico .
The stations of thi s area broadcast in the native
langua ge , Spa ni sh. They were re ticent to devote siz able
blo cks of time to Engl ish-la nguage programs . As a re sult
they would promise to sc hedule only one hour of service
programs at a time . In practice the time was continu ally
shifte d and so metime s omitted in favor of Spa nish programs .
In December 1 942 Boardman truveled to Pue rto Rico to
91
Supra , p. 39 .
92
Most of this informat ion came from True E. Board
man , 9 May 19 50 and Irving L. Fog el , 7 July 195 0 . Both of
the se AFRS staff members made tours in the sout h -C entra l
Atlanti c are a to establis h out le ts for A} nS programs .
370
establi sh an acceptable pl an of troop program transmission.
He arra nged for definite broadc ast hours on the stations .
The lo cal Puerto hica n US Army Comma nder built a stud io in
the bas ement of one of' hi s po st's Bachelor Officer's Quar
ters . From this studio al l AFRS .iJr ograms were channeled,
via telephone lines , to the local comrn ercial s ta tiona .
Since members of both the A rmy and the Navy were served by
the broadcas ts , enli sted men of both services operated the
studios and mad e announcements between the trans cribed
progra ms . Some shows were lo cally produ ced. In order to
shift the servicemen lis tening audience from one station to
the other, an announ cement denot ing the following station
to be used was made at the end of each station's AFRS broad
cas t period.
This plan started on 31 Decemb er 1942 . Boardman
believed that the nomenc lature "A rmed Forces Radio Servi ce"
was first develo pe d and used in connection wi th this
activ ity at that dat e. This was the resul t of' the ne ed for
some kind of a 11 cue ," or signal to the stations and their
English-lan guage audience , in swi tching from one st ation to
the other. Since the programs were for both �r.my and Navy
personnel the words "Armed Forces" were adopt ed. Fun ds to
ope rate the studio came from the OWI . Ele ct roni c equip
ment was loaned by the contracted stations .
Vi hile in this Central Atlant ic are a Boardman obtained
Signal Corps equipment to build WVDI , Port of Spain , Trini
dad . In the Canal Zone he discovered a Coast art iller y
station that had be en broadcas t ing with an unlicensed , low
powered , short-wave tran smitter . He planned an additional
station that was to us e a standa.rd-wave frequen cy . Equip
ment , frequency allacatio n, and call letters were obtained
fro m the Signal Corps . About iVla r·ch 1943 this new station
and the original Coast Artiller y stat ion were joined for
simultaneous programing .
In the Spring of 1943 , Po ge l toured Central and
Northeastern South America in a... >1 attempt to stabiliz e broad
cast agreement s that had been made with existing commercia l
stations . He reported that during this trip the firs t
ar'HS Comm ercial and/or Govern.1nent Stat ion Contracts were
written. Here may be the roots of the prohibitions on
comm ercialized use of AF'RS programs •
93
On 1 July 1943 the BDS as sumed control of the C o:ti1mer
d. al and /or government station , AFRS progr&.m dis tribut ion .
Fro m that date no payment was m&de for ai r time for A�RS
programs .
During 1945 two jointly operated Army stations were
93
Supra , pp. 306 f.
372
built in the J?a.na ma Ca nal Zone . These were progra med in
the native la nguage of the Spa nis h -speaking America n troops
stati on ed in the Cent ral Ame rica n are a. The historica l
:level opment of other serv ice-owne d sta t ions in the South
Central Atla ntic Ocea n are a is unknown .
2. Out let s in the North Atla ntic ar ea. Proba bly
ten AF'RStat ions 've re built in the North Atla nt ic ar ea . How
ev er , ver y little of their history was discovered . A short
histo ry
9
4 of sta tion VOUS , Fort Pepperrell , St • .Joh ns , New
fo u nd la nd , rev ea led that it was built late in 1943 from
baling wire p1;t rts . Ca ll le tter s and the broa dca s t frequenc y
were ass igned by the Newfomld lan d Gove rrun en t. His torical
f'ac ts concer ni ng other statio ns in this are a are recorded
in the fol low ing Sta tion �·
3. Surn: 11ary of st at ions us ing AFRS programs . In
the South-Central Atla ntic Ocea n ar ea possibly 15 ABRSta t iet:S
and at le as t 18 commercial and/or gover nmen t stati ons trans
mitted A.B'RS programs during the war .
In the North Atlantic there were proba bly 10 .AFRS ta
tions and 5 commercial and/or gover run en t st atio ns that
broa dcast the pr ogr ams .
At least 50 sound ins ta l lat ions us ed AF'ES discs at
94
�' n. £• , 23 August 19 44 , 3 PP •
373
ATC Bas es in the total Atla ntic Ocean area.
Possibly 2 5 AF 'RStations , 23 com� ercial and/or gov
ernmen t stations , and 50 sound ou tle ts transmitted .AFES
programs in the Atlanti c Ocean area du ring World War II.
Relat ionshiE of the ou tlets i£ � cocrman ds . Little
informati on was fo und on the relat ionships between Af'RS
out lets and the several CO:r.J.Y..'l ands of the atl anti c Ocean
areas . The devel opment of the stud io in San Ju an , Pue rto
Eico , and the Spanish-la nguage stations in the Pa.. >:ta ma Canal
Zone are indications that the value of the activi ty was
recogni zed. Only in the short his tory of station VOUS ,
Newfoundl and , was evidence di s covered of informational and
education al ac tivities . 95
Station �· Follo wing is a t&bul ation of the
discovered information concerning stations in the Atla ntic
Ocean areas that broadcast AF'RS transc riptions dur i� "lg the
period covered by this study . 96
95
�
- �·
96
Sup ra, p. 362. (See footnote )
CALL LOCAT ION POWER FREQUENCY OWNER OPEN CLO SE NO TES
- ? Panama 400 "' 23 90 ko ss pre 43 ? Orig Coast Artillery
Canal Zone License and call
from Sig Corps in 43
Simul op w/following
� ' Paname. 5kw 790 lro ss c. Mar 43 ? Sig Corps eq uipmen t
cT
Canal Zone License and call
j-1
§
from Sig Corps
cT
Simul op w/above
1-"
0
0
(·Rl'RK) Ft. Simonds 30 w Short-wave SS 43 Jan 44 X
0
Jamai ca
D
1-rj
§
H
Q
WVDI Port of Spain l kw 950 kc ss Late 43 ' Conve rted Sig Corps .-
� ::d Trinidad xmtr
'":! trj
(l)
PJ
' Guantanamo Bay 5 w 1490 lee N Aug 43 ' X
r.� {\)
.._J
(/}
Cuba
cT
Sb
WXLQ Ft. Bell 50 w 1240 ko ss 24 Jul 44 ? X
cT
1-"
0
Berm uda
::s
Li
WVUB Panama 250 w 1420 leo ss 45 Feb 46 Simul op w/following
f-J·
Can al Zone
til
cT
Simul op w/above
•
wvuc Panama ? Short-wave ss 45 Feb 46
Canal Zone
? Quarry Height s 5kw ? ? ? ? X
Canal Zone
01
.._J
�
CALL LOCA TION POWER �UENC Y OWNER OPEN CLOSE NOTES
- ? Great Ex:u.ma 1 ? N 1 ? X
Bah amas
!!>
ct
WXMS Natal, Brazil 15 w 1450 lee A&N Mar 43 9 Oct 46 X
1-'
p:J
::;l
WVTU Recife , Brazil 15 1f 1400 lee I&E Jul 44 1 Nov 45 X
ct
1-'
0
19X.I.R Ascen sio n Is land 50 w 111 0 lee I&E Late 44 1 X
0
0
CD l:!j
WVUH For taleza 15 1f 1440 kc I&E Jul 45 10 May 45 Formerly WDGO ?
§
H
Q Brazil
c:::
!!> ::x:l
'i tr.l
CD
WVUA Bel em, Brazil 16 1f 1300 lee I&E Aug 44 "t Forlll8 rly WANS ?
P'
Ql l'O
WIAC San Juan 5kw 680 lee Comm Early 43 "t X
....,J
(f)
Puerto Rico
cT - sn 0
cT 0
WKAQ San Juan 6kw 620 lee Comm Ear ly 43 ? X
1-'
p
0 cT
Pue rto Rico
p 1-'
::;l
t-'1 s::
WNEL San Juan 5kw 1320 kc Comm Early 43 ' X
1-'• CD
Ul p.
Puerto Rico
ct
- 0
ZAF3 Ber muda ? f Gov Se p 43 Jan 44 X
0
;:$
ZFY Georgetown 500 1f 6130 lee Comm ? ? X ct
1-'
Br. Gui ana
�
�
(D
p. AVRO S Paramaribo 350 1f 5757.5 ko Gov ? f X
-- D. Guiana •
ZQU Jamai ca ., ? 1 Com:ID 1 22 May 46 X
01
....,J
c.n
CALL LOCA T ION POWER FREQ UEN CY OWNER OPEN CLOSB NOT ES
-- -.-...--- ., _, ....,._ -�
CMZ RavE!n&.• Cuba 5kw 630 kc Gov ? 22 May 46 X
:t>
WPAE Ponce lkw 1370 1ro Comm ? ? X
cT
Puer to Ri co
1-'
p:!
::s
WPRB Ponce 250 w 1420 ke Cornrn ? T X
cT
1-'·
Pue rto Rico
0
0
WPRA Mayagu ez lkw 970 ko Comm ? ? X
0
D l-r1
Pue rto Ri oo
§
H
1:;1
!!:-·· §2
TGWB GuateD '!B.lf!>. City 100 1f 6480 kc Gov ? ? Simul op w/follo llling
1-j tr:l
Guatemala
D
p:!
CIJ l\)
TGWC Guatemala City 100 w 1620 ko Gov ' ? Simul op w/above -.:J
(n
Guate mala
cT
,......
sn 0
cT 0
HCIBT Quito, Ecuador lkw 1304 kc Cormn ? ? X ,_,.
::s
0 cT
::s ,_,.
::s TGI San Jo se ? ? 1 ? '? X
1:-i �
Guat ema la 1-'· D
CIJ
p.
cT - P.JIC Wi l lemstad 3kw 5930 lee ? ? ? Dutch We st
,......_
0 Curacao Indies
0
;:::;
cT
1-'"
? Quito. Ecuador ? ? ? ? ? X
::s
�
? Guayaquil ? ? ? ? ? X
D
p..
Ecuador
...._,
•
(jl
-.:J
Q)
)>
ct- 1-'
§
ct- ...,.
0
0
0
(1)
1-x:J
§
H
Q
)> §:1
1-j t;r::l
(i)
ll'
fJl tv
-:I
({.}
ct- -
P' 0
ct- 0
...,. lj
0 ct- ::s 1-'- ::s
t1 �
!-"' (1)
ca p.
ci"
-
-
0
0
lj
C't
!-'•
lj
�
(1)
p.
-
•
Following are the known sound installations at ATC bases in the South -Cen tral
Atlantic Area.
Atkin son Field, BritiSh Guiana
Borinquen Field, Pue rto Rioo
Waller Field, Trinid ad
Lou sey Field, Puerto Rico
Coolid ge Field , Antigua
Dakota Field, Aru ba (WVKO )
St. Croix (WYZX)
Se.nd ery Field , Surin am (WYR L)
Forta leza, Brazil
Sao Loui�, Brazil
Amapa , Brad 1
Recite , Brazil
Batista Field, Cuba
Nassau, Baha mas
Zandery Field, Dutch Gui&ne.
Vernam Field , Jamai ea
Beane Fielc, St . Luoia (W1TB )
Rato Field, Curacao (K\' tJG)
St. Thomas (WVC Z)
Natal, Bru il
Be lem, Brad 1
Ascension Island
Bahai , Brazil
Following are sound installation locations that were not believed to be under ATC control.
Camp O'Reilly, Puerto Rico (PCV)
Ft . Brooke , Puerto Rioo (WVN)
Ft. Bundy, Puerto Rico (PER )
Camp Tortuquero, Puerto Rico (PDV)
Ft. Buchanan, Puerto R1oo (PXA)
Henry Barracks , Puerto Rico (FDY)
(J3
-:I
-:I
CALL LOC ATION POWER FREQUENCY OTINER OPEN CLOSE NOTES
- vous Ft Pepperre 11 300 w 1486 kc I&E o. 1 Nov 43 1 Orig bai ling wire
St Johns xmtr Sig Corps
lP·
Newfound land equipmen t
ct- .......
VONF St Johns 12 kw 640 kc I&E Nov 43 18 Deo 46 May be co mm
�
ct- Newfound lalld station
......
()
VOUG Goose Bay 300 w 13 40 kc ATC Dec 43 ? Joint w/R oyal
0
Labrador Canadian AF
()
(I) l:!j
�
H
? Presque Isle ? ? I&E ? ? May be carr ier
Q
�
�
Maine curren t Probably ATC
::t1
"1 l;rj
(I)
1 Reykjavi k 15 w 139 0 k:o ? Mar 43 ? Orig car rier our
!D
to 1\)
Icelan d Standard wave xmtr
._J
(/)
Jul 43
ct- - !D Q
ct- 0
WHEN Ika tek. Greenland 10 w 1376 kc ss Nov 43 Oot 46 Formerly WWWf9'
...... ::s
0 ("1- :::s ......
' Ivigtut 10 ., 3620 kc ss Mar 44 ? X
:::s
t-1 �
Greenland
...... (!)
to p..
ct- - WXI.S Narsars auak lkw 850 kc I&E Aug 44 ' Possibly ca rrier
- Greenland our rent
()
0
::s
WXLX Sonderstromfj ord 260 ., 1000 k:o ss Oot 44 1 X
ct- J-.'•
Greenland
:::s
�
(I)
ss f Pos IIi b ly ATC p.. SIGI Camp Meeks 300 w 13 80 k:o Jul 45
- Ice land •
VOWN Cornerbrook 250 w 850 k:o Gov Jul 43 18 Dec 45 X
(J:I
Newfoundland
....:l
co
ll>
cT
1-'
\l'l
p
cT
.... .
0
0
0
(\) >Yj
�
H
Q
:.:..
� '":!
(1)
\l'l
til ro
..;J
CD
cT
p:. 0
cT 0
f-lo p
0 0
p 1-'
s::
t-1 p.
f-lo (\)
til p.
cT
-
-
0
0
p
0
1-'
s::
p.
('1:1
p..
-
CALL LOC ATION POWER FRE(JJENCY OWNER OPEN Cl.DSE NOTE S
-
UTVARP Reykjavi k 16 kw 271 kc Gov 15 May 44 ? Used for short
Iceland time
? Rider 1kw 491 ko Gov pre Mar 44 ' Relay .for
Iceland Reykjavik t
TFE Eider 1kw 491 lro GoT ? ? X
Iceland
TFU Reykjavi k 10 kw 615 leo Gov ? ? X
Tc ,.le. nd
There were 20 ATC sound installati ons in operation 14 MarCh 1944 (These were mainly
MC -364C units) •
Followin g are the known installati ons at ATC base s in the North Atlan tic Area.
Ft. Ch imo . Canada
IU.ngan. Canada
Stephen ville , New foundlan d (VO UF)
Tercia Island, Azores
Frobisoher Bay. Baffin Island
Gander Field. Newfo undland (VORG)
Narsarssuak. Greenland (BW-1)
Meeks Field• Iceland
(;I
....::!
c.o
V. OUTLETS IN THE AFRICA N AND MEDITERRAN EAN Ah:EAS
The first Ame rican invas io n of World War II took
place in North Africa on 8 Novem ber 1942 . Shortl y after
380
this the first AB'fi.S t4. ti on to serve invad ing troops was "on
the ai r. " From this st at ion st emmed the elab orate radi o
coverage of adva n clng troops in the Medit erranea n are a.
Origi nally thi s was called the North African Theater of
Ope rat ions . Later the name was changed to the Medite rra nean
The at er . Sta t ions were es tabli shed in Africa , on the
is la nd s to the wes t of Italy , in Ita ly , in Southern France ,
and in the Pers ia n Gulf ar ea . Throughout this area the
ma jor med ium was the AF'RBtatio n . Comp ara tivel y few comm er
cia l and /or gove rnment st at ions broa dcast AFRS programs .
Hi s tori ca l developm ent of the outle ts . By the date
of the North African invasio n the SSD had matu red su f'fi -
ciently to plan services for invading troops . Here was the
fi rs t ap pli catio n of these pla ns . It wa s for this Theater
that AFRS first at temp ted to obt ain Army personne l and
equip me nt for its outle ts .
1. F'ound ing of the Casa blanca statio n.
97
On 1
October 19 42 activatio n of the .r• 'i rs t Broa dcast Sta tion
97
Muc� of this informa tio n came from Andre B�ruch ,
� � Q.[ An.� ltt xpediti onar y Statio n , 11 !l• g,. �F all ,
.�.�±3 T
,
- 27
pp .
381
Ope ra t ing Detachm ent at Cam p Pi cke tt, Virginia, was autho r
ized .
98
This un it was compo sed of eleven offi cer s a.nd
nineteen enlisted me n of the Signal Corp s . The leade r was
Major Andre Baruch . Operat ing und er the In telligence
Section of the po st , th e Detachm ent prepared itself to
as sist an invas ion forc e through propaganda broadcasts to
civilians . Al though it had a psyc hological warfare mi ssi on ,
the Ve tachmen t ap parent ly had no conne ction wi th an es tab-
lished Psychological Warfare headquarters .
On 22 October 1942 th e Detachme nt sailed ab oard the
USS Texas as a part of the Nort h African invasio n forces.
Broadcas ts to the l're nch-spe aking mi ll ta ry a.nd civilian
popul ation was the mi ssion. At 4:30 A. M. , 8 Novemb er 19 42 ,
the transmi tter ab oard the Texas went
"
on th e air .
"
Imm edi -
ately Radio Maroc, a st at ion located at habat , Ivior occo ,
began broadcasts instructi ng the listeners to pay no atten
tion to this "clandest ine st ati on.
1 1 Next , Radio Maroc .
attempt ed to jam the Texas ' transm ission. The Texas '
fre quency was chang ed twice . Each time Radi o Maro c chang ed
its fre que ncy to attempt a continua tion of the j�ni ng .
However , th e Rabat st ation ceas ed bro adcast ing the following
mo rning .
98
Baruch reported the authority for this activation
asA WD # fdi � tan� General 's Office Letter , 1 October 1942 ,
32v. 2 �� e B- 1 P- M.
-
3
8 2
On 10 Novemb er 1942 the Texas docked at Port Lay autey,
Morocco . Mem bers of the ra di o De t achment were to ta ke over
Radio Ma roc and a statio n beli eved to exist at Casabla nca,
Morocco . rlow ever , Radi o J.vlaroc was imm ediatel y tur ned ba ck
to Fren ch civilia ns , and no equipment was found at Ca sa-
blanca . As the ship do cked the tra nsmi tter ab o ard the
Texas was dama ged beyond i� ediat e repair . 99
The refore , the
De tac hme nt , which ha d reasse mb led at Casa bla nca on 14 Novem-
ber , was without a further du ty . Attemp ting to find a way
to be of service , memb ers of the De tac hmen t decided that
they should ins tiga te troo p broad casts . Approval was se
cured from Ma jor Gen eral George s. Pat ton . Sav age
lOO
re -
ported that Patto n had been made aware of the possibilit ies
of troop broa dcas ts while his troops were train ing at Cam p
Young , Cali forni a. At that ti me the ea rly sta t ion bu ilt by
Hitt e��ark and �ru schen was in opera tio n at that post.
lO l
A rebui lt forty-five -watt French tran smi tter began
its troop broa dcas ts from Casa blan ca at twelve , no on , 15
99
h'Iar tin H. Work , 21 Jun e 195 0 .
10 0
(C. Court enay Sava ge ) , Progress Repo rt , 2 6 May
1942 to 1 Decem ber 19 45 , p. Addenda 19 ; Claude C. Turne r,
17 Novem ber 195 0 , reported that at a later date Patto n was
not favora bly inclined towar d troop broa dcast act iviti es .
He refus ed to have a Mobil e Stati on with his adva ncin g troops.
101
Supra , pp . 94 f.
383
December 19 42 . 10 2
On 1 January 1943 a headquar ters direc-
tive ordered that al l French radio equipment be ret urned to
the original owners. Therefore , Detac �ent members con-
st ructe d a 300 -w at t, bal ing- wire tr ansmitter wh i ch was put
into operatio n 15 Janua ry .
A
pparently phonograph records
and some tr anscripti ons were us ed as program materi al . The
source of the se discs was not clea r .
A specia l duty of the .Firs t Broadcast Stu tio n
Operat ing .uetac hment was to assist French civili an broad
cas ters in j amm ing .Axi s propaganda tr ansmissi ons dire cted
to v;� ard lvi orocco. .n.p parentl y a mutual ly beneficia l relatio n
shi p had developed betwee n the French and Ame rican radiomen .
2. V� �da 's trip to Nort h Afri ca . It was the
Casablanca sta tio n th&t sparked hFFtS 1 plans to supply
elec tr oni c equipment to the tr oops . Sta nley , of the SSD ,
to ld Wils on , the General to be in charge of Nort h African
Services of Supply , ab out the earl y operatio n. Wilson,
being afrai d that the Casablanca bali ng- wire tr ansmitte r
102
A cont roversy concerning the first troop broad
cast st at ion in l� orth Africa was di scovered. Claude c.
Turner , 11 .h.p ri l 195 0 and 17 November 195 0 , st :;.. te d that a
Signal Corps Unit und er hi s conlli: a..Tl·J, L:.n ded at Oran , Algeria,
and took over · an exist ing French bali ng wire tr ansm:i tter.
This uni t be gan troop broadcas t� on 16 November • 19 42 , a
month before the Casabl anca st at ion wen t on the air . lJ.V ail
ab le phonograph records were used. About two weel cs later
thi s stc ..ti on was ordered under control of the local J:' sycho
logical Warfare Officers .
384
mi ght break dov. n and threaten the morale of hi s ste vedore
like troo ps , requested that r.. ew st and E.. rd broadcast equipmen t
be ins tal led. Dn 1 Janu ary 1943 a one -kil owatt transmitt er
and a 250-watt tr an smitte r were shipped to Ca sabl anca
. l 03
Vanda was relie ved as Chief of th e AF.hS .Ne w Yo rk Of fi ce and
sent wi th th e Nort h Afri ca n SSD Unit to set up th e Al:o'f.S ta
tions in that Theater .l 0
4
His first job was to supervi se
installati on of one of the new transmitte rs at Casabla nca.
Corporal Earl Janes, a te chni cian , ac companied th e tx·ans -
mitter s as th eir guard . He was to assemble th e equi pment
at its de sti nation.
By 7 Febr uary 1943 Vanda , Janes , and 11 3 packages"
of the tr ansmission equi pment had arri ved at Casabl anc
a. . l 05
'I'he components of the tw o transm i tt ers had been forw&rded
on six dt ff erent ships . Most of the par ts were unloa de d
at ports other than Casablanca where vari ous agencies
cl aimed owne rship of the equip ment .
Being unable to reassemble the nessary parts for
construc tio n of a single st andard tr ansmitter , Yanda soon
103
S upra , pp. 265 f.
1
°
4
Supra , p. 162.
105
Charle s Vand a to B ar to n A. St ebbins , 7 February
1943 ' p. 1.
385
trave led to Cairo to make arrangements for broadcastin g
AJ: RS tra nscript i ons over the i.. gyptia n Broadcas ti.ng 12.y st em,
a branch of Bri tl sh 1vi arconi Ra dio. He was su ccee.sf ul in
obtaini ne; a limited amount of air ti me but found th at
ac tua l control of the programs was to be retained by the
BBc . l0 6
Janes remained at Casablanca to asse mble the
transmi tt ers when , and if', the nece ssary components arrived.
3. Work' s tr ip to the M.edi te rranea n area. Be
coming appr ehensive of' tr oop broadcas tin g wi thin his com
mand, Wilson re quest ed furth er SSD assis ta nce.
l07
As a
result, on 19 J.e bruary 1943 Work and Raphe l were sent to
Casa blanca to at te mpt a resoluti on of the problems .
One of the major difficult ies lay in a lack of
defini ti ons of missions . The OWl , Signal Corps , Psycholog-
ic al Warfare Bureau , Army Int elligence Officers , and SSD
pers onnel all cl aimed ownership of radio equi pment in the
'£heater and jurisdictio n over broadcastin g . l08
Hap pily the
problem was solved on 84 lebruary 1943 by the Atlanti c Base
10 6
John B. St anley to E. L. Munson, Jr. , Memorandum ,
26 February 19 43 , pp . 4 f.
1 °7
Mart in H. Work, 19 June 195 0 .
10 8
lii.
artin H. Work to Thomas H. A. LeVli s, 13 .t¥I arch
19 43 , p. 1.
Section' s IJail :y Bulletin , Num ber 50 , wh ich s tEL ted � "The
War Depa1·tment has is sued a dir ective maki ng the Speci al
386
Servi ce �i v isi on the sole autho rit y in the broa dcasting to
troops on for eign soil. u
l0
9
Undoubtedly thi s was ar e
phras ing of the Novem ber WD dire ctive whi ch re sulted fro m
tr. e BPR -AFRS cont r oversy over 11Corr .II11 and Perfor ma nce . n
llO
Wi th this new Atlanti c Base Section bulletin in hand , A� �S
pers onnel in the Nort h Afri can Theater were fr ee to pur sue
their as signed duti es .
Before 13 Ma rch 1
9
43 Wor k suc ceeded in hav ing pel �so n-
nel fro m the ra dio Detc.chment as s emb le the ne w 10 00-watt
trans mitter at Casablanca . lll
Other pers onnel fro m th at
same detachment ins talle d the 250-watt tr ansmi tter for the
troops of Li eut enan t General ••l ark Clark at 0juda , Alge ri a,
and became that stati on' s oper ating staf r . ll2
The orig inal
baling-wire Casablan ca trans mi tter was moved to Algi er s ,
Alger i a. The tr an smi tter ori gin ally ab oar d the USS Texas
was re bui lt and ins talled at Cons tantine , Alge ria . Work
1 0 9
Repro duc ed in loc . £i!•
110
&u
p
ra , pp. 15 2 ff.
lll
lvl
artin H. Wor k to Thoma s .d . A. Lewis , 13 Mar ch
1943 , p. 15.
112
This statement and tho se wh ich follow were made
by Martin h. Wor k , 19 Jun e 195 0 .
3
87
and Raphel al so laid the groundw ork for the sts ,tion at Tuni s,
Tuni sia , the l'i fth .hrmy Mobile &t ati on , the 'hest Afri can ATC
ins tallati ons , and an early ins tallatio n in the Per sian uulf
Comma nd . At Khorr amsho r, on th e Persian Gulf, the mo st
elaborate AFES carrier current statio n was in stalled. Thi s
was the equipment concer ning which many egg -frying fables
develop ed . Supp osedly it wa s so ho t at Khorramshor that
eggs would fry from the heat of the transmi ssion equi pment .
Probab ly this carrier current tran smi tter was ori gina l ly
or ·der e d by Work dur ing hi s early day s as an AFRS civilian
employee .
Un do ubtedly Work' s major No rth Afri can A.FFi.S contr i -
bution was ma de through obtaining station per soru1e l. During
th e fi rst days at Casabl an ca he was ab le to obta in an au -
tb ori zatio n for personne l to ope rate the statio n in th at
city and the one at Oj uda.
ll
3 He organi zed a mode l Tab le
of Organi zatio n and .t:.qui pmen t for .t>.F'RS tations . This was
forwarde d for appro val to Uene ral Dwight �. Ei senhowe r, then
the North African Th eater Cornma nder .
ll4
Also, V•ork assemblEd
11
3
Loc. cit.
114
Martin H. Work , 19 June 1950 ; Irving L. Fogel, 7
July 1950. Both men stat ed that his en hower approved this
autho ri za ti on. However, it app eared that insuffi cient evi
dence was encount ered to make ce rtain of a regularly estab
li shed authori zation. Ted E. Sherde man , 6 beptemb er 1950 ,
stated that only in MacArthur ' s Conm1and was an ac tual opera
ting Table of 0rgani zati on and l:.q ui pment au thori zed.
388
a replacement pool of radio men at Oran . At Work' s request
the unwi lling Baruch was as signed as 'l' heater hadio Officer. ll5
Captain William brown , a me mber of the original radi o
De tac hment , was appointe d 'l'he a ter Ra di o Engi neer . He has
been given much credi t for the developmen t of the st at ions
in th is area. Baruch ret!; .ined his headquarters at Casa
bl anca, the sit e of the firs t statio n , alt hough the 'ln eater
Specia l Services Hea dquarters were at anot her locatio n.
In July 19 43 Work retur ned to AFRS Los Angeles where
he wa s appointe d BDS Chief.
4. The Fift h Army Mobile Sta tio n. Undoubte dly
one of the most uni que and influential A.B'RSt atio ns was
developed in the Medi te rranean ar€ a. This wa s a 400- wa tt
tr ansmitt er mounted on a to n and one -h alf Army tr uck wi th
its power unit mounte d on a one -h alf to n tra iler. 'l'he
st udi o was built on a se cond tr uck . Thi s uni t closely
followed th e forces of the It al ian Campai gn .
Credi t for the mobile st atio n idea could not be
as signed by th is writer. The ea rliest reference wa2 found
in a 7 February 19 43 lett er from Vanda to �te bb ins . In
wri t ing ab out the two tra nsmitters shipped to Casa blanca ,
115
Martin H. Work, 19 June 195 0 .
\
38 9
Vanda stated : "The C omma nding Gene ral preferred to ins tall
the 1000 wa tt tr an smitte r at Gasa blan ca and use the 250
watt for 'm obile ' purposes . �
116
�ork , in a le tter
ll7
written to Lewi s 27 �ay 19 43 , wrote that he ha d laid the
ground work for a 400 -wat t mobile transmi tter that was to
be mou nted on a on e and one -hal f ton truck. He said that
he had secured neces sar y pe rmi ssion for equip m ent , persoru1m,
and the ac ti vat io n of the stati on. Ca ptai n Vernon N.
Ca rs tens en was sel e cted from the Oran ra dio personnel pool
to be the Chi ef of this novel sta tio n . ll8
It was beli eved that the 250 -wa tt tran smi tter ori g-
inall y ins tal led at Ou jda, Algeri a, becru ne the ba sis for
the mo bi le st �;. tio n . The un it was fi nally act ivated 25
October 19 43 and be gan its mo bile operatio n as the Fifth
army adva nced from Naples, Italy , in February 1944 . 119
'I' hroughout the remain der of the
I
talia n Ca mp ai gn the sta-
ti on followed close ly the adva ncing front -line troops .
116
Chnrles Yanda to ba rton A. St ebbi ns , 7 February
1943 , p. 1.
11 7
Martin H. Work to Thomas H. A. Le·w is , 27 May
1943 , p. 6; Supra , pp . 274 ff .
11 8
Mar ti n H. Work , 16 June 195 0.
119
Ve rnon N. Ca rstens en, 7 Ju ly 19 50 ; ( C. Court enay
Sa vage ), Progre ss Report , 26 �ay 19 42 to 1 Decemb er 1945 ,
p. Addenda 21 .
390
For progra m material thi s l''i ft h Army Ivio bil e Stat ion
carri ed a libra ry of phonograp h records and AFRS tr an scrip-
tions . Regul ar shows were produced with soldier talent
availa ble within the near -by troops . The st atio n could be
put into operation wit hin a few hours after sel ect ion of a
te nporary locatio n. To do th is personnel needed only to
swing the tr ansmi tter tower into positi on . Proba bl y thi s
sta tio n set the patter n for the more elaborat e mobile sta
ti ons of the �o uthwe st P acifi c Theater. Certa inl y th e
mobil e sta t ion represented the most speciali zed and appro -
priate appli catio n of troo p broadcas ti ng fac il i ti es .
On 3 June 1044 General .Ma rk Cl ark awarded the .I:'J fth
Army Pl aque and Clasp of Merit orious Service to Carstensen
and
hi s
men . 120
5. .F'og e·l as Theater Rad io Offi cer. From the
Summ er of 1943 to Jun e 1944 Baruch remained as Theater
Radio Officer
. l21
In July of th at year he was replaced by
Fogel.
122
Most of the Al''RSta t ions in It aly and Sout hern
120
Vernon N. Carstens en , 27 July 1950 ; {c. Cour t enay
Savage}, Pro gress Report , 26 ilJ.ay 1942 to 1 .Ue cember 1945,
p. Addenda 16.
1?.1
) - (C. Courtenay Savage , .P rogress rteport , 2 6 M ay
1942 to 1 vecember 1945, p. Addenda 15
.
122
Supr � , p. 231.
391
FIGURE 28
The Fifth Army Mobile AF.RS tati on in Italy .
392
Fr ance ·were activated wh ile l'o gel wa s the iv1 edi terrane an
Theater Radi o Officer. Some were previo us ly exist i ng
Itali an stations which were re qui siti oned for ri.F B.S tations .l2 .3
Later in the war the mobil e and fixed st at ions that served
the troops on the Sout he rn .C'r ench-ile r,nan border �; loved to
th e control of the AFN .
Somewhat elaborate prog rami ng chara cteri zed Fogel 's
tenure as Theater Radio Officer. Land -line telephone net
works linked the ou tle ts for spe cial programs . An AFRS
network broadcas t the Chris tma s Eve , 19 44 , n:;.idnight
Pontifical High Mas s from St . Pe te rs Cathedral in Rom. e
.
l24
Pope Pius th e Twelth was the Celebrant . On VE lJay ,
7
May
1945 , an AFRS network broadcas t col:l1cnen ts of th irty -two of
the most important Al lied �n ilit ary and civi lia n dig ni tari es
in the Home area
.
l25
Fogel remained as Iv ledi te rrane an Theater hadi o Office r
unt il 2 1 May 194 5 .
6. Sum mary of outle ts us ing AFR ::..; programs .
Acc ou nt s were found of 16 AFhStat ions bro adcas ting in the
12 3
Claude C. Tu r�er, 11 Apri l 1950.
124
Irving L . F'o gel , 7 Ju ly 19 50.
12 5
Loc
•
.£.!.! •
393
Afri can area.
l26
There were at least 8 .�-�Tc sound outle ts
and 27 commercial and/or gover nment stations using .aFRS
trans criptions in thi s area .
In It aly and Southern !'ran ee 24 �H'RStations were
activated . It is beli eved that only 1 government st at ion
broadcast AFRS transcriptions . No infor :nat ion wa: found
concerning commercial stations or sound outl ets.
Probab ly 7 AFRStati ons were activated in the Persian
Gulf Command. These were controlle d by the Army 's Office
of Technical
I
nf:Jrmat ion . AFRS transcriptions were played
by 4 co��ercial and/or government stations and at least 3
carrier current �T c stations .
In the entire Afri can- Mediterranean area there were
at least
4
7 AFRStations , 32 comme rcial and/or government
stations , a..11.d 11 carrier current and/or sound syste!'lls that
us ed AFRS transcriptions during
�
orld
W
ar II .
Rela.ti onshi
;e
of the outlets to th e co:m.c.1an ds . The
- .-- -
--
Af rican an d Mediterranean areas oifered the earliest
example of ii.bHS tations being directed from the level of the
126
Savage in (c.
C
ourte nay Savage
)
, Progress Renort,
26 May 19 4 2 to 1 �ecember 1950, p. Ad denda 22 , wrote that
twenty-three .t-:.. :B' RStations were ac ti va ted in the Afr ica n area •
.f ossibly he included stations th at were .id' C sound outlets
or some that were listed with other areas in this study .
394
of the th eater command . npparently the st ation-co �uand
relationships were ah•a ys on a most agreeable basis. From
The ater Commanders and h.n:ny Jo mmanders of the se areas cam e
especially laudi tory acknowledgments of th e APRStations '
servi ces . Also , here originated some of the most astounding
tales concerning soldier broadcast activi ties . Undoub tedly
publici ty -wise radio personnel he lped develop both th e
commendations and the fables .
Evi dence revealed that AF RStations of the se areas
were used very little to assist problems of command th rough
informat ional and educati ona l broadcasts . However, Baruch
apparently exl Je ri•ne n ted wi th the us e of n gag11 commercials .
No later ref erences to thi s te.ch ni que were di scovered .
Station � · Following is a tabulation of the
discove red informat ion concerning stati ons in th e nfrican
and l• lediterrane an areas that broadcast. AF 'RS transcriptions
during the period of thi s study
. l27
12
7
Supra1 p. 362. (S ee fo otnote )
CALL LOC ATION POWER FREQ UENCY OWNER OPEN CLOSE NOTES
- ' Casablanca 45 w ? I&E 15 Dec 42 ? French xtr
Morocco 300 w 'l Baling wire xmtr
�
lkw 1086 ko AFRS xtr !-+.
I-f
......
0 ' Oujda11 Algeria 250 w 1 I&E May 43 ? Became 5th Army
ID
:xmtr (?}
�
sn
1 � Algiers 400 w 111 0 ko Orig xmtr-Casa blanca
p.
Algeria 1kw 980.5 kc I&E 24 Vay 43 ' baling wire xmtr
WASS Dakar , Fr . w. 40 w 1420 ko I&E 3 May 44 Feb 46 X
c-t
Af' rioa
(I) �
� H
15 May 43 Vove d to Oran � !:';) 1 Constantine 6kw 660 ko I&E Aug 44
p:l c:
Algeria Texas xmtr
::J '::rl
(I) �
Sl:l
::s ' Phi lipvil1e 150 w ' Sig C Spring 43 ? Not an I&E outlet
ro
Algeria
�> 0
�
('J
Ill ' Tun is, Tunisia 300 w 121 0 ko I&E 1 Aug 43 'l X
(ll
(/)
., Oran11 Algeria 5kw 652 ko Sig C 16 Nov 42 Sep 46 Sig Corps to Psych
c-t
s:o
1200 w 1402 ko I&E War fare
c-t
I&E x:mtr 16 Aug 43 �J·
0
l::j
Joint op w/Algiers ., Algiers 250 w 80000 ko ' 16 Sep 43 '
Li
Algeria long wave Moved to I-'•
(ll
Rome
c1"
•
JCZE Cairo., Egypt 60 w 1410 kc I&E Jun 44 ? X
? Oran11 Algeria lkw 95600 ko I&E Aug 44 t Was Constantine xmtr C;'l
0
(Jl
�
.....,
1-j
CALL LOC AT ION POWER FREQ UENCY OWNER OPEN CLOSE NOTES
I-'•
0
WAG! Aoora 100 w 1485 ko I&E Jan or 19 Feb 46 X
l!l
::> Gold Coast Apr 45
fl'>
�
WADI Seidna, Africa 6 .. 1000 ko ss 1 1 X
p.
