Allies link radios to inform Europe
Coordinate radio stations to broadcast an unprecedented propaganda campaign
Allied radio stations in the United States, England, North Africa and Italy were coordinated early yesterday morning for an unprecedented propaganda campaign directed at Germany and the occupied countries. At the hour of invasion, the broadcasting facilities were linked together in an international chain to insure a maximum audience on the continent for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s statement to “the people of Western Europe.”
The overseas branch of the Office of War Information working closely with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the State Department, put into operation planes calling for transmissions in 22 languages on a 24-hour basis. Religious, political, educational and labor leaders throughout the day entered the local OWI studios at 214 W 57th Street to make recordings that were later broadcast on shortwave to the difference language groups overseas.
The OWI broadcasts from New York were based on a detailed pattern designed to instill confidence in the ultimate victory of the Allies but to recognize the hazards yet to be faced.
Chief points in OWI plan
A summary of the chief points in the OWI’s psychological warfare operations follows:
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Naval, air and ground forces participating in the action were referred to as “the Allied Expeditionary Force” rather than as “the Armies of Liberation.” Use of the words “second front” and “invasion” were omitted in favor of the words “landing” or “landings.”
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The occupied countries were asked for the most part to maintain discipline and await official orders before engaging actively in the fight. Foreign workers within Germany, potentially a source of major aid to the Allies were warned that the invasion was not their D-Day but rather their mobilization day.
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The only direct appeal for aid was made to transportation workers to sabotage communication facilities between Nantes and Antwerp.
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Broadcasts directed at German troops in Western Europe were discontinued on the ground that the Nazi soldiers would be otherwise occupied, the time being devoted to additional programs for Central Europe. Troops far from the front were warned, however, that in modern warfare there was no safety anywhere. The names of German commanders were omitted as far as possible to avoid glorifying them in the eyes of the audience within Germany.
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References to food or relief supplies for the occupied countries were being withheld pending formal announcement of such plans. There was no mention of “secret weapons.”
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Any organized resistance to the Nazis within Europe was treated solely as part of the Allies military operations and not as necessarily indicating a possible revolt by the European peoples.
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The broadcasts recognized that the German defenses were strong and their equipment of a high order. No suggestion was made of any deterioration in Nazi morale.
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Major emphasis was placed on the Allied superiority in arms and the determination of Allied soldiers to win final victory. The many countries represented in the Allied forces were listed.
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The reaction of Americans at home was described as one of calmness born of confidence in Gen. Eisenhower and the Allied fighting men.
It was at 3:48 a.m. yesterday that the OWI picked up the BBC’s announcement that Gen. Eisenhower’s statement to the European peoples would follow in a minute’s time. It was piped to the OWI transmitters in the eastern part of the country and sent back to Europe. Stations in Algiers, Tunis, Italy and Cairo also carried the message.
Unlike the day of the North African invasion, however, transatlantic receiving conditions were not too good and at 4:18 a.m. the local OWI had to abandon its relay of programs from London. Throughout the morning, atmospheric conditions continued to result in relatively weak signals that in the city made shortwave reception difficult, though the BBC was at all times audible.
The OWI’s efforts were reinforced by other broadcasts from the Western Hemisphere. Shortwave stations in Toronto, Winnipeg and Newfoundland carried news of the invasion from Canada while outlets in Cuba, Panama City, Brazil and other South American countries were heard giving details.
Wives of D chiefs voice fortitude
Mrs. Roosevelt stresses the cost ahead; faith asked by Mrs. Eisenhower
Washington – (June 6)
Women whose husbands are bearing the brunt of the invasion responsibility shared their D-Day thoughts with the women of the country.
Mrs. Roosevelt’s message was that everyone must accept the fact that this is only a beginning, not an end, that there will be much to go through, but that the women of the country will go through it in the way they have met all the tests of history.
She said at her press conference:
Until the heavy invasion machines land, we are not very secure. This type of war is costly – people must go through anxiety, suffering, loss. The cost of liberation to many of these countries will be great at the moment of liberation. Retiring armies will take their toll and the invading armies also have to take their toll as the country is fought over.
This is not a happy day.
She said that she got the invasion news from her husband before she went to bed last night and slept very little.
Mrs. Eisenhower’s message
Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower, off to her son’s West Point graduation into the Army today, left behind a message for NBC broadcast, “Let’s have faith, cheerfully wish them luck and work a little harder than ever before.”
The wife of the commander of the invasion forces also said in her message, read by NBC commentator Nancy Osgood:
We know now that our men are attacking our enemies. We know that they will be victorious. But we also know they will have many trying hours ahead, hours in which we shall find it difficult not to be restless and unnerved. We are eager to help in some big way, and yet, if we could ask our fighting men, they would tell us – Ours is the job to fight, yours to help, by remaining as cheerful and as busy as possible.
On the same broadcast, Mrs. Harold Stark, wife of the admiral in command of all U.S. naval forces in the European Theater, also gave practical “keep busy” advice, and said:
May the troops have all the luck in the world, so that victory may come quicker.
Mrs. Carl Spaatz, whose husband commands the strategic Air Forces in Great Britain, commented:
As an air wife, I am tremendously proud of our Air Forces, especially the magnificent pre-invasion job they have done. That great softening-up job will be responsible for saving the lives of many thousands of American soldiers and sailors.
Offers comforting thoughts
This should be of the greatest comfort and pride to the families of Air Force men, especially to those families whose men are missing, or may have been killed in action.
And she gave another comforting thought:
Never in history has a greater military undertaking been so carefully planned. Everything has been thought of and done to give that man of yours the best possible chance of coming through this terrific action.
Mrs. Alan G. Kirk, wife of the admiral in charge of U.S. invasion task forces, added her assurance that valuable lessons had been learned in the amphibian operations in Africa, Sicily, Italy and the Pacific, and said:
Consequently, we can be certain that this, the biggest landing of all, will be most successful. Here at home, we can believe in success as well as wish for it.
Mrs. James Doolittle, wife of the Tokyo raider, who commands the 8th Air Force in England, said:
Our troops expect even more than our confidence – they expect us to keep our chins up. We need more than ever before to slow that we have courage.
The Doolittles have a son in the 9th Air Force in England, and so Mrs. Doolittle gave this message to mothers:
Your sons are fighting to make victory possible. As Gen. Doolittle has said to me so often: “My boys are tops. They never stop to think of what may happen to them. They just do their job.”