��
WDM? Maidu guri 5w 1000 ko ss ? ? X (I)
p,
Nigeria
I-'•
ct
(I)
WKNO Kano, Nigeria 5w 1040 ke ss ? ' X
1-j
1-j �:ti
p.? H
Comm/ Gov 18 Apr 43 ll hr per day from
::; 0 ' Algiers, Algeria 1000 w 'l May 43?
(!)
§:1
§
Am short- wave
tx:l
�· 1 Oran, Algeria 600 w 1 Comm( Gov 18 Apr 43 May 43? Net with above
1-j l\)
(I) (()
p.?
7 Constantine 250 w 1 C� Gov 18 Apr 43 May 43? Net wit h above
r.a - 0
Algeria
v
' '
0 ·'
ct �
p.? ct
' Bone, Algeria 1 7 Comm( Gov c. Apr 43 May 43? Net with above
ct �·
I-'•
::;
0
�
' Cairo, Egypt 20 kw 620 ke Comm/ Gov Feb 43 1 Perhaps Vanda ::.1 {!)
p.
set-up
t.,
- 1-'+
(.�
JCZE Heliopolis, Egypt ct 50w 1 Comm( Gov May 44 1 X
0
'
0
Madugura, Nigeri a 1 ? Conm/ Gov llay 44 Aug 45 X
::.1
ct
? Bir.er te, Tunisia 300 w 1210 ko ? May 44 Aug 45 X
1-'+
::.1
s::
1 250 w 54400 ko Gov Jun 44 Aug 45 X (I)
Khartoum
p.
Anglo-Egypt Sudan
Ctl
' Kano , Nigeria ? ? ? Aug 44 Aug 45 X (()
(J)
:t;.'
CALL UlC AT ION POWER FREQUENC Y OWNER OPEN Cl.D SE NOTES
1-1:>
�
1-'·
., Lag os , Nigeria 1 ' ? Oct 44 Aug 45 X
0
il'
::l
? Berber a 50 kw ? Gov ' '? X
�
Br. Somali land
p.
� ' Bl oomfon tain 1 1015 kc Gov ' ? X
(1)
s. Africa
p..
,_..
ct
., Capetow n ? 60 1 kc Gov ? 1 X (1)
�
1-:r:l
South Africa
� H
§
0
(1) §1 ? Dunban, s. Africa ? 560 kc Gov ? ? X
§
t:%1
:X.: ro
? Johanne sburg ? 639 kc Gov ? ? X
� tO South Africa
([)
IXl
ttl 0
? Kim berley ? 934 kc Gov ? ? X
0
tf.> ::l South Africa
ct ct
il' ,_..
ct
::l
' Diego Suarez 5kw 1 Gov ? ? X
,_..
�
0 (1) Made gas car
::l p.
- t:-i
? Kl1p heuve 1 ? 58800 leo Gov ? ? X
1-'•
ttl
Sou th Afri ca
ct
0
? Laurence Marque s 600 " ? Gov 1 ? X
0
Mozambiq ue
::l
ct
1-'•
? Marai sburg 1 60100 kc Gov 1 ? X
::l
�
South Africa
(1)
p..
- WQ7LO Nai robi, Kenya 50 kw ? Gov t ? X
• tN
(1)
....;]
�
1-t:!
1-j
1-'•
0
§
ll'
;::l
p..
E"::�
CD
p..
I-' •
C't
CD
1-j 1-rj
1-j H
§
Q
�
CD
§
� l\)
1-j (()
CD
ll'
- C/l 0
0
(/.l ::s
C't C't
ll' I-'·
cT ::s
1-' • �
0 CD
::s p..
......
t-1
1-'•
C/l
cT
- 0
0
::s
C't
I-'•
�
�
CD
p..
......
CALL LOC AT ION POWER FREQUENC Y OWNER OPEN CLO SE NOTES
1 Pietermartizburg
South Af'rioa ? 691 lee Gov ? ? X
? Pretoria ? 913 kc Gov ? ? X
South Af' rioa
? T an an arive 50 kw ? Gov 7 ? X
Madagascar
? Leo pold ville 50 kw 17710 kc Gov ? ? X
Bel. C:o ngo
? Braaa vi lle 50 kw 11 970 lee Gov ? ? X
Fr Eq Af' rioa
Follow ing are the known so und instRllations at ATC bases in the African Area.
Roberts Field, Lib�ria Marrakech, Moroooo
Casabl anca, Morocco Dakar , French We st Afri ca
Tuni s, 'ru nisia. Lag os , Nigeria
El :Zeneina, Ang lo-Egyptian Sudan
'I Pale rmo , Cici ly 3kw 565 lee I&E 17 Aug 43 o. Apr 44 Moved to Sardinia
? Fifth Army FixP.d 250 w 1500 lee I&E 25 Oct 43 c. May 44 Became mobile
(jl
1:.0
CP
!J:;.·
CALL WCA TION PO\VER FREQUEN C'!_ OWNER OPEN CI.DSE NOTES
H;,
--
l"j
1-'·
? Naples , Italy 400 w 1465 kc I&E 23 Jan 44 1 X
Q
? Cagli ari,Sardinia 500 w ? I&E c. 11 Apr 44 pre Sep 45 X
§
? Foggia, Italy lkw 1492 lee I&E 29 Apr 44 ' X
§
? Caserta, Italy lkw 1505 kc I&E Jan or Dec 45 X p.
�
Sep 44
(!)
p.
1 Fi fth Army Mobile 500 w 1630 lee I&E 16 'May 44 Sep 45 X .....
cT
(!)
l"j 1-r\
1 Ajaooi o, Corsica 400 w 1210 kc I&E May 44 pre Sep 45 X
l"j H
ll' Q
::s
�
' Basti a, Cors ica 1 ? I&E Jun or pre Sep 45 X
(!)
ll'
Jul 44
::s
::.C· 1.\)
' Bruen, Cors ica ? 1 I&E Jun 44 pre Sep 45 X
l"j .0
(!)
p."J
? Mila n, Italy 50kw 613500 leo I&E Jul 45 Sep 45 X (ll Q
0
1./.l ::s
cT c:t
' Rome , Italy
so .....
lkw 695 kc I&E 7 Jul 44 1 Algiers xmtr
cT ::s
1-'•
�
1 Rome , Italy lkw 613500 kc I&E 7 Jul 44 Dec 45 Algiers xmtr
0 (!)
;::; p.
- t� ? Seventh Army 1 ? I&E Sep 44 1 Nov 44 X
1-'•
(ll
cT
' Florence , Italy 400 w 1402 leo I&E Nov 44 1' X
- Q
1 Leghorn , Italy 250 w 1438 ko I&E pre May 45 1 X
0
::s
cT
1-'•
1 Bari , Italy 400 w 1474 leo I&E After May 45 Sep 45 ? X
::s
�
(!)
? Monteca ntin1 400 w 1321 ko I&E After May 45 Sep 45 X
p.
- •
Italy
Vl
.0
.0
l;J::o
1-i:l
CALL LOCA TION POWER FREQ UENCY OWNER OPEN CWSE NOTES
l'j
......
? Fiftee nth Army ? ? I&E After May 45 Sep 45 X
0
sn
Grp Mobile #2
�
sn
AFAI Civioale , Italy lkw 1402 leo I&E ? 21 Jan 46 X
�
p..
�
? Mi lan, Italy ? Long'Rave I&E ? ? X
(!)
p..
!-'· ? Udine , Italy lkw 1510 leo I&E '? Oct 45 X
cT
(!)
l'j �.rj
? Trie ste , Italy ? ? ? ? ? X
l'j H
p:i C.)
::J
§
? Gorizh., Ita ly ? ? I&E ? ? X (!)
sn tx:l
�
? Bari , Italy ? 326500 leo Gov pre Nov 44 post May 45 X
� [\)
l'j (()
CD
- ? Kazvin, Iran (? ) ? ? OT I Nov 44 Feb 45 X
sn
m 0
0
(/) � ? Ha.made.n, Iran ? ? OT I Nov 44 Feb 45 X
c-t ct- sn 1-'·
c-t �
? Bahrein ? ? OT I Au g 45 Oct 46 X
...... �
0 (!)
Saudi Arabia
::J p.
.._..
t-'
? Khor ramshe.hr lkw 1090 leo OT I Jul 43 Nov 45 Orig Carrier
1-'•
m
cT
Iran Curren t
0
? Tehe ran , Iran lk.w 1000 leo OT I Dec 43 30 Sep 45 Si multaneous
0
w/short _,.ave
::J
c-t
......
? Ahwaz 11 Iran 250 w 850 kc OT I Jan 44 Apr 45 Rep laced Carrier
�
� Current Move d to
(!)
p,
Kh.orram.shahr
�
�
•
0
? Khorra.m sha.hr , Iran 2 50 w 7276 kc OT I Apr 45 1 Nov 45 Khw az xmtr 0
� CALL I.DCA TION POWER FREQUENCY OWNER OPEN CI.DSE NOTES
H.>
-�
'i
I-'
EQD Te hera n 2kw 8521 ko Gov ? ! X
()
Persia
�
5J:l '? Jer usale m 20 kw 618 ko Co mm Apr 44 Feb 46 Radio Palestin e
�
p, Pale stine
�:I
;:=.
(tl
? Baghdad , Iraq 76 0 w 39100 ko Gov ? Feb 46 X
p.
j-J•
c+
? Bier ut . Lebanon ? 1 Gov ? Feb 46 X
(1)
'i l'rj
'".:! 1-1
' A tar , Tru oial ? ATC ' 1 Carri er current
§
0 ?
�
Coast
(1)
� �
:::1
WADN Adan, Arabia 5 w 1040 ko ATC Oct 44 Aug 45 ? Carr ier cur re nt
!"t:' 1:\)
'i (,()
(tl
_ WIRA Jlasirah Is land 6w 976 ko ATC Oct 44 Aug 45 ? Carrier curren t
ll'
(fl () Arabia
0
(/) :::1
c+ ()
p:, 1-'
c+ c
1-'• p,
0 (tl
;:; p,
- t;-1
I-'
(/)
c+
,..._
0
0
p
0
1-'
s::
p,
(tl
p,
� .._...
• 0
1-'
VI. TI T!!. A�·, llihiCA N .i: OI�C l:..S NETW Oh:i{ IN EU hOPE
402
The la rge st and mo st ela borate grou;> of wartim e Al'RS ,
out le ts was known as the American Force s :Network . At firs t
te lep hone li ne s lin ked more than fifty st andard -wave trans
mi tters , and a la rge number of sound syst ems, to central
stud ios in London , Englan d . Later the �ll ied hxpedi tionary
I' orces Program , a un ique broadcas t service es tabli shed and
gove rned jointl y by the BBC and the aF'N , be a.rned so ld ier
shows to the dl lied Army's invasion for ces advancins fro m
the Nor mandy Beachhe ad . In its third phase, the AFi J in
France used ex is ting comme rcial st ati ons as well as stations
es pe ciall y bui lt fro m Army equipment . �o r it s final
cove rage the al''N broadcas t throug h a se ries of high-powered
stations in Ge rmany . Some of these were lin ked by lan d-li ne.
The polic y of AfhS outle ts in Great nri tain, .fl 'rance,
and Ge rmany was controlled by the h�N he adqua rters . Th is
headqua rters operated dire ctl y un der Sup reme rlea dquart ers ,
Al lied Expeditionary Forces. All troop stations within
t1:1is theater were cons idered mem ber outlets of the AFN .
The fo llo wing se ction pre s ents a brief hi s tory of
t:J. e .n.F'N fro m its incept ion to the end of World War II
ho s tiliti es .
40:3
His tori cal deve lopme nt of the AFN . Within the
hi story of the Bri tis h AFN may be see n a mos t unusual radio
dev elopment . .i::i ere we re b.mer ic an programs broadcast in a
country whic h alrea dy had comple te radio cover age . The BBC
was gene rally accepted as the acme of gover nment-c ontrolled,
non-comme rcial broadcastin g . Yet , authori ties believ ed
that Ame ri can troops ne eded additio nal radio facil it ies .
The AFN was acti vated wi th the full consent of the BBC.
Ev idence rev ealed that a ce rta in amoun t of fri ction dev el
oped from the operation; howeve r, in all fair ness , credit
mus t be given to the BBC for its as sis tance in devel opin g
the new ne twork .
1. :b.:arly troo p programs . The operat io n of the
3BC was co�pletely differ ent from Ameri can bro adcastin g
practi ces. All stati ons wi thi n the Bri tis h Isle s were owned
an d programed by a comp any whose sole source of inc ome was
a tax levied upon radio rece iv ers . A sin gle program
schedule wa s broadcas t by telephone -wire -linked transmi tter s
located throughout the Bri tis h Isles . Private , in dependent
statio ns did no t exist. The single BbC program se ri es was
the only dome stic broadcas t that could be he ard . The pro
grams leaned toward the heavy classi c type of music, drama ,
and li te rature .
404
Ent ering World War I I be fore the United �ta tes, the
Briti sh felt the ne ed for troop programs far in ad vance of
th e US War JJepa rtment 1 s plan for such an a cti vi ty •
• • • Jn Feb ruary 1, 1940 , the "Program for the
F'o rces 11 was ad ded to the existin g oBC prog ram sched
ules . Openine with a 6:3 0 h. M. reve ille and run-
ning on until 11 P. M. it was originally desig ned to
serve the British troops then in �ranee , but so on
bec ame an effective alte rnate to the Home Servi ce
for lis teners of al l kinds . The emphas is is on
light entertainment , the primary purpose be ing to
provide programs sui table for gro up lis tening in
cante ens , barracks , and du gout s.
l28
Undoub tedly here was the earliest attempt of a gov erru.... "'lent
to provide special troop broadc ast s . Al so, he re was a sec-
ond series of programs for the British pe ople . At la st they
had a li stening choice .
At an early dat e the OVII arrang ed to have US Army
produced transcriptions broadcas t by the UBc.
l
2
9 The
mu. 'll ber of the se programs us ed was no t as certained . Probably
the actua l air time was limited . Ame rican offi cials felt
that the BBC "Home .t>r ogram, 11 the BLC "Prog ram for the
Forc es ," plus the small amoun t of time devoted to liS Army
trans criptions wo uld not meet the ne eds of the American GI
14 9 f.
128
Charles J. holo , hadio Goe s to War , 1942 , pp .
1
2
9
Glenn �he�ton to �ho nas H. n. Lewis , 2 3 �ov ember
1942 , pp . 2 f.
405
who was used to tl-w high-powered , sta. r- ltc.den , commercial1 zed
progra ms of i'. me rican ne two rks . 'I'he se rvices of the BBC
mig ht accentuat e bis own C.is loc ation. Ano ther s o l u ti on to
th e probl em seemed to be ne eded.
2. Poun d ing of the AFN. There is no doubt that
the foun dations of the .ti.i''N were bul l t durin g Lewis ' trip to
Alaska in th e earl y Sumrne r of 1942 .
1 ::: 0
Ther e he and Brof; hey
di s cusse d the pr ob le m of &ne rica .n troop broadcc.sts within
the bri t i sh Isles , there also Brophe� promised to set up
and man th e origin al troop s t at ions .
l' ollo win g the .tilas kan t ri p , .u ro. tih ey t rave l e d to Gre at
Britain. While therE: he die.cus sed the propo sed .o.merica n
tr o op stat ions wi th Gene ral George C. �arshall . l3l
Appal
entl;y Mal'shall fav ored o roph e y ' s id e as and re y_ ue s t ed that
the O'ii i mak e a st u dy of the pr ob le m . Becaus e of the way in
whi ch B ritis h r adi o was c ontrol l ed this was a proble m more
di pl om a ti c than mili t ary •
.Pro baLly Br ol:;h e y , then OWl Overseas Broadcast F'acj 1-
ities Chi ef, sent Brewster � organ to Gre at oritain espe ci aD�
for · the pr el iminary inve s ti gati on. Al so i{ lorgan wa s to make
130
Sup ra , pp . 97 f.
l
Z: l
'I '
heodore Art er to Comman din g
G
eneral , ET OU&A ,
12 Mar ch 1943 , p. 1.
406
begi nni ng negotiat ion s wit h the BBC . On 1 November
1
942 a
report of the si tuation was made to General :.&.is enhowe r.
l32
ln a short ti me Morgan was called to the office of Major
General E. S. Hughe s, the European Theater �eputy Chi ef of
Staff. .de was assured that the embryoni c plan of a twelve
statio n, america n troop network would be approved by the
theater co mmande r.
l33
Although it appeared somewhat unusu al, the EBC
approved the OV'JI pla ns for an Ameri can troop network on the
basis that this would be cons idered an add it io nal BBC
service . Wit h this approval many of the bBC technic al
facili tie s were made available to the new network . However ,
certain program rna teri al restrictio ns were im posed. These
were the same as those whic h held for BBC programs . They
re stri cted the broadcas t of questi oned lyrics and wri tings ,
and requi red corn pliance wit h Britis h ccpywrig ht regulatio ns .
P.t ti mes when Ameri can and riri tis h re s tri ctio ns we re at
varia nce , a problem resulted .
The actual theater appr •ove.l for the America n F'orce�
twork was dated 15 Il' iarch 194
3
.
13
4
'I' he Wir eless Telegraphy
1
3
2
12.2.· ill
·
1
33
Loc. ill•
1
3
4
Radi o Branch (AFRS) , Ameri can Forces jetwork , n.
d. (late Spring 1944 ), p. 1.
Board , the Eri tish count erpart of the ame rica n l'eder al
Communi cations Comm ission, granted a li cens e to operate a
network of fifty -watt transmi tters on two frequencies :
1402 and 1420 kilocycles .
135
Morgan and Guy Della Cioppa ,
a second OWI man , procured the original equipment for the
sta tions and es tabl ishe d operating agreements between the
OWI , the Us Army , and the .OB C. The first transmitters were
espe cially manufa.c tur·ed for the OWI . The studio equipment
and the telephoni c la nd-lines were borrowed from the .bBC .
This lat ter organi zation was reimbursed through re verse
Le nd-Lease .
l3
6
Morgan's organi zational plans for the AFN were
ext ensive and comple te . O
WI pers onne l were to be in charge
of facili ties . Army personnel would program th e stati ons .
A governi ng Board of J.Jir ectors was to include the following
pe rs ons :
l
3
7
1. Theater Chief of Special Services .
2. Th eater Chief of Publ ic hel a tions .
3
. OWI Chief of Broadcast ing in Europe .
4. Theat er Chi ef Si gnal Offi cer.
5. The ater Public Rela ti ons Radi o Officer.
6. Theater Chief of Administrat ion.
135
J..JOC . cit .
1 3 6
Karl K. Hoffenberg , 12 May 19 50 .
13
7
Charle s H. Gurney , 1.h1.::!.. � th e American I'orc es
1�etwork,
7
n.ugu st 1943 , p. 2.
7. Theater Bpe ci al Servi ces Radio Officer .
8. The ater Public helati ons Press Officer .
9. OWI Chi ef Engi neer in Europe .
The Program Commlttee member's we re
: 1
38
1. The ater �ublic he lati ons Radio Offi cer .
2. The ater Spe cia l Services Radio Officer.
3
. OW! Chief of Broadcasting in Europe .
4. BB C Program Repre se ntative (by invi ta .tion) .
It sh ould be noted that on both of the se 0omrd ttees the
408
Th eater Spe cial Servi ces Sectio n was apparent ly allotted an
unduly �n inor repre sentation. Thi s is es pecial ly noticeable
in vie w of the War J.Je partment dir e ctive stat ing that the
SSD was in control of al l broadcas ting to overs eas troops .
Probably the se Committees exercise d little influence on the
actual network operation.
�i eutenant Colone l Ch arles H. Gurney was se lecte d as
the The ater hadio Officer. In this capacit y he was Chie f
of th e A.F'N . Captai.n John S. Hayes, later promoted to
Lieut enant Colonel, was hi s assist ant. Gradually other
r!lemb ers of the progr�::� ming staff were as sembled . By May 194
3
four offi cers and th irteen enli sted men were assigned to
th e activit y , nine transmi tte r ·s had been erec te d and linked
by land-line to the central studios at No. 11 Carlos Place,
London, an d the AFl� was almost re ady to operate .
1
3
8
Loc. ill
•
3. Operatio n of the AF'N . On 4 July 194 3 the
409
fi rst AFI'T programs were broadcast over nine or te n tr ans
mitter st ations . 1 39
Through the follo wing two ye ars the
number of li nked afi'i liate stations grew as follo ws :
140
Date
-
July 1943
December 1943
lu ay 1944
Janu ary 1945
c. �lay 1945
A'u gust 1945
No vember 194 5
Num ber
10
14
4 3
51
53
33
none
The first twen ty -e ight , fifty-watt tr an smitt ers were
manufac tured by the T. W. T. Company in Lo s rtn geles for th e
ow I
. 141
The remaining AF'N tr ansmitters wer e procur ed from
th at comp any b� the ;:;;, ignal Corps at the re quest of .AF RS.
They wer e of essent iall y the same de sign
. l4
2
The BoO did no t beli eve th1:1t AFN programs shoul d
compete wit h its own service s for the Lond on audience .
ri herefore , it was not possible to broadc ast within th e cit y
itself. For radio coverage of the London are a, owr and
139
Ibid. , p. 41.
140
These figures were gathered from many sourc es
.
141
(G. Cour •te nay Savage), Historical l'� otes , No vember
1944 ' £· E. ·
14
2
Supra , pp. 273 f.
410
Signal Corps engi ne ers built an ela borate so und sys tem
simil ar to that used by the Musa k Company in Ame rica.
Public address systems were in s tall ed withi n the bui ldings
used by Amer ican service pers onne l. These were li nk ed by
telep hon e li nes to AFN headquarters . Simulta neously with
the regular ne twork statio ns , they rele as ed th e AF':N pro
grams . The tot al numb er of the se sound outlets was not
di s covered ; however, it was believ ed
l43
that this fig ure
was in excess of seventy -five .
Additi onal program coverage was achieved through
soun d sys tems at at leas t fi fty -eight ba s es of th e ATC.
The AfN man aged the dist ribut ion of rt}'hS tr ans cript ions to
the se outle ts
"".
.Progr amin g for th e AF'N came fro m .&F itS tr ans cript ions ,
OW I discs , BBC shows , and shows especially produced by th e
Al''N st aff . In order to st rongly es tabl ish the ir own
identity, th e l!J:i N eli minated ;;oat of the references to .AlES.
Th roughout the war AFfic . made "nany unsucces sfu l ef fort s to
st op deletion of th e name . They believ ed that the pract ice
was caus in g great damage to the Los Ange les operat ion.
Alt h ough contri but ing st ars heard troop broadc ;,;,.sts in the
143
Loyd c:. Sigmond , 21 November 19 50 ; Karl K.
Hof'f enberg, 21 November 195 0 .
411
FIGURE 30
Locations of A.i:'R S ' Ame ri can Force s 1�etwork Trs.nsmi tters in
the British Isles.
412
Eu ropean
T
heater of
O
peration, they did not realize that it
was chiefly thei r contributions to AJ:i R� "l Lo s An geles that
made these progra ms possible . f'urther m ore , it was fe ared
that the practice of minimizin g the name iiFRS would effect
liaison between Lewis ' organization and Eis enhower and his
sto .ff .
I n the Spring of 19 44
th e complete facilities and
/
management of the AFN was turned over to Hayes.
l44
He had
succeeded Gurney as Theater
f
iad io Officer . At that time
new central studios were opened at No . 80 Portland Place,
London. As .h.me rican troops were moved out of the british
Isles , the stations were deactivated in accordance with
their need . Nevertheless , th e AFN Headquarters were re -
tained in London for several months . All AJ:iRSt ations in
th e theater being under SH AE F Command , were considered
members of the AFN . They were subjec t to AFN regulat ions
and controls. '
I'h e last British A.FN st ations were closed
in November 19 45.
1 45
The British AFN, transmitt ing solely for Am erican
service personnel , apparently operated in the best Ame rican
144
Karl K. Hoffenberg , 21 November 19E·O .
145
British A}N stations are lis ted on the A� hS ,
Circui t outlets List , 1 November 19 45, p. 5. They are not
listed on the Al'RS , Circuit Outlets .Li st , l ].;e cember 1945 .
network tradition. Certainly it had a more complete
coverage of its audience thw 1 did any other A}RS outlet
group .
413
4. All ied Expeditionary Fo r 'ces .Prog ram. The
impending All ied la nding s in Frru .. ce offered AFR�. a chance
to pla n its first major coverage of inva sion forces . It
was common knowle dge that this invasion would take place .
Only the specifi c when, where , and how were secret. In
earl y Spring 1944 , Lewis travel ed to Lond on for an inspe c-
tio n of the nFN and to mak e pla ns for bro adcas t coverage of
the invad ing and advanc ing forces in Franc e .l 46 During
this trip he consul t·ed wi th 1U N, BbC , and SHAEF officials .
At ths.t t..lrn e i3BC officials offered the use of two idle ,
184-ldl owatt transalitters . SHJ ili}' was to decide the mann er
in which thi s equipment was to be employe d. Lewis
su bmi tted the fol lo wing re comme ndations .
l
47
1. One of the high-powered transmi tters would be
programed a.s a member station of the .nFi{ for
American troop cove rage.
2. The second transmitter would be programed by
the bBC for British and Canadi an troops .
14
6
Thomas H. A. Lewis , 19 Ju
l
y 1950 .
147
oroadcas t Service Se ction, Pro oo s ed � f.2r.
Ha dio Coverage for .1.' orthcom.in g :Hli tary Ope ration,
f!Q_,
2 0 May 1944 , pp . 1 ff .
3
. Mobile st&tions wou .l..d acc ompany the advancing
troops .
4 . Fixed st atio ns would be ins talled in France as
early as practical.
414
These plans were forwarded to Osborn , IED Ch ief in Washing - ton. He , in turn, sent them to } ... isenho wer, then SHAEF '
Chief.
At that sam e time Ki rby , of the Us Army's Br R ,
apparently fo rwarded a s ec ; Jnd pla n to b is enhowe r .
1
4
8
His
;la'1 was the sa:ne as that of .Lew is except that he advo cated
us e of - out one of the high-powered BBC transmitters . This
would be jo intly programed by the nBC a nd hi �l'J . se lli'-lov Jer,
seemingly tmaware of the essential differenc es be tween the
}_me and the AF'l\f programs , as we ll as th e Bl3C 1 s feeling
that all programs tmd er its sponsorsh
!
P must have strict
supervision , chose Ki rby's plan .
l
4
9
Ei s enhower was dire ct-
ing an integrated Allie d action. It was natural that he
should feel troop broadcas t services could be integrated .
Ho we ver, hi s decision caused one of AFRS' mo st tro ublesome
wartime problems .
1 48
Thomas li . A. Lewis, 19 July 195 0. In forward ing
this pla n it would appear that Kirby overs tepped hi s aut::10r
ity •. Here is a clear -cut example of the manner by whi ch
the AFN a tt e . n pted to gain co:::1p lete aut onomy and inde_p endence
fro m AFI-\S Los .An geles . t:;,upra, pp. 155 f.
1 4
9
,, Iar ·tin H. Work to Paul G. Horgan , 18 January
19 45 , p. 1; Thomas H. A. Lewis, 19 Jul y 195 0.
415
AS the pla.. "t'l developed, AYH was to send :no bile trans -
mi tters to .Fran ce as soon aftt- ;r the in vas ion as possible .
These would accomp any the troops . As encamp me nts were
established , fixed stati ons would be activated . One of the
184-l dlo watt tra. nsml tters would be kn,)wn as the Allied
Exp editionary Fo rces Program. There was to be a co-d.ir ec-
torship for which one mem ber would be from the BBC ru1d the
othe r fron1 SHAEF •
As actually es tablished the AE..l:' P was a servic e of
the BBC and so cons idered by the BBC , SHABF , ru1d AFN .
l 5 0
The A:l!'N was to contribut e program uni ts and was represent ed
on the AEFP bo ard , but it ha d no actual control in the
operation. Maurice Gorham ,
l 5 1
long a BB C executive , was
tha t organi za tion' s me mber of the co-directorship . Ki rby
was in London at the tim e the AEFP was be ing organi zed , and
in some man ner he succeeded in obtaining the a"j;l point:nent
to the SHAEF co-dirc ctorshi
p.
152
The AEFP 184-kilowatt transmi tter at Start Point ,
1 5 0
K
arl K. Hoffenberg , 15 May 19 50.
1 5
1
Supra , p. 16 .
1 52
B and leader Gl enn Miller and hi s Army Air :Force
!Ja nd were trans ferred to SHAE.B' to assist AEF P programing.
Se e : E. M. Ki rby and Jack W. Harris, Star Sgangl ed Radio,
194
8
, p. 142 .
416
England , be gan br oadcast ing it s speci al troop program s on
8 June 1944 , one day afte r the Allie d forces began thei r
invasio n of Normandy .
l
5
3
From its inception the BBC exer-
cised st ric t control ov er ever ythi ng that wa s broadcast by
the AEF.P . All ne· Ns was edi ted in the BBC news bure au and
voi ced by Briti sh announcers . These , and oth er ci rcum s tan-
ces, devel oped a highly vo lat ile relatio nship be twe en
Gorham and Ki rby whi ch eve ntual ly led to the appointment of
screen acto r �avid rii ven , of the tiriti sh Army , and Hayes,
the Al'N Chi ef , as replacement co-di rectors .
The AEFP, with predominat el y BBC programin g , contin-
ued trans mis sion until the earl y months of 194
5
when its
"
de acti va tion was orde red by SHAEF .
l
5
4
During its li fe AFr�
memb er st ations were ordered to rebroadcast as many AEF P
programs as possible .
l
55 At th at time wire -carri ed news
was not av ail ab le to st ations in France . The only au tho r-
ized sourc e of news was the AEF P. AH� affiliates were
ordered to rebroadcast the se British-edited and vo i ced
1
5
3
Ibid ., p. 1
5
6; Eob ert �' . Light, 2? September
HI
5
0, bel i eve d th &. t two tr ans mi tt ers nay have been used for
th e AEF'P ; (1) one 184-kw. for short -wave tr an smission, and
(2) one
5
00-kw . for st andard medium-wave transmission.
1
5
4
E. Iv'" • .Ki rby and Ja ck v, . Harris, Star Span8led
Radio, 1948 , p. 162.
1
55 True E. Bo ardman , 8 Iv1 ay 1950 ; Karl K. Hoffenberg,
5
?/fay 19
5
0.
41
7
news programs . Boardman ,
l 56
having made a tour of bFRS
outlets in France duri ng the lat e Winter of 1944 , reported
that the iiliF 'P news , wi th it s overly lauditory slant toward
the British Army , was unde rmini ng all other Ameri can troop
broadcast mo rale benefit s . He recommended to SHAEF , Hayes,
and Lewi s tha t the stations on the Buropean Cont inent be
allowed gre ater auton omy from both the British AFN head
quarters and the AEFP . Perhaps hi s st rong argQ �ents were
one of the ins trwn ental forces in caus ing th e AEFP to be
deactivated .
5. The AFN in Franc e and Ge rmany . Followin g pre -
invasion plans , mobi le �F N stations accompanied Ame ri can
troops advanc ing in Fra nce . The st ati ons wi th the Fi rs t and
Hinth Armi es we re act ivated in Engl and . A third st&ti on
fol low ed the Seventh Army as it progresse d fror::� Italy
throug h Southe rn Fra nce . These stati ons ren 1 ained wi th their
Arm ies as they crosse d the Fr ench Border and continued into
Ge rmany . }'or a short pe riod of time the Fi rst Army Mobi le
Station operated as a fixed station nea r Li ege , Bel gium.
This equipment and the stati on pers onnel were almo st lost
in the Battle of the Bulge , late in Decemb er 1944 . 1
57
15 6
True E. Boardman , 9 May 1950 .
157
Claude c. Turner 23 November 1950 stated that ,
eontrary to other reports , ihis F'irst iin ny Mo"6 il e stati on
418
Fixed French AFhStatio ns were acti vated as soo n as
st ab le encamp ments were organi zed . A small troop statio n,
land-line -lin ked netv .:or k was organi zed in .B'rance du ring the
early months of 1945 . 158
The key statio n was at Paris wit h
member st atio ns at .IiJ. arse illes and Rhei ms . Later the a.b'RS ta-
ti ons at LeHavre, Frankfort , and Mu ni ch were li nked to thi s
fari s network . The Paris statio n was the ori ginatin g source
of all news carri ed by the memb er stati ons .
The st �tio ns at LeHavre and Biarritz were ins talled
at the end of the war in Eu rope to serve troops be in g
amasse d for redeployment and training . Fi xed stati on s were
acti vat ed in Germ any to serve the occupa tio n troops .
Several of the origi nal German AJ:' N stati ons were in ::per atio n
at the time this st u dy wa s wri tten .
Exc epti ng a short ti me in Paris , all the equi�ment
used for French APRS tatio ns cam e from Ame ri can Army sou rces.
In Germany several of the transmi tters we re capture d equip-
ment. Frequency allocati ons in France wer e made by a bo ard
compose d of representativ es of the French br oadcas t in g
was the only wartime r�..FhS ou.tlet in be lgiu m . Radi o Lux em
burg was never an AF RS ou tle t although it may have use d
some AFFtS transcriptio ns ob tai ned by Psychologi cal Warfare
Officers .
158
Claude c. Tur ner, 2l No vember 1950.
419
agency , th e BBC , and SHAEF .
l
5
9
In Ge rmany .b.FRS tation
frequencies were assig ned by the .rl.m erican Signal Corp s.
l6 0
Of pa rti cular int erest was th e po s tw�r hi story of
th e Paris AF hS tati on .
l6 1
Its broadcast began 13 October
1944 . By th e Smrun er of 1946 th ere wer e not enou& h Ameri can
troops wi thin the li s tening are a of th e stati on to warrant
continuati on of it s oper ati on. Therefore , it was clo sed in
J1.m e 19 46. .Fr enc h civil ians imme di at el y requested the
Ame ri can Amb as sador at Pari s to caus e th e broadcast s to be
reswned so thlt th ey could continue to liste n to A.Fh. S '
star-s tudded pr ograms . For diplo ma tic reasons the hrmy and
the State DepL.rtm ent re -i naugurated the servi ce in t�ugust
194 6. Land-l ine tel ep hone wi re s carri ed th e )l'og rams from
the Fran kfor t .Al RStatio n to th e Pari s tran smi tter whi ch was
op erated by Fren ch national s. Th e Pari s '"� ·E:St8. ti on contin-
ned trans:�li ssi on of �•F h& progrr�ms unti l it was pe rma nentl y
clo sed at about the end of 1947 .
6. S1.un.mary of stations us i ng .til RS _t)rogr::u ns .
159
Cl aude c. Turner, 11 AprJl 1950.
160
Cla ude c. Turr::. er , 22 November 1950.
161
Thi s story is co;.n.mon l, :n ov; lcd.e;e . Uowel iU , the
det�:> ils here rep orted come from Cl aude C. 'l 'urner, 11 i1 .p r1 1
1950 and. 11 'l'he l:r ench Li ke it Hot ,11 Ne v vs week , :64, 13 Iviay
19 46.
420
rrobably there was. u ma.x�i il um of 53 me:nber statio ns of the
AFN in the .Dri tish I sl es . The London Sound Sy s terr. , an
integral p�rt of the Bri tis b AH � , was made u) of i1 J Ore than
75 uni ts . At least 58 Bri tis h Is la nd bases of the ATC re -
ce ived tr ans criptions for their us e over sound SJ' Stems .
Rese arch revealed tha t 20 trans mitters of the broadca st
.AF: F,�.l programs during the war . Thi s latter figure in c l uded
the trans mit ter, or transmit t e rs, use d for the AEF .l::' .
The aFN c ont roll ed 14 A.d•S ta tio ns in .2r an ce , inch::.d
ing 4 Mobil e
S
tations. Apparent ly no .l:' rench conune rc ia l and/
or go vernment stations broadc a s t tran scri ptio ns •
.P rob ably there were ma.n:y Ame rica n sound systems using the
discs , b ut no men tion of these was discovere d .
During the wa r 12 A FHS t at i ons we re act ivate d in
Germany . Nine were under the c ont ro l of the AFH . Thre e
stc; .tions in Au stria were controlled by the Medi terran ea n
T
heater Corrunand . i'.I obile Stations were no t inc lude d in thi s
total . Rec ords of commerci and /or government statio ns o r
sound sys tems we re not di s co vered •
.IJuring World V� ar II .;:.u•n S progr an c. s were transm i tted by
75 Al'RS tations , a. major so und system of :n ore than 75 outlets
in London , Eng l a nd , at le as t 58 ATC sound sy� t ems , and 20
BBC stations all of which were within the
b
uropean 'l'hba. ter
of Ope rs.t ions .
421
Rela ti onship of' the outlets to the Command . The A.i:'h S
outle ts in Great :bri tain, Fra nce, and Germany had the same
relationship to the E.uro pe an Theater Command that Work was
able to es tabli sh in the North Afri can Theater. They were
directly under the supervision of the �n eater Special
Serv i ces Section. However, during the fir fl t severa l months
of operation the Britis h AF'N outle ts were techni call y owned
and operated by the OWI. The dupli city of P..E r'P man agemen t
vo;as not fo und in any other WorlC. War II outlet.
Actual ly Ei senhower, through hi s as sistant , Major
General F.. W. Barker, exercised :ilo re control over AF'N sta
ti ons than did any ot ll er World v;ar II COrl1l.:" lan der. Thi s
seemed to af ford certain ver :� valuable advantages. However,
it also caused a few un forttmhte entanglements . The
original Al:..FP pr oblems v.,r ere a pointed ex w11ple . Tb.e J:.. FN was
the largest singl e .H.meri can troo p-broadcast operation. Yet
it almo st completely broke away from its A: F'E S attac hments .
Appa rently the ne twork chiefs did not fe el an ure;ent need
for AF RS help . Pos sibly here could be asce rtained the most
prominent example of "empi re buildinr;. " Cert.s .in AFN
poli cies seemed to be in direct opposition to the general
good of troop broadcasting . Undoub tedly bot h the i>.FN and
..:->FHS wei"e serlousl y harmed by this un satisfac tor y li aison,
which continued to affect bot h orga ni zations in the postwar
422
period.
No evidence indicated that AFl--1 at tempted to assist
specific comma nd problems . There were no notati ons of
organi zed informa tional and/or educational broadcast cam-
paigns . Apparently the .H.F'N goal was predomin :;;. ntly morale
and entertairu nent program ing .
Stat i on �· F'ollowinG is a tabulat i on of the
di scovered informatio n concerning stations in the European
Theater that broadcast AFRS trans criptions during the
I� ri od of thi s study .
l
62
162 s
.
62 upra., p
. 3 · •
{ See footnote )
CALL WCATION POWE R FRJ. '!QUENC Y OWNER OPEN CLOSE NOTES
-
(Britis h AFN) Probably there was a total of 53 transmit ters linked to AFN . All were 50 w.
AFN Shri venha.m Uni • 50 w 1366 ko AFN 4 Jul 43 Nov 45 X
Center
AFN Ta unton 50 w 1420 lee AFN 4 Jul 43 ? X
tr:t
AFN Tidworth 50 w 1402 leo AFN 4 Jul 43 ? X
�
'i
AFN Aloonbury 50 1402 lee AFN' 4 Jul 43 ' X 0 w
'0
(1)
§
AFN Po1errook 50 w 1402 kc AFN 4 Jul 43 ? X
�·
AFN Che ltenha.m 50 w 1402 kc AFN 4 Ju1 43 ? X
�
"""
(Oakla nd& )
(!:!
ti"
AFN Sal isbury 50 w 1420 leo AFN 4 Jul 43 ' X
s:o
c1" CA
I-'- 1-'
Shrivenham 50 w 1402 kc AFN 4 Jul 43 ? X 0 AFN
::3
t-l
!-'•
AFN Tatcha m 50 w 1420 kc AFN 4 Jul 43 ? X
(i.l
c1"
AFN Bri stol 50 w 1402 kc AFN c. 11 Ju1 43 ? X
•
AFN Chelv esto n 50 w 1402 kc AFN 15 Jul 43 ? X
AFW Bassingboume 50 w 1420 kc AFN c. 16 Ju1 43 ? X
Other transmitters were reported at the follo win� locations :
Barnsta ple Chester Ray don Londonderry Bude
Sunnin dale Botti sham
Prestwi ck Marston Magna Coxhi ll Gosfield
Stone
Grantham Wilton
.p.
ro
Radyook Park Wallingdale Watton Cuttingham Dorchester
CA
t;r!
�
'i
0
'0
(1)
ll'
:::1
:r.•
��
!2;
C!J
ct ll'
ct- 1-4•
0
::J
t;-1
f-4o
(/)
ct- 0
g
ct- 1-4·
:::1
s::
(1)
p..
..._.
tr:
H
Q
�
t:r!
Vl
.....
a
0
::J
ct- 1-4•
:::1
s::
(1)
p..
-
CALL LOCA TION POWER FREQ UENCY OWNER OPEN CLO SE NOTES
- - -
(British AFN) Cont inuat ion of the list of AFN transmi tters .
Bovingdon Stone leigh Glasgow Newport Warton
Lio hfield Pol brook Su dbury Horsham, Saint Fait h
Braintree CaDi> ridge Cow glen Deb ben
En ter Foxley Seething Sout hampto n
Yeovi l Tavi stook Westbury Belfast
High Wycombe Metf'i eld Wem. Kidder minster
Gouo hester Oxfor d Thelviston Bury, St • Ed. "'10nda
Following are the known locat ions of the London Sound System: (Probably more than 75
units exi sted.)
Rain bow Corner, Piocadelly Gen Devers' Suite , Dorchester Hotel Loun ge , 2 Mansfield St.
Duche s s Str6et Club Nur ses Club , 10 Charles Street Ju les Club , Ge rmayn St .
Reindeer Cl ub , Clifford St . Colum bi a Club , 75 Seymour Street Mostyn Club , Por tman St .
Washington Club , 6 Curzon St . Hans Cres cent Clu b, Knightsbridge Victor y Club , 15 Seymour
Mi lestone Club , Kens ington High St . Liberty Club , 13 Upper Woburn Pl. Hqrs . 8th Air Force
Prinoes Gardens Club , Princes Garden London Central Base Command (50 Units)
Th.,re were at least 58 sound systems operated at ATC bues in Grea t Britain.
�
[\')
�
1?:1
�
1-j
0
'0
(1)
p;
::s
:t:
l:rj
2:
'Ci-'
c:1"
fi"
c:1"
1-'•
g
t-1
f-'o
Cll
c:1"
0
0
::s
c:1"
1-'•
::s
�
(!)
p..
•
IT'
H
c.:-
c::j
�
(j:l
1-1
0
g
c:1"
1-'•
::s
s::
(!)
p..
CALL LOCAT ION POWER FREqUENCY OWNER OPEN CI.D SE NOTES
- (BBC stations transmit ting AFRS programs )
AEFP Start Point 184 kw Short- wave BBC 8 Jun 44 Early 45 Joint SHAEF-BBC oper
GB
I
May have been 2 xmtr a
AFN London 100 kw 60800 lcc BBC Jul 45 Oot 45 Mainly news relay to
(All American )
..
Continental AF1 stns
BBC London (t) 100 kw ' BBC Lat e 44 1 2 xmtrs beame d to OBI
BBC London (1) 50 kw Short- wave BBC 1 1 Two x:mtra
The following BBC transm itters broadcast 5 hours of AFRS trans cr iptions eaoh week. They
were al l land-line linked to GFP- BBC . London. This was the "Forces Progra m" net
work. Probably these were the stati ons on which the OW! place d AFRS tran sc riptions
in the Fal l 19 42 . They cease d using AFRS progra ms in Novem ber 19 45.
GFP-BBC GRG-BBC GBW-B BC GRJ-BBC
GRS-BBC GSB -B BC GSD-BBC GSF-BBC
........, GSO-BBC GSP-BBC GSU-BBC GSV-BBC
GWE-BBC GWQ-BBC GWR-BBC
lf.l>
tv
01
CALL LOCA TION POWER FREQUENC Y OWNER OPEN CLO SE NOTES
-
(French AFN)
7th Arm y Mobile 500 w 1500 kc AFN 1 Oct 44 May 45 Was Med Th station
�
1st Army U:obi le 500 w 1447 ko AFN Oct 44 ' Became 15th Mobi le
9th Army Mobi le 500 w 142 9 ko AFN Jan 45 May 46 Became LeHavre
0
"0
xmt r
(t)
P'
::J
15th Army Mobi le 500 w ? AFN May 45 Aug 46 Form erly let Mobile
�
:to-· H
xmtr
1-oj (!)
�
� {/J
Marseilles 350 w 1402 ko AFN 16 Sep 44 Feb 46 Was Med Th station
cT
Later 5 lew xmtr
P'
cT (JJ from Oran
.....,. I-'
0
::J
-
Norma.ndy-LeH avre lkw 1204 kc AFN 7 Oct 45 Feb 46 Later 9th Mobi le
(.l
t"i 0 xmtr Serve
.....,.
::J "
Cigarette
"
Camps
(/) cT
cT .....,.
::J
610 kc Jun 46 Orig Fr 7 kw xmtr � Paris 1500 w AFN 13 Oct 44
(.l (!)
Fr net. Supra . p 110
0 p..
::J
.........
Also; Su pra, p 111
cT
.....,.
::J
Di jon 350 1f ' AFN 20 Oct 44 Mar 45 Was Ved Th station
�
(t)
Xmtr to Nancy
p.
�
.
Nanoy 360 w 1267 kc AFN Mar 46 Oct 45 Xmtr from Di jon
Nice 350 w 1600 leo AFN 15 Apr 45 Jan 46 X
Lyons 50w 1366 kc AFN 21 May 45 Oct 45 X
�
(\")
(j)
�
"':!
0
'd
(l)
Sl'
:::3
�'
1-:rj
z
(/)
c+
jlJ
c+
1-'- 0
p
t-1
1-'- co
c+
0
0
p
c+
......
::s
s::::
(I)
p.,
.__..
•
CALL LOCA TION POWER
!!!S UENCY OWNER OPEN CLO SE NOTES
-
(French AFN) Continua tion of the list ot AFN transmit ters.
Cannes 50 w 1375 ko AFN May 45 Feb 46 X
Rheims 10 lor 1231 kc AFN 12 Jun 45 Nov 45 Orig bal ing wire xmtr
Biarrit& 350 w 1375 ko AFN Aug 45 Apr 46 (?) Serve I&E Sc hool
(German AFN)
Q
The 1st, 9th, and 7th Army Mobi le Stations operated in Germany prior to May 1945 .
C'
� KOFA Frankfurt llar 1402 kc
01
.....
..........
Munich 100 w 1249 leo
0
0
p
c+
5' KAFA Salzberg liar ?
s::::
(l)
p., K.� FA Vi enna llm 1
-
KZGA Lint 1kw ?
Muni ch 50 kw Short-wave
Bremen 2500 w 1238 leo
Berlin 350 w 1420 kc
Kas sel 350 w 144'7 kc
AFN May 45
AFN May 45
ss Jun 45
ss Jun 45
ss Jun 45
AFN Jul 45
AFN' 4 Aug 45
AFN 6 Aug 45
AFN Aug 45
'I
1
f
1
?
?
Sep 45
?
Mar 46
Orig xmtr German
Lat er 10 lar Army
xm.tr �-�a, p 11 0
Germa n xmtr
Supra, p 11 0
Under M�d Th Cmmnd
Under Mad Th Cmmnd
Und er Med Th Cmmnd
Repeat standard xmtr
German :x:mtr
Germ an xmtr
ArYII¥ xmtr
Army Xl'lltr
tP>
[\)
-J
171
�
f:j
0
'"d
(1)
I>'
!:J
'r'
::r. H
Q
c::
�
(!� tr:!
c1"
P-1
c1" Vl
t-J• 1--'
0
i-l
(')
t"i 0
�· ::s
(fl (')
c1" 1--'
r:
p..
(') (1)
(.) p,
i-l
-
(')
H
c
PJ
(1)
p..
CALL LCC ATION
�..!!.
FREQ UENCY OWNER OPEN
(German AFN) Continuation of the list of AFN transmitte rs .
Bremerha ven
Stuttgart
Be.yeruth
50 w t AFN
100 kw 1249 kc AFN
1 kw 1204 lee AFN
Sep 45
Aug 45
Dec 46
CLOSE
-
t
?
?
NOT ES
-
Replace Bremen
Army xmtr
Munich lan d-lin e
German xmtr
Xmtr from Naple s
H:: [\J
(P
VII. OUTwTS IN THE CH INA -BURI ·ilJ,. -IND IA THEJ: ... TER
429
The hi story of the Allied Fo rces in the ChiLa -Bunn a-
India The ater is ne arly a story of a campaign apart from the
re st of World War II. For long , tedious mon ths soldi ers
and civilians st rug gled to open a back door to China . When
thei r job had bee n accomplished they .found that su ch a
portal was no longer ne ce ssary . lv >aterials co uld en ter
thr ough the sea-lanes of the Pacific . Yet the war in the
CB I Theater was a truly monu mental effort to revi talize a
nearly conquered peop le . The cons tant harras sing by the
en emy , Japan , and the forc es of nature made the jog almost
bnpos sible. Build ing the notori ously di ffi cul t Stillwell
Eo ad was the major mi ss :i.o n . A combination of thi s ro ad
whi ch stretched from ledo , India, to Chu ngking , China , and
the air-lift operating in the same vicini ty even tu ally gave
a passage throu gh which the necessary sup plies could be
delivered .
A}RS out lets wi thin the CBI were ac tivated to serve
troops bu i lding the r·oad , 11 flying the Hump , 11 and amassing
the materials that were to enter Chi na' s back door . Cir ·cWll-
stances ke pt Al'HS , itse lf, from being of major as si s tance.
The stati on s developed later than ou tlets in other thee � ters .
'
A sati sfactory exposi tion o.f the problems encou.nte ln
430
bui lding troop broadcast ser vi ce in thi s the ater w&.s not
fou nd .
aL:: .t ori cal develo pment .2.£ the outl ets . The earli est
1 .::n own AFhStatio n in the C:BI was act.iv& .te d at Chabua, Indi a,
during November 1943 . The ci rcums tances whic h led to thi s
outle t were unknown . Probabl y thi s w&.s a smal l, unauthor-
iz ed trans::ni tter .
1. The Indi a outle ts . In Janu&.ry 1944 , Jack
son,
l
6
3
AFES ' Nashin gton pro curement offi cer , was sent to
the CBI to form ula t e pla ns for compl et e radio coverage of
the area. Savage
l
6
4
credited thi s man wit h the ini tia l
pl anning for the fol lo win g outle ts . The Ar'hS tatio ns in
Indi a were activ ated be fore others in the theater .
Pri or to the war there exi st ed a gover nment-control1a:l
net work in India. It was called All -India Radi o and
operated in a manner si mi la r to tha t of the BBC . No other
agenc y was li censed to broadca t wi thin th::- "t country . In
order to es tabli sh authoriz ed Ameri can troop st& tio ns on
the soi l of thi s ally , it was ne cessary to obtain perrr dssio n
fr om the India Posts and Teleg raph De;:: artmen t. Proper
163 s
'?
upra , p . .... 17 .
1 64
(
C. Courtena:; Savage), £. regre ss I;e·� �ort, 26 l.ia�
1942 to 1 December 1945 , p. 13 .
431
requests for the authori zatio n we 1•e apparentl y made ear ly
in January 1944 . However, b-y 24 January 1944 it had become
evi dent that the ag en cy did not deei re to breach All -India
R.a dio 's monopol y
.
l6 5
Wri ght ,
l66
a po s twar i..t' ES Com.�.11 ander
wh o was statione d in In dia durin g the :::> pri ng of 1944 , re -
porte d that Bri tish hnny offic ials did not co ope rate in
ob taining the ne cessary penni ss io n .
As earl y as 24
J
anuary 1944 Major John B. Ni xon , the
Theater Speci al Servi ces Offi cer , requested tha t the al li ed
Theat er C 0111. '11 ander, Lord Loui s =vl on tbatten , be asked to inte .r
cede on behalf of the s t;:; ,tions .
16
7
Alre ady AlES transc ri p-
ti ons and sui table tran smi ssio n equi pment had been in the
coun try for some time . 'l'ir ·in g of con tin ued postpone ments ,
Li eutenant Gene ral Jos eph �till we ll , the ame ri can Troop
Comman der, ordered the st ati ons to be put on the ai r wi th -
out regard to agreement s wi th the Bri tis h Army or the In dia
Posts and Teleg raph Departmen t
.
l 6
8
The sec ond un authori zed
16 5
John E. Nixon to Dan I. Sul tan, ••l emoran 6.um , 24
J
an uary 1944 , p. 1.
166
w. Mason Wright , Jr. , 12 May 195 0.
16 7
John B. Nixon to Dan I. Sul tan , .>l emor&ndum 1 24
January 1944 , p. 1.
16
8
W. Mason Wri ght , Jr., 12 �ay 195 0 .
st atio n began broadc ast. i ng 21 ��" s.rch 1944 at New Delhi ,
India . In a memoran dum
l 69
dated 1 apri l 1944 the India
432
Govern ment aut hori zed ins ta llatio n and operati on of A.F'hS ta-
tio ns at New .vel hi , Karachi , Agra , Chabua , Ledo , and
Calc utta. The Indi a fost and Te le graph De�r tment assig ned
call le tt ers , fre4_ uenci es, and a tr B.n smi ssio n power of not
more than fift y- wat ts for each st at io n. Succeedi ng author -
iz at io ns were app�rently eas ily ob tai ned as the troop needs
devel oped. There was no concrete indi catio n of the actual
means by whi ch th ese author iz atio ns were ori gin all y
obtain ed.
At the sarne time th at the Theater Special Servic es
Offi cer was develop ing A.l: F tSt at io ns , si mila r st at io ns were
bei ng bul l t by the Aillerlca n Ai r .F orce . Tb.e lat ter also
made some sound inst alh ' ti ons in
I
ndia. No specif ic rec-
ords of Air Fo rc e radi o activ ities wer ·e di scovered.
2. The Burrna out l ets . .h. lhSta ti ons in :Dur m.a
were a di re ct growt h of the stutio ns in Indi a. In the
Spring of 1944 fiv e offi cers and several enli st ed gr aduates
of the Lo s Angeles b..fh S School we;re sent to the CB r .
l 7 0
170
J
hn , .
o. . " • T' 1950 .
4
33
Or iginall y these 3en worked in Indi a s t at i ons . Following
the adv a n cing troops in Bu r'l.na these :nen -r1 .oved i nt o the area
to esta bl is h new A}fi Stations . The Ai r For ce es tabl i shed
the ea rl iE;st st Rti on at Bhamo and then turne d it over to
pe rs onnel. The original equi pment for the Burma. sta
tio ns were f if ty -wat t T. W. T. transmi tt ers .
l7 1
These were
repla ced by transmi tt ers obt ai ned f'rom the .:ii r .t' orce . Fr e-
quen cie s for the se statio ns we re obt ained f'rom the Signa l
Gorps .
3. Th e China ou t l e t s . Although exi sting re c
ords r ev eal thdt there were seve ral Worl d War I I AFR� tat ions
in China , they do not give backgrou. Yld infon. 'lat ion. In
August 194 5 thre e members of the A}RS Lo s Angeles staff were
sent into China to pla n new st cti ons .
l72
However , no re -
ports of their act;ivi ties were discovered . The information
gathered regarding hFRStat ions in China may be found in the
f::lllo wing Station � · Apparentl y th ere was li ttle
connectio n be t ween the Indi a-Burma st at i ons and tho se .in
Chi na.
)
4. Sumrfla ry of' outl ets us ing AFRS programs .
1'71
1££_. cit.
17 2
(
C. Co urt en ay Savage ) , Progress heport , r� 6 ,,; ay
1942 to 1 Decemb er 1945 , p. 7.
434
Probab ly 14: :� H\ Stati ons and &t least 5 sound systems were
activated in India by the Theater Spe c i al Services Offi cer
and the Ai r J:.or ce . There we re 3 .t>.rm:y -owned s t& ti cms in
�.urr na. No cowmcr ci al and /or government st ations broadcast
AI>'hS shows in Indi a or .Dur ma . A.J:iES fi le s revea l that 18
AF'hS tt�.tions were a ct i v a ted in China. .Possi bly some of
these were sound systems ; there was no record of suc h
ins ta ll ations in th& t cou ntr y . A.b hS programs were broad
eas t by 5 co m:n e rci al and/or g o v ernmen t st ations in China .
Duri ng Worl d War II pos s ibl y
32 AFBStat ions , at
leas t 5 som 1.cl systems , and 5 com.:.t 1ercial an d/or governm ent
st ations broadcast AFhS trans criptions in the Chlna -Burma
lndi a Thea ter .
Relatio ns hiJ2 .2£ � ou tle ts 12_ � comm �:md . The CBI
Theater proble: ns of :::J:oral e were di fficult. App aren tl y fro m
the e arl y days of 19 44 high-r ank ine; off i cers were cJ ncerned
with the develo rnn ent of h.FES tations to as si st morale .
Probabl y Stillw ell , hims elf, tool{: an ac tive part in thi s
a ct i vity . �ithin this theater the control of the stations
rested with either the The at e r Special Services Section o r
the Air . b o rce . Super vi s ory offi ce rs were apparently able
to ob tain n e e de d equi pment and pe r s on nel with compa rative
ease . Simil ar de s irable rel ationships seemed to exist
4
3
5
betwee n th e command and the stations in Ghina . Furthe r:nore ,
it was re ported 173 tha t ,1- rf ,S ta tion p e r s onn e l in China
developed very advantage ous re lationshi ps with civi l1ans ,
broadcasters , and govern ment off i �i al s .
The re were no indi cations of organi zed ei'forts by
'
AFh.Stations to as si st pr·oblems of corn,;nand or to broadcas t
'
inf orm ati onal and educational ma terials in thi s thea ter .
Station �.
1
74 Fo llow ing is a surnmary of informa
tion di scovered relative to the st , ,�tions in the
C
hi na -Burma -
India Th eater th at broadcast AFRS transcriptions .
1
7
3
Francis J. Se eley , 29 i�u gus t
1
950.
1
74 no
Suora , p. 3o� . ( See footnote )
CALL LOCAT ION POWER FREQ UENCY OWNER OPEN CWSE NOTES
-
(Indi a)
VU2Z V Cb abua lkw 1305 lee I&E Nov 43 1 Apr 46 Orig unli censed
0
VU2ZY New Delhi 50w 1305 kc I&E 21 Uar 44 1 Apr 46 Orig unl i cens ed
I:>
1-'· Key sta of Indi�
!::i
Sl'
&I
VU2Z W Agra 50w 1356 kc I&E Summer 44 1 Apr 46 X
�
�
VU2ZU Calcutta lkw 1356 kc I&E Summer 44 22 Apr 46 X
Sl'
I
VU2ZX Karachi 50w 1330 kc I&E c. Jun 44 21 Jan 46 X H
::s
p,
'ri
I-" 1-=i
Kand y, Ceylon 50w 1355 kc I&E c. Aug 44 28 Nov 45 X
Sl' (i)
c:::
t-3
� VU2Z T Ramgarh 50w 1330 kc I&E o. Dec 44 ? X
P'
(!)
IJ-"1
CN VU2ZQ Gaya 50w 1355 kc I&E ? Nov 45 Possibly sound system cT
'
(!) N
1-:l
(/.)
VU2ZK La1mani r Hat 50w 1330 lee I&E ? Oct 45 Possibly AF stati on
cT
Sl'
VU2ZJ Ter. gaon 50 w 1305 ko I&E ? Dec 46 Pos sibl7 AF stati on
cT
1-'- 0
;:; VU2ZR Jorhat 50 1f 1340 ko I&E 'I 3 Oct 46 Poss ibly AF station
t-1
1-"
VU2ZS Mi ss.:m ari SOw 1330 ko I&E ? 10 Oct 46 X
(Jl
ct
•
VU2ZP Ban go1c·re 60w 1305 lee I&E ? Nov 45 X
VU2ZN Ledo 600 w 1330 kc I&E ? ? Repeater 15 Mar 46
Tezpo:r ? ? AAF(?) ' ? X
If:>.
(N
OJ
CALL IJ.!CAT!ON POWER FREQUENCY OWNER OPEN CIJ.!SE NOTES
- 0
(Burma )
::r'
USFBC Shingbyiwang 250 w 1390 ko I&E c. Aug 44 Sep 45 (?) X
1-'•
:::1
Sl'
USFBA Myi tky ina 300 w 11 10 lro I&E o. Aug 44 Nov 46 Orig Spec Sorv Sta
t!ci
�
USFBB Bhamo 1kw 1320 ko I&E pre Nov 44 Sep 45 (?) Orig AF Station
�
s:o
(China)
I
H
�
XGOE Kweiln ? ? I&E Feb 44 (?) Sop 44 Perhaps cmm( gov ate.
p..
>J:o
_,
1-'• H
1:\1
Q
XNEW 1kw 620 ko I&E pre Aug 44 Feb 46 Orig Spec Serv Sta � Kunming
1-]
f1j ::r'
ro
KRAY Pehtaiho ' ? It Dec 46 Mar 46 X
SD
c1" Vl
ro {\)
XONE Peking ? 1480 lro I&.E Nov 46 1 X
1-$
�
((; 0
I&E ? X c1" 0 KJAM Chungking 50w 1500 lro Aug 45
p :::1
c1" c1"
I-'• 1-'•
XWRA Kweiyang 50 w 1000 ko I&E ' Aug 46 X
0 :::s
:::1 �
(l)
XJAX Luli ang 200 w 1270 kc I&E ? Aug 45 X
t'-1 p.
I-'- ._...
Ul
c:-t XNAC Chan yi 15 w 1510 kc I&E t Aug 46 X
.--.
0
XRO L Yan gka.i 3.2 w 1270 leo I&E ? Aug 45 X
0
::::>
c1"
XEAW Y unn anyi 200 w 1225 kc I&E ' Aug 45 X
1-'•
H
.....
�
X (l)
XUSF Chung king 100 w 1365 leo I&E ? Mar 46
�
- •
XJO Y Cheng tu 250 w 1460 ko I&E ? Feb 46 X
�
Cfl
XHAN Liangshan 300 w 1580 ko I&E ? Aug 45 X
...::l
CALL LOCAT ION POWER FREQUb 'NC Y OWNER OPEN ClOSE NOTES
-
(China)
0
::>'
XREC Luhsien 50 1f' 1600 leo I&E ? Aug 46 X 1-'·
�
�
Possibly oo� gov
I
XMHA 9 Shanghai ' ? I&E ? ?
tJ'
�
�-- �
!3
XBOR Tientsin SOw 1500 leo 6th Marine ? ? X
so
I
KABV Tsingtao 50 1f' 1580 leo 6th Me.rl ne ? ? X 1--!
�
p.. 1-r;
1-'• �·-i
XWOB Peishiy a ? ? ? ? ? X
IY' c;-1
c
f-]
,._,_,
,.-•
XPRA Kunming 5-50 kw 690 leo Gov pre Mar 44 Nov 45 X
P' to:"
cc
p:;
XGOA Chungking ? X
c-r Cfl ? Gov pre Mar 44 Nov 4 5
(t) ro
1-j
........
XGO Y Chungking ' 1 Gov Apr 44 Nov 45 X
UJ 0
ct" 0
p:; ::s
XGOX Cheng tu 1 ' Gov 1 ' X
c-r 0
1-'· 1-'
0
�
� p.. JO.ffA Shanghai ? ' Comm. 1 ' X
(t)
.t-t p..
1-'·
(JJ
ct"
-
0
c
;:J
0
j-....J
�
p..
(t)
p,
..._..
•
�
Cfl
co
During �orlj �ar II there were three ma jor All ied
Comma nds in the l?aci c Ocean areas .
1. S outh Pa cific Corr illl and .
2. r.: id-?acific Jom.mand .
3
, Southwest Pacific Command .
4
3
9
}Tom time to time the �ctua l terr i t ory lncluded within each
was al tered. Fi nall y , on 4 April 1945, the ?acific Oce� �
areas were reallocc..t ed to two CO Lm nan ds .
1. Paci fic Ocean Co �m and .
2. .F' ar ha st Corr.r nand .
The ma jor development of AJf'I\S ' Pacific outl ets
occurred during the existence of the three cortlJnands , Thi s
study' s presentati on of releva.. �t ma terial is divided into
three sections whic h foll ow the general geographi c delin
eations of the three areas ,
AF RS outlets in the S outh Pacific Command are con
sidered in this first section . The South Pacific area li es
west of South Ameri ca , east of Australia, and south of the
Equator. Here were the early 1battles of the War in the
Pacific. Here were early ma jor concentrations of servicemen ,
As a result , the first troop broa dcas ting activities were
de ve loped at these encar:tp me nts.
440
His torical development of the outlets . Poss ibly
.t�.FEE: programs vr ere fir:';t heard in the SDuth .2acific Command
over the ZB Network of the New Zealand broadcas ting Sys tem.
Uncertain informs tion reveale d tha t four stations of thi s
network began to broadcas t Ame rican troop trans criptions in
July 1942 . Supposedly sixteen ZB st8.ti ons were transmi t-
ting such shows by 1943. Proba b ly BPh disc s , di st ribut ed
by the OWI , were us ed for these early broadcasts . Since
the OWI distribu ted �ihS press in�s in 1942 some of these
:aay have been transmi tted by ZB Network atfilia tes . Such
OWI pla cement of AFR� .> sh ow s would be in agreem ent wi th
practices em ployed in other the aters •
.F ogel
l7 5
reported thut he arranged f'or early New
Zealand broadcas ts of APhS programs . In ac cordance with
plans made in Los .t.�on geles , these bro adca.s ts were to begin
i :::1 Decemb er 1942.
1. A}RS tation act ivation. In the �inter of
1943, AF hS Los .rtnge les apparently received a re quest for
pers onnel and equi pme nt for three Al ·hS tations in the South
Paci fic Is lands . On 15 January 1944 an AB RS special or
der
176
sent three tewu s of' i�F 1l.S School graduate s and
17 5
Irving L. .Fog el , 7 July 1950.
17 6
.:�F RS , t:>p ecial Order No. 10 , 15 January 1944,
PP •
1 ff .
441
appropriate broadcast equi pment into that area . Tour tel
lotte ,
l 77
a po s twar a�RS Exe cu tiv e Offi cer who was wi th
wart ime Paci fic Al''RSta tio ns , st at ed that the se men landed
in the Admi ralty Is lands . From the re they were sent to New
Cal edonia, Guadal canal , and .bou gainville to ac t lv ate new
st atio ns .
The fi rst ii.Fh St& tio n was ins tal led at Guadalca nal ,
in the So1or.J.on Isl ands . It be gan tr ansmi ssion on 12 l•larch
1944 . The second stati on was erecte d at �o ugainvi lle , al so
in the Solo mons . Thi s statio n replaced a bailing -wire
tra nsmitt er . The Al EStatio n at N01.L'1l ea, New Caledo nia, was
t�i rd . It re placed equi pm en t th ct was prob ably bought in
Aus tr alia by the American Red Cross
.
178
1Ni thin the next
few months .ii .. FhStati ons we re ins ta lle d at Espir:L to �ant o, in
the New Hebrides, and Tutui la , Samoa . Thi s group of st a
tio ns became kn own as the lvl osqui to i'l" et work.
l7 9
This , of
cour se, was not a te le phone -l ine -l inked ne twor k. It was an
associatio n of outlets un de r the sam e com�and .
177
}�a nkli n K. Tour tel lo tte , 13 hpri l 1950.
lr/8
Thi s is the only di sc overed instance in �hi ch the
Ame ri can Red Cross assiste d troo p broadcas t act iviti es
dur ing Worl d War II .
179
Sta ff Sergeant George D. Dvorak , a member of the
original Guadalcanal cadre , has been credi ted for origina
tio n of thi s name . See : E. M. Ki rby and Ja ek v; . Harr:ts,
0ta r Spangled Radio , p. 60 .
442
The earlies t members of the id 'RS School South Pacific
cadre to arrive in the Com .. rn and were Ma jor Purnell H. Gould
and Major Cliffo rd A. !r ink . Go uld became South Pacific
Radio Ufficer on 11 January 1944 . 18 0
Frink was Hppointed
Corr Lrn and Radi o kngineer. Gould was transferred to the lu id
.t'a cific Command in June 1944 . Prink became South .Pa cific
Radio Officer at that time . In Augus t of that sa.r:1e year
¥rink followed Go uld to Hon o lulu . Captain Spenser M. Alle n,
also a member of the So uth Paci fi c cadre, was F.. adio Officer
from August 19,14 until April 19 45 when the South .?ac ific
Command became part of the new Pac ifi c Ocean Comma nd . l8l
2. Comm6 rcial and/or government outlets . In
the Spring of 19 44 the New Zealand Gove rnment cons tructed
station l Ziit at Auckland . Beginning transmi ssion in Ap ril,
it ·wa s operated by the Ame rican Army on a lo an basis. Con
currently , AB�S trans criptions were broadca� t over eighteen
other stations of the New Zealand Broadcasting Sys tem, a
GOVe rnment -owned monop oly . l82
In cemb er 1944 station lZM
was turned ba ck to its builders1 and broadcasts of AFRS
sh ows on the othe r l�ew Zealand stations were di s continued .
18 0
C li ff ord H. l'rink 1 29 November · 195 0 .
181
12.£. ·
ci t •
182
Willia m Yb.t es to T. s. DeL ay, Jr., 10 July 195 0 .
i'une rican troops had rnoved fro m that co untry .
During the war AhhS programs were broadcas t ov e r two
commercial st� ,t ions located at Suva , in the .t' ij i Island s .
3. Chans e s in the co m.-:1 and area. Bedefiniti ons
of' ge ographic lines 16-ter transfe rred the s tc. .t io-::1s at
bou,gainvi lle an:i i.l Wld a to the Southwe st Paci fic Co mmand .
In April 1945 the South :i?a ci f ic and Central Pacific Co m.":land
\7Cr e com bine d int o the .2a ci fic Ocean C ommand . Because of
tJ:1i s re organi zati on the .,:osqui to He twork s oon lost i t s
iden tity .
4. bur.1:i 1ary of out lets u s :::. ng .;. l h�� pros ra.ms .
Uuring Wo rld Viar II s ervice personnel operated 8 .Ar hSt&tions
in the �outh Pacific Co.:nma nd. Al' ES trans Gripti .o .� cs -,,·ere
tn msmi tted over at least 21 co mm el'ci al and /o r governent
sti:itio ns and 20 Ame rican s erv i c e sound sy s t en: s .1
8
3
The
Marin e Corps Air .t' o rce �ay have control�d 13 of these
l&.tt ;er cutle ts .
He le:o tionshi .I::; 21· th e out lets to the Co :;·�,ma nd . .h.cJp c..r· -
ently the orlginal r�q ues t for n� 1Statio ns in the �o uth
.t?a.. cific came cl i r c r ; tl;y fro m that co m.rn and 1 s h.: ters .
:,iost o.f the st&tions an d the ir p ersonne l werE er tll.e
cH rect control and supervision of the Comi;J �md t\ ac'l lo cer.
444
.Pro ba b1y a S� )e cifi c Table of Organization fu! d Lqu .i pment WEtS
established for hi s stations .
Spc cifi c at tc .r:1p ts to assis t problems of co�:mmnd were
fou nd in records of e 0outh i'ac s. .n.lle n ]£3 4
in two i ne iclec , r e 9 o r t cd much success was gained
t}� ,rou(:£ h inform ation and recti ons inser ·ted wi thin the
programs . Th e following demonst es the methodE used:
1. .11. tabi'ine Cocl ::t ail Hour11 ad vi sed liste ners
to take their an ti -malaria fr.. tabr:ln e pi ll s .
2. The slogan n.LJT/ Sh lS 11 (.u on' t Talk, Silence •••eans
Security ) copied the Luck y Strike Cigarette
LS/M.FT car:1 paign.
3. The Pepsi -C ola bev erae;e song was us
tise the servi ce magazine � ·
to adve r-
In hi s article in Broadcasting, Allen reported that the s
wan ted commerci annou nc ement r: in th e i r programs . He
stated :.
·� ve now boast of "com.rne rci.al11 and "mer chandi se
and nJ.a rke ting11 sections in our stati ons , foP radio's
sel lin6 abili ty is jus t as potent in the Army as it
is back home
. l8 5
1
84 11� ':Iosqui to Ne tw ork , 11 �' 44:8 8-89 , 17 J·uly 1944 ;
Spencer · 1:1 . Allen, ";viosq ui to Net .Fin ds Home Me thods Best, n
Bro!dcas tin&, 20, 30 hpri l 1945 .
185 s
�· '1 1 pencer J',l . r�. en ,
.:et hods Best,11 oroadcast inf� ,.
ni,Io s,iui to Ne t l- ind s Home
20,. 30 �pril 194
5
.
445
Stati on Li st .
l8 6
Followi is a summa r;y of di scov-
ered information relativ e to the st �tions in the �outh
.
t>acific Conu nand that broadcast t>FhS trtins cr
186
Supr� , p. 362 . (See footnote )
ions .
�
CALL LOCAT ION POWER FREQUENCY OVINER OPEN CWSE NOTES
-
wvus Moumea 1lar 975 lee I&E 5 Sep 43 Feb 46 First a Red Cross
New Caledonia
xm.tr (?)
AFRB xmtr Feb 44
WVTI Bougainvill e lkw '? I&E Mar 44 21 Jan 46 Orig baling wire xm.tr
u: Solomons
AFRS xm.tr May 44
0
Co ntrol to SOWESPAC
�
ci"
:-:r
WVUQ Guadaloanal 1kw 690 ko I&E 12 Mar 44 ? Orig AFRS xmtr
t-c
Solomons
s:o
()
I-"
WVTJ Munda I&E (?) I-') 250 w ? Jun 44 26 Apr 45 Control to SOWESPAC
1--'•
New Georgia
() tr
H
0 c
lZM Auokland , N.Z. 750 w 12 50 ko 0 C:; I&E Mar 44 13 Deo 44 I&E oper Gov bui lt
� ....
::r
f; tTl
Returned to Gov
s:o
�
V'MJR Expi ri tu Santo lkw 1045 kc I&E Aug 44 14 Feb 46 X
p.. VI
VI
New Hebrides
(!'
ci"
L:
' Tutuila, Samoa 100 w 1270 ko Navy Feb 45 ? X
tt
1--'•
0
WVTU Nan di , Fi ji 50w 660 ko I&E May 45 ' X ti
1-1
f:J·
lZB Auckland, N.Z. 1kw
�n
1070 ko Gov Ju1 42 (?)Deo 44 Certe.in use by Apr 44
cr
•
2ZB Wellington, N.Z. 1:br 1130 ko Gov Ju1 42 (?) 1 May 44 Uncertain informat ion
3ZB Christchurch, N.Z . 1 kw 1430 ko Gov Ju1 42 (? )Dec 44 Certain use by Apr 44
4ZB Dun edin, N.Z. l:br 1310 1cc Gov Ju1 42 (? )Deo 44 Certain use by Apr 44
Uncertain reports state that 12 other ZB Net stations were using troop broadcasts by 1943 H=:>
H=:>
())
CALL LOC ATION POWER FREQUENCY OWNER OPEN CLOSE NOTES
- -
-
ZJV Suva , Fi ji 500 w 920 kc Comm 1943 Dec 44 Fi ji Net
r ;::
VPDZ(?) Suva, Fiji 20 br ? Comm Dec 42 Dec 44 Fiji Net
0
�:
4YO
Dunedin, N.Z. 150 w
ct- 1140 kc Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
tJ
t-- 0
2ZA Palmer ston, N.Z. 100 w 1400 ko Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
p:J
0
2YC Welli ngton, N .z . 5kw 840 kc Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
1-'-
'""':�
!--'•
4Y'Z Invercargill, N.Z. 5 kw 680 ko Gov Apr 44 Dec 44
0
�· X
..,_,
H
0
p
2YB New Plym outh , N.Z. 30 w 810 ko Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
0
�
�
s
.....,
·-
2YD Well ington , N.z. 200 w 990 ko Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
!:;
....
p. Cil
lYA Auckland , N.Z . 10 kw 650 kc Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
C-4
{/"
c1"
-
2YA Wellington, N.Z. 60 kw 570 kc Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
ll' (;!
c1" c
1-'•
'""
3Y A Christchurch, N.Z.lO kw
720 kc Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X ,_
0 (;!
""'
f-J ......
!=!
4YA Dunedin, N.z. 10 kw 790 ko Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
t•
p,
1-'• (D
(!) p,
32R Greym outh, N.Z. 100 w 940 ko Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
c1"
-
(J
2YH Napier , N.z. 5kw 750 kc Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
i_.,
.....
2YN Nelson, N.Z. 30 w 920 ko Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X ·-
0
f-J
�
1YX Auckland , N.Z. 150 w 880 kc Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
p,
(I)
p..
3YL Christchurch , N.Z.300 w 1200 ko Gov Apr 44 Dec 44 X
""-'
.
At least 20 Ameri can sound systems .
13 of these may have been at Marine Corps Air
Force stati ons . �
�
.....:!
IX. OUTLLT.S IH . ID -P i:.C ii.' IC CO:vTI.:LnND
44:8
The s eco nd ?acif i c Ocean area to re y_ue st .t1.i h�:>ta tions
was the iHd- o:r· C entral l)acif'ic Cormn and . Origi nally thi s
territory lay north of the Equator , east of the Ameri cas ,
and we st of the ;) hi lippine Islands and China.. It inc luded
the hyukyu Islan ds of whi ch Okin aw� was a compo nent . i5ei ng
6ssentially bits of land sprinkled in a va st ex ;ans e of
ocean, it was natural that the hit; hent command of thi s
d omin i on should fall to the Na. vy . The World Viar II Idid
Pacifi c top Comman der was .H.dm iral Chester W. lH mi tz. If
ef fe ctive AF RStations were to be developed it would be
neces sar:y to h c.. ve hi s ap proval and coopere.tio n .
Hi st ori cal de velopment 2.£ � outl ets . Fo r ma ny
years A.. '11 eri can troops had been st&tioned in the Hawaiian
Is lands . AS the prewar trainin g pro gram progre ssed more
Gis wer ·e DJ.ov ed int o thi s 1Une rican terri tory . Civilian
broadcastin g w ith in Hawaii was ident ical with that in the
Uni te d States. America n ne tworks had mem ber outlet s there .
Ha dio coverat;e of t he is land s was comp lete. Thert.fore ,
troop broadca� ts wi th in Hawaii were not as essential as in
othe r comman ds . Nevertheless, the . OWI apparent ly se cured
comme rcial stH tion ai r time for AFES trans criptions ec: �rly
in 1943 .
449
1. AFHStation activation. As tr oop conce ntra-
tiona devel oped on the islands to the we st of Hawaii , sub-
or din ate Anny comman ders , knowing of iU:' activi ties , de -
sired to es tablis h tr oop station s . The 8e new en ca... rnp ments
were not ade quatel y covered by broad cas t si r;n als. appar-
ently a subor dinate .nr my command er req uest for pers onn el and
equipment was recei ve;d at .t:.. }h S Lo s .n.n gele s in the ear •ly
Spri ng , 1
9
43 . Such a re quest wou ld have given Lewi s an
ade quate re;a son to attempt station devel opment wi thin the
Mid-Pacific C omr.1and .
In Ivi ay 1943 Boar dman wa s sent to the I:.i id -Pa cifi c to
plan statio n activation . l87
Hi s ma jor task was one of de
ve l oping a need for the stat ions wi thin the minds of Navy
command ers
. l88
Usu ally both Army and Navy perso nn el we re
statione d on islands that were pro ject E:d locations for
insta llations . Ade quate station authori zation need ed re-
quests fro n subor d:C _nate command ers of both ser vices . �I aving
st ir.nu ls _ ted these rey_ ues ts , Boar dman explt:d ned the value s of
the activi ty to �i d- ?acific Headquarter s offic ials .
l 8
9
187
(
C. Court enay Savage), Hi storic al �otes, Novenili er
1
9
4
4
, 22 · E. ·
188
True .c.. board man , 9 May 195 0 .
18
9
Loc • ill•
450
11.f ter a considentble a:r:wunt of time , a joint wor king agree-
me nt was ob tained . 'l' hus the door was opened for nlh Stat ion
ac t i v ation .
As a res:. 1l t of the Mid -Paciflc C o!l'lm.a:nd request , hl•'hS
Schoo
l
-trained personnel and equi p ment were auth ori zed for
the proposed iilid- Pacific stations .
l9
0
Goul d was tr ·a: nsferred
from the t::> outh Pacific as C ommand hadi o Officer for the
.�li d-Pacific Hono lulu He quarters .
l 9
l
On 20 �viay 1944
twenty-thre e enlisted men and four of fi cers were transfer
red from AFES Los J·m g e les to the Gommand .
l92
The se ;1:en were
cadre for the new stations .
�rat ably the first Mid-Pacific A1RS tations were
activ&.ted at Aw aj ale i n &.nd J::. niwe tok , in the ;,larsh all
Islands , duri ne; July 1944 . Othe rs qui ckly follm •ied. In
ul
ay 194 5 the tv dd -Pacifi c Comman d installed a station at
Okinawa . However, the previ ous reallo cation of the Pac ic
area gave control of thi s stat ion to the Southwest Pacific
Corranand . The OWI bui lt a short -wave stat ion at Honolulu
and a mediu m- wave station at Saipan, in the J.,'" arianas .
'
190
Loc. cit.
-
191
(G. C our t e nay Savage), Historical lotes, Nov emb er·
1944 , n.
l?. ·
19
2
RPBS , Mo rning Report , 20 �ay 1944 , p. l.
451
Lur ine; the early Smnm er of 1945 , control of theee stations
wa� ' transferred. to the new Pacific Ocean .n.r eas Cornmand .
Jther infor mat ion concer nins the ;.,id-Pacific .h. au:: tations
may be foW1 d in the following Station 1i21 •
In t�ugu st of 1944 .J: r::i nk wa s tr ansferred fr or.t the
So ut h .2aci fic to the 1v1i d-?acific Headqua rters as the Command
F, adio Engi neer . l
9
3
In December 1
9
44 , Gould wa s re tur ned to
.t1.l LS Lo s .nn geles and .t' rink bec ar,1 e the kid -P acifi c li.adlo
O.:t ii cer . The latter held thi s position throug hout the
re;nain der of the per i od co vered by tl 1i s s tud;y . Vd th the
establi shr aent of the Paci fic Ocean Are as
C
ommand , Allen's
So uth Pacific posi tion was eliminated. �rink , &ga in , was
in charge of h.l: bStations in the Gouth Pacifi c as �el l as
those in the �i d-Pacifi c.
2. Sur nn u::.. ry of outlets us ing A}f,S pr ogra ms •
.l.) uring ·wo rld V;&.r II at least 28 sound installs tiona , 11
A.Fh. Stations , and 4 coJ:nme rc ial stations broa dcas t Ai ES
programs in the 1a d-P s.. cific Comman d. l94
ht:: la ti onshi p of � ou tlets !2, �
C
orru nand . The
stations of the �id-Pacific are a were act ivated on the
19
3
Cli fford H. Fr ink, 2� November 19 50 .
1
94 These totals do not include s tations of the
origi nal South Pacific Co 1r..m and.
4
5
2
re q1.J .est of the Command . ;rhi s re qu e �;t was base c up on ex -
pre ss ed needs of subordi nate n.r.my and Navy commanders .
Although no Table of Organi zation an d l:.q uip ment was es tab-
lish ed , pro c ur emen t of stat io n per·s onnel was re lativel y
easy.
l
95
The relationships of the activ it y to the command
headque.r ter ' s adm i nist r ators was rn ost a.ni cable . In gen e ral ,
the r e la ti on sh i ps of the indi vidual st�tions to thei r
imme diate subordins . te c omn : ands was agre eable .
Indi catio ns that � i d -
t
ac i fic �}fiS tatio ns we re us ed
to assis t in the solutio n of comn and prob lems wer e not di s-
covered. Appar ently th e re were no or gani zed c wnpai gn s of
info rmati onal and e du c at i on al ma teria ls .
Stat ion �· Follow ine; is a t abul ation of the
o i ::: covered infor n�a ti on conce1 n in g s t&� ti ons in the �,:i d - Pa -
ci fi c Command the1. t bro ad ca s t H.t•h. S tr an :: .crip tions d uri ng
the pe riod o f thi s st udy .
l
9
6
1
9
5 Clifford rl . �r ink , 22 �ove mber 1950.
1
96
This lis b does not inc lude stati o ns ac tivated
by the South Pacif i c G on1m an d . supr� , p. 3C2 . (Sc e footnote)
CALL LOCA T ION POWER FREQUENCY OWNER OPEN CW SE NOTES
- wxw Kwajalein lkw 1440 lee I&E 4 Jul 44 ? X
Mars hall Isl
WXLE Eniwetok, M.I • 50 .. 1320 lee I&E 15 Jul 44 4 Mar 47 X
f Makin , Gi lbert Is . ? 1 t 15 Jul 44 Dec 44 May have been sound sy
�--�
WXLD Saipan, Marianas I. 1 lew 660 kc I&E lf> Aug 44 ? X
1-'•
p..
WXLI Guam, Marianas Is . 50 w 1380 k:c I&E Oct 44 f X
'"''•
H;
WVT1f Peleliu, Is. 250 w 1400 ko I&E Dec 44 ., X
1-'•
Q
V'fV'I'Y Ulithi , Caroline 50 w 1400 kc I&E Jan 45 24 Nov 45 X
0 1-,- Island s
0 H
��
(, ;,
[�
�
KRHO Honolulu, Hawai i 100 k:w 17800 kc I&E AFRS : May 45 ? Orig buil t by OWl
ll'
Rebroadcast KWIX, ... ,
trl '"""
p,
San Francisco
(!' VI
W.X:l.H Okina wa , Ryukyu Is. 1 kw 1060 leo I&E May 45 ' Control to SOWESPAC
c-t �
llJ
c-t
WVTX Iwo Jim & SOw 620 kc I&E Jun 45 ., X
1-'•
0
::J
KSAI Saipan, Marianas Is. 60 kw 10 kc I&E AFRS s Jun 45 'I Orig bui lt by OWl
t-�
1-'•
KGMB Honolulu , Hawai i 5kw 590 leo Comm Early 43 Feb 46 X
(Jl
c-t
•
KGU Honolulu, Hawai i 2500 .. 760 ko Comm Early 43 Feb 46 X
KHBC Hilo, Ha wai i 250 w 1230 leo Comm Early 43 Feb 46 X
RTOH Lihue 1 Hawai i 250 w 1490 ko Comm Early 43 Feb 46 X
If : .
':_· . f
1-'-
p..
I
>-o
il'
()
1-'•
1-'.J
1-'·
()
0
0
. ,
u
p�
:::;
PJ
(.';
c+
i-·;
c+
1-'- 0
;-.J
t"
1-'·
(!1
c+
()
c
�
,__
0
I-'
s::
r�
(1)
p,
•
":'
H
c;- .
�j
Er1
Vl
�
--- ()
0
:::;
(J
I-'
>�
p,
(1)
p,
fill
LOCA TION POWER FR .E QUENCY OWNE R OPEN CI.D SE NOTES
(So und Systems )
wvuu Chris tmas Is. 75 w 1480 lee ATC J \
�
44 1 Fe b 45 {?}May have bec ome sta
WVTV Johnston Is. 4-i w 1420 ko Navy Jul 44 ? WR- 1 sound sys tem
..
1 Tarawa , Gi lbert ? ? ATC 15 Jul 44 Deo 44 Orig may have been
Islan ds station. was sound
in 45
KMTH Midway Island 6 w 800 lee Navy Sep 44 1 WR- 1 sound sys tem
? Sohofield Bks ? ? ? Se pt/Oct 44 May 45 X
Hawaii
WXLF Canton Islan d 5w 950 ko ATC Nov 44 ? Mid Pacific outle t
Phoeni x
Reports of 22 othe r ATC Pacifio Wing sound syst em outlet s were found.
�
(Jl
�
4!." >5
General l.Js us las ··· DC. 11.r· thur origin ally com:: nanded the
..':'' ac.if j c Ocean ar ea contai ni ng l"l. U stral ia, ��e lf; Guine a, and
the .i?hi li ppines . In tl1e Summe r of 1944 the demarca tior..
-� ;etween the Southwest Pac ifi c and the South i)acliic Comma nds
was es tab li shed at the 15 9 th Parallel . On 4 hpril 1945 the
Southwest Pacific was enl srged to inc lude the Japane se
Is lands and t� e other isl and s between the coa�t of Chi na ,
the Phi lipp ines , an d J ap an . For the pu rp o se s of thi s s tudy
thi s tota l area has been calle d the 3outhwe�t �acific.
Thl s is the thi rd and f inal Pacific Ocean section cons ide red.
.Ap p&rentl y throu@lOut the War in the Pacific , kac -
.t>.. rthur looked up on troop broadcas ts wi th favor . Probably
he was the first com:u 'lB.nd er to re ali ze the value of such
activiti es . Hi s troops benef 'i ted fro m s ervi c e progra :ns
fl 11
1
07
.
du .ring the Si ege of Baatan.· '-' · ?e rhaps it was '"ac1�r thur 1s
tolerance and aid that pe n ni tt cli ;m e spe cia ll y extens ive
O.e ve lop::ne :-ct of troop rs.dio in thi s area. Also, thi s
s.t ti tud e se enwci to all ow hi s ��.rfl. ;:)ta tions to be of greater
co-mnand as s i s tan c e than othe r similar gr;Ju. ps . ::Jou thvJest
2aeift c OL.lt le tE, dld tn t ex_per ience many difficu lties that
Jl�gued radi o &c tivlties in o ther areas .
:9. 40 0
456
Hi s ta ri ca l develo _en en t of th e ou t lets . South wes t
ci fic tr o op ra dio deve loped thro kgh four ra the r dist inct
ph ases . These ste mmed dir E ctl y fro m the pr o gre ssion of
i�vasion ca mpaigns . This hi stor y is presented in accor dance
t;Vi th th ese. ph as es as enume rated below. Thi s listi ng ;na y
ten d to clar ify the st atio n un foldment in the of the
read er.
1. Ou tl
·
et s ln l:..US tra lia..
2. Out lets in the New Guinea area.
3. Ou tle ts in t he lippi ne ar ea .
4. Ou tlets in the Japanese ar ea.
Thi s su bsectio n closes wi th the cu stomary s unt.11 ary of outl et s.
1. Out lets in Au st ral ia. Stat ion ownersh ip in
Aus tr alia is nearly ident i cal to that fou nd in Canad a .
St atio ns of the �u str&l ia n Br oadca s tinG Co�parcy rc owned
by a gover nxnent -licensed, non-pro fi t co :npany . Thi s is
sim ilar to the BBC. Com:: 1erci al st at ions , in the .t:.. me :rica n
sense , are also li censed in Australla. They ope rut e inde -
pendentlJ' or as L'em bers of com:1e rc :1 e tv ;or ks .
As wa :::; the pr acttc e in ot he r the at ers a:1d co:n rn &"ncis ,
the OW I arr anged for th e e iest broa dcasts of AFES pro -
. t1
. . ' . � . .f • 1 oo
2;ra ms ln ,1e >-1oc u::. rnves t 1' ac l �c . '""' u St at ions of the
1:18
s is int inu.ted in Harr:J A. :Ce rk , I.adio
0ctiv it ie s in Au st ra lia � 15 1-1.fJr 19L:t3 , p. 6, and thought - certai n by thi s wri ter .
4
Aus tral ia n Bro adc bs t Co mpany were us In Ho• :emb er
194 2 l' ogel al 'ra nged for tra nsmissi on of .1�1 progra ms over
..,.u stra lia n comm erci al st io ns .
l
99 .oecau se an es pe ciall y
COi :lpeti ti ve rel a ti::m.s hi p exi sted bet ween the .austral ia n
br �a dcas ters , t�i s di st ribut io n dupl icat ca us ed a deli -
cate diplo m�l tic si tua tio n for the �-..- merica n .-�. r
n
ry . 2
00
In the Spr inG of 1942 the SSD sent a �ield Survey
Team to the So uth west ific . �a jo r Har ry A. Berk, a
tea m ::aember , co mpile d a report on the tro op radi o s i tua tlo n
and the po ssibi li ties in Austra li a. 2
01
s study , writ
in ap ri l 1943, was fo rward ed to �acAr th ur , SSD Wa sh ingto n
Ch i ef Osbor n , and Le'Ni s .
2 02
Sho rtl y th erea fte r ib.C .11.r thur
asked Osbor n to send an hrrn y man to develo p troop broadc as ts
wi thin hi s Co mmand .
203
Proba b ly thi s re st r8�Julted fro m
1
99
(
C. Go urtenay Sa vag e ), 1Ii sto rical i:-otes , .Nov emb er
1· �4·:± J £· £..•
200
Hal 3erger, 30 Ho vember 1� 50 ; Ha rry A. Berk,
Radi o act ivities in Austra lia, 15 ap ril 1
9
43, pp . 5 f . ;
:::l uo ra , • 16 f.
201
Ha l Berger , 30 I�o vember 19 50 ; (C. Court ena y
Sav age ), Hi stori cal Not es , ll ove mber 1944 , g,. £• ; Har r_y
A. Berk, Ra di o �� ct:i.v ities in .hUs tra lia, lE �-�..pr ·i l 19 43 ,
app ea red to be the report ment io ned by Berger a:::1d Sav
202
:::-a l ···er�er ..
.[) 6 ,
30 Nove m1Jer 195 0 .
L3 pp.
•
203
Loc . cit. ; s is intimat in several ot her
so urces .
458
derk' s report and the admi ttedly diffic ult radio si tuation
in Australi a.
As a re�ml t of· MacAr thur
1
s re �u es t ��l:hS ' Captain
Hal Berger , who worked with OW I short -w ave broadcasts from
3an l�rancis co , was trans ferred to the .So uthwest Pacific
LLe adquarters at Si dney , .L-;. us trali a. Arriving about June
1943 he w ::..s appoi.nt ed Command hadio Offi cer . 204
berger's first duty was to resolv e the corn nercial
station- ..!ms trali an Broadcas ting Company problem concernin g
the use of h�hS trans criptions . Thi s �a jor diffi culty
centered around re lease of such espec ially desi rable shows
as !!Mail Call," 11 Command Performance,1 1 and 11 Jubilee.11 The
austral ian broadcas ters seemed to be mos t interes ted in
us ing the se programs to captur e a large ci vilian audi ence .
Thr ough arbi tration the controversy was solved . 205
3erger
was then free to establi sh a single system of dis tribution.
At least sixty-t v:r o pr ev:ar ..... us trali an stations broadcas t
Berger's second course of action w�s to es tablish
AFEStations . Through 1v iac.a.r thur , he ordered three trans -
mi tters and their ope ra tint;; personnel from AI ;h S in
204
Hal Jerger , 30 November 1950 .
205 -
LOC. cit .
Lo s lill ge les
.2 06
Thi s equi p:nent wa s probabl y deliver ed
ab out �eceruber 19 43 .
A p&rtic ularly di ff i cu l t morale probl em exi sted
459
wi thin the troops st�tio ned at Port More sby , Ne� Gu inea .
2
0 7
re rl!ll er l can troops wc;re lo c :: .:;.. t ed in an area that was alr: 1os t
wi thin a combat zone .
Y
et, these troops we re inact ive .
There were no sati sf ac tory recreat io n fac il i t i e s . A prewar
radio station had been cl osed for se cu rity reas ons . Jap
pl anes used the tranS.i"l lissio n beam as a 1
1
homing
1 1
device to
dire ct their bomb ing . Berger went to Port i1i oresby to mak e
a su rvey of the si tu ation . l' inding many i�ericans
lis tening to the demorali zing
11
Tokyo hose1
1
broadcas ts , he
re commended that American radio facilities be made ava:l l-
able . J, :ac.h.rth ur ordered a station act ivated at
P
ort
u: ore sby and au thori zed a 'i' ab le of Organi zat ion and Equip ill ent.
Radio juri sdi ct io n in
P
ort Moresby , a cit y si tua ted
in the eastern p !..i rt of New
G
'u inea, fell under the Aus trali m
J.o ve rnment . Au strulia n .cil'iny officials ', 'IJe re concerned with
the troop ::10 ral e proble m and approved the propos ed statio n.
11. . St e bb i n s , 2 .h.ugu st 195 0 .
207
l\' !os t of the i nf orm a t i on on the ?ort r.: oresby
st:: it io n came fr om
H
al Berger, 1 November 195 0 , and 30
i�o vember 1950 .
460
The .hu stral ian Broadcas ting Company , desiring to help ,
offered to obtain a stution li cens e and dona t e the equipmG nt.
I t wac. l un derstood that the station would be a joint opera-
tion of the hmerican and hus trali an Armies . Each would
furni sh the same am ount of p e r s on ne l . 'i.ihen the st ion' s
mi litar- y usefuln ess had ended , it wo uld revert to the
..f�us tra an Broadcasting Company .
Ele ctroni c equipment was di ffic ult to proc ure .
The refore , baling -wire -like parts supplied by the Australian
Broadc as ting C ompany we re used . The sts� tion began trans -
mission as 9PA , an authori zed Australian Broadca st ing C om
pa ny out post , about .t' ebruary 1944 .
208
By the Fall of that
year the troops had been -•lOVed forward out of the st�Ation ' s
cove rage area. Near 20 October 1944 it reverted to the
control of the original licens ee . Apparently this joint
operation served it s purpose . How ever , mana gement relation
ships were not cor.:t pletely a.m icab l e .
209
On 14 October 19 43 the SS D was split into two di v i -
sions . 'The info r:m: i.t i ::ma l and educati onal act ivi t i e s were
combined into the new MSD . J-�.b ,Jut that sarn e time an Ic,.; B
to am c1 irec te:: l by Drigadier Gen eral l\.. er met h :0,y ke arrived at
2 08
F ranklin �. To�rtellotte , 13 Apri l 19 50 .
209
To ,..,.
�
·
c it .
1± 61
macAr thur 's Headquarters .2 l0 Sherde�an ,
21 1
tne for mer rl�RS
.de w iork jr oductio n Chief who ha d joined .LJs ke
'
s un it, was
';�s.JJ st s.ff . The tor r:ie r SSlJ st 1:1.1 l. v.as to re main in charge: of
entertainment and recre utio n c;.ct i vi t i e s . Uer·ger w&s asked
to rem ai n in t h e Sout hves t �a cific ru dio �i c tu r e.
2 1 2
dov;ev er, Jherde:cnan wo..s to oe t11.e C 0111.: a.a nd Ladi. _, llfl icer .
Thcre existe d o.. funclw nental cl i1Tcrc mce ::;e t·r :een the two
men's int er pret8.tio n of the tr oop r adio missio n. Berger
believ ed r adio
'
s sa jo r contr ibutio n could be made through
HlOral e-bui ld ing en ter Lairu:1ent J,1 ro�;r&r as . Sh e r d ernu n nel d
that troop raG .io w..:. s an ins t r u.r:1 e n t s. l i ts to be us ed in the
sol utio n of C01runan d pr ob l e m s , &nd t hc:.c t entertu inrnent con-
sider c.. .t ions v;erb secondury . he co gnl zing tr 1is b8.sic dis -
agr eement , d e r ger
2
1
3
desir�d to r0turn to ni s p re v i ous n�hS
s>wrt -wave pr Oi jrctn lint; ass iemnent :Ln �:;a n Yra nci sco . li B v: as
ordere d to rc t;_:u':n. to the United 0tates in June H.J44 . Sherd -
e:Han vvas then a,Jpoin ted Jo m.:: na nct .r.au.i o vf 1 ic e r o1 the South -
west l:'ac iiic.
210
(
,,
v. Jourt en&"J: Sc.vage ), L�i s.toric ;;_l l� otes , �• ove m.b er
211
Suora , p. 162.
212
.ial L�er ·ger , ;:,o h ove rn b e r 18 50 .
213
Loc. cit .
462
2
. ou tle t� in the l· ew Guinea arc ;a. .Uyke and
She rdeman arri ved i:i t �� 1a cLr thur 1 s .cri ba ne , Au �� trali a, lie ad -
cplar ter ::=. in Jc to ter 1940. Sh erd eJ:Gan did not ac t�J. al l;y a: ' E: wrK
contr::>l of tro op ra dio un til June of the follo w in� , -yea r .
2 14
Yet , it a� )peared that uu r::i.n c'; th o8e ;G& ny ;,onths he en gaged
in cll UCh i·r, .li tf ul )la n nin[; . tl.l thou �;h tr oop ra di . O had been
used to ass ist 9r oble ms oi' comms .nd , it was in the Sout hwe st
.t'aci i'i c thc tt thi s te chni que f·ound it� , hi ghe st develop ment .
JJyke and Sherd eman sol d h� acA rt hur , and memo erE : of his hir; h-
eR t ;- ;t ai'f' , on the use oi' br oa dca sti ng as an ins tr um ent ul i ty
of war , rather than as an ent er ,tain, -nent -rrJorale medl �J.m •
.iJ,Yke , a i'or :"Iler lH3 C Vi ce .r' res iden t, was ab le tc deve lop a
most val uab le ra p� Jort wi th J\,acArth ur , l! imself .
2
15
Und ou bt-
edly t:1i s rel b.ti onS Llip, more than any ot her fa ctor, wa�'
re sp ons ibl e �or the growth and app� r ent success of Sou th -
we st f'aci1 'ic J.l ·h. =>t at ions .
Sta tio n activ atio n follo wed th e tro ops in the ir
11
1 sl a nd -hopp
i n
g
11
can1pa ie; ns . The Co ran ancl vh i d' Signal
ut fi ce r all o tte d fre quen ci t:: s and call letter .:: wuich :::O he rr�
eman used as was _,_ost cxpedi e n 'lf.
216
de or dered &t le ast
21 4
Lo c • c it •
2 1 5
Ted b. �he rd eman , 6 �epte mber lYb O ; Gra� h.
�o ep p le , 4 Lecember 19b0 .
2 16
ried 1:.. . ;::.. h':r u eLlarl to Th or:l aS H. A • .Uov•i s' 31
.r. u(:;u st LJ44 , pp . 1 f'.; Yrankl in K. ri'o ur to llotte , 1;�; •'-pr il
1950 .
463
eig ht addl.ti on al transrr 1i tt ers . 1� to ta l of el e ven c;n ms -
mitters ha d be en re ce i ved b� August 1�44 . 2 1 7
The fi rst
':l.Ct ual So uth we�.:t .l:'ac if 'i c Al,LStatio ns were '-' cti vat Gd o.t
218
-'-' adzab and Fins ch hafen , Nevi Gui ne a, in June l'J±4 . t3y the
en d ot · th at year there we re ten oper�tin� st�tio ns co ntrol -
led by the COEJ.mand hac ii o Uf'fice r.2
1
9 In Januc.;. r;/ l9L .i:5 an
.�->r h 3tatio n wuE ; opened b.t J. Iorota i , in the Hal ma hera lsl ands .
'-I' he '.C hi rty -f;e co nd In fa n tr;y owne d and co n trolled thi s uni t,
but it receiv ed e�ui pm ent and ac tiv e assis tance fro m Sher d
eman and bis staf'f
. 2
20
'l'hese A.0 hSt� ,_t io ns of ' the Hew uuinea
area called thems elves the 1 1 Jun gle 1·Jetwo rk .
11
In preparat io n for the .l:' hi l ipp ine inv as io n A�hSta-
ti.ons fo und a new use. A.r neri can troops were to invade
1-l.mori can te rri to ry . Here lived p80[Jle s ·who sho uld be
fri endly an d sym:;:>athE: tic. liow ever , the Co mmand an ti c iE Jated
2 1 7
H
al l:)erger , 80 Ilov emb er 1950 , re port:-d that the
tn re e trans 1ai t ters ne nao. or -clered v1ero del i verE :d about
De cemb er 1 �4
3
. Sller·dem an. , in 'l' ed b. uherdeman to rl':no mas
-'- · A. Lewis , 3 1 � ... ui._!; us t 1944 , �. J . ;.J ., reported that the ei, _:ht
transl,ti tters he or de rccl nc..d &.rri VE: d.
21
8
Des pi te co nf lictl ns report s, dis cove red ev idenc e
lGd t'li s vvri ter to be liev e thu.t �• V'Fb , Nadzab , lJ ew Gu..Ln ea,
was a true broa dcast ing sta� io n.
2 1 9
T'1is f� r· ure inc lude s the Hl''LS tat ions ut l�OuP·ain - �
-0 0
ville and l1lun da . 'l 'ne Port ,,�o re .sb -y st c;.t io n lw.d been �urned
over to the ,:,u � tr �.;; .lia n .::J ros . clcas tl ne ; -.;o mp anJi by th� t t hne.
220
Graf a. �oep ple , 4 Le cemb er 1950.
464
yr oble ms of ci vi .!.. ian :�rora le ccJ.us 6d o�,r the att it ud e of the
Cri , nim.:: .e lf. 1ie �w.d lcei rne:;o_ to cal l the P�ni lip pino ::: 11Gooks.1 1
Perh aps he w ul _ i"ol low the ti me -hallo\ ;;ecl tradition of the
conque ror by :1 :·lf. "lict irt�: unw arrL �nt Hl damage to pr ope rt y and
digni ty thro ucc )il lag ing and malr c spect . �h e �llied
L:.,. rmi es wou lr i need all the assis t c..n ce the .t'.C dl ip_;Jlne people
could .c;i ve . To gain the ne cessar-y co operatio n , the .t'hi lip-
pino s 1 p er s;)n ;:::. l pr opert y and cl i c;ni ty had to be re specte d .
'J' he GI tr uly v;n:.. s in the positio n of an am bassador . An
intens ive ca:rn ps.J . gn of spec ia l pr ogr&.ws and announcements
ins tructed the sol di er-li steners in the ci rcmus tances to be
'/21
encount ered.' � It indo ctrin:..:.t Eod them cJncernin2_; their
re lationsh ips with these new all ies .
In the �acif ic �he c..ter , �ne earl iest insta nc e of
pla nning for · tr oop ro.ui o coverage du ri nc ; an J . nvasi on
accrnnpa nl ed preparat ions ior the fhi li ppine Cwnp aign.
Shortl y after tile l:>ou gainvil le s t:;. t; ion C illl le und e r r,: ac -
c�. rt: nur 1 s C o:.nn and the opera t ing pc rsonne l vv ere ]n s tr1. lcted to
. ..... ' ' .)
re build the equi ;x nent int o a lt :obile -...mi t. ,;:;.:;. :.- It -.va. _ to
follo v1 tne J.n vt ts:Lo n iorce s at ,,,anila , Lu zon, and operate as
221
tr ue .i... . bo�,r�i;a an , "o.J L8.7J' 1 �b(J ; 'l' cd .w. 0he r d ern.an ,
G Septe mb er 1�50.
222
Ja ck J. l,ru:; chen , G .n01r ·i l 1 :::;� 50 ; 'J raf -> . r�oet )ple ,
:: Lrece mb er 1g5 o .
465
close to the !:ron t -l i;1 e troop s as p oss ibl e .
3. uu tl e ts 1n the P hi l i ine ar ea. The fi rst
.t:hi li pp :1 _ne Isla nd invas ion tool\. pl a c e at .i..fey t e on 20
vcto ber 1944 . It v1as not 1mt il fou r :non tns la ter that the
ea.r liest .Phi ppine nFf,t:,tat io n w&s ac tivated . S t at i on WVTK
oeB an transm i s sion at T olo s a , �e yte , on 25 }� bruary 194
5
.
'The invas i on oi' tl1e ;'[ an:L la area began at Go rr e gid o r on 16
i' ebruary LJ45. :lv i t.tli n a fe w ciay s ;,10st of the Ja pan ese
resis tan ce had c e a s ed . l.lachrt.tmr Lm� 1ec.d;. "' tel y . . ;oved hi s
he adquarters fr om Holl ancii a, l.lu t cn .i.• 6VJ vu ine a, to the
J:'lli l ipp ine G!i pit ol Gi The or inal .wo ugainvi lle crew and
tue ir �nobi �> t .. tion s tc .r ·te d transmission
ili
a
rch 1945 , a month af ter the tia l on Corre;t ldor.
· .. )
.wL ·ht oti1 :: r hl tat io ns we r·e act i vat ed in the 1' i l ip-
pine .is la nds . In l•�ay 1945 Sherdeman re turned to AFhS Lo s
"
"
2
3
Ang s les . ....
M.ngele s and i.� ew ::Lo rk oi'fi cer ;o .i:�ad wor ked wi ,S. her ·dem an
lor 3£Veral :nonti :lS, bec a:· ,-;. e the tLi rcl Southwest .?a ci c nadio
Of i' i cer. Ab out J "u l y 1 5 control o1 the .. :id -.Pacil ic
activc.. ted Okin av; a A.J.' tc.ti on si:"LU t to the SouthYJest
Pac ii'ic ·..- onL"!land . By tn 1 s t f our t e en
under ti le d ir e c t i on of the CoJn::.m:md hulio Off:i. cer .
223 " i'
u-ra n.. oep
p
l e , 4 �ecember ld50 .
.to ·wever,
466
tlle ll::ajorit;y of th e s e v: er ·e l o c ate d in the .l:'hi li ppine s. The
ute . 'Iher cf'ore,
the ::ot �.:;.. tions adopt ed the name H..t' ·ar E&s tern .de twork11 on 17
Ju ne 184
5 . 224
us ed for _Jre -i nvus ion t rai ni nn; and indoctrin:.i tion in prep-
arat ion .to r .'.. n J"apan . 225 0pe ci al
.J rograms Vierc to tE-l l s wn�t they could e xpe c t and how
shou�d trea t the con�uere d peoples .
our e oor� te �ob ile st at ions , built in the �h ili p-
.f)ine s, '.'.· er ·e to aceompany iront -line invaciinc; t roops . se
uni ts co nt a:i .nec. stand'-'-rd - vJav e t tt e rE, snort -w ave
tn .�. ns•: 1i tters to be a::n pro ":: ra ms to taeti cal re ce ivers , �m-olic
pro�rams for ne arby troops, un d short -wa ve transmitter-
re ceiv ers for inter - uni t c�ntact c:mt ::. ct wi tn head -
o centers
. 22 6
These nev; bile stuti ons uad a tv:ol ol(i i,:i ssio n for
the en vi sicmed e l
224
� J-ral .1."'- • Lioc lJJ :)le ) ,
June 194b, • 1.
n;;s .
Sou thw cc..: t .L:'a cii .lc --.:: uur ·terl;y
22
5
rJ raf 11. . Bo epple , 4 .uec ein r JET 1950 ; 'J:ed 1!.. :..:.. hc, rd
eman , G :::.: eptember· l:JbO .
226
Ted L. Shor6ewa�, b � emb er l9bO.
227
Loc. 2?6 r.
1. 'l'hey vJere a di rE.o c t in[1t n:un ent al i ts of war vihere lJ-;) '
bs.ttle ins tr·,;cti ons could be :;i ve n to the t roops .
2. '.;. _h e;:; '.-: r:.: rt: [l.n indi rect inst rv.r; 1e:,nte :.. lit y of' v1 ar
thr augn thei r contrib u tio n to 20r�1e . They could
c;i ve the fi t� hting ,JI un lm,:Jecl.i s.te picture of the
total c: :L:. � )ui,_ ;n , and thu s overc o1:1e �1i s sense of'
is olation :m et f·1ti Lit;y .
:;; nt ertc .inucn t prog rax.s .
FortuDatcly it 1'1 0.. 3 not llc cec �s c..u ·J to us E the pre -
467
invu: ion L:c .ioctr in :s. tion orou . .. 1ca�;t� and t.cw mobile stations
as planned . 'I'hE:: su rr ender oi Ja_!-)u n ln .rtl J'·U S t 1945 ore el ud ed
- '-.. ) ....
the neces si t;y fo r an :l n v c sl::m. 1l o v:c ver , tl.1c alrc� r:l.y con-
f, tr,: c ted l:i. obile s tc ti _.n s were .,o; � t u.:: >einl to trw oc cuya -
tion forces .
4. 1Ju t l et � c in tne Ja :J o.ne se a1 ·c a. 'l'he ·. var v; i th
Japan cea2ed 14 �UG USt 1945.
lJy Ke , Captain ie lv::....n r.: ::.. rte1l, ono. othe r �2 t:d i or i icer ·::; ,
ls. ndecl s. t .ht .sw;i ;� irport, 'i. oK y
o .2
28
They iJroce ded to :.1 ake
"') -�
in tr :e Ja )cl.llese J. sla nd s .:. �� .L'r ior to Ja yan ' ::1 un c �mdi ti ona1
22f3
229
Lo c�. c1t.
L}6 8
tio n oi Japan had t�o uajo r net-
works s.nd c1ne
qane se Is lands .
'i' he se st :lo tls and th e ae t> ··.orlu� o ei·a tccl in u L&n ner ne c..rly
�dent ical to that of �he riE C. st ;: tio ns wer·e overrr": 1ent-
mvned rmt o .:: JBre ted. by 9ri vate non-pr c )fi t c0 ::-: �x::I. ni es .2 3l P.
ta x le vi pon owners 0roa dcast re ce ivers t:d th e
funds .
.:::; :-.. rtell to t e ovor one of the Ja�ane se
net wo rks. Th e heedctuarters Vi0 .. �1 a. be at s tti tion JU.t�K ,
To Kyo . ��p p c:,rently G cJ nt rover�=y arose between th e HlEerlca.n
Psy cho l and .ii:;:.B Se ct io n offic ials
eonc0r n i control of caiJt ured L:.cil les .2 3..; The fi ; .1 al
r·esolu tion ol t.ni s problem v:c.s uot uc .1l i ev ed 1.mt Dece mb er
5. Th is si tu�t io n seeme d to ob � cu re la c hi .:: ,to ry
co nce rn:J. ng tr w b:. of ;�.FES act i v ies in Japan .
230
231
Ibi d. ,
.P
•
67 .
233 . i'
.
l �ra A• boepp e,
r
. l
''" 'n .l
U (;;..l.. k';;.. ' .;;_•
5 l.lece :::n ber 185 0.
23�
in K. �ourtc llotte , 13
, cJP • 5 f.
lGSO.
'l'.i:1e arti0le2 01 :;:; '.H' l'e nde :c 1.1 e:re sig ned by trw Japanese
a.c.•.d i·l aciu· thur aboard ssour·i or1 :::l eptember 5.
Thi s wa� the lc ng awa ited VJ On b Sep tember
Lie d Occ�p� tion �orces b� la� ldin [s L.:. t se ver: ,.;. l points
Lorea . It was repo rted thut a �ob il e ��hS ta-
tion arri ved �t _okyo on
i'ol lov r ·. '1c. :;· tni s eq_ �-
e�b er 19 4
5
.2 35 lhe
made t::J .e i'i r� 1 t
ri can troo p in·o ;::, tc : in t!:le Ja pane se lsl anrJs .
io 1' okyo ii O. 2 be,::; an oper&.-
on se an Am6 ri can tr·oop stc. ,t i on v1i t.t1 tne cal l le tt ers
. ·v 'TT ..;
236
,,,� J.l. . All o 'i'o l(y o c_; t tio ns O!J erat d ou.t oi the l;. ead -
quarters studios of the t �orporat lon of Japan .
Also , on t:r ·&.n sud ttE;r:: ; at l' .U.ma -
tra: tSJ !tissio n as ��l 'hSta-r ,ions . he ports st ated th i;;;.. t tid s wa s
a seven -stat. � on network rat ion .� 3
7
However ,
o1 t.i.1l s :i. nf:>r r:I.:.> tion l1.:1s bee n q_u estioned .
238
Japane se
tele c laaci in 0s ·uec arn e .nd.:. r·ly u.n usa ble 2.::. .1't sr ,ur ·o-
bombi n;s . un J 0c t ob e r l94b th e
G�-)
5
r1
l
"'.
......, .._
unk nov 1n .
;'._OlJi:t lS'Jl 1,
.Lo eis C J.. t-:: :. tis .
0-r uf .r• . .tJOC mle
·.:. ourte:l lo tto � 13 .:-:.. pril � 1956 ;
Le ce �n:'Jer 1
uthers .
? a c ic
, · ranl clin i·� .
4?0
rst ·'-Ol' E.c icrl nlh ctation Optncd �;.t .::' us a.YI. l•'ourteen s ter ,
vc tober 1945, Al� Station �V T� at �eo ul , �a rea , wos
act:.L vs. ted .
tJ: , tion
the ori ginal rlur ry of occu� �t ion organi zati on. the
dat& in the i'o llowi ' ...;, tL:.tio n List is believed t. o be com-
parat ive ly accurate , al thou�h it �ay no t be com �l ete.239
ti1n e th: L s t,tudy rn:,. s v;r tEm tv:e lve tra ns d t ter s
in Ja pan m:; r·e beamin1'; prog ra !tl S to occ11p atio n iorces . The
station at Seoul , x'�orea, c·)ntinued :c� gu lb!' tr ·ans: niBsio n
fr� n 22 Uctober 1945 thro ugh the end of 195 0, with the
�., xc ept ion of' the Sumr :;er and Fall rnonths of 19t:O v;hen that
city w&s oc cupi ed by rJor th l(orean and 0hinese tr oops .
5. Su:tmn eery oi out le ts us
lhsre ere probal )ly 62 ri.U S tr ·aliu n COr( tri te r·cia l &nd/or .:.:;over n-
S tt .J. ti(JDS t broadcas t .>.i.,h�, pro
II. e, or" Japanese ar ea
corrcw rcial and/ or govr:;r �unent s t ti cns us ed t!:1e dj s cs.
�es earch did not re veal ac c ounts of so und systems in the
.;.Jout hwcst ciflc U!:' · • the tr e:,n sc riptio ns . ll ever'theless ,
:c c" v. ·ar ·e undoubtedly ;' t8.11J' s:.1ch 1: 1::, tall(; t t:l. ons .
'Io k;y o v; u_r the
Pro posed AFR� Out lets for �a pan ctober 1945) •
•
4'71
... .___
pti� na wer e us ed tn
'iler. c tran s:·: Ji t ted over 10 t.a-
stations bujlt in li ppine Is lands pr obuul y c 11 0t
mal:ce r 1· br �adcubts on t1ose is nC s . nl reports
are lj_ ui te eonl usec-1 , tati ons used. t.ae pro -
r_:: rar n s in Japan . Goue of th 8se �'; E:rt: ,T upane se trans::d tters
-:; onlt scb ted t) y r:l.c ial orders . Th ee e f' J. r.�u .r os do not
in cluie t� e st ations �t �unda , � in v i , or Uk i::ww.s.
Re search rev ealed that 8 ffiOb �t��ons broadcas t A}S S
s s in Japan and Aor ea durin � 1945 .
ove rn:ment st�,tions broadca t:. t Al hS in tll€ ;:;,ou th -
v!e t
J:' n ,...
·i c G onrnand
.,
the od oi ' th is b;�dy ' lS'· i2 o.v
to l9L1C:) • 1:;- 0 ob :�le s t :j t j_ ;)r J.s e. r•e in cluded in :5 e tot':Jl s •
')j' tJJ8
!lQ othe r co;w::8.nd w ::· tro op r· o "-'S impo rtunt t:ne
only otner re ceiv a le jroa dc�st si
control
':J:?3
dii i c lt. Lven il news r pr eoseG �ud bee n uV�l le in
li c�tio ns �ould have bee n
ss ble . ?rooy ruuio w s sorely needed in the
co;n.muni ca-
ti ons
.
2
4
0
1-� s .has been dev0loped previ ousl y
1
241
I. �acArthur
appeared whole -he&rt edly in accord wi th bi h� tlo n develop -
value . ue sup)ort ed th� rapid st uLio n act �tlo n of
an d ..t.£E. en lie ted men . c:x cer Jti on
oi lihat:ila 1n s an ct ::1 cial ct:Jses , o;; ' or d er , o . .l. '1icers ',·ei·u no t
allo wed to bro e.. dc :>t over "�.tLGtu .t iu ns oi LH:; :Jout hwest
'/4"
�aJ 'fic.� � If th ese st atio ns wer e to reac h th e!r greate st
potentiali t�
1
tne claL s-c leavuse �roblem could not be
allowed to int erfere .
.u er •e w1::.s to e o 1:1. 8 the r.en lu1ew it IlO r•le , as
tr1e y wantE�d J.t. 1:e t, .he r·e ww.s to oe 1·ad io of positi ve
com.:: 11an6. as si s c:.n ce .
lf'
Gls nas. he
o 1 clo ck "-'u nda�' ni. :�n t
841
.:.3a p ra ,
-J .• H • .L.ey;i s, 31
ei i_'; nt o' clock
i e t Ja c.lc �··� cer ol the ,n edi c.Lne
r:: an . 11 He rJ to (.; 0.t li.e :e t.:lC Gr uop s.udlence . 'lhen , by
indJ :ee ct me s .n s, or by r) .i r':; Ct £, eL lOcs ba::3 erJ . u.�)On a .l zed
.o er: .;on al ueed , troop ra dio woul c.: �; ell 1� to.b r �tne , the
J.. nV ':... si on in s truc tions , the i:LJ.ti
-1 1
troop ra�io worked ctls tor war ef f ort . lt Tias a
'-'· t :Ln s t r D.m en t •
The broadca::o t tccnn1 que:.s f'ound ; ,os t successf·u.l in
orewa r Am er:Lc.s .n cotn.raf,rci al rbdio anu those developed fro m
ex .e ri ence , it self, �ere
e�H;.lloy ed . iil thou.�j l �s e wu8 no t r� Et�� ct ed
ti ons
}or the sa ke of c :i. tJ , com nanCi. aE sL3tu we te ch-
ni 1u es �a ve been r into thr� e classes .
1. Troop radi o e.nnounceme nt sJ gns .
ion .
3. 'Troop s.. ssJ . E:: tar10 e .
0ndoubt edly , such ::>u ; is an s. ro:;_ trt .. r;:, r:.etnocl . t,
s way t to clHri fy imprint t.i:1c se n .;;; tnod s in the
5
m1nc l ·J i the reader .
s ) ') t an no unce - .."!161 1 t Vv' ;:;;o ri , and t oth-
paste sales f.re �. t�st to tl":E alle It "J J as a
ter to s. p
z�:11 s Vl iS ·vv ell
Y'B)Ort as rol lo ws :
A re ce nt su rvey r�ve tnc e
S'J. C
'i
ilfJ • n l� ·l 1-·it l�C � 'l&f 'ei: , f-or · , v�· v1IA
'.'HiS crerl.;. te e} V'i th 3 E rr O,:; o:L tiJ6 t-:>L_ :l 'N:J. rb ond
_;,: lrel u.;.se[; ln t� 1e 2-I' I:.n . :�\!'l'f :.:. t i oll �:.u·ld u. v.� s. rest JOn - sib for J: tc�:.· c: Ln �� L 6I 'a.� ;e so me '0'11) i.i. X' J .:1 •• ; one
t 1i rt y '.1:/ :: ' tr: ';tc .·\ or (l 84S] .
115 1.) c:. :: cl cLent ru �· Jction at ·Jro r3 :l""j e ct·:::c�
t: 1e air i yr w voJ. c t::rl u , and lJe yte 1 c
1tcud e:1 lor Jo·.rr er �_n tl�H; t>" ( !J lood
te . 1hs Go � t0r lntc� eG o H
ti".t: .•:.i d of �• l" 'Hc1 l· orce; ·:
:!:o r r·e tb e pro 't:: 1E ;; :l: .'
o ..,jci v��ce
Cl L1 ve �1 i. r· �. i:l(j
c; n..:t� L� t
)Bl:' . :::m neJ . e:r e �. v aJL ble to a ::: �1rc e. tf e0 tl ve y:or k. 'l'he
an.:: ounce vit� ll� concer ned th e ln div i
214
·-
1; )t �d u. bel· i tf t> � ,t tl ::. ere VJ af, �t ueed of a c.:o mpr EJ l ;ns ive
&.nd exJu .iUt: ti ve �-; tu cty oi t_:Je:: e ::1e t.: wd.s and t. �'.e ir ei: tec tl ve
ness . lt Vi O�t 1ci see :.n that suc h a stu d:; would be of iner;ti - i'rl, : lbl e v ue to CO i l.,! 1s-r cl o :n en , se ce bro ac.t cs �ter ·s,
t1l i2 c;over nr:n e nt , thE peopl0 oi .. t..nlE lL �.��, :::. ·H : ,
.J.u fe et, tlle
vvo r ·ld r a so ct��( b.S a v1l:.o •
11 .n L!1 8Ct .!.O I'CC2
l� l·JL�f J.
captured hi s �ttsnt ion
· ::t·E: · -;:-;e re no c; ene ral ��. on e s as king so J EJ'S of t. wor-1,:
to t; ·;J y ·oon; :s t:) ,•e 1p ti1.e ir country :Ln :5. t :::: o(al c ::.i li et .
groac h \'! O':c ld wo r1{.
le r: co'J . not; ss .i.bl:y-
o� � e c th :;t would sure ly
so th�.:t t he v; ouldn't run oL. t of tion
on .Ge yte rJ 8 • �e Knew he ��s goin g
io o
announc e1:1en tt ·.;
11 13
tl"J ek ho:1
e. 11
io n n1
str�:: t.sd. :in th e fo llo u .. s.
246
J.JUI· j
I l
.L..\.
tio n:: . llroGLI .ca s t
j &l1Ui:. · .
intervi ew p.nono r ;:: cor:.i �:1 _!:.! o1 t� · e� ,. i '"" llrlOt mC el . �cnts
s
·.ve ::: ··e p d.
ef fect j_ vene3 s s eE. ,. :ecl li c.bl;; ' 8.2J)D re1t.
247
248
�J. 1. il 1
�ed L. She rdoman, 6 �ep tember
u.c xcerpt
c i :;.]_
Cllll Jung le 1Je t'.c ork , 11 15 ·" ::: ::r ·ch l' .:!l ,
j'. ct ::: •.l t:! )::'E;ction, ·· te for i, t.
.Jr�orJ.j Cc:�;s t C:. Ul '
an--:1 tlTrl er· 1. ca n ne tv� �o rl::: .
(;- inv 't S io n :i ndoctr ·j _nSc ti on .
The se c�nd �ro up of ttc
to hel p
pre par·e td ft:; cti ve in \' as io n force s . 2.:: 1
•'-D' IO U .n c er!.en ts,
eci ches 1 �nd o s c:.; e re em -
•
::'") t;:" ("",
�h er de::u a... '1':.. . .)r.:. re c.:;.ll ed th;c;. t the 2h ilip pi n e c&.. :lpaign
centered aroun d the follo wi nG s jec t
l. Nature of fhi l1p i�� ter J n.
250
(Gruf a. Eoe)ple) ,
Ju ne 1945, )• 9 •
. [:'
.l. •
bb.er den sn,
') h �
�� -.::> iTh if . 'vi �� .:_.; ft !l �LilL C[jl �.:.
·
.t ed . C8. :fl .�U �
I�E Sectio n med ia.
�u;-:_r ·t erl"J
l the
d \.. zte of un c.:m oi ti on al sur
·
ren der .2 56 Ther-ef ore , t1 is seco nd.
pr :e inv&s ion in doe;tr ·lm ,_tiur �l p18 .n \iG.S .L>t use d.
7 .
..... .
2bb
Gr �f �. Boepp le ,
:2b6
Loc. cit .
io llo ws in
,, . .
J, .n as E: oc J .• �. tc cl
tt i),. Y·!rt OC 1 1� 0 l'Ce S
u:3 e Ji. troop r- :::L j_ o ' "'
- s r· E;porte d as
k:H.i :i o '� 'er v .�ce , 11 'l 'b E ::,i �;; nal J.icvie w ,
on r. ·I.ndanno .� 1'"�5 .c1 VCY' ':/ v:l .t&l
U.J( ,r, tions (o l' .J'a;J !:ir 'J • 1?.
:r_ t� Cf.:� i vur 1.-: it� 1 i . .i1;:.: ·:1 ·� _;_ ,: t i ::: Ll c i' or } o )e r�,�-t j_ or 1 v�'r L t ten :L11
En glis h c?. nd J·a.:.Jt: �n c-�e was dror .Jt- JCri l1y _:):. 1 ��-H. :[:;·. ltt: : l:.o tL.e
;\'f' � - -, .) -t"' ·. e"e -� ··.
)
......
-
,c ... er ... ... l-ie r · ·· en .c ."Y .r- : ···or�· c"'-l " -. -� t�-- l•r 1 ', -- - � ... l -f-1- .-,
L·•�-- ..Jl J-... d(; � , J•.Lv"'C • L., )(� --· U' - L.vJ . C. . .!.. ;., ... ,: .ul .>L . i.. ,l ,J .. L. . c:
) .l. L v' '' '
t.i.ll.s ol the j sla nc:. fi .. in c.a.u c... oJ • l{e>�I _I L :::· L' ro a.lLcw ; t�
'Nere aired c,aJ.l �y v: ith �m ��:ne ric.c: .n -b JI 'n Japane se reet d
ine: t}Jc n. c �.-·J r) ir1 J·a_)3..J.� .�::-;e , isst li tl �:. -,.lT'r ·enc�_ el' 1..1r �tr 'LlC
tions , �n ·��- �3tre� :s� 11 C::, t:_ c.. t tns leii' JS ol : ti.::.�; . ..;eneva
Conf'e ru nce v; :_;, ;l i J. be : '"- dlle r ·ed t• ) 1 lls . v-e r.er&l : ora
S':.m i 1 s for ·c.e f; slu · ;· c:,:r� .ere d wi tl:1U1..d:. :... :nci dent 2. few ci r.. �- s
le it er . 'l' :�·i iS 1f J ur l.:t f�r: :r � cvic ler J�e t:t1; .. _t 1.1J..·'l·::
·
�; !-_� :_.._ ;:; 110 t
onl;; 1. ..lr1c ti: :mc: .c! . �� s Ul l c:ntcrt! :;�. ir m;fon t cl er ent. :t'or j i 1 s
1::.> ut .i1e:, s al so acc a'r' f'J .j_ rJhed U': t.i. 'lJ' th i n;:� ::! oi' ralli tu ry
value in O.\JC L ,tl.J :1s c, :l. t:tst the Hips .
4?9
coulC be of posit J vc assist&nce
s io n :ob i �t�ti sns bui lt in th e rhi l !l es wcr ·e to
lc: ee total 0at tle he �s ii
the i_)_l _f ,nned usc the : e .1 0b ile s t ti� )n;s wc;,s not rea li •
SLu>J at ::m , coutbwe: �t Lacif'ic troop
to �� vb offered a se rv ic e unque im )ort�nce to t�e
in vusio n �rulo ctrin uti on& l broa0c �ts.
i ti on
&iJlc value
ev a1 u t:l .on.
de n:a:aded cu.r e ful ::nv es-
::. ::::. a se rv:Ht t to :· .snki nd .
��tatlon Li .:: t. allowin G ie the discovered jnLorma -
tio n c::;ncern the couthw e �t Paci fi c v
Lo c �is
r
; :
..:::.....;........,;...;.. , ;_-' . '-../
(''
CALL lOCAT ION POWER FREQUENC Y OWNER OPEN CLOSE NOTES
-
0
(Out let s in Austral ia)
::;
' 62 comm(gov stat ions ? ? comm/ gov 1942 by l .Je.n 45 No cer te.in information
m
(Outl et s in New Guinea )
ci•
9PA Port Moresby ? ? Gov 1 Feb 44 c. Oct 44 Join t Australian &
Am.e r. Army oper
ABC built & owned
cl·'
��
WVTB Nadza b 50 w ? I&E 8 May 44 11 Feb 45 Orig baling wire xmtr ([\
AFRS xmtr rep laced
;;.::,
Moved to Zamb oanga
ci"
,. ,
;:r ,
:
, WVTA Finschafen 25 0 w 1320 leo I&E 4 Jun 44 May 46 AFRS :xmtr
�·
.:..,·�- ....,
([\ C . �
cc,
;_;: WVTD Manus Is .Admiralty 360 w 1480 ko I&E 16 Ju 1 44 ? Move d to Tolosa
cT
�-
WVTC Milne Bay 50 w 1480 ko I&E 21 Ju1 44 30 Se p 45 X �·c
()
!·' ·
H
WVTE Oro Bay 50 w 1320 ko !&E lOot 44 ? X
'-'•
0
(
1flVTF Holland ia 300 w 1480 ko I&E 17 Oct 44 Mar 45 AFRS Headqu!lr ters
,-";
r� �:VVT G Biak,Schouten Is. 350 w 1450 ko I&E 8 Oct 44 Mar 46 Orig AAF baling
•· '
p
wire xmtr ,..,.
·-·
p,
�
r :
WVTR Lae 50w 1420 ko I&E 19 Nov 44 ' X
:;:J
p,.
?lVTL Morotae , Halmaher a 75 w 14 20 kc Inf'a nt ry c. Jan 45 Oct 45 ? AFRS xmtr
c.,
SD
�"-c
The Munda and Bougainvi lle stati ons t rans fe rre d to South We st Pacifio before
§ 31 August 1944 •
•
,r:::.
,,-,
..... _,
0
{/'
CALL LOCA TION POWER
ct"
FRB SL �N C
_!
OWNER OPEN CLOSE NOTES
(Philippin e area)
! _: ,
()
WVTK To 1os a11 Ley te 450 w 1510 ko !&E 25 Feb 45 ? Xmtr moved fr Manus
p
t Wl.'TM Mani la11 Luzon lkw 1300 leo I&E 17 Mar 45 ? Orig Mo bi le from
f- Jo
[�
Bo ugainvi lle
r.
f -·�· WVTI- � San Fernan do ,Luzo n 500 w 1480 ko I&E Mar 45? ? Xmtr moved from
0
Finschafen
�i
c-l-
WVTB Zam bo anga,Min danao 75 w 1420 ko I&E 21 May 45 ? Xmt r moved fr Nadzab
,_
� H
�- '
WVT I Cebu City. Cebu 500 w 1340 kc I&E 23 May 45 May 46 X
� ...!
(,
,-
-.
f-c·
WVTS Puerto Pri ne e sa 250 ., 1560 ko I&E 23 May 45 ? X
Pab.wan
Ul
I'[) c:
WVTJ San Jos e ,Mindoro 75 w 1420 ko I&E 7 Jun 45 ? Xmtr mo ved fr Munda
'_.')
d·
��
(J
WVTO Baguio11 Luzo n 400 w 1300 leo I&E 15 Ju1 45 Nov 45 X
'""· 0
�;
H
�-''
("" J CT
WVTT Male. yba lay., Minda nao 400 w 1160 ko I�B Jul 45 ? X
!·"- · i-J�
l-;
... ,
·::!
>-· ....
WVTN Ilio1o, Pana y 60 .. 1435 kc I&E 'I Mar 46 X
Q Q
)::' __,
C)
...._.. The Okinawa station transferred to So uth West Pacific in �T une or July 1945
()
�
WVTP 24th Co rps Mo bile 400 w 1480 ko I&E '? ? Built for Jap in vasio n
WVTQ 6th Co rps Mo bi le 400 w 1450 ko I&E ? ? Built for Jap in vasio n
WVTR 8th Co rp s Mo bi le 400 w 1420 ko I&E ? ? Built for Jap in vasio n
Pos sible use at To kyo
C: . 1
ll'
wvrH 9th Co rps Mo bi le 400 w 1480 ko I&E ? ? Buil t for Jap in vas io n
l
(
,
jl)
::l f.!'..
•
u .;
1-'
[·"'
CALL WCA TION POWER FREQ UEN CY OWNER OPEN CI.DSE NOTES
rt
- - p�
( Japanese area )
("""'•
�-'·
c
�-·'
WVTR Tokyo , 'Ro nshu 50 kw 590 ko I&E 23 Sep 45 ' Was Jap xmt r JOAK ,�
t
:- ' Ke y of original 7
�·
station net�
(il
ct
f-') WLKF Kumamot o, Kyushu ? 'I I&E 23 Sap 45 ? Jap xmtr On
0
orig 7 sta nett
'-:i
rt
f-;" ,
? Hiroshima , Hon shu ? ? I&E 23 Sep 45 Early 'I Jap xmtr On
·�·
•·"
(1) H
orig 7 sta netl
c
·�
(.
. ..:.·I
l •• . l
0
'T'
WVTQ Osaka, Honshu 10 kw 1310 ko I&E 23 Sep 45 ? Jap xmtr On
� [>=2
c+
orig 7 sta net?
::.r
::
CJ1
(1) 0)
WVTC Nagoya, Honshu 10 kw 1340 lee I&E 23 Sep 45 Apr 46 Jap xmtr On \.)
rt
- orig 7 sta net ?
0
,_, 0
�: ;:;
WLKE Sendai , Honshu 3kw 1370 leo I&E 23 Sep 45 ? Jap xmtr On
0 r.
t-'• f-'·
ori g 7 st a net ?
1-.
J �
; '·
�·
.....
0 (!;
WIKD Sapporo, Hok kaido 3kw 142:) lee I&E 23 Sep 45 ? Jap xmtr On
PJ
c '-'
orig 7 st a net1
�
�='
WLKC Pusan,. Korea 50 kw 1510 ko I&E 8 Oot 45 Apr 46 X �(.
H
·-·
1
', ,
r
·,
WVTP Se oul , Korea ? 1 I&E 22 Oot 45 'I X
·�
>- WVTH Haohino he, 'Ho nshu 250 w 1200 ko I&E Oot 45 Apr 46 X
c:..l
,:.: )
WVTO r-::_ Omu ra, Kyushu 400 " 1450 ko USMC Nov 45 ? Baling wire xmt r
p:,
tl
•
'YLKB Ni igata, Honshu ? 14 30 lro I&E Nov 45 ? Ori g mobile xmtr
!� '"
c=
N
�:-
t· '•
0
::;
t:'''
f
-' ·
[i)
cl- t-��
0
�-;:
C't
r:r
(')
v
()
;;:;
rr
c-r
0
f
J •
()
()
p;
'�
>-'
0·
..
CALL LOCA TION POWER FREQUENC Y OWNER OPEN CLO SE NOTES
-·
( Japanese area concluded)
? Tsurga,. Honshu 500 1f ? I&E Dec 45 ? X
WLKA Kanoya, Kyu shu 500 w 1490 kc I&E
Deo 45 ' X
? Mat uyama , ? ? ? I&E Deo 45 Apr 46 X
WLKH Kure, Rhiko ku 400 w 1440 ko I&E Dec 46 Mar 45 Reported baling
·�
wire xmtr
J---4
t:,
·
There 11rere 8 400 w mob ile stations operating in Japan and Korea during Dece mber 1945.
0
\.:: ;
l "�
()
f
- J
.�
c"
r::..
:1)
P
I
;.J:o-.
0::
Cil
484
_elns cons tuntlj in se�rcn oi add i t i o na l me �ns
t�r ou� h wni ch !lis organi z� tio n coulu be of gre�ter service ,
Lewis naturally rLali zed th�t Ath� trans cri ptio ns c ould be
of vul v .e to service iJospi t ul s . l· or SU i:W ti me umny phy s i -
cl ans had felt thuL wJthin Lr u s i c lay a therapeutic
qua l it y .
261
A. .. "T!ei ·i ca n broadca s ters also nelc i thi s s ame i d e a.
At lea� t h�hs }r os r ams co uld hel p p ati e n t morale by h e l pi n g
to e l im ina t e b o red om .
1 J.. r ea l i z a t i on o1· the Ho s .Jit8.l .Ji st ributi on System
;rv a� ; one oi ',.i.'l .. S1 tm jor v: urticne "c ampaigns .1 1 p,.ct ual t ran - scriptio n ci is tri ou tio n VJ.o._ s a s Lcple me. . t ter for tl 1e C i r c uits
and E e qui r ew en t s i.:Ju bsec tion. 'l'he iii 'i icul t hu rdle lu ;y in
conv incing t he Of' i'ice of t he �• rmy Surge on General that .{,YhS
trans cripti ons could ti l& l--:: e a val uE::.b le c o ntri bu t i o n . ::le t,
within the ve ry shudow of that of fi c e suc h a p l an had
d.
operat ed successf'ull , y fo r ;;' e'-l rs . "'bout L- �3 0. L. ( hoxy )
Ro tha fel �ad in s tulled a sound sys tem ut �ashin�ton' s
Walter l1.e ed Arrn:y .L ... osyi tal .
26 2
'l'D.i s ndistrlu uted 11 ri.idio
2Cl
11 ' 1' he .Plac e
S�ciet
y
oi
262
uarold burr is -i.le ycr :::.clG. Li cl 'l&rd .L. Cc:�rdin f·ll ,
of ' .,, usi c in He::di ng , 11 Journc.. l oi the Ac �ms t.L eal
Ar:J el 'iCB:_, 17:: 62:2 -235 , . Janu ary 1946-.-
ke:; cr oer·gf :r '
.d cv ; iork 'r:i.rn E:: s ,.,a, :a z).n e ,
sides
.
t:'te S� Jrin�; J1. l;JL13 . ti e u1e t immediate r � si st anc e in the
Surgeon �e neral 's Office in �aohinsto n
. 2 63
Stebb ins , then
�;.1·h� :l 1 ';la; ;.hin gto n repreoentL -tive , 1N�s instructed to exert
every L)os sible CJI'e csur e . 2 6
4
.i.lowever', the ;: 1ec li cal officers
were not intere sted . The ex act l o ca t i o n o:C the r e si s t anc e
·,v as no t asce r·t ui.r:w( :l e to .Lev :is , .Jtcl JbLls , or tnl s wr ·i ter .
ln the .n 8anti:ae , .ue wis succeeded in ll. avi ng s.n
expe riment al sounci system instulle d ut }, :cc orna ck G-e neral
dos pi t&l in Pas adena , Galii '::.Jr nia.. 'Ihe de,.te o! tLi s
ins tal L:.tion vu:" s not o b t o. ine d , out it p ro oc,. O l y i'irs t op� .r ataJ.
in the .Sur rLner · o1 1943. nl ·HS tecnni cians helped to pla n and
ins tall the ec ;uipnent
.
2
65
.i?PS pers on.: 1e l assisted vv ith
pr o cra�ins pro blems . Thi s wos th e 1'i rs t hosp ital system
unaer .. ,:r. J:-.2· sur veil la nce .
Soon ti Le 0urgeon J·enc rc .l 2.t �reed t.�. t .. t sm :md sys t em s
ml ght be an add i t io n to his hospital 's activities . The
2,_;3
Thomas 11.
i"l . .Le wis , 2 il.U "' U2 t 1950.
'-..)
264
J. ;arton .ti . 8 teor jins , ld vctooer lVtJ O •
265
Ldw arci c.e l.s. fenna , (j .:..J c c e 1 CJ LH:o r l��LJ O.
436
ct ual 111ar m er ln wn lch ttci s 6ecision V!L u: . r e ache d cJulu not
'tle uncovered . ::::
Lev¥is:c:;G ? be ie vosd cb.ct t co nstant pres surc.s
exerte d r rom man;y ,;.l. n:];l es cause d tne de sion. .h BLIS
art icle te lls of the �cti on as follows :
On 27 Sep t e m be r 1043, lettsr s were sent from the
::::. u2 eon J.ene r:::c l1 s Oifl ce to Uo,:.t· lancl :l.nc; vi ic er ·s of
l litu nospit als , both overse as and wi th in the
cont inent l unit£d Sta�es . se lett er s advised
addressees o 1 th e avai labil it y oi tr ans criptio ns ,
the f aci lit ies re rcc.l to ph(y th em ( inc ng the
S.J:)pr oXliT lt.:-. te coGt of e4 pment find th e sources th rough
wr 1ic h _:: ;urch ases z_;ht oe ) , and contal ned an
out line of nr:-:-xed Forces hadi o Service oper ti on . It
Wccs ize d t yu. rc:tl u s e o1 1 '-' cili tie;s for thi s
purpose is an &u t zed ex1 Je n.cl i tu:ce of the Ilospi tal
-
{' ,. ' '
i:'u nd • r:, ot.\
�he le tter was received wi th gre t inter est.
Dome stic hos tu l o1.'i icers be ;_�an pl.s; .ns for i£:�u,c.H"'"te in-
s lla ti on of ... "lo t !::i l l..l is tr ·ibut ion
·;; 69
"'t·e ms � ...... J.l l.. • Pro uaoly
.most of 8 ones �e re of the ba1in� -wire t
ype .2 70
l • .r:
recel ved :l1&. r::.y re quc E.t f > for tran:: ;cri ptions . l:. arly in
194 4 tt 1e ilo ll;yv.ro Victo ry Corm;; i tt ee ;;ave .tJ e r,,:i ssio n w;:1ich
ne�'"'
e::- o o
J urt o: 1 .• • Stcbui ns, 18 vctober 1950 , sa tha t
he was aule to e.z c cr uci.&l �n ::: luonce th rouc ;h hi s cousi n ,
'--'-n .'i .s sis ta nt Secre t�n·y of the .n.r my . Thu s bloc king ad.min-
is tr ut ive assista nts wer e rc :_, mven ted.
2
6 7
'rhomc, s H. A. Le wi s, 18 0ctober 195 0 .
268
( Mart in r. �or k) , The Broadcas t �ist rib utio n
Sect ion , g. d. (£.
•
1 \Jovember 1943), p. 9.
269
Lo c
•
.£.ll•
i.::-? 0 �,J..:JI'a , _:J. 2.' ;:} 7
.
487
enabled H show disc�: , th ose especially produced by 1�..:i'f1.S , to
be played at domestic hospita la . 27 l
As a result of thi s
permission and the requests , the firs t BDS hospi tal circuit
was establis hed in the Spr ing of 19 44 . 272
Circuits were
gradually added until , during the last half of 19 45, th ere
were thi rty -two Army and !'our Navy circuits serving 113
general , regional , and convale scent hospita la . 273
Thi s Hos pita l Distr ibut ion Syste m expansion was not
accomplished wit hout a continuing effort on the part of
Lewis and his staff . The "camp aign" ran th roughout the
remainder of the war and was ext ended int o the postw ar
period.
274
It was during the latt er period th at the zenit h
was rea ched. Hospi tals of all se rvices and of the Vet erann
271
Irving L.
Fogel to Thomas H. A. Lewis , 15 May
1944 , p. 3.
272
(
C. Courtenay Sava ge}, H isto ri cal Notes , Novem
ber 1944 , !!. • ll•
27 3
AFRS , Pros ress Rep ort ,
(
1 July to } 31 De cember
1944 , p. 15.
274
As a part of th is "campaign" during the la st
half of 19 44 Se rgeant Thomas M. McDonnell made an ext ensiv"'
cardiographic st udy of the effects of ty pes of music on
pat ient s at McCornac k General Hospi tal in Pasa dena , Cali
fornia . Unfortu nately records of the st udy were not dis
covered. They might have cont ained findings of import ance
to bot h AF 'RS and th e medical wo rld. Informs tio n from :
Thomas H . A. Lewis, 18 Octo ber 195 0 ; Francis J . Seeley , 28
July 1950 .
488
Admi nis tratio n were "di str ibut ing" the programs . Trans crip
ti ons were furnished the lat ter on a contr act basia . 2
7
5
From 1942 to 194 6 it was known that at leas t 1 25
service hospi tals located wit hin the Unite d States played
AFRS tr anscriptio ns . rrobabl y several hospita ls us ing the
discs we re unknown to BDS personnel.
Rela t ionship of the sys te ms to the command s. It was
genera lly believed th at Ho spi tal Dis tr ibut ion Syste ms were
held in good favor by most hospit al com..t: 1ande rs . Later in
the wa r they were cons idered a vi tal part of the
Convales
cent Services ac ti vit ies . 2
7
6
Many S}'st elms were direct
inst rumen ts of comm and . 1Vl icrophones were pe rmanentl y
placed on the desks of hospit al chiefs . Thus , annou ncements
and instr uctio ns of immediate importa nce could be nbroad
cas tn to hospital pers onnel and pa ti ents th roughout the
plant .
The hospita l Chapla in ofte n pla yed an importa nt
role in such syste ms , whi ch were considered ideal for his
275
Clifford H . Frink , 6 December 1 9 50 .
2
7
6
Dur ing the la tter par t of World War II Army
hospitals combined recre&ti onal , enterta inment , and infor
mati onal ac tiv ities intc a secti on known as Convalesce nt
Services .
48 9
ac tivities . The ni ghtly vespers was a usu al program .
Sunday ceremo nies were often "broa dca st" throughout the
wards of the hospita ls . Also, he was ab le to supply funds
when no other source was av aila ble . Most im portant , the
Cha plain was a dir6 ct chan nel thr ough which system pers on
nel could re ach the ea r of the base or hospit al commander .
Records of ext ensi ve hospi tal infor m &t i onal and
educa ti onal activitie s were not fo und . However , be cause of
the philos ophy of deve loping pat ient activitie s, the
C onval e s cent Servi ces ra dio act ivi ties made related con
tributi ons in th is area .
Hospi tal Outlets �
·
Following is a ta bul at io n of
kno wn Ho sp i tal Distr ibut ion Sys tems located wi thin the
Un it ed Sta tes that us ed AF ·RS transcript ions dur ing the
perio d of this study .
First Ser vi ce Command .
Cus hin g Gene ral riosp ita l , l'arming ham , Ma ss.
Lovell Gen era l Hospi tal , Fort Devens , Ma ss.
Walt ham Fi.egio nal Hospi tal , Walt ham , Ma ss .
u. S. Army Gene ral Hospit al , Ca mp Edwar ds , Ma ss .
Seco nd Servic e Comma nd .
AAF Regional Hospi tal , Mitchell Pi eld , N. Y.
Mas on Gen era l Hospi tal , Brentwood , N.
Y
.
ASF Conval escent Hospital , Ca mp Upton , N. Y.
Regional Hosp i ta l , Fort Jay , N . Y
.
AAF Conva le scent Hospi ta l , Plattsb ur gh , N. Y .
Engl and Gen eral Hospi tal , Atlantic C it y , N. J.
hegio na l Hospital , Fort Monmouth , N. J.
Hallo ran Gen eral Hospi tal , State n Islan d, N.
Y
.
Rhoade s Gene ral Hospi ta l , Uti ca, N.
Y
.
Edgewood Division, 1i'i aso n Gene ral Hospi tal ,
Brent wood, N. Y.
Ti lton General Hospit al , Fort lJix , N. J.
Third Servi ce Comma nd .
Deshon Gene ral Bosp ital , But ler , Penna .
4 9 0
Vall ey l' orge General Hospi tal , Phoeni xvil le , Penna .
FIGURE 37
AFRS' Dome stic Hospi ta l Outlets Li st.
Third Service Co�� and (continued).
Woodrow Wilson General Hospita l , Staunton , Va .
AAF Regional Hospital , Langley Field , Va .
Walter Reed Gene ral Hospital , Washington , D. c.
ASF Regional Hospital , Fort Mead , Maryland .
u. s. Army Gene ral Hospi tal , Camp Pickett , Va .
McGuire Gene ra l Hospital , Ri chmond , Va .
Fourth Servic e Command .
Kennedy Gener al Hospi tal , 1Vlemp his , Tenn.
Battey General Hospi tal , Rome , Ga .
Lawson General Hospi tal , Cham blee (Atlanta) , Ga .
Oliver General Hospital , Augusta , G a.
Foster General Hospi tal , Jacks on , Miss.
AAF' Regional Hosp i tal , Maxwe ll Field , Ala .
Finney General Hospi tal , Thomas ville , Ga .
AS F Regi onal Hos pital , Fort B enning , Ga.
AAF Regional Hospi tal , Rob ins Field , Ga .
Thayer General Hospital , Nashville , Tenn .
Moore Gene ral Hospi tal , Nashville , Tenn.
AAF Regional Hospital , Greensboro , N . c.
U. s. Army General Hospital , Camp Butner, N. c.
FI GURE 37 (continued )
APRS ' Dome stic Hospital Outlets List (c ontinued).
491
Fourt h Service Co��and (cont inued).
Regional Hospi tal , Fort Bragg , N. c.
AAF Regi onal .clo spi ta l , Elgin .bi eld , }l a.
AAF' Regi onal Hospi tal , Camp Bl anding, F' la.
AAF Regional Hos pita l , Orlando , Fla.
AAF' Regiona l Hos pita l , Drew Field , Fla .
AAF Convales cent Hospi tal , St . Pe ters burg , Fla.
AAF Regional Ho spi tal , Miami , Fla.
St ark General Hospi tal , Charleston, s. c .
AAF Regi onal H ospi tal , Hu nter Fie ld , Ga.
AAP Regional Hosp ita l , Keesl er l' ield , Miss.
492
AAF Convales cent Ho spi tal , Cochran F'ield , Macon , Ga.
Nort hingt on General Hospi ta l , Tuscaloosa , Ala.
Fift h Servi ce CO inL"l and .
Ba ker General Hospi tal , Mart insburg , West Va .
Ashford General Hos pit al , Whi te Sulpher Spri ngs ,
West Va .
Darnall General H ospital , Danvi lle , �y .
Billi ngs General Hospita l , }�rt Harri son , Ind.
Wakeman General Hospi tal ,
C
amp Atter bury , Ind.
Ni chols General Hospit al , Louisville , Ky .
FIGUF £ 37 (cont inued )
AFRS ' Domest ic Hospit al Outl ets List {contin ued}.
Fi fth Service Comrn and (continued).
Regional Hospi tal , Fort Knox Ky.
AAF Convale scen t Hospital , oO\'Iiman Field , Ky.
Fletcher Gene ral Hospital , Camb ridge , 0hio .
Crile General Hospi tal , Cleve land , Ohio .
AAF Regi onal Hospi tal , Patterson Fiel d , Ohio.
AAF Convales cent Hospi tal , l' ort
Thomas , Ky.
Sixth Service Command .
493
AAF' Regional Hospi tal , Trua x l' ield, ivl adi son , Wise.
AA F Regi onal Hospi tal , Chanute l'' ield , Rant oul , Ill .
Gardn er Genera l Hos pi tal , Chicago , Ill.
Percy Jones Gene ra l Hospita l , Battle Cree k , i• i.i ch •
.Perc y Jones General Hospi tal , Fort Custer , Mi ch .
{Annex) .
AAF Regional Hospi tal , Scott bield , Ill .
Seventh Service Command .
AAF' Comval escent Hospi tal , l'o rt Logan , Colo .
AAF' Regional Ho spi tal , Buckley Fi eld , Denver , Colo.
Fi tzs imons Gener al Hospi tal , Denver, Colo.
Schi ck Gener al Hosp ital , Clinto n , Iowa .
ASF Regional Hospi tal , Camp Crowder, Mo .
FIG URE 37 (continued )
AF'RS 1 Dom estic Hospi tal Outlets List (cont inued ) .
494
Seventh Servic e Command {continued ).
AAF Regi onal Hospi tal , Army Ai r Base , Sali na , Kan.
AA} Regi onal Hospital , Li ncol n Arm y Ai r Base , Nebr .
ASF Regi onal Hospi tal , Souix Falls Arm y Ai r Base ,
s. D.
ASF Regi o nal Hospi tal , Fort Warren, Wyo .
u. s. Army General Hospital , Camp Carson, Colo .
Regi onal Hospi tal , Fort Riley , Kan .
Ei ghth Servi ce Command .
Brooke lieneral Hoa pi tal , .lt'o rt Hous ton, Texas .
AAF Regi onal Hospi tal , San Antoni o, Texas .
ASF Regi onal Hospi tal , Camp Swi ft , Texas .
AAF Regi ona l Hospi tal , Sheppard Fiel d , Texas .
Ashburn General Hospi tal , l•icK in ney , Texas .
Harmon General Hospi tal , Longvie w, Texas .
Army -Navy General Hospi tal , Hot Sprin gs , Ark.
Borden General Hospi tal , Chic ka sha , Okla.
AAF Regi onal Hospita l , Barksdal e, La .
ASF Regi onal Hospi tal , Ca mp Polk, Leesvill e , La .
Burns General Hospi tal , Santa Fe , New !ilexi co.
AAF Regi onal Hospi tal , Amari llo Army Air Base, Texas .
FIGURE 37 (contin ued )
AFRS ' Dome stic Hospi tal Outlets Li st (continue d) .
Eighth Service Comm and (c ontinued).
AAF Re gi onal Hospi tal , Pyote, T
exas .
McClosky Genera l Hospi tal , Tem ple , Texas .
LaGarde Gene ral Hospi tal , New Orleans , La.
Beaumon t General Hospital , El Paso, 11 exas .
Glennan General Hospital , Okmu lgee , Okla.
AS F Regi onal Hospita l , Camp Bowie , Texas .
ASF Regi onal Hospi tal , Camp Max ey, 'l'exas .
ASF ' Regi onal Hospital ,
"
hob ins on , Ark . vamp
""'
Ninth Service C ommand .
�cC ornack General Hospital , Pasadena , Calif.
ASF Regional Hospi tal , Sant a Ana , Calif.
Torney General Hospital , Pal m Springs , Cali f.
Hoff Genera l Hospi tal , Santa Barbar a , Cali f.
Hammond �ene ra l Hospi tal , Modesto, Calif.
ASF Regional Hospi tal , �o rt Ord , Cal if.
AAF Regi onal Hospital , Hami lton Field , Cali f.
Dibble General rlosp i tal , �en lo Park , Calif.
Let te rman Gene ral Hospital , San Francis co , Calif.
Barne s General Hospi tal , Vanc ouver, Wash .
Baxter Gene ral Hospi tal , Spokane , Wash .
F'IGU RE 37 (c ontinued )
AF flS ' Dome stic Hospital Outlets Li st ( continued).
495
Ninth Servi ce Cormna nd (continued ).
AAF Convales cent Hospi tal , .lto rt Wri ght , Spokane ,
Wash .
•
McC aw General Ho spi tal , Walla Walla , Wash .
DeWi tt Gene ra l Hospi tal , Aubu rn , Callf.
Birmingham General H os pital , Van Nuys , Calif.
496
AAF Regional Hospi tal , Ke arns Army di r Base , Ut ah.
AA.F Regiona l Ho spita l , Davis -�� 1au th an F'ield , Ariz.
Mi tchell Convalescent Hospit al, Cam p Lockett, Calif.
ASF' Regional Hospi tal , Oa kland , Calif.
Madigan Gene ral Hos pital , .i!o rt Lewis, Wash.
Bus hnell General hospi tal , tlri gham City, Utah.
Sixth Naval �i st rict.
u. s. Naval Hospit al , Dou blin , Ga •
Eleventh .l.'t aval .J..J ist rict .
USN Convales cent Ho spi ta l , Arrowhead Springs ,
u. s. Naval Hospi tal , Corona , Calif.
u. s. Naval Hosp ita l , San Diego , Cali f.
u. s. Naval Hospi tal , Long Beach, C ali f.
FIGUfih 37 (conti nu ed )
Calif.
AFRS ' Domestic Hospi tal Ou tlets List (continued ).
497
Thirtee nt h
N
aval Di str ict.
USN Convalescent Hospi tal , Sun Va ll ey , Idaho .
Di st rict of Columbia (Navy
)
.
Na ti onal u. s. Navy Medical Center , Bet hesda , Md .
FIGURE 37 (concluded
)
AFRS ' Domestic Hospi tal Outlets List
(
conc luded).
XII. SU 1viMr..hY OF AL L AFRS OUTLETS
(EXCEPT IN G SHOhT -WAVE )
498
Sinc e the earliest days of the operati �n a contro
vers y has existed concerni:::15 the total num.�er of outlets
using .t�.F'RS transcriptions . Following these explanatory
notes is a t�bula tion of these outlets by World War II
areas . The figures have been combined from precedi ng
sections of thi s chapter. Informati on for these sections
was colle c ted from many sources .
This writer did not believe that the fi gure s were
co mpletely ac curate . H owever, it appe :.. red that they were
more likely to be under, rather than over , the total . War
time reports were uncertain. True , some persons seemed apt
to magni fy their activities ; yet it was believed that thi s
characte ri stic wa s more than off-set by the probable
outlets unknown to AF'RS Los Ang ele s pers onnel.
While thi s writer made no attemp t to obtain full
historical accounts of the outlets
'
development , he did
coll ect and critically evaluate every piece of informati on
concerning an out let's existence . It was hi s desire to
identify and loc ate every possible station and sound sys tem
that used .t�.FRS trans cri ptions during the period of the
study . Undoubtedly , however , a great number of extant
499
sound sys tems rema ined undiscovered . Probably mo st of the
true st ations were located . Certainly the following
figures may be ac cepted as being approxima tely correct .
t_j
0
a �)
(1) �
to !:(1
rt til
.......
() 0
s::
(')c
rt
P' )-1
0 (1)
1-j rt
rt / [Q
I
�
H
��
� ...:' Q
� §
ll'

(1) 0
s:::
�
til
� rt V1
ll' 0 00
rt s::
....... rt
0
::s rt
to P'
('tl
tr:1
X :>i
() 0
1-'
�
s::: 1-'
p. p.
(1) •
p.
- Tabulated Summar� of All AFRS Outlets from ]942 to 194
!
Area AFRStations Comm/ Gov Sound Sys tems
- Alaskan Defense Ccrnmand 27 12 20
Atlantic Ocea n Areas 25 23 50
Afric an-Mediterranean Areas 47 32 11
The AFN in Europe 75 20 133
China-Burma- India Theater 32 5 5
S outh Pacific Co mmand 8 21 20
Mid Pacific Command 11 4 28
South West Pacific Comman d 36
62 0
Mobile AFRStations 13 X. X
Hospi tal Dis tributio n Systems
(wi thin the U. So)
X X 126
Totals 274 179 392
GRAND TOTAL OF ALL AFRS O'L 1"!'L ETS FROM 1942 TO 1946 - - - - - .. - • 845
v"
()1
0
0
..
�
im�
Q
Ill
...
� !
1
....
�
g
i
�
l=t
!
j
�!
m
.. i
�
c
�
i
•
!H H
�
I
'
P::J
a
..
l
...
a
;
j
ll!ll
.. ..
0 •
•
j
•
3
j
!II
j •
�
$
II!
� • • • .. "' -
c
..
..
..
..
..
..
.. . I
I.
=''
J!
1) c
!
:I
I
I
!
J Jl
"(
I
Q
Ill
�
...
...
I, �
I ,
'
�
�
h
..
'l ..
. ,
. : �
0
ii
..,
t,
I'
�
'-=
�
'-=
:I
101
�
�
0
i·
i
Jl
I
�
�
101
�
�
,,
!1
.
. .
I
ll
ll
I
I
r
Jl
j.
(
I
'
(I
I
I
I
I,
t
I
502
CHAPTER VI
THE SHORT -WAVE O.PhRAT IONS SECTION
The Short -Wave Operatio ns Se ctio n was the las t ma jo r
AF'RS segme nt to unfol d . Ame rica n radio men were less
expe rie n ced in short -wave bro adcasti ng than in any other
form of the ir mediu m. Fore ign goverrunent s and broa dcasters
surp as sed Ame rica in develo ping thi s form of trans mi ss ion .
It had been ass ign ed a ma jo r job in the war scheme of
Germany and Japan . Short -wave was a prime medi um of propa
gan da.
Th e pr ewar mo bi lizatio n period found Am erican
age ncies ru shing to cons truct short -wave fa cilities . So on
many troop broad casts were ini tia ted . By the time AFRS
trans criptio ns became ava il able the Office of War Informa
tion controlle d the progra ming and operat ion of all exi sti ng
Ame rica n short -wave stati ons . Si nc e Lewis ' liaiso n wi th
that age n cy appea red to be of the highest order no prob lem
was ant icipated in obta ini ng the des ired short -wave release
of his shows . Howe ver un foreseen circums tanc es , dema nd ing
ma jor modi fi cat ions in the A}�S pla n , caus ed act ivation of
the Short -Wave Ope ra tions Se ction.
This pre sentatio n of the new secti on is gi ven in
the following divisions :
503
1. Devel opment of the sect ion.
2. Operatio n of the sectio n.
3. AF �S short- wave programi ng.
I. DEVELO PMEN T OF' THE SECTIO N
From the beginning ,
L
ewis int ended to use short -w ave
as a major means of program disseminatio n. This wa s the
logical resul t of early experience : Overseas troo ps he ard
Ame rican short -wave broadcas ts and requeste d expanded
service.
Lewis probably made the earliest arrangement s wit h
Brophey in May 1942 ab out the ti me of th eir· Alaskan trip.
Not unti l se veral month s la ter was a sl zable release of
AF'RS programs possible . When ac tual broadcast of the shows
was re quested AFRS found an unanti cipated obst acle in
subordinate OW! pers onnel .
After considerable ti me , and much "t op- level" nego- ti atio ns , ac ceptable solut ions were obt� ined. Then Af �S
reali zed th at , in order to achi eve adequate service ,
changes in pers onnel and program organi z.a tio n wo uld be
necess a ry .
The development of the &hor ·t -W ave Operat ions Sec t ion
is presented in the following divisions .
1 . OWI- CIAA oper&ti on of American short -w ave .
I
2. AFRS ' original use of short -wave broa dcas ts.
3. OWI - AFhS sh ort - wave problems .
4. R eso lu t ion of OWI -AFR.S sh ort -wave pr oblems .
5. Conclu s i on s of OWI -CIAA-AFRS me eting .
6. Army News Service -AFRS agre emen t.
7. Short -wave f'a cilj ties d e v elop m en t .
504
Q![-� ope ra tion of Ame rica n short -�. Prewar
Ame rican sh ort -wave stat ions grew in a "Topsy -like 11 manne i·.
For th e ;r;ost part they developed as exper imen ts of the
indu str y. Broa dcast en gineer s were :rco st intereste d . Si nc e
mon ey- ma king possibili ties wer e r�ot a;-; pare nt, pr ogra ming
was on ly a step-ch i ld of the operat ions . Apparently only
on e firm reco gni zed short- wave 's in ter nat ional val ue . Th is
wa s th e World- Wide Bro adcas ting Fo unda tion which operated
transmit ters at bos ton . This en ter pri se, founded by Walter
Lemm on , ! the man wh o had used Pre s ident Woodro w Wilson's
"r ad io appar atus " for troo p pro gr s.. ms jus t after v� orl d War I,
dedi cated itself to the task of di sseminating kn owledge
tbro ugho ut the w::>r ld . The other stat ions , tr an smit ting
fro m New Yor k, C incinn at i , Schene ctady , and S an Fr ancisco ,
operate d for techn ica l experi ment�tion and progr amed only
1
Supra , p. 67 .
505
mat erials that were eas ily accessible .
In 1 941 Nelso n Rockefe ll er's
"
good ne ighbor" CIAA
office became inter e st ed in short -wave broad casts to the
L
atin and South Am erican countries .
2
This agency urged
private broadcasters to produce pr ogram s of interest to
Spanish-s pe aking peop les of those lands . The CIAA prepared
scripts and made sugge st ions for the programs . Such ideas
and ma terial s we re readi ly received by short -wave broad
cas ter s for the y he lped so lve program pr ob lems . Also, the
mis s ion was ac cepted as worthy by statio n owne rs . As a
part of the ir plan , the C IAA bought air time for dai ly news
cas ts to Bouth Am erica. Also, they at tem pted to st imu late
owners to enlarge their fac ilities and build additional
st at ions .
When the CIAA entered th e sho rt -wave field there
we re but eleven to fourte en st ations on the air .
3
Through
ou t the war the cons truc tion of new and added fac ilities
cont inued , until by the time the war ended there wer·e at
least thirty-six J.l.lll erican stat ions bea min g programs
throughout the world .
4
2
Supra , pp . 4 4 f.
3
�
·
( See foo tno te
22 )
4
Supra. , p. 51 .
In Augus t 19
41 the Office of the Coordina tor of
Inf ormation was formed un der Colo ne l Will iam Donovan .
5
50 6
This agency , too, was interested in short -wave broadcasts
to fore ign la nds . Thi s was one of th e most important me dia.
By Pre sident hoosevelt 's Executive Order of 13 June 19 42
the COI was joined wi th other info rmati on al servi ces and
re name d the Office of War Inf ormation. Elme r Davis , no te d
CBS ,newscaster , was appo inted Chief of th is ne w agency .
Apparentl y ther e developed some thing of an OWI-CIAA
scramble for ai r time on the li mited faciliti es . The C
I
AA ,
theref ore , ap pealed fo r a cl ari fication of juri sdicti on
and a cl arification of mission. By Presidenti al order
CIAA was gr ant ed resp onsibili ty for broadcasts to the other
Ameri ca n republi cs. 6 The OWI reta ined control ove r all the
other sho r t -wave tr ansmissio n •
• • • The time was divided betwee n th e two agencies
on a basis of one -thi rd for CIAA and two -thirds for
cor, wi th the former utili zing the hours between 4
p.m . and midn1g ht. In nego tiations for time wi th
the broadcasting stat ions , the entir e broadcasting
programs schedu led by the tw o agencles wer e submi tte d
jointly .
?
5
Supra , pp. 4 7 f.
6
(Donald W. Rowla nd), Historx of the Offl ce of the
Coo rdinator £f. Inter-America n Affairs , 19 47 , pp . 59 and l9 7
.
7
Ib id. , p.
6
0.
-
507
On 1 No vemb er 1942 , und er governme nt contracts , the
OWI and the CIAA jointly took over actual control and
operati on of all dome stic short -wave st ations .
8
These
agenc ies re tained cont rol thr oughout the remai nder of
W
orld
War II.
Before the founding of hFRS , troop broadcas ts we re
aired by the individual short-wave st ations , the CIAA , and
the 0WI.
9
The troop shows of the Army 's Bur6 au of Public
Relations were also transm itted by the same st ationa .
l
O
In
all , a si zable quant ity of troop programs was being released
in an swe r to the reque st s re ce ived from isolBted , overseas
se rvice -lis teners .
ll
An aggreg ation of Cl AA Spanish shows ,
COI foreign -languag e and hnglish programs , broadcas ts of
the st ation owners , special BPR shows , and the many tr oop
programs had alre ady placed a pr emium on short -wave air
time . AF'RS , in deve loping its troop broadcasts ente red a
time -availabili ty picture that was alre ady compe titive .
8
.ill.£ · ,
p. 61 .
9
Supra , pp . 41 ff .
10
Sup ra , pp . 59 ff .
11
Su,Era , pp .
3
9 ff .
508
�' orig inal � of short - � broadcas ts . Lewi s
seemed to have counted heavily on short -wave air time for
early dis tribution of AF RS programs . Certa inly , his ver y
agreeable re lati onship with nrophey and other COI persons
should have made thi s possible . He rma nn , in a report of
earl y short -w ave arr angemen ts , outli ned the approach as
follows :
Conferences wer e he ld with offici als of the
Office of War Inforn 1a tion and the Coordinator of
In ter- nme rican Affairs . As a re sult it was agreed
that some of the �pecial Servi ce Division progra ms
would be bro adcast ove r their tr ansm itters whenever
and wherever they could be squee zed into th e alre ady
crowded schedule a . l2
Other re ferences to su ch mee tings wer e no t dis cover ed .
For his tori cal records Lewis dictated as follows in
Novem ber 1
944
:
"
I recall going up and dea ling with Potter ,
re sult ing in �� over - all ne twork wi th 18 br oadcas ts a week
on Command Performa nce.n
l 3
It seemed :nos t pr obable that
early ar rangemen ts for trans mi ssion of AFF..S pi 'ograms over
OVJI short -wave stations wer e made wi th each district OWI
offi ce on an almo st individual basis.
Short -w aved aFRS show s wer e intended to be hear d by
12
J . Carter
Herwa nn in Thomas H. A. Lewis,
J
ANC
Radio Subcommi ttee � hepor t , 20 Janu ary 1
9
44 , p.
"""'49':""
13
Thomas H. A. Lewis , Hi stori cal Notes , 1 Novemb er
1 944 ,
!l ·
.E. ·
509
overseas servicemen on whatever recei ver s were avail able .
It was expected that thi s would be one of the most important
means of program di stribution. Work
l 4
stated that both the
State Departmen t and the CO I gave special stre ss to the
effectivene ss of the medium . C ertainly , short -wave tr ans
missi on appear ed to be a most expedient m�a ns .
Gradual ly the OWI al lott ed time to A.B'hS programs .
Savage , in hi s notes , wro te :
By the end of 1942 , one hun dred thi rty -five hours
of Radio Section programs we re being broadcast each
week over short-wave tr ansmitters controlled by the
OWI on both the �ast and West Coast.
l5
Yet, in comparison to the numb er of tr ansmitt ers , the world
wide area to be covered, and the need , thi s allot men t
seemed small. Howe ver , the OWI and the CIAA were augme ntin g
these 135 hours wi th their own troop produc tions .
On an irregular basis the OWI playe d such sho w s as
".Ma il C all ," "C ommand Perf ormance,n and "Jubilee ." Al so,
PPS personnel prepa red specia l sp orts programs . Bo ardma n
l 6
re called that abou t September 1942 , AFRS recorded a foot-
ball game of the Was h ington Redskins, edi ted the tr acks
1 4 li1 artin H. Work , 19 Jun e 19 50 .
15
(C . Courtena � Savage), Histori cal Notes , �ovember
19 44 , !!. • .E. •
1 6
True h. Bo ardman , 9 May 19 50 .
510
into a non-comm ercial , hal f -hour broadcast, and , three days
later, turned it over to the ova for short -wave rebroadcast.
Vanda, then AFRS New York Offi ce Chief, de live red
transcripti ons and ha ndled liaison with the OWI New York
sh ort -wave staff . Also, negotiations with OVii pe rsonnel
operating trans mi tters at Bo sto n, Cincinn ati , and Schenec
tady were handled through thi s office . AFRS Lo s Angeles
pers onnel acted as lia i so n agents for the QWI San Francisco
sho rt -wave operation .
OWI-� short -� pr ob lems. As has been indi cated,
it was diffi cult for Al'HS to obtain air time on the domest ic
sh ort -w�:�v e statio ns. The re so luti on of thi s problem,
al thoug h concluded in a relati vely sh ort time , necessit ated
assist ance from the hi ghest esc helon . Here was Lew is ' most
important single "campaign. "
Duri ng the May 1942 Alask an Trip , Brophey told .Le wis
that he was so rely in need of good adm ini str ative perso nnel ,
and request ed hi s assist ance.
l
7 Lewis, rGca ll ing hi s
brother-inlaw1s interest in en tering a war agency , su ggest ei
him as a possibility. J. CRrter He rmann , the Exe cuti ve
Vi ce President of the Repeal Brass Company in Lo s An geles,
1
7 '11 hom;s H . n.. Lewis,
1
3 December 1950.
511
had had no experie nce in br oadcas ti ng . Ye t
L
ewis believed
that his demons trated executive ability would be invaluable
t::> Br ophey and the OWI. 'fi' hile suggesting this man ,
L
ewi s
stated that he beli eved that at a later date Her mann should
enter rnili tar y servic e , po ssibly with AFF ,s .
l8
Br ophey was immediately intere sted in obtaining
H
er mann' s serv ices . It was ar rang ed that thi s new man
become an OWI staf'f member on 9
S
eptemb er 1942 .
19
Al though
it was no t re alized at that time ,
H
er mann
'
s ass oci ation
with the �I I was to become mo st importan t in the so lut ion
of the OWI -Al'hS shor t-wave pr oblems . Wi thin the OWI
H
erm am
could know the tr ue pL ) ture and le arn , at fir s t hand , the
actual rel ease of' AFRS pr ogra ms .
The OWI-AFES short- wave pro blems were in two ar eas :
Firs t, AF'RS was unab le to pro cure suff icient , reg ularly
scheduled air time.
H
erm ann re lat ed thi s pro blem as
foll ows :
Over a perio d of ab out ni ne months • • • �FRS
was
]
• • • successful in gradua lly ob taining addi
tional time , as addit ional facilities became avail
able .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
However , it was ·s till impossible to schedule progra ms
18
f!2£ . cit.
1 9
J. Carter
H
er mann , 11 December 1 950.
so that they would be broadcas t at specific times
to specific areas. C on s e quently the men oversea s
had to cont inue to hunt for • • • progra ms and pick
them out whenever they could fin d them , from the
ma ze of fore ign lang uage broadcasts of' the OWI and
the CIAA. This wa s highly unsati sfactor
y.2 0
5
12
This si tuation was subs tan ti ated by Jo seph Barn es , then OWI
Chie f of �as t Coast radi o operati on s . He stated :
As to trans mitters , the Offi ce of War Inf ormation
has today cont rol over al l short -wave transmi tters in
thi s coun try ; but as to the en tertainment programs
that go to the troops abroad they are by now ne arly
all in the hands of the s. S. D. fl.FF..§j That is
Gene ral Osborn' s divis ion of the �rmy , and he brings
to us rec or(Hngs and says 11Wi 11 you pl·ease _i,)U t thi s
on the air�" And we put it on the air. Our en gine er
ing staff tal{es care of the ac tual transmi ssion of it .
2 1
Barnes ' stat ement clearly reveals the neb ulous working
agreement tha t was so un sati sfactory to A}'l\S .
To help res olve the problem , Lewis asked Hermann to
com pile a lo g-l ike list ing of aFRs prog rams trans mitted by
OWl -contro lled , short -wave station s
. 22
The second are a of VWI -AFRS shor t -wave prob le ms was
concer ned with troop bro adcas ts produce d by the Owr and the
CIAA . \\'hil e these shows were origin ally broadcast in answe r
20
J. Carter He rmann in Thomas H. A. Lewis, JANC
Rad:1:..£ O;)ub com.mi ttee .!.ill Report , 20 Jan uary 1944 , p. -:r97
21
He arin g befor e the �ub c omm ittee of the Comm ittee
2a Appropriati ons , Uni ted-st ate s Senate , Sev ent;Y -El ghth
Cone5 ress , f·i rs t Se ssion .2!!. !!,. E.• 2 9
6
8, 1943 ,. p. 24
5
.
22
Thoma s H . n. Lewis , 21 June 1950; J. Carter
Herm ann , 11 De cemb er 19
5
0.
51
3
to overs eas troops ' re ques ts , the ir function had been
alter ed. The OWI found that tro op sh ows conta ined espe
ciall y effectiv e pr opc.t ganda possibi lities .
2
3 .F or e ign
lis teners consider ed that th r ough th ese prog r� �s the
Am er i can govern ment was speakin g to its own nati onals ,
th eref ore , these cert ainly would not contain slanted re
ports or prop agand a. Her e was the tr uth. App are ntl y troop
shows dre w an especially lar ge , alien , lis tening audi ence .
Also , enemy gover nments did no t seem to consis tently jam
tra nsmi ssion of th ese progr ams . They , too , wanted to hea r
the Ameri can gover nment speak the tr uth to it s own people.
The OWI , an d apparently the CI AA, was bury ing pro paganda
ma teri al s within troo p br oadcas ts .
2
4
He re was ano th er
cha nne l to as sist rea li zation of their mi ssi ons .
Lewis beli eved only one agency sh ould be re sponsible
for br oadca st s to troo ps .
25
He felt that und er no ci rc um -
stance s should such shows contai n slan ted mat erials or
2
3
Hear in5 before the Subcomm ittee of the �o mmi ttee
2£ Appropri ations , Hou se of hepre sentati vei7 seve nty�ig hth
Con8re ss, Firs t Session, � the Na ti onal Wa r Agen ci es
Appro priatio n � ill �' -rar t I, 1944, p. 770 ; E. I .
Buck Harr is, 2 august 19 50; Thomas H. a. Lewis, 21 June
1950.
2
4 ,;::. . M. Ki rby and Ja ck �t . Harr is, Star &tangl ed
nad ia , 1948 , p. 54 ; Thomas H. A . Lewis, 23�e 950 .
25
Th H " oma s •• a. Lewis, 23 June 1950.
514
propag anda . I f troop pro grams were to ful fill the ir morale-
building mi ssion the ir integri ty mus t be es tablished and
mai nt ained .
By Decemb er 194
2 the battle wi thin the Army , itse lf ,
had been won. No longer could the BiR pr oduce troop broad
casts . By direc tive .n.F 'RS was the only Arm y agency allowed
to plan and exe cut e broadc asts for overseas troop listen
ers .
26
Of course the directive effe cted no control over
OWI and CIAA ac tivities . These had developed their pro -
grams prior to the birth of A.FnS . They felt their shows
were good.
2
7
Also, they we re fi lling a tw ofold purp ose :
mor ale and propa ganda. Why sh ou ld the produc tions be
disc ontinued?
Many at tem pts were ma de to cle ar the situation.
Ste bbins , A.F RS ' v� ashington repre se nt ative , and Lewi s re -
pe atedly tri ed to contac t OWI adm inis trators who could
clarify and re solve the problem .
28 l' 'inally it became clear
that Joseph Barne s was the block . Yet , thi s man could no t
be fo und . It seemed im possi ble to cons umm ate an app ointn:':;nt
26
Sup ra , p. 15
4
.
2
7
John Hou s eman , 19 July 1950.
28
Barton A. St ebb ins , 2 August 1950
;
Thoma s H . A.
Lewis, 21 Jun e 1950 .
515
wi th him . Barnes seemed always to be "cal le d out of town"
at jus t the time that Stebbins or Lewi s had an appoi ntment
schedule d.
29
Lewi s felt that Barnes beli eved the OWI coul d
do a better troop-br oadcast job than could a�RS .
Resolution of the OWI -AF'RS short-� Qroble m�. Be
'
ing a new and comparatively nebul ous war activity , the ovvi
appeared to encou nter diffi cul ty ip expl aini ng their 19 44
bu dgetary reque sts to �ongressi onal �ub commi ttee members
interested in finances . As pu bli shed in the Congres si onal
records of the House of Representatives bud get bub committee
he aring , OWI jus tifi cati on of short-wave fu nds includ ed
that of troop broadcasts . Thi s reads as follo ws :
The [Oversea;n Divi sion has two responsibi lities
for programs to Ameri can troops overseas :
1. To produce and broadcast vi a short- wave from
transmitters in thi s country news programs directed
at the armed forces but which also have tremendous
propaganda value to a lar ge 11eavesdropping11 audi ence .
2. To cooperate with the Special �ervlce Divi
sion of the �rmy {a) by providing broadcas ting time
on Offi ce of War Inform ati on transmitters for network
programs and for troop entertainm ent shows prepared
by the hrmy ; (b) to arrange for distribution and
broadcast at the outpo sts of trans criptions produc ed
by the Army . 30
2
9
Thomas H. �. Lewis, 21 Ju ne 19 50 .
3 0
Hearin
g
before � �u bcommi ttee of � Co:nm i ttee
.9.!1 Appropri
,
ations , Hou se of Representatives, Seventy-J ....ighth
Congress , l''i rst
S
ession on � Nati onal � Agen cies Ap;ero
pr iation �
f
or 12!!1
Pa rt I, 1 943, p. 770 .
516
In the seco nd point the OW l clearly admi tted it s responsi
bi lity to broadcast Af RS shows . 31
Hermann,
32
re ali z ing that follo w ing h� ;arine.;s might
open op ;Jo rtunities for further testimony which could result
in st atements cru cial to a resolution of the OWI -AFR.S short-
wave problems , wi th the cons ent of £e wi s,
33
planned to
develop further OVH _c ommi tments concer ·ning bro adca s t of
AIR.S programs . In an interview wi th Oregon' s Senator R.ufus
C. Ho lm an , a member of the Senate Sub commi ttee on F'i nances ,
he asked the Senator to que s ti on owr per so ns concer ning the
broadcast of AF RS pr ograms . Ho lman , recently re turned from
an Alas kan ins p e c tion tour , was concerned wj_th the shortage
of troop entertainment facilities overseas . 3
·
1 Therefore ,
he was willing to assist activitie s tha t coul d bring im - provements in these conditions .
3
l Both 'l 'hom as H. A. Le wis, 21 Ju ne L15 0 , and J.
Carter He r ma nn , 11 Dectrnb er 1950 , reported that at a
similar session O sb or n testified that the OWl allotted air
time to AFhS shows . R.es earch did no t uncover such testi
mony . However , it very prob ably existed .
32
J . Carter
H
ennan n, 11 December 1950.
33
Thoma s H. A. Lewis, 21 June 1950.
34
Hearings before the Subcommittee of � C onlln i tte e
.2!!. Appropriati ons , Uni ted States Senate , Seve nty-f.i ghth
Congres s , Fi rst S e s s i on .2!!. H. R. �� 19 4
3, p. 245 .
517
At a June 1943 hearing on the OW I budget Ho lma n ,
prompte:d by rle rma nn , as ked lea ding ques tiona of Bar nes , the
ow r man who seemed to be ��RS' an tagoni st.
Sen ator HOL:'IA N. Does the O.V!. I. through short
wave broadca E:t stat ions br oa dcas t en tert&in ments to
our troops ab roa d?
Mr . BARNl' .S. As to tra nsmi tters , the Of fice of
War Infor mat ion ha s toda y cont rol over all short
wave transmitters in this coun try ; but as to the
en terta in ment prog rum s that go to the troops abroa d
they ar e by now ne arl y all in the ha nds of the s.
S. D. That is General Osborn' s division of the Army ,
and he brings to us recordin gs and sa ys 11Will you
pleas e put this on the ai r? " Uur engi ne ering staff
ta kes care of the act ual transmission of it. But
the bulk of those ent erta in ment programs , I thin k
95 percent of' them today , are done by tl.:.e Army .
Senator HOLi "'v iAN . You yourself have no power to
edi t thos e progrwns ?
•'ir . BARNES . That is currently be ine wo rked out.
Sena tor HOLMAN . Up to no w you have not exercised
any au thori ty in editin g those?
Mr. BARNES . It has been done on a cooperati ve
bas is.
35
Ac cordin e; to re sea rc h of this wr i tt:r, Bar nes 1 testimon y was
cle arly untr ue in spirit:
1. Only a small percent age of OWI short -wave troop
broa dca sts ca me fr om Al'RS sources .
2. AFRS ha d no control over OWI editing of AfRS
programs .
35
�- ' pp. 24 ;4 f.
3
. Contrary to Barnes' implications , the OWI had
demonstr&ted no tendenc� to ce a � e troop shows
production.
51
8
Lewi s
3
6
soon brought the complete problem to Osborn' s
attention. During thi s meeting he explained the desired
course of acti on. At Hermann's re ,q uest, Mi lton Bisenhower ,
Deputy Di rec tor of the OWI and a fri end of liFRS , had
arranged a lun che on meetinE for Osborn , ow r Director �lmer
Davi s, and key members of the OWI and .h.F'hS staffs . From
Hermann ' s log-like compilati on of .nFhS prog rams broadcast
ove r OW l -controlled , short-wave stations ,
3
?
Lewi s demon -
strated tha t insuf fi ci ent time had been allot ted to AFRS
shows . He requested that Osborn , wi th the compilation and
other data, bring thi s fact to �avis ' attention. Lewis
believed tha t thi s lunc heon meeting could cause directions
enabling resolution of the enti re controversy .
In attendance at the lunche on , evidentlJ held in
July 194
3
, were the fol lowin g : J:.' or the Ovvr , Davis , Eisen-
hower, Sherwood , and Jam es Weldon ; for h..H.S , Osborn , Lewis ,
and Mul len, then AF RS 1 Executive Uf fic er .
38
Hermann , also
3
6
Thomas H. A. Lewi s, 21 June 19 50.
37
Lo c. £ii .; S up ra , p. 51 2.
3
8
Thomas J.i . k. Lewi s, 21 June 19 50 . This is con
f:l. rmed in (C. Courtenay Savage ) , Prog ress f, e oort , 26 Nia y
1942 to 1 De cember 194 5, p. 27 .
519
in at tendanc e, found hims elf in a mo st adva ntage ous li aiso n
pos i tion. This man w&s an Ovli i em ploJi ee , and it was kno wn
that he was soon to re ceiv e an Army com mi ssio n with di rect
assignm ent to AF�s.3
9
Osborn preEe nted hi s problem to Davi s and re 4ueste d
time ly re solut ion. At the same time Osborn presented charts
sh owi ng wh�:>..t tim e was pre sently allotted to AFRs .
40
He
als o presented other detaile d chart s worked out by OWI
engin e ers with the help and concurrence of Weldon, Chi ef
.b.ngi neer• for OWI, showin g desi red air ti me . He asked for
tt is time and requested compl ete aut horlty and res pons i-
bi lity for all broa dca st s pre sented during these peri ods .
Davis st ate d that the si tu atio n was confuse d in hi s min d ,
tha t the entir e controvers y wou ld be han dled by �i sen-
hower, and that he would concur in any sclutio n advo cated
by hi s deputy . 41
Ei s enhower, who had bee n thorou ghly fam il-
iar wi th the chart s and the overall problem , qui ckly ag reed
that defini te air time should be allotted to nFRS shows in
a rr; inlmum equal to the a. Tio un t indi. cate d on the cha rts . He
3
9
J. Ca rter Herma nn , 11 Decem ber 195
0
.
4
0 Thomas rl. A. Lewis, comme nts on the origin al
dra ft of thi s study .
4 1
J. Carter He rmann , 11 Decemb er 1950 ; Thom as H. A •
.L.ew is 81
J
1me 1950.
,
520
ordered tha t for solu tion of specific prob lems a jo int
me etin g would be he ld at hF'Fi.S .Lo s rtn geles in the irrm1 edi a te
future . 42
The CIAA would be invite d to joi n thi s me eti ng
which was to rema in in ses sio n un ti l all problems were
re sQlved .
On 12 August 1943 three repre senta tives of the owr ;
one repre sentative of the CIAA ; and J..J ewis, Jackson , Her mann ,
�•ork, Voeler , and progrHm repre sentative Sca lpone , all of
the AFFi.S staff , me t as directed.
43
After two days di scus -
sion, ag re ements were achie ved whi ch were com pletely sat is -
fact ory to al l par ti es . As a final bi nding ins trument ,
.Lew is compo sed a letter to l.Javi s for Osborn ' s signa ture . 44
Thi s conta i ned the essenti al points of agre ement . Appar -
ently Davi s concurr ed , for the OWI and AiRS had no other
major di ffi culti es duri ng the remai nder of the war .
On 1 Decemb er 19 43 , as pro;_)osed, the CIAA and AB 'F.S
cons umm ated a separate ag reeme nt w11i ch concurred with the
CIAA,
ter'S,
n. £.
42
Lo ci s citat is.
43
Agenda and Conclusi ons of �et inp;s between 0VJ I ,
and SS D
U
ffi cials
H
el d � � Hadi o Se ction
H
ea dquar
LOS Angeles , Calif orni a, .2£ 1 1 and 12 Augu st ��
(£
•
13 A u gu st 19 43
)
, p. 1.
44
Frede rick Osborn to Elmer Dav is , n. d.
(
c. 15
August 1943
)
, 2 pp . ; 'I1 homas H. A. Lev iis, 21
-
Juii e 1950 .
conclus ions of the me eting.
4
5
Conclusions .££. illYl..-.91.&-� mee tin g. As ste .ted,
Lewi s be li eved that only one agency should be engaged in
521
troop radio activ ities . He felt that this was an offic ial
du ty of the Army .
�ew is furt he r beli eved th at only one agency should
process domE;stic vr ograms for sh ort -wave rebr oadc ast. Both
the OWl and the CIAA were engaging in these ac tivitie s .
Here lay was teful dup li cation of effort and a si tuat ion
conf using to the am er ·ican radi o industr •y . Thi s could be
mo st det rime nt al to the cont inuing aFRS operatio n •
.t:'a rt of .hPRS programin g de ma nded sh ort-wave di stri -
bu tion. News , sports , and spec ial events programs were
worthless if trans mi tt ed by any other medi UJH . lt was im-
p6rative that AF'RS have suffi cient ai r time on domes ti c
shor t -wave transm itters . klso , it mu st have compl ete
control ove r mat erials to be released.
The conclus ions of the
OWI -CIAA- AFRS mee ting werf•
of paramo unt im portance since they solved all th ree of
th ese prob lems . By agreemen t and direc tion th e foll owing
de ci sions were achieved :
45
J. Carter Hermann in Thome ; s H. A. Lev.:is , JANC
Radi o �ub co� �i ttee 1£ii Report , 20 January 194
4
, p.�
1. AFHS was the on ly gover nm ent agency &!lowed to
produce troop broadc asts . No other agency coul d
exerci se editin g control over nF�S progr&ms .
(A t la st , the troop broadcast �)roduc tio n
compe ti tors had been el im inated .)
2. Only AFHS would ask Ame rica n broadca s ters for
pe rmi ssio n to re cord , edit , and rebroadcast
their shows . All record in g and edi t in g would
be accomp li shed by AFRS .
3. AFRS would be given de fini te al lotment s of ti me
on dome stic short -wave transmi tters . AFhS would
hold complete re s pons ibi lit y and cens orship
control over progrb.!Tls aired duri ng these tim es.
Ti me al lotm ents satisf actory to AFRS would be
ma de.
522
Because of the problems solved by these concl usio ns16
the OWI -C IAA -Al'.FtS agreement was one of the mo st imp ortant
event s in the wart ime hi story of Lewi s' organi zat ion. Its
effectiv e dat e, as est abl i shed at the me et ing , was 1 Septem
ber 19
4
3.
47
�rn 1� � Service -AFRS agreeme nt . In herent in the
OWI- C IAA-AF'Ft.S agree. nent was a new problere for .n. FRS . .Pre -
ced ing news casts had bee n the province of the 0>,'1/ I or the
CIAA. AFRS did no t believ e tha t such propaganda -s lante d
>II
sl1 owa filled the ne eds of se rvice me n overseas . It was no t
4
6
Ag enda and Concl usio ns of llile et in.:s Between i.Jli vi ,
CIAA, and SsD Offici als ilel d at SSL hadio Sectio n Bead quar
.i_e r-!3 , tO'S Ange les , Cali t'O'!TIIa -;- onTl and 12 n.ugus t 1
9
43,
!!• f!.• T'C7 13 hugust 194 3 ) , pp . 24 ff. - -
-
47
I
�
·
,
p .
25.
523
possible for AFR3 to wri te and voi ce its own news cas ts .
However , thi s orga ni za tio n ha d nei ther news -gat herin g nor
cens orshi p facilities . The problem of censorship was pa r-
ti cula rly ti cklish dur i ng the se wa r yea rs .
Wi thin Osborn' s SSlJ exi st ed an agency especia lly
devel ope d for dis tributio n of news to oversc.as Army pap ers .
New s -gat hering and cens orshi p were int egral functi ons of
thi s service . The short -wav e news chore was a logi cal
addi tio n to the job of thi s bro ther-uni t. · Lur ing the Fall
of 1943 , Herm ann and Lewis opened negot ia ti ons to brin g the
SSD's Army News 3ervice into AFRS short -wave ac tivit ies ,
48
and appar ently the Army News Se rvi ce wlllin gly ac cepted
thi s new chall enge .
In Decemb er 19 43 the final ANS -A.FRS ag reement wa s
for m ulc.te d. Essential points of thl . s pact , signe d by Lev lis
and Li eu tenant Colonel l''ra nklin S. r'orsb erg , ANS Chi e f 1
were as follows :
Army News �ervi ce wi11 SU;:Jply the news to the
Arm ed .l:-' orces hadio .::. e:rvice for shortwave bro adcasti ng
pur poses . 'l' he s 01� .rce of ' the news , therefore , it s
content an d all censorshi p and di rE.J ctive cleara nces
pe rtb.inin g to it sl1all be the respons ib ilit y of iJ.rmy
News Servi ce .
I t shall be the respons ib il l ty of the �rm ed r'' orces
48
J. Carter He rmann , 11 Decemb er 1950.
Fta di o Service to determine how much news is re quired
for shortwave broadcasting , where and w}1en it is to
be scheduled and how it is to be volced. As noted
above , A. }'. fi. S. shall in no way be responsible for
the content of the news , therefore Its content is
no t to be altered by A.F.H.s. in any way after its
rece ipt from A. N.s.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A.N.S. will provide p� rsonnel ade� uate to
dis charge its resp onsibilities as set forth above .
A.F .R.S. will provide personnel adequate to
di s charge its responsibilities as set forth above.4
9
524
Here was a logical and satisfactory working agreement es -
tablished between two sections of the same nrmy division.
The tene ts of this plan remain ed in 1· orce during the rest
of World War II. Apparent ly no ma jor problems arose from
the joint oper�tio n.
Short-� facilities develo?nent. Conflicting
reports existed concerning the num ber of ' dome stic short -wave
transm itters operating prior to Pearl Harbor , 7 Decemb er
19 41, and concerning those bul l t during vv orld War II .
Compa ratively accurate infor;natio n relative to transmi tters
us ed by h� during the war period will be found in the
following section.
To unders tand the ac tivity of the i::l ho rt -Wave Opera
tions Section the reader should have some knowledge of the
4
9 Fran klin s. Forsberg and 'l' hom as :n. A. Lewi s
�.1emo randum for � Record , !l• £.• (.E,. 15 Decemb er 1943� , p.
1.
525
special transmiss ion characteri stics . The follow ing para
graphs con tain a simplifi ed pi cture of these elements.
Shor t-wave dis tribut io n differs radi cally from
medium- wave radio , the wave -l en8th used by Ame ri can commer
cial stations . The cruc ial eleillent in thi s difference is
fo und in the earth' s atmosphere . hadiomen beli eve that
w1.thin the atmos phere there is an ioni zed area which bend s
radio wave s in the same way that a mi rror reflects light
rays . This is cal led the He avi side layer . It is the re
flectio n of short -wave signal s by thi s laye r that makes
possible Japanese recepti on of radio waves transmi tted from
San Franci sco. In thi s case the waves le ave a transmi tter
antenna in San Fr-a nci sc o , trave l to the Heavisid e layer,
are refle cted at the angle of radi ation, and again approach
the earth in the Japane se area.
Thi s Heavi side layer iu 1poses a further limi t ing
factor on sho rt -wave transmi ssion. Apparently thi s layer
is in a cont inual process of aiJproac hi ng and receding from
the earth' s surface . Thus the angle of reflect :lo n is
cons tant , but the final recept io n point is continual ly bein g
shifted. Thi s shi ft is predi ct able . �t certain times of
the day the San Franci sc o tra.ns mi tter
'
s wave wou ld be
reflected so as to be recelv able in Japan . At other times
the same si gnal might be pic ked up in India . Therefore ,
5
26
one transmi tter is able to broadcas t to widely separated
areas . The ac tual rece9tio n fitol d of such transmission is
comparati vely lL li ted. Short -wave br:>adcasts planned with
respect to the rle avis ide layer characteri stics are said to
be 11beam ed 11 to a certa. Ln area .
There are other atmospheri c conditi ons which affect
this transmi ssion. However, the main proble m is concerned
with the element de s cribed ab ove •
.t'ri or to the V'!ar , short- wave broadcas ters transmi tted
program s wi thout major concern for their audi ence . 'i'hey
wer e glad to have what lis teners they could attract . Fan
mail tol1 them which are as their beams we re hitting . E.arl y
OWl and C IAA persor mel planned their broadcas ts according
to this li·nl ted knowledge .
During the .:J umm er of' 194 3 , the me thod of tr ansmiss ion
was comp letely overhauled . CIAA officials planned their
progra ms and the use of transmitters so th�t they could be
as sured of the desired area and audience coverage . 5
0 In-
stead of broadcas t.Ln g Spanish-la nguage programs from lndi --
vi dual transmitters that eli c i ted a 41la ntity of fan mail
fro m Latin and South Ame ri can countri es , the CIAA
50
(' 'onald u: h )
r
..,
•' . owl and , nistory of ' tl1e Gffi ce of the
Coordinator of Inter- ""m erican Aff alrs , i74' i ;-p. 63 .
-·
527
si n1 ultaneous ly broadcas t a single program on several trans -
mitters that were adjusted to beam to a certain area at a
certain time. Thi s bea m was computed by radio engineers
wi th comparat ive accuracy . Several st ations transmi tting
on di fferent frequenci es wi thin the short -wave band we re
used to assure the de sir ed coverage .
51
This practice was
called multi frequency broadcast. Und oubtedly the OWI
employed the same pr inc iples.
By 1 September 1943 , the date when the OWI -AFRS
agreement took ef fect , the foll owing beam s had been st abi l
iz ed and were to be used for AFRS progr��s .
52
.F1rom si x Eas t 0oas t transmi tters .
1. England -•i ledi te rrane an Beam.
2. Central Afri can Beam.
3. Greenland Beam .
4
.
lvi iddle Eas t beam.
From six West Coast transmi tt ers .
1. Alaska-Aleutian Beam.
2. Uhina-�urma Beam.
3. South .Pacific Beam.
4
. Southwest Pacif i c Beam.
5 . Carr lbean and �outh and
Central Ameri can Beam.
Throughout the remainder of the war new short-wave trans -
mi tters were built. As these went on the air new bea�s
52
J . Carter He rmann in Thomas H. A. Le wi s , .JA NC
Radi o Sub committee !J!!i neport , 20 January 1944 , p.--go.-
528
were added , or exi s tin g beams were st rengthened through
addit ional transmiss ions .
A uni qu e use of
11
be
amed 1
1
tran smissio n was develo ped
in cooperatio n wi th the nBC . APR.S programs transmi tted by
rlew Yo rk short -wave stations were received by the nB C and
rebroadcast over two of ' the i r 50 , 000 -watt short -wave trans
mitters located in Bngland .
53
The beam of these new
carriers was directed at the China -Bunna-Indi a Theater. In
thi s way AJ: RStations in that theater re br o ad ca s t AF 'HS news
which had beEon re layed throug h two
11
be
am
ed
11
short -wav e
transmitters . There was no appreciable lag between the
time when the words lef t the a1mou ncer ' s lips and the time
that the listener in Chi na coul d hear those words on hi s
medium- wave receiver.
As the operati o::1 c on t inue d , added experience was
gained , and a new philosophy was de v eloped . }'rom thi s
CHme a reali{ation of the ac tual part to be played by short -
wave di str ibution. The most valuable contribution of the
short-wave medium w&s to be in the fields of news , sp ort :: .
and spe cial events .
53
(c. Courtenay Savage) , £_r ogre:::; s 1\ e oort , 26 May
1942 to 1 December 1945, p. Add enda 9.
II. OPEEA'l'ION OF THE SEC'l1ION
529
The OWI-Al�S agre ement necessita te d deve lopm ent of
the Short -W ave Oper o.. tions Secti on, the final l' • .FhS di visi on
ac tivated . dur ing V� orld War II . Since the tran smitters wer e
lo cated in New iork , other ne arby J:.a st Coas t cities , and
San Fran ci sco, it se emed imprac ti cabl e and near ly impo ssible
to accomplish the actual work within the Lo s Angeles he ad
quart ers . Announcers , prog r::..m produc er s , and liaison agents
needed to be at the point of br oadcast. Therefo re , AF'RS
established br ax1 ch short -wave of fi c e s in New
Y
or k and San
Franci sco. The SOS executive office �as in Lo s Angeles ,
but the se ction' s Chief spent most of hi s time trave ling
between Lo s Angeles , Washi ngton, San Fr c::. nc i s co , and New
Yor k .
By 1 .::i eptemb er 1943, the date ·,,h en AF'RS be gan to
manag e its own shor t -wav e activities , Lewis and hi s adrnin
istr& tors had reali zed that the medium
'
s m i s s ion needed
re d e f in ition. In general , the intended audi ence had not
recei ved the s e r v i c e . Apparen t ly early State Depart ment
and OWI appra i s als were incorre ct.
Although the desired pr o:3ram ope ro. tion was no t acco m
pli shed by 1 September 19
4
3, the plans were well on the ir
way toward s cr ystallization. fkrmann had recei ved hi s
530
commi ssion and was soon a1 )pointed Ghi ef of the new SOS.
Bo th he and Le wis were in agreement as to the gene ral aim
of' the ope rat ion and the a1 ethod s by whi ch thi s would be
ac complis hed . Previous ly ai red l'.lR0 pr ograms had be en
se le cted and scheduled by owr and CIAA perso nnel. On 1
Sept embe r 1943 alRS was fir s t al lowed to manage it s own
shor t -wave troop br oadc asts . This date , there for e , may be
conside red the true bir thday of the SOS and the beg inning
of the section' s his tory .
Thi s portion of the chapt er is concerned wit h the
func tioning of the Short-�ave Oper�tions Section. The
expositio n is made in the follo w ing divis ions .
1. Redef ined mi ssion.
2. Ope rat ional offic es .
3. Program transmi ssion.
4. Modi ficatio ns for peacetime .
Rede fine d mission. The 0tate Department and the QVH
were ins t ru..mental in spre ad ing the short -wave "gospel.
n5 1
Here was the panacea. Thro ugh short -wave the people of the
world could be contacted . Certainl y the propa gand a broad
cas ts of Goebbels and 11 'roky o Ease" ;:n· oved the point . It was
even substantiated by troop re sponses to earl y dome stic
5
4
i.' t artin a. Yi ork , 19 June 1950 .
531
i
1:: 5
Ame r can progrs ,ms. � Yet something had gone wrong . 1-'e rhaps
1!! ork was the fi rE t. -'"·l' RS man to realiz e the probl em. His
No rth .Afri can le tter s to Lew is gav e th e f'a ets . Short -wave
was "9 9% ineffectiv e .
n
56
Overs eas tro op s could not pick up America n broad -
casts. Poo r recepti o n re sul ted pl:.lrt lall y fr·om Ame rica n
sl ls whi ch we re no t strong . Axis broa .clcas teu; had used
100 ,000 watts of powur and more . Americans used 50 , 000
watts and le ss. Local atmospher:tc co mi i ti ons often hampered
reception. Also, the shifting He Hvisi de layer caused con-
stant fading of the si gnal .
inl;t , poor r ece p t i o n re sulted fr ·om thE; receivers
themselv es . The l: Ki t, pers onally ow nt:d se ts , and radios
procured oversea s were no t po werful or hi ghl) se l e c t i ve .
Also , most of the se were no t designed to receive short-wave
si gnals . undo ubtedly any sets tha t AFF,S might be able to
pro cure would have these s am e li mi tations . Chennault's
ai nuen , •••acArthur
'
s solcie r a , and the Gis in l c e l a nd must
have lis tened to intricate , highly specia li zed , expensiv �
tacti cal receivers . 'I'h e1•e was no charw e th at equipmen t of
suc h high quall tJ ' woul d be avallable to the averag e CH,
55 �!_ , pp . 3� 1 ff.
56
ln r1. Work to 'f'noma s H • .h . JJe wis , 27 1943 ,
p. 8.
I'
there fore he would rece ive li ttle service fro m domestic
short -wa ve trans missions . Yet morale proble ms dema nded
that he he &r up -to -the -minute S)orts and news .
532
It was proba b le that hEh� c oul d ob tbin a limited
number of' quality short-wave receivers . Vv ou ld it be pos si
ble to install these as .hF E.S tation equipment to become
ag ents fo r rebroadcast? Such equipment wa s capa ble of
cl e ar re ception . Statio n technlcians were &Vaila ble to
assure tLis . In this way tirne ly domesti c programs could be
he ard over medium-wave AF' RSta tions .
During th e ::>urnme r of 1943 , ad minis trative personne l
realiz ed that the most importb .nt medh un was th e AFHS tation.
At the sam e time the place of domestic short-wav e statio ns
beca me evident . �ould these media work together as a single
ins trument ality? 'l' he Al"hStation had two major program
sources : the transcriptio n and the short -wav e beam. The
tr·a ns cription off ered enter·ta.in ment progrl.:i.ms in w h i ch time
was of no importE- nce . The short -wave be a.. m transrni tte d
ti t:.e lJi pr o gram s. This latter mediUln could be a true "n et
work
'
' conne cter bringi ng the lis tener ?re s ident Roosevelt 's
speech as he spoke it , th e major sports event shortl � aft er
it ha ppened , news now , no t day s after "T okyo hose " ha d
slanted it for he r own purpo ses . Herein lay the rede fi ni
tion of short -wave' s mission.
533
The essence of the ncw pla n was reported in a public
rel ations re le ase of 25 October 1943.
Sho rtwave trs.. nsmi aslo n :fulfi lls an impo rtb.llt role
in prov idin g the des ired complete cove rage by radio to
all troop s ove rseas . Fi rst, it provide s
1
1bla nke t"
service - reaching al l men in all areas - ev en those
in small rela tively is ol a.te d un i ts where the es tablis h
ment of ' med:ium wave broadcast tra.n smi tters is imprac
tical . Al so short -wave provides material which mus t
be time ly to be of value -n ews , sportscast s , s peeche s
of gove rnme nt offic ials , etc . - which material is re ...
broadca st in TJa ny cases by lo cal Army st&.tio ns as part
of their regular schedule . The se mediu m wave stations
are , however, the basic an d mos t gener all y effe ctive
media for providing full regular broadcast coverage . 57
To comple te the picture Hermann
5
8
ste.ted that the real goal
was tran smissio n of' timely in fo rmat io nal 9rograma. .t.nt er-
ta. in men t programs were but sugar-coati ng no n essentia ls .
Here , then , is the redef ined mis sio n of AFhS '
America n sh ort -wave operations :
1. Ti me ly inf 'orma tiona l p rograms beamed from
Ame rican short -wave transmi t ter ·s f'or rebroadcast
by med ium- wave al·'hStations .
2. Radi o covera,;e f'or is olE. ted troo p s wi th no
other avai labl e faci liti es.
Ope rational off ices. J. Carter Herma nn was commi s
sioned a Captain on 22 July 1943. As p la nn ed wi th .Le wis,
57
Radi o Sectio n (A FR8 ), Synt hesls neport , 25 Oc tob ..
er 1943, p . 7.
58
J. Carter He rmann , 15 J...J ecember 1950.
534
Hermann was to become the Officer in Cha.I·ge of th e ban
Franc :l sco sh or t -wave operation. 59 OVH ' s
J
ohn Lewis Sheean
was to be commissioned and appointed head of New Yo rk activ
ities . Sh ort-wave operations were to be a subsection of the
.t'rogram Production Section. This se emed to be a natural
alig r:unent . The main job of short-wave was progra m produc
tion for tra .nf!m is s ion. fl. pr eceden t had been made wh en
Vande founded his .New York office .6
0
At the last minute
Sheean decided he couldn' t af' f' ord to accept the commie
sion. 61
Uf necessity , He rman n was appointed Offi cer in
Charge of all hF hS short-wave activities . �iaison between
AFRS Lo s Angeles and the San Francisco office appeared easy
because of the ir re lat ive proximi ty . Ope ration of the New
York office was left in the hands of' Sta.ff Sergeant Horman
Noyes who had joined th at branch whil e it was supervised
by 1'o gel
.
62
Hermann soon found a troublesome breach between
sh or t -wave progr&.m ing and building programs for trans crip
tion dis tribution. The phi losophies of th e activities WE r'�"
59
J. Carter Herma nn , 15 December 1950.
60
Supra , pp . 16
0
f.
61
J
. Carter Her �ann , 15 uecember 1950.
62
Norman �. Noyes , 15 �e cember 1950 .
5
3
5
divergent . Theref ore , .uewi s trans ferred jurisdiction ov er
short-wave to the broadcas t .J.Ji s tribut.lo n Section .
6
3
By
October 1943 it be came apparent that the desired job could
no t be ac complis hed wi th the assigned steff. Herma nn' s
energies were needed to cla ri fy and supe rvi se ove r-all
pol ic y and li ai son. The &c tual operation must be ma naged
by officer li eut enants .
�or the third time the organi zationa l relati onship
was changed . He rmann 's activities were coffibi ned into the
new Short-Wave Operations Section on 29 Oc tober 194 3 .
64
Ac tuall y the infant section had bee n ope rating independent:cy
since the inauguration of .nFJiS 1 manditorJl time al loco. ti on
on domestic VWI short-wave transmi tters , 1 September 194
3
.
1. Los lill geles Headquarters . Having final ly
develo ped an organi zati onal unit which appeared to be
functi onal , He rmann was free to deal with adminis trativ e
problems . Hi s home office remained at .c:.FES Lo s ange le s.
But most of the work was done in the br anch offi ces and in
Washington.
On 2 No vember 194 5 Hermann's assistant, L'ir st Li eu
tenan t John V. Zuckerman , became Chief of the sos . He rmann
6
3
J. Carter Her mann, 15 De cember 1950 .
64
P. FRS, .iJe morandum , 29 i.Jc tober 1943, p. 1.
536
was relea s ed fro m the .1:1.rmy .
2. New York br an ch office. Th e New Yo rk offi ce
wa s or igina l ly esta bli sh ed by Vanda for pr ogram pr oductio n.
In addi tio n it ac ted as liai son wi th th e OWI to enco urag e
AFRS shor t- wave pr ogra min g. In Jan uary 1943 Vand a wa s
suc ceeded by .ro gel. Dur ing .Ete br uar y 1943 Noyes was tr ans
ferred fro m the Arm y Air l'orce s to n.r'ES New Yor k as a
prod uc tio n as sist an t. r'ogel was Officer in Charge to Ju ne
1943 when the office was clos ed .
65
Liur ing th is tirr:.e the
ma jor acti vit y con cer ned pro gra m pr oduc tion. Shor t- wav e
was secon dary .
On 1 �ept ember l\;! 43 , when AFhS as sume d cont rol of
thei r own short -wave pr ogr am ing , .1.� oyes we ,s th e on ly A.B'R �
man re mai nin g in New York . For adm in ist ro.t i ve purpo ses he
wa s assigned to .F' ore sburg ' s Arm y News Ser- vi.c e un i t.. Because
She ea n decided not to beco me Uffi cer in Cht! .rge of .4 ..l''RS '-� ew
Yor k , th e re sponsibi li t ies for Eas t �oas t short -wave fe ll
to Noyes . 'rh is man was capable . But .r· ore sber g ' s Adju tant
didn't wan t to ha ve an enl is ted man per forming duti es th ::
should be ha ndled by an officer
.
66
Accord ln g to .t1. rrny
hegul& tlo .ns he co uldn 't sign pape rs or be held res pon sible
6b
Ir vin g .L., lo gel , 18 .ue cembe r 1950 ; Supra ,, p. 162.
66
J. Carter He rmann , 15 JJecember 1950 .
for property . Furthermore , the Ad jutan t d::i.d n1 t bel ie ve
that an enl is ted man should represent the army in matters
concerning civi li an agencies . Herma nn ha d unsuccess fully
attempted to obtain a direct commi ssion fo r Noyes. 67
Therefore , it was neces sary to find hn off icer t o take
charge of the of fice.
On 2 Dece mber 1943 Ma Jor Graf A. Boepple and Captain
Alber t .1::!: . Gibson, of n.FftS Lo s Ange les , arri ved in New York.
EB
Boepple was appointed Offi cer in Charge . Howeve r, higher
headyuarters soon transferred boepple to J.'il a cArthur ' s South
west Paci fi c Corn.rn and. 6
9
Ab ou t February 19 44 Gi b s on becam e
Offi cer in Charge and held this �)osi tion unti l approxima t ely
Janu&.ry 1945 when he re turned to Los Ange les to be Ac ting
Chief of the SOS dur lng Herma nn's ternpor 8.ry overseas tour
of duty .
On 11
U
ctober 1944 Captain Frank G. King was sent to
J.� ew York to handle proble ms of the BU S . When Gi bs on was
re turned to Lo s Angeles , �ing was appoi nted Off i cer in
Charge of Af'RS New York . During Septemb er 1945 Ki ng was
67
Loc. ci t.
68
Graf A. Boepple , 15 Dece mber 1950.
69
J. Carter Hermann , 15 Dece mb t:r 1850 . 'rhi s man
was transferred wi thout the kno wl e dge or appro val of hi s
supe ri or . Once the order�) were :nade no remedi steps
conl d be taken. A. fh;::. apparently experienced litt le of thi s
hai.as s:tn e; Army pract ice .
538
assigned tern ;Or&ry duty in Los Angeles . Jn 19 nove mbe r 1945
Navy Li eutena nt Clarence de B. S chilrnn el , King' s a[-; sis ta nt ,
w&s appointed Off i cer in Charge at New York.
Be cause of its localit y, thi s offl c.c contl.n ued to do
some progr.s.m pro ductio n and recording for th e .PPS in Los
Angeles. Barnouw an d his progr a .. 1n as n ist cm ts were mem b ers
of thi s st aff . All ci vi li an and e nlis te d persons of ..t1.J::I 'RS
1� ew York Wtlr e assigned to lo resbcrg ' s n.rmy News Servi ce
Uni t for hous eke epi ng adJni nistratio n . 70 For tha t re ason,
ade quate hi st orical records of th ese people were not avai l
ab le at AF.f\ 0 Los Angeles .
3. The San Franc isc o branch offtce. 'rhe fir s t
AFhS me mber to be assigned ::.a n franci sco dut y was s ports
cas ter Hal Berger . He recei ved hi s commi ss ion as a Captain
on 3 lJe cember 1942 . 7 1
at th at time West Coast OWI m emb er s
we re handling di s tribu ti on of hFhb tra.n.s criptior �s thr ough
ant the Paci fi c. berger received the tra nscriptio ns fro m
Los Angele s and put th em into OWI hands . t�lso, he spent
much time at tempting to procure re gu lar ly scheduled domes t� f!
short-wave broadcas ts of th e di scs . In th e early Summ er
of 1943 , in answer to MacArt hu r 's request for personnel ,
7
0
.l.IOC . ill •; Thomas H. A. Lewis, 16 Jun e l'J5 0 .
7
1
Hal B e r ger , 15 December 1950.
539
Berger was trans fe rred to the Southwest .Pacific as Command
Radio Offi cer.
72
On
7
•1•ay 1943 Staff Se rgeant Jam es Ros s Kearne y was
trans ferred from the r�..F'RS School to �a n fi1 ranci.sco as Be rge r's
as sis tant . l:... earne y remained at this of fi ce throughou t the
re st of the perio d covered by thi s st11dy . Du ri ne; this ti me
he bui lt an e spe ci a l ly loya l followin g among hi s l isteners
and the men of the Navy for whom he untiring l y packaged
and di stri bu ted us ed transcrip tions .7
3
vn 1 Septe mber 1
9
43 Ke arn ey was the only A}R S man on
duty in San l:'ran ci sco . F'or severa l months He rmann attempted
to manage the opt: ,ration. Howeve r, eve n the short di stance
from San Francisc o to Los n.n gel e s proved to be too greo.t a
hand ic ap .
7
4
Hermann found it impossi ble to do the ne cessary
sos admi ni stra ti ve job and , at the sa�ne ti 1e , be in cha rge
of the San Fra ncisc o br anch offi ce .
On 5 LJe cember 194 3 Captai n hobert E. Thomas was sent
to San Franci s c o by the B:US . This man had been an AFRS
School member who ga ined hi s entrE.Lnce to nhh S through a
per s on a l le tter to Dyke . 7
5
On 1 ,ran..t:J.l 'Y 1944 Thomas was
7
2 Supr�, pp . 45
7
f.
73 Fl or enc e anderson hickar d , 7 April 1950 .
'7 4 �
J. Carter Her mann , 15 December 1950 .
7
5 Robe rt L. Thomas to Ke nne th Dyke , 5 Se ptembe r
1943 , 2 pp .
54 0
appo inted Officer in Charge of San Franc isco ; he re - ta ined th is positi on unti l 25 February 19 4 6 .
During Thomas ' te nu re in San Yrancl s c o he was abl e
to develo p an especiall y effective , smoot h-r unning organi
zatio n . Apparently opGrat ion of A}RS Sa n Francisco was
far more sa t i s fact ory and effi c ient than was AFRS .New York.
Ho usekeeping for San F'ra nci sco personnel was handled by
Thomas in his admini s trativ e offi ces .
Progra m tr ansmission. The SOS mainta il1ed a cons tant
se arch for the "opt imum tra nsmission frequency," th at is,
the wa ve- bng th frequency whi ch would be of greu te st service
to th e most listeners . Time -of -day , time -of-yeu.r, cli ma tic
conditio ns , and atmo spheri c conditio ns affect ed the pe ne tra
tio n of tr ansmitter signals . hxperienc e and meteoro logi cal
knowled:;;e enab le d e ngineerR to de t e rm ine , with some accu
racy , the most de si rable wave -leng th for a gi ven area.
Therefore , in sch ed u li ne; .n.l''f \� broadcasts , the frequency
beli eved to be moat likel y to cover th e de sir ed overs eas
area wa s used . 'l 'hi s was the
11
opt imum tr ansmission fre
quency.11 To be certa_ n that the programs would be received,
they we r·e simult ane ously broadcast over other t rans.m i tt ers
on as sociated fre quencies . In this way e.ll fre'- 1uencies
were progrgme d according to th e mul tifrequency princ iples.
I
SHORT-WAVE OPER ATIO N SEC TIO N
(H EADQUARTERS AT LOS ANGELES)
I
I I
PR OGRAM IN G I
L
FA CILITIE S
I
I I
SAN FRA NCISCO
1 t
NEW YORK
I
Ll AI SON 1Jl TH BDS LIAISON WlTH sosJ
� LIAISON WI TH 011
LIAISON WITH on J
TRAFFI C TRAFFIC
CENSORSHIP CENSORS HIP
J
I
HOUSEI:II: II:P ING EDUCAT IOK UNIT
I
I
PRODUCTION PRODUCTION
J
NEWS VO ICING N EWS VO I C IN G
OOCU MENTAR Y DOCUMEN TARY
PRODUCTION PRODUC TI ON
SPO RTS SPORTS
PRODU CT I ON PRODUC TION
SP ECIAL SPECI AL
EVENTS EVENTS
PROGR AM
PROOJ REMENT
FO R PP S
FIGLT EE 40
Sh ort -W ave Operati ons Section Ope rati ona
l
Cha rt .
Probab ly at leas t one of the sig nals would be he ard . 7
6
�arly in 1944 A}RS was allotted ad dit i ona l tr��s
mi tter time . 77
Thi s was made po ssi ble by activ atio n of
ne w OWl-contr olled equlp ment .
It wa s no t en oug h jus t to tran smi t programs . At
be st short-wave sig na ls are hard to fin d on a receiv er.
542
Trans !'ll ltters scattered throughout the world . were br oadc ast-
ing short -wave si gnals . Many of the se could be pi cked up
in on e giv e n ar ea .
I
n tu nin g th e receiver an in expe ri enc ed
hand could easil y pas s by the desi red si gnal . He rmann
plann ed his progrw:J. s for li s teners at di stant , is olated
locatio ns . There was no way to learn v;h ere these places
were . Yet , it seemed ne cessary to infor m th ese Gi s of the
pr ograms be in8 broadcast especia lly for them . Specific
channe ls through whic h th ey mig ht be told ab out id•'R.S pro -
grams did not exi st.
To reach the se peo ple , He rmann pu blis he d aFRS sh ort -
wave broad cas t sche d ules in the widel y circ ulate d se rvi ce
pu blica tio na . Ar my magazine s and newspapers of the var ic' �
th eaters ox· operati on carri ed pr ogra m schedu les . 7
8
.All
7 6
J . Carter Herma nn 1 17
J
uly 1950 ; Su pra , pp . 5! 27 f.
77 (c .
�
our tenay Sav age ), Histori cal �otes 1 n. d. ,
!2 •
.2.·
7
8 J. Carter .ti e rmann in 1'hom as H. A. Lewi s, JANC
.ha dio �u bcor'll ni ttee � heoort , 20 �f anub. Y'Y 1944 , p. 53 .
Hands , the seml-of'i'icial magazi ne oi' the �� avy t:Sure au of
rers onnel, ca rri ed a port ion of the schedules . 7 9
54 3
F'or further cove rage,· especiall y printed short -wave
schedule s were dis tributed thr ough other avai lab le channe ls .
To en able engineers to better moni ter · tr 0.n smi ssions , 200 , 000
azi.mut hal char ts were printed showin;:; f're '-J."c len cies and beams .
Us ing 1945 ba s eba ll :chedules �s th e bait, th e azimuthal
ch�rts and the bas eball s che du le s were se nt in answsr to
re quests from overs ea s li st ener s .
BO
The "gi ve -a way s " helped
AFRS to mea su re its shor t-wave audi en ce . f'ev- .r records of
the short -wave fan ma il were dis covere d ; nevertheless, it
appare ntl y was siz ab le . .uu ring th e thirty -day pe ri od from
15 October to 1 5 No vember 1945 the SQS r ecei v ed l, l'J9
letters.8 1 Usual ly only a small pe rcen tage of the li stening
audience will wri te in resp onse to a broadc as t. Thi s is
true even when a 11 g1ve -away 11 is offered .
Wri tten r·eports of short -wave activities apparentl y
were not co llected b.t .-FhS Los rtn geles . C1)r nplete de tails
of the short-wave trc .n s:oi tters used were no t disco vered .
The info rma ti on gathered through re searc h ,Nas confused by
1945.
1945 ,
79
Al l Hru1d s, 340 :72 , Ju ly 1945 , and 343 :73 , October
(C
.
Court enay ;.:;a vae;e J, Hi stor·i cal ·�otes , £• d. 1
8 1
Fordyc e II. Cowing to Dl r ector , JED, 27 J:� ovember
p . 2.
the follo win
6
factors .
1. Throughou t the war there was a cont inued process
of new transmit ter cons tructio n .
2. Transmi ssion fre quenci es were often chang ed for
more adv ant ageous reception.
3. Transmi tter cal l le tt ers were changed .
4
. Trans mi tter ai r time al loc c:.. ted to nFLS was
cons tantly shifted .
544
'rhe best summ&ry of used tr an smitt ers was found in a
publi cit y release mime ogrt�.p hed at the height of the AlnS
ope ration . It stated :
Twenty -two ••• transmi tter s , locate d along the
East and �•est
C
oas t be& m over s eas �no re than fiv e
thous and hour s of A� �S yrogr ams , special eve nts ,
and newscasts monthl
y
. B 2
In addi tion, two 0WI -built and owned tr an s?nitt ers in the
Pacific broadcas t AF
R
S programs . Lat e in 19
4
5 one of these ,
KSAI ,83 Saipan, was turned ove r to Ad:�=- for full -t ime
programing .
Follo wing is a li st of the OWl-cont rol le d transmi t-
ter s which probably were most used for AFI> programs .
8
4
8
2
A
FRS , Fact Sheet, 5 lv.lay 19 45 , in Theodore s.
DeL ay , Jr ., "The Arme d .t'o rc es Radio Service and It� lse by
the AAF hegi onal Ho spi tal at Buckle;y F'l el d , Colo rado ," p . 4.
83 Many sources re por t that thls was a short -wave
station. Pr ink , 3 Apri l 195 0 , emphati call y stated that this
wa s a 50 1 000 watt medium- wave operati on.
8
4
This rna ter 'l&l han be en g:JthereCi !ro m many sources
during rese arch for thi s stu dy . �ince fre quencies were
ofte n changed , no li s ting of that dat a has been gi ven .
tJ
s
(!)
to
&
..... Call
0
-
(f.l
::>
KGEI
0
1-j
&
KW'IX
I
�
p:i

KCBA
(!)
[fl
KWID
c1"
li'
&
KNBI
1-"'
0
1-:r'
:;, H
rh c
KNBA
r�
>:::: �
rh
t:rl
KGEX
a:
p ..
tJ>.
c1 1-'
KCBR
:l
�
KCBF
IT!
�
{/J
e
�
1-j
1-"'
:::J
C'C-1
�
0
'1
1-'
p,
:;;;:
li'
'1
H
H
•
West Coast Transmitters
Looa.tion
San Francisco
San Fran cisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francis�o
San Franci sco
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Franci seo
East Coast Transmitters
Call Location
- -
WBOS Boston
WGBX New York
WCRC New York
WCBN New York
W11fL-l Cincinn at i
WUVL-2 Cincinn ati
()1
Hl>
()1
546
In use, the twenty -four tr ansmitter s li s ted in the
prece ding F'IG!J h.E were al igned at certai n peri ods of bro ad -
cast to cover specific ar0 as of the world , that is , sever al
transmi tters simultaneousl y 11 be amed 11 prog rams to these areb-5.
This was multifre quency broadcast accompli shed thro ugh the
11 o
p
tim um tr an smissio n freq uency " and it s associ&te d fre
quencies . The establi shed .n.FhS beams ·Nere as foll ows :
8 5
Pacifi c � Beams
1. South Pacific--Pacif i c Oce an Are a.
2. Sou thwest Pacific--Pacific Ocean Are a.
3. Sou thwest Pacific--Philippine Ar ea.
4. al aska--Aleutia n Are a.
5 . Al aska--Al eutian--China Ar ea.
6. Philippin e - -Chin a Area.
7
. All Pacific--Ghina Ar ea. (From Honolulu).
8 . Alaskan--Aleutian- -Ghina--&outh and
Ce ntral Ame ri ca Are as .
Atlanti c Area Beams
1. Eng1 a..'1d. --.b.. uropean--Medlt e rranean .rtr ea.
2. South l�t lanti c--Afri cr •n .� .rea .
8 5
J /
11 • h. Conne . ,
S'er·vic. e. 11 n d ·o 1
. - '
.
-
·
'
;: . .
.Ho. 5189
-·-
\
,.::···';
-- �:.Ap 'lllllr:
--� . ........ ,
........ _.. .
....
Showin' Great Circle Dieta noee and Azimuths
from Waahinajton, D.C. to all Pointe on the Earth's Surface
IWHI• .-,,., IIOf , .. thio clot"' l'or tMr�t;ono/ �,.._
-
- - - - 8eele: I ;..- .. ..- 1100 -.1. aU..
.. , . ....
- - - - 1&�: --·-
FIGU RE 42
A.fRS. SH ORT -W AVE BEAMS
cerca: Fal l 1945
T�ll SU•at.raUa• ... ...... , .. far , .. Claaart.atiH
•• a . ... ,_. ... ., .r .._ .u.c ,. ... .. ... ,, .. "t"
ta UK1 b '""Can •t.aart • ..,., , Jr .• �UI 1111
.
IH tUaaart.auaa ••• �· f•••• h na LUra17 at Ula
lal'faraUI' af hat. llll an CaUhl'ala at. Laa -'•t.•ha .
Call.tanla.
NOTE:
·ae•• o• these chrts iII uotrote the
:r�:�Tl:. .
o '
": !�t� �� \�:1 b�·. : :�!·�:
·in di cate t� total area aened.
-·-
No.5199
Nn.5199a
__ .. _
--� .... .,.1 .... ... 1
... _ . ..._._ _
....... _ .. • . ,_.% '211
Showint Great Circle Distanaee and Azimuthe
from San Fran oiaoo. Cal to all Pointe on the Earth'a Sorfaae
-Ia -M -- IIH#I ,._, � ,.,._..., ,_
�-,-, - -
0
110
- s...J.o: 1 i� eq ... 1200 -. .. ..-.
,...... ....
- -
,, •c., t ...,.. __ ............ ..,
.... .. .... ., .. _. __ ..r
- -
- - FIGURE 42
(conclud ed )
AFRS Short
Beams
- .. __ _
i
_ .. _
No . .5U 19A .
54 9
Again , co mpl€ te re ,;orts of shor t -wave tra ns m1 ssion
air ti me were not found. As previously stated , a very small
a.mo unt oi ' t i : n e was deYot ed to A.FRS progrc.. ms on dome stic
sh ort- wave s tati ons pri or to 1 ;sep tember 1943 . Approx irr.. ate�·
two months la ter , 420 hours and 50 min utes of AFRS sh ows
were being broadcest eac h week .
8
6
No fi re s we re dis-
covered for 1944 . tl owe ve r , e x i st i ng re ports of SOS activi -
ties di s cl os e d complete mont ;h ly ai r ti me tots..ls for 1945 .
Probably more hours wer e given to AFhS p r og r .s.m s during the
fi rst week of 1945 than we re given rnl ring any single we ek
of the pr ec edi�g ye ars�
Fo llo wing is a monthly l i s t of dome stic OWI trans
mltter hou rs per week devo t€:d to APRS pr ogr am i ng for 1945.
87
Date rr ime
- 10 J,l nuary 194 5
6
62 hour s 1 40 mi n.
10 Flebruary 194 5 1065 hours , 45 min.
10
.- •arch 1945 108 6 hours , 45 min .
10 Apri l 1945 1086 hours , 45 min.
4
ltl
a
y
1945 1099 hours.
2 June 1945 108 5 hours .
86
t- ,
ac li .o Se c ti on (A.FhS ), Synth esis hepor.1:, , 25 Oc to
bel " 1943
,
p. 4 .
8'7
- · Informati on ga t:r :ereci fro m the fi le : J. Carter
He rmann , 1ilonthl .x_ he :)orts of ,;jh ort wave Operatio ns , 1945.
Date (c ontinued)
�
{continued )
15 .Ju ly 194B 1749 hours , 30 min .
r;;
1\.ugu s t Hl45 1092 hours . ....,
3 :::. eptern ber 1945 1092 hours .
4 V c tooer 1945 1243 hOUl 'f.J , 5 min .
3 November 1945 1Gl9 hourg , 03 mln .
1 Ve ('.em t er 1945 1034 hours , 18 m in .
29 December 1945 1021 hours , 18 min .
88
Modi fi cations for oeacet ime . In s pe ction of the
precedtng list r evea ls a gradually dim i n i sh ing amount of
short-wave air time used by AFhS during the last thre e
mo nth s of 1945. This was a logi cal re sul t of th e end of
World War II. Troops were m ov ed to larger co ncen tr&tion
55 0
areas, some r e turn ed to the Uni ted S t ates , and , especi al ly
import&nt , short -wave service w&s no longer ne ed ed . by most
European Theater are as . Th e t roop relocation and need
brough t about several major SOS changes.
Mast i m p ort E. n t a: .ong the changes was the el imina tion
of the New Yo rk brs. nc h offi ce . .Prior to the war _, .l;.,urope
had been blanketed with ad equ at e news se1·vices . These were
essentially the sam e a. s those of the Gni ted �tatea. However,
88
'Ih e AFR f) , t'ro grcss heoort , 1 Ju l;y to 31 De cember
1945 , p. 11 , st&tes that f or the we ek ending 31 December
1945 , 719 hours and fifteen minutes of a.ir time were used.
551
dur ing the ris e of Hi tler and the e!:i rl;y phas es of the War in
hurope , the continental ser vices either closed down or their
re ports became so fi lled with pro paga nda that they wer e
useless. t'r ograms shor t-waved to Europea n aFhStati ons
answe red the need far comple te , un biased nev ,;s . .'o fter liE
Lay , 7 May 1945 , usable continentl;tl news a gen cie s began
re cons tructi on of their faci li ti6s . By the end of the War
ln the Pa cifi c these ha d become sufficiently act ive and
relia ble to be used by A.iiR Sta ti ons as a major news source .
The need fo r short -waved pr ograms from the Uni ted .::;, ta.t es no
longer existed. Her ma nn , re il i zing the importa nce of hi s
broa dcas ts to the l:.. uropean l1.FhS tations , pla nned to dimini sh
the Eas t Coast air time as ra uidly as prac tica bl e . On
3 Jan uar y 19
46 all bu t tw o a. 11d three -quarters hours of
transmission pe r day were eliminated . 8
9
The s e c ond change conc er ned .h}'h:S 1 short -wttve news
source . Dur ing the lat ter p61rt of 194 5 Fore :: ;burg notifi ed
Zuckerman tb &.t Bhrly in 1J46 the Army l· .J'ew s f::l er vi ce would be
discontinued.9
0
AFRS had nev6r been resp onsible for the
content of the newsca s ts . Development of a substi tute
89
Jorm V. i.uc Ker man , he.f?ort of Short wave Section,
30 De cember 1
9
45 to 5 Jan uary 1946 , p. l.
9 0
FordJl ce V. Cowine to ?aul G. Hor gan , 26 November
1945, p. 1.
552
service posed ma jor problems . The SOS immediately initiate d
pl ans for a solution. ANS ceased supplying news ma terials
early in Febr v.ary 1
9
46. By that time arrangements had been
made to install commercial news service muchines and an
AFRS editorial staff at the �an Francisco office. The SOS
accepted the task of editing all news materials that were
broadcast . It was respons ible for the security factors .
During the last months of 1
9
45 the third change
occurred as the OWI became the Interim International Infor
mation Service of the State Department.
9
1 Thi s move
occasioned much concern regarding the future ste .tus of the
pr ·i va tely owned, government -con trolled short-wave sta tiona .
SOS admini strators feared the State Department might retur n
th e transmitters to their legal owners .92 Yet, the need
for .n.bh S short-w&.ve broadcasts to the Pacif::l c contin ued.
Unquestionably , commercial news services coul d not supply
material to remote �acific islands . AEhS 1 fears were
without foundation. Soon the State Dep�C rtment's Voice of
Ame ric.a plan was developed. Control of the private trans -
mi tters was reta ined. The SOS dealt wi th the new
91
�brdy ce V. Cowing to Paul G. Horgan , 26 �ovember
1
9
45, p.
1
.
92
Loc. ill •
553
government agen cy . B l o cks of .�:�.FES t r oop -b r o adc as t ti m e
we re r·etained.
Alt h ough the fi nal chan ge is b e yond the scope of the
pre sent studJ1 1 in its fo rwar·d planning .�:�.FRS envi sioned
moving the San F'ra nci s co short-wave op er 1 J t.io n to Los
An ge le s.
9 3
It would be re lativel y easy to orj ginate th e
programs in Al •hS Lo s 1-1.nge les studi os and send them over
leas ed te lephone land -lin e s to the �an Franci sco t r ans-
rn lt terB where they would be broa d c a s t . Thu s a branch of fi ce
could be eli minated. Ther e would be no need for a di visi on
of pe r so n nel or a dis tant sub o rdinc te command . This change
was fin al ly effected in the late �un �e r of 1946.
III. Al �S Sr iO ET -Wh. Vl:. .PE OGR.-Jv1I NG
In re �:tatement , the mi ssio n of AFR�. short -wave broad
cas t s was as follo ws : 94
1. T imely ini'ormati onal progra ms be wned fro m Ameri can
shor t -wave transmi tters for rebroad cast by medi wn
wave AFRStat ions .
2. Radi o c o ver age for is olated troops wi th no other
avai lable faci litie s .
93
AFR.S � Armed l o rce s Radi o Servi ce Forwa.rd Plan , £•
d. ( F�ll , 1
9
45 1 , p. DD 3.
94
Supra ,
p. 5
33 .
554
Al thou gh the " e ave s dro pping " audi ence continued to be impor
tant to the OWI ,9 5 it wa s of no intere st to AFRS . SOS
personnel worked cons tantly to avoid propaganda ma terlals .9
6
1' he se were Ameri can Army broadcasts to Ameri can ci ti zens .
ule thod s of' f'uli 'ill ing the short -w av e mi ssio n were
similar in both th e i:�ew Yo rk and San I'r anci sco of fice s.
Theref ore , it did not seem necessa ry to separate ly discuss
branch program activi ties . Al'RS s.i1o rt -waved progr ams are
cons idered acco rding to type . The subsections of thi s
chapter di vis io n are :
1. Use of PPS tran �.cribed shows .
2. Sho rt -wave ne ws .
3. Sports broadcas ts .
4. he port-like programs .
5. I� Io rale s h ows.
6. Spe cia. l events .
� of � tran�cribed sh o ws . The PPS did no t pro
duce or denature shov!s especially for the SOS. Su ch shows
were not a crucial pur t of sl10rt -wave program ing. News ,
sports , and spe cia l events were the essential materials of
9
5
Supra , p. 513.
9 6 Th oro ,;;; s 11 '.
·
� A. Lewis , :dl June 19b0.
5 55
Hermann 's secti on. The PPS ente rtain. 11:e nt programs were of
s�co ndary concern •
.tio we ver, as a secondar;� mi ssion, the SOS w�:;�s to
bring radio to iso l ate d troops wi th no other b r oadca s t fa -
cili ties . To tht:: s e me n the PPS ent erta inme n t pro grams were
important . Therefore , the �OS p r ogra� ed Eany PPS discs .
Also, such transcriptions became im por tant fill e r ma terial
to use between news and sports bro adc asts .
Domestic Eebroadcas t shows caused a troublesome
problem for the Al'IiS pr ogramlng and short -wa.ve se c tion s •
.l:'ri or to the 0\'ii -AFE.S agre em ent both the OVH end the CIAA
rebroadc ast the most pop ular dom estic co m mercia l shows . In
acc ordance wi th the agreement , both agencies were under
orders to cease thi s pr&ctice. unly n.i:'h;;: , wa s allowed to
re que st release of com mercial shows for rebroadc as t pur-
pos es. 'J 7
Only ,:�.b hS would in th e denatur ing process .
PPS personne l did no t be l ieve th&t it matte red if a
bing Crosby show wa s rebroadcast several we e ks after the
ori gina l pre ent&ti on.
88
�re duction and process ing faci l
ities were seve rely taxed . �t too k considerable tim e to
9?
Supra , p. 822 .
88
Wi ll i! . Voeler , �' .n.p rl l 19b0 ; J:. lli ott o. Lewis,
14 .n.pri l 1950 .
ootain delivery of the pressed transcriptions . both the
\.)'vH and the CIA A complained o.t ""; u t the delay in re cei ving
cert ain shows.
99
Erob&bl � the true reason for such com-
Blnts l 'Nl thin perso�me J prc )blems . Parts or o'I'I I and
556
C lAA WO l'k hCi d been eli ;nl nat ed. Subord.: : rv., t, t:; erso n:n el may
h&.ve be en wo:crle d about their j obs. Undout tedl:y the cry
stemmed from these pe r -sons .
To meet such c ompl aints the b0 S' I;o me stic ne broadc ust
Sub se cti on inaugurated st epped-up production of certain
espec ial ly popular shows . hlliott Lewi s
,
l OO
director of
the unit, stated that all the big shows were denatured so
that they coul d be shipped to i.;; an fran cisc, o and New York
for rebroadca s t wi t hi n a few days of' the original dome stic
transmission.
Although the s·oL1ti on was achieved (!Ompars.tively soon
after the effect:l ve date of the OWI-AF'hS agreeme nt , the
prob le m contin ued as a. constant 11bone 11 of content:l. on . The
.2ps dldn' t. like to have short -wave broadcas ts 11 scoopu
AFHSta.t ions in transmiss ion of these shows . 0f course, it
was inuoss ib�e to deliver pressin�r,s of' the SO.' ;le shows to
.Pacific island stat ions so qui ckly . Voeler beli eved that
99
Locis citatls .
lOO
1
i tt .. L i E 1 o, u. ew s, 14 ,h.p ri l h150.
557
the ent .ire prob lem re sulted fr om offi cious subordi nate O'vH
adrni nistrati on. lOl rie felt these were gr ound less comp lai�1ts
founded on insuffi ci ent , inaccurate inf orm ation.
PPS Dom estic hebroadcas t transcri pti ons received
their securi ty inspectio n at Los n.nge lP- s 1.1 nder the super-
vi si on of U s Offi ce of Censorshi p personnel stationed at
the Ji.}'hS headquarte rs .
102
All tra. '1 criptio ns to be broad-
ca:J t over VIIIJ I-controlled tran smi tters were gi ven the unit 's
cle arance sym bols .
l 0 3
.P re sumab ly no other inspe cti on was
necessary . Howe ver, in many in s ta.Ylce s overzealous 01JH
pe:r •soru1e l demand ed repeti tious ins:) ections at both San
1' ranci sco and New York .
l04
'l' he reader should note tha t ov wr and CIAA probl ems
regarding entertainm ent shows concerned
l
o·wer eschelo n
persons . ¥•hi le these disagre em ents were annoyi , they
did not change f'und: :llnental poll cy . App&.ren tl y the contra -
versies were of li ttle concern or trouble to high eschelo n
ad:mi'li strators of ' the three organi zati ons .
101
�ill H. Voele r , 5 Apri l 1950 .
102
Su pra , p. 135 ..
10 3
Franci s J. Seeley , 20 .nugust 1950 .
104 h.
r' drn 4 b 1950 N E obert G. voo .an, .vecem er ; orma.n •
Noyes , 2 7 Ju ly 1950.
558
Short-� � · Pri or to 1 ::>ep tem ber 1943 -�. FBS had
neither ex per.L ence nor personnel in the new s field . By
engaging in news programi ng the SOS was enter ing the m o s t
precarlous area of the wartime broadcaster. In no way could
it give "aid and comfort to the enem y. '' Ye t, newscas ts were
to be the most imp Drtant sh ort -wa ve programing ingredient.
4.FRS wisht;d to broadcast full , unsla nted cove rage . Th ere
was no question but that the enemy W) Ul d closely m oni ter the
transmissions for bits of ' us eful informa tion.
The b as i c polic y for short -wave news was establi shed
in the OWI.-£u hS agreeme nt . Thi s was in complete accord
with AFRS ' wish. The ma j o r points wer e
:
l0 5
1. AB'RS would control the anlO '..l nt of news and its
lo cution within th e i r time blo cks .
2. AFRS wou ld attempt , when ever practi cal , to
sc hedule ne,vs progra .ms on the hour.
3. 'lhe s our ce of news wou ld be agre ed t o by bo th
the OWI and A}�S .
4. News sch eduling and sourc ;e o1· Sou th and Gentral
A;'tler ican beamed n�ws wa s to be de term ined by the
C lAA. The CIAA was to a void impll ca ti on that
such news was addre ssed to n.me ri can troops .
5. A} RS coul d voic e th e i r ow n news at any tim e they
so desired.
1
0 5
Agenda � Conclu si ons of Meet:l. ng� between ..Q!!!,
CI AA, � §§12. Official s �� Radi o Sec ticm head(iuar
!§; r
J!..,
Lo s Ang eles , Californla, 2!l 11 and 12 August ��
!!.• £•
\
_£. 13 Augus t 1943
)
, p. 25.
55
9
6. The ow ·I and the C Ii\.A. woul d make available a news
st udlo in Sa n Franci sco and New York.
'fhese polic:l .es held f or bo th the ;:,a n Franci sco and 11 ew York
ope rations .
Apparently the SOS prepared no news of it s own duri ng
194:3. 1Iowever, wit h the si gning of the AN S -.f .J:i'RS agreem ent
abou t cT anu l::l. ry 1944 the sos was able to pr e s ent it s own
newscasts
. l0 6
ANS pers on. 11el collected the news , wrote the
scripts , and cleared them for broadcast . SOS pe rs onn e l
sche dule d the shows an d voi ced the newscasts . rle rma nn
des cribed the aetivity of Jan:1ary 1944 as follows :
There wer ·e at present s. ix 15 minute newscasts an d
fi ve five minute newscast s being br oad c as t dai ly from
the east coas t tran smi tters , •• •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • c • • • •
'l' here are f ourte en 15 minute . news cas ts and four
teen 5 min ute n ews cas t s ••• emanati ng from the west
coast trans mitt ers
.
l07
In June 1945 the SOS re1)orted : 11N ews every-hour -on -the
hour was br oadcas t a.t the req.uest of' the theaters .n
l
08 No
other references to news "'� very-hour -on-the -hour was found .
Neve rt h e l e ss, the state men t is proba b ly ne arly true for the
pe rio ds of broadcas t during 1945.
lOS s
52 '3 . upra , p
.
107
J. Car t er Hermann in Thomas H. 1>. • .Wew ls , JANC
Radio �ub commi ttee 1944 heoort , 20 January 1944, p. s:r;.- 108 ·.puc
h· nw ,
p. 5.
.c' roe'l: ress .he i.Jort , 1 January to 30 .June 1945 ,
560
During the lat t e r part of' 19
4
4 a new ki nd of ne..,vs
cust was ina ugura ted : slow, dic tatio n- speed news . l09
A
si.m i lar servi ce had been reque sted by
H
ou se in
J
anuary
1
943.
11
0
Howe ver , the ac tu a l inaugurati on of
11
slow news
"
di d not oc cur un til it hs d been re, -i uested by Sherdem an and
Dyke of MacArt hur 's Southwe st Paci fic Command .
lll
Sherde-
ma.n
ll 2
reported thht
If
II
slow news was of paramo un t imp ortanre
to �outhwe st Pacif i c Atfi� tations . The y had no other way to
obtain materials fo r their sub s e qu en t new scasts .
In broadcasting
11
slow news" h.!:'hS init ia ted a t e ch -
nj que com ple te ly new to radi o. He r
·
e was a s im p le process
in whi ch the announc er , in the Uni ted States, read the news
at a very slow sp eed . The listener , at a d i stan t a� RS ta -
tio n , copi ed the ne ws i n lo nghand . At a later ti me this
lon,gha nd copy could be rea d for transmission over local
1
09
AFRS, rr ogre ss Re Jort , (
1
July to ) 31 December
1944 , p. 3. In SOS h� onthl� Re 0orts "slow news
"
was f:irst
ment io ned in tht:. t summar y cover:i .n g the peri od fr om 10
� eb rua ry to 10 Mar ch
1
945 . dowe ver , it was beli e v e d that
"slow ne ws
"
was reg'.l lar ly broadcas t du rin g s e ve ral pre
cec'Un g rnon ths .
11
0
lia .. '1ie1 iii . House to Thomas H. A. Lewis , 20 .run e
1
943 , p. 7.
1 1 1
'I'
ed 1. . She rdeman , 6 Se ptem ber l::l 50 ; ( (]. Court enay
Savage
)
, .t'r ogre 2s F,e oort , 26 iv; aJ 1942 to 1 l.Je cember 19 45,
p. 31.
1
1 2
'T
ed h. �he rdeman , 6 �epte mber 1950 .
56 1
1:..F1\S tations . T h e use of " sl ow nevvs
1
1 incrf:ased throu gh the
ensuing years . 0u ring the �outh Korea invasion of June 1950
it as sumed a gre at er ro le of ' importanc e to di stant AFR.S tt:>
ti ons and scattered l i stener s . l l 3
"
Slow news
"
was of great
Yalue for rebro adcas t and as the m a j o r so urce of material
fo r s m a ll news sheets prepared at is olated tro op encamp -
me nt s .
Spo rts broa dcas ts . Short -wave sport s broadc asts
were an older A.bhS comm odit y than was the newscast. Boar d-
manl
l
4
reported that he edited th e first foo tball game for
.hd : ) s hor t -wav e rebr oadcas t about Septemb er 1942 . Berge r
ll5
sai d he broadcas t live short -wave soortscasts for A}RS in
the late Wi nter of that srune year.
It was He rmann 1s
ll6
in tent to pre s ent two types of
s� orts broa dc as ts.
1. At least one sports roundup a day over each area
beam.
2. Dena tured rebroa dcas ts of ' the ma jo r hme ri can
sports contests over all area beams .
1 13
Bu r t :m A. hobbins , Jr., 12 Decemb er 1950 .
ll
4
T ru e :&.. B o ardm a n , 9 May 19t':l0 .
115
.ti al B e rge r , lG 1Jece mb er 1050.
116
J . C ar t er He rmann , 15 ...., ece mber 1950.
562
In January 194 4 Hermann re ported that 11 six 10- minu te
sport -cas ts " were broadcas t dai ly from .E.ast Coast stati on s ,
s.nd "ten 10- minute sport-casts emanated from v1est Coast
transmi tters.n
ll
7
further he report ed the January 1944
bowl-game coverage as follows :
Janus_ry fi rst was t r uly bowl day for all tro op s
oversea s . �n addition to the live broad c asts of the
Orange , Cotto n and ho se Bowl games , for •ty -f'i ve and
fi fty minute r ecr e at e d broadcasts wer e made , hi gh
lig hting the rt ose bowl , Orange , o::>ugar and Catton
bowl s. These games were p l ay e d on subseq uent beams
for the benefit of the troops who were unable to hear
the live broadcasts
.
ll
8
During the firs t half of 19 4 5 h�ES made arrangements
to use army .:::.. i gna l Corps telephone land-lines for s p e e dy
tran smission of especi all y important sports contests .
ll 9
In thi s way the live program could be carri ed rrom :i.t s
s·�n 1rce to San I• 'ran ci sco and New York where an immediate
edi ting could be accomplished . Wi th s uch facilit ies a
de lay of only a few hours wa s ne cessary for short-wave
rebroadcast.
Sumn ary figure s of SOS s;J orts broadcasts wer e not
11
7 .J .
Carter Her man in Thomas H. "' • Le wi s h.NC
, _
Radio .::>ub comini ttee � he ;)ort , 20 ,Ja nuary 1944 , • 54 .
P• 5.
llB
Ibid . ,
p. 53 .
119
A.F RS , .!:' r ogr es s he p or t , 1 Jan uar y to 30 June 1945,
563
discovered . However, i t is be li ev ed th at thi s cov erag e wa s
nearly as thorough as wa s tha t of ne v is . ·�: ;parently dai ly
sports roun dups and al l major sport s conte st s we re tr ans -
mi tte d on each be am thr oughou t 1944 an d 1945.
nepor�-lik e r:_rogra ms . Short -wave was es pe ci al ly le
to br·i ne; t im ely Slli ! .ary, comment&ry , and repc rt -t;,p e broad-
casts to ov e rsea � lis teners . This was a prog rarnin e area
unsuited to the p re ss ed tr an� cr 5 ion . .r:· ot h the New York
and th e Sa n .branc i�.co staff's reg u larl y .)re duced such shows
as : U:!O
1. "Combat Dlo.r y. "
2. 1"Norld .0i ary . "
Some of the se wer ·e as s embl ed I r·om do me t. ie cormn ercial sta-
tio n broa. dcas ts . O t her s were esp e cia lly I. ri tten by
peTsonnel. Such ro undu ps were needed to bring the world.
confl ic ts and pro blems into pe rspe ctive for ieola terl GlE.
A special variati on of tlJ.i s type of progrHm. was
develop ed in the }�dera l agency r ep or t s . Here leader s
could speak di rectlJ ' to thei . r men . He rf) w�:.ts a 11house organ
"
transmi tted by radio waves . High offici s re alj zed the
120
Eo bert u. Goodman , 25 Ju lJ l�· bO ; NOI'J nan E. Noyes ,
27 J u ly 1950.
564
im port&nce and poss ibilities of tbeee progrEms.
�
he refore ,
the shows were give n cons ide rs_ble thought and attention.
The majo r pr og rSJ:ns of tt. is categor y were :
1.
2.
3.
4.
"S er vi ce ..., igest
11
: A coJJ"mentc . r�y -lUe prot;rE.m used
to pres ent any des tred subje ct matter . It was
11
on the air
1
1 by 11. u
gust 1
944
.
121
11
War .Lie partm ent heport
11
: An official report
planned b;, " poet -Library of Congress .J..J irector
Archibald lvlacLea2h and Se crbtary of War Edward
H. Stettinius for production jn Washingt on
. l22
The first show was shor t -w �:;.ved on 21 J.Jece mber
1 94
4.
123
"
Navy heporter
"
: After lengthy ple .nnir yg this
report , originally r.: ;queste d by AF'RS ,
1
:::: 4 began
short -wave broadcast on E, Jun f;; 19 45.
N
avy Se cre tary
Ja mes V. Forresta.l l appeared on the first show and
rema ined clo sel y as8 ociatcd wit h later productions .
This was an informati onal medium �1 s well as a place
where qu esti.o ns would be answered . ln s pea ki.ng
of tb e pr o gram Forrest Bll sa: i.d:
11
v• ie
1
re not going
to put any li.m it on the quest ions ••• 'l 'he men
can as
k
all the ques�io ns they want, on any
subje ct they want.
"
l2 5
"St8 te: l'J epartment
h
eport
"
: · Usual ly a round
tabl e dJ scussion of a State Lepo.r t�nent problem .
MacLeasb and se ve ral Gi s were regular partici
pants .
1
;.:: 6
The inaugurELl da te of this Washine;to n
sh ow was not discovered .
1 2 1
T·� � E. BoarcJms.n to
f
aul li. Horgan, mem o rHndum. ,
1!: , augu st 1944 � p. 7.
1 22 Frede rick
O
sb orn to Thombs H. 1. . Lewis, 8 Febr u
ar y 1944 , p. 1.
12 3
AF'R S , frogrc ::; s Report , (l Jul;; to
)
�H Vecerr;.ber
1
9
4
4, p. 3.
-
1 24
J .
Carter Henu ann to Martin u. ��ork, Memo l'and um ,
16 February 19 45 , p. 1.
1
25 11 New Weekl v Sho
j\' tv;a ve hadio .2ro. r�r a.m imswe rs
:.,u e stions o.f 1�1 en Over·seas , � Ugml a, 340! '72, ,Ju ly 1 845.
126
Paul G. Horgan, 9 rtugu st 195 0 .
565
Morale shows . Three �oz·ale -type seri es wer e espe -
cia l. ly pr·oduce d for ... :rh S short - wave tr ·an smissi on . In the se
cases PPS activi ty was somewhat du pli cat ed . Also, tr..e PPS
assisted in the preparat ion of tb� shows . However, none of
th e program s was pressed for distribution to .rtFHSt8tions .l
2?
1l' he fir :- 1t of the��e rno r�::. le seri. e :::; ·.vas 11 Homc town News."
Thi s .�:1Fh� :; prog ram pro·oably succeeded tl1E: €:ar11er OWI
pro du. ction. 188
Hermann de scribed the F.h.\H· :ts:
• • • fifteen minute s of news �a �here d from al l
por tion s of the country. reut ur ing cd .,�· news from
small towns and small news .i ten: t; fror11 the laraer
cities . The ma terial c on ts. i n ed in the 11 Home town
�Je ws
11
prosram is ceing carefully sel ected in order
to brlng to the men a type of domt: s t.ic new s whi ch
they otherwise wou ld no t rccei ve , e:x cept in a
l e t t er from home . l c:9
Transmissi on ot" t hi s progr(;lm oe: ::; an u . .:o 1.1. t January 1
944 . 130
'l' he second series was called 11L et ' �; lio T.:> Town."
Savage reported tha t thi s was 11 prbpar ud at the re que s t of
Gener3 l �i senhower 1s off'ice.1 1
1
31 It was a fiftee n -mtnute ,
-··· ·-- · --- -:: - = ,...- --
12'7
A f'n ; demo nstr:::. t:i.o n pre s ::: . ngs of "Let 's Go To
Town11 were found in tbe AFES trans crj ption librt>r y.
128
Supr! , p. 58.
129
J. Garter He rmann in Thomas H. A. Lewis,
Eadio Subc omm i tte e 191±4 he oor ·t , 20 Ja.... "llw .rJ · 1944, p.
1:3 ·0
12.£. • ci t .
JANC
�
-.�o.
131
( C. C ourtenay Sava�e), Progre ss he oort , 26 May
1942 to 1 December 1945 , p. 30 .
566
three -time s -a -week , news show and greeting prepared espe
cially for fi �R S by a hom et own statioL.
l
3
2
Transmi ssio n
d:l.tes of the seri es we re not ascertained . However, AFRS
probab ly broadcast the first show late in 1944.
The third , and final , morale -type seri es was cal led
11Sugar F\eport ." Radi o and movi e actress .Jinx Falkenberg
appeared as the regular mistress of ceremoni es . This
thirty-mi nute , three -th.e s-a-week produet:i on emphasi zed
n1 ocal co1o r11 news .
1
33 Transmi Rsi on probc: cbly be gan ab out
Hugus t 1944 . Product ion ceased after it ha d be en prepared
jointl y by the SOS and the PP S for ab out a year.
l
3
4
F'or
dis tri bution the sos had three instantaneous acetate tran-
�cri pt ions cu t in Ho1lywood .
l
3
5
Broadcas t copies were
maJ.1 ed to i.::l an Francisco and New Yo rk •
As has bee n noted , the se three morale sh ows con tai ned
neVIB rna ter i a ls . Yet , they were not news sh ows. 'l' he basic
appeal was to nostalgia. Timeli ne ss was not the important
factor . Pos sibly the se shows could have been regular fPS
1
3
2 Fra ncis J. �eeley, 12 .:.:iepte mber · 1950 .
U�
3
L lt oc . c . •
--
1
34 Robert J. de la 'To rre 1 :ll: September 1950 ; Franci s
J. See ley , 12 September 1950 .
1
35
}rancis J. Se ele y , 21 ue cember 1950 .
567
productions fo r release to bot h AFftt)tat ions and domesti c
snort-wav e outlets.
Special events . frobab ly one of radio' s most valuable
servi ces to the li s tening public is it s abilit :y to g1.ve on-
the-spot , ins ta nta ne ou s coverage of spe cia l events of
general signi fi cance. Only th rough sh ort - w ave facilities
could AE'RStati ons offer• such a service. Short -wave enabled
these dis tant outlets to present ne &.rly as complete and
imm ediate report s as we re of fered by Am eri can comme rci al
bro adca st ers . The onl y di f f e r ence lay in editin g for
securi ty and the deletion of commercials . Howe ver , by th e
.F'a ll of 1944 , SOS pe rs onnel had become so adept at the se
tec hniques th at im portant broadcas ts were delayed but a
few mi nutes .
As a rout ine ma tte r AFh S tr an s m i t t ed edit ed vers ions
of' the special .H.m eri can network , star-ladden r10 liday shows .
Hermann ' a
l36
preperformance arr •angementa wi th th e producers
of 'lhan ksgi ving and Chri stmas �rograms enabled almost
im .. '11ed iate rebroadcast .
Of the many spe cial even t s coverages, three appear
to be e s p ec ially note wor thy . The fi rs t concerned the
sudden death of Prts ident �ranklin D. Ro o sev e lt on 12 Aoril
�
136
J.
Carter Hermann , 17 Ju ly 1950.
568
19 45 . Aler t SOS annou ncers rev eale d the na ti ona l tragedy
to B.f' .hb ' audi ence three min utes and fift een seconds after
:1 t was offici all y ann ounced by the \� hi te House in Wash-
ingt on.
l37
Thi s anno unc ement
"
scooped" "every other ne ws
ser ·vi ce transmissio n b: one min ute and 45 se cond
s. n
l38
liu ring the ens uine; day s Ar' h S dev ot e d short -wave time to
coverage of assoeiate d activities . Some of the programs
came from dome sti c. radio channe ls . The AFRS staff produced
man ;y others.
Dur ing the San .B'ra nc ise o Uni ted Natio ns Conferen ce ,
startin g 25 Apri l 19 45, AFh5 short -wav ed ext ended reports
of the activities. San .L'' "nci sco pe r·s onr: el p roduc e d a
special serie s of progrS Jn s en ti tle d 11Conferen.ce he ;o rt . 1
1
T�i s was ai red for fif·teen min utes , six time s eac h week,
on all beaws , durin e; the mee ting's duration.
l 39
The thi rd outs tanding special ev ent was a rebroad -
cast , via short-wave relay, of the Ja pane se surrender
ceremo ni es ab oard the USS Missouri on 1 .::;eptemb er 1
945. 140
13
7
J. f •• Connel l , 11Thi s is the Hl 'med .t>o rces hadio
Servic e ,11 n. d. , p. 6.
138
Loc. cit .
1
39 'Tr oop Infor ma t1 on .t'la nn ln � 0ecti on , Outline of
Current � rr roop Inform& tion 11. cti vi ties , 85 June 194 5: p . 9.
140
AERS, Pro�res s he oor t , 1 Ju ly to 31 Decemb er
1945 , p. 9.
In thi s in stan ce .�-U h� . and the Am er:i. c&n ne tworks use d the
same fac il iti es .
569
11Fh S also achie ved an other
11fi
rst
11
when it annou nc ed
tl: .Le begin ning of the eur opean in vasio n, D Day , on 6 June 1 944.
The SO S tran srr,i tted this inform &ti on fiv t: min utes before
any other news ag ency .
l41
The reader w:t .ll hav e not6 d tha t AF 'HS short -wav e
programi ng was essenti all y a supplement to other ma teri als
avai la ble for broa dca s t over .nF' hStatio ns . By rebroadcast in g
snor t -wa ved shows , dis tan t servi ce tran smitters could pre
sent a lis tening schedule that was essent :t .al ly the same as
tha t he &.. rd on r10 rne lan d sts.tio ns .
'l' he SO S was no lethargic governm ental operatio n. It
beca.�r .e as vigi lan t and competiti ve as it s neig hbor , the
Amer ica n broa dcas t inE ; in dus try . In fa c t, thi s in dus try was
both criterio n and rival . Certain ly the SOS may be sai d to
hHve splendidly me t its pri ma ry mi ssio n: Ti mely inf or rr.&
ti onal prograrnE i bea med from Am eri can s:1.ort-v :ave tra n.smi tter � :
for rebroadcas t by medi um-wave .;l. F'h�; ta ti ons .
1
4 2
n • .£•
14 1
( C. 0ourtenay Sa vab e), Hi storic al Notes , n. d. ,
142
Supra , p. 533 .
To fur nis h i;1 orale -O u.i lo in,; pron ;ran:: .s to tr oops sta
tioned all over the ·worl d Wa8 a jo b witc .out pr e ced en t in
the his tor y of the �a r ue par tment . �a rlo w chose Lewi s be
cause he be lieved tn is man had ar tistr y , ingen uity , execu-
tiv e ilit y , and experi ence wi th which to acco mplis h th e
mission.
l
r�obody kne w how the job would be done . lt was
.we wis t du ty to o.is cover the means to acco mplis h it.
'id thin th e Army was a re ::.t he r sta. '1dar d adminis