The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company brings you the sound of war, the actual sound record of World War II. 2191 days from the time Hitler's Panzer divisions moved across the Polish borders to the ceremony of the Japanese surrender aboard the United States battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. World War II, the most terrible period of death and destruction in the long history of man. World War II, a drama preserved for all time through the medium of radio, an era never to be forgotten. Tonight, Sitzkrieg, the phony war. You are listening to Adolf Hitler. He is speaking in Berlin. It is less than 30 days since German Panzer divisions moved across the Polish borders on September 1st. Hitler's legions had introduced a new word in the language of warfare. Blitzkrieg, lightning warfare. It is now September 29th. 12 days before Russian armies adhering to the terms of the Moscow pact signed eight days before the German attack on Poland moved across Polish borders from the east. The squeeze was on. Poland was gone. Now Russia looked to the Baltic states. On the day of the signing of the Polish peace treaty, Russia forced Estonia to permit the Soviet military machine to establish bases on Estonian soil. Similar treaties were signed within two weeks with Latvia and Lithuania. But what about Finland? Independent, freedom-loving Finland. Finland, a land of 65,000 lakes, of white-covered lands. Finland, a picturesque Christmas card inhabited by strong men of goodwill, of courage. For Russia, Finland was strategically situated. The great city of Leningrad was only 20 miles from the Finnish border. The Russians made demands. They wanted the Finns to relinquish territory on the Russian border near Leningrad so that the Russian bastion would be beyond effective military range of an enemy. The Finns, to preserve their peace, agreed. But Russia asked for more. They wanted to establish military bases on Finnish soil. The Finns stood firm. They would not give up their land for foreign use. The Russians demanded the Finns retire from the Russian-Finnish border. Finland refused to pull back its troops until the Russians did the same. On November 30th, Russia invaded Finland. 100,000 Russian troops moved across the Finnish borders. World attention moved from France, Germany, and Great Britain to the lands and waters of Finland. New names became known in every home. Helsinki, Finland's capital city. The Mannerheim Line, a magnificent series of fortifications named after Finnish Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Karl von Mannerheim. The Russians made five separate drives into Finnish territory. They outnumbered the gallant defenders by 50 to 1. But as Germany introduced blitzkrieg to the world, the Finns introduced another new form of war, the silent war. Heavily armed Finnish ski patrols, their white uniforms blending into the snow of the countryside, darted and probed the Russian invader into a helpless confusion. In London, Winston Churchill watched. Only Finland to be heard. The blime in the jaws of peril. Finland showed what free men can do. The service rendered by Finland to mankind is magnificent. They have exposed for all the world to see the military incapacity of the Red Army and of the Red Air Force. Many illusions about Soviet Russia have been dispelled in these few fierce weeks of fighting in the Arctic Circle. Everyone can see how communism rocks the soul of a nation, how it makes it abject and hungry in peace and proves it base and abominable in war. In the United States, there was much sympathy for the Finnish people and the Finnish nation. Finland, the nation that had fully paid its World War I debt to the United States. Finland, the country that President Roosevelt called in a major speech so infinitesimally small, it can do no injury to the Soviet Union. Finland, its heroic defenders immortalized by Robert Sherwood's 1941 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, There Shall Be No Night. Finland, small, heroic Finland, soon to be overcome only by the avalanche of massive Russian manpower and armor. In the West, with Poland gone, there was now what historians call the Phony War. Another name entered the international language, its Greek, sit-down war, war of words, war of inaction. But in Great Britain, air raid instructions were constantly broadcast throughout the day. The government have given instructions for the following important announcement. Closing of places of entertainment. All cinemas, theaters and other places of entertainment are to be closed immediately until further notice. In the light of experience, it may be possible to allow the reopening of such places in some areas. They are being closed because if they were hit by a bomb, large numbers would be killed or injured. Sports gatherings and all gatherings for purposes of entertainment and amusement, whether outdoor or indoor, which involve large numbers congregating together, are prohibited until further notice. This refers especially to gatherings for purposes of entertainment. But people are earnestly requested not to crowd together unnecessarily in any circumstances. Air raid warning. As from now, no futa or siren may be sounded except on the instructions of the police. In the event of threatened air raid warning, will be given in urban areas by means of sirens or utas, which will be sounded in some places by short intermittent blasts and in other places by a wobbling note changing every few seconds. To a waiting world, the war had settled down to what they remembered wars to be. Armies settled behind fixed fortifications. In 1929, French War Minister Andre Maginot devised a series of fortifications of concrete and steel that would forever and for all time protect the homeland, the Maginot Line. The Germans had their own series of fortifications, the Siegfried Line. Both defenses were termed impregnable. History would later prove that both fortifications were obsolete. But as Christmas 1939 neared, great news was building up for the British Empire. The place, Montevideo, Uruguay. In the harbor of the Rio de la Plata, three British cruisers with the majestic sounding names Ajax, Achilles, and Exeter, tracked the pride of the German Navy. The pocket battleship Graf Spee. It is Sunday, December 17, 1939, and the Graf Spee, wounded by the British warships, has been ordered out to sea by neutral Uruguay. Graf Spee Captain Hans Lansdorf knows his ship is badly wounded. Outside the harbor, the British cruisers circle and wait. It is 6 p.m. The scene is an incongruous one. On the shore, more than 300,000 spectators watch, awaiting the impending duel. The Graf Spee weighs anchor and moves to the open sea. Suddenly, the massive German pocket battleship slows, then stops. In the United States, radio programs were interrupted by the excited voice of an announcer who broadcasts the flash over the crackling imperfections of trans-ocean radio. We interrupt our regular program to bring you a special Graf Spee. We take you now to Mount Pettisdale, Uruguay. The Graf Spee explodes five miles from the coast. The ship has been scuttled. The Graf Spee had been scuttled. Now an eyewitness to the last of the drama. The ship is moving, rolling from side to side. There goes another explosion. The after-turn has gone up. It's going down. It's going down by the stern. The stern is completely underwater. Planes are still shooting up into the air. Smoke. When it was over, there was jubilation throughout the English-speaking world. From the British cruiser Exeter, there were many heroes. Here is a gunner a day after the attack. Dawn had just broken when we were woken up with a bugle calling, action station, and we tumbled out and there was a wild rustle station. Some of us were in pants and shirts while others were in ovals because a few of the fellows sleep in these. Anyhow, there was every sort of rig out you could think of. Now a midshipman aboard the badly bruised Exeter. It was about 6.15 and one of the finest days I'd ever seen with a clear sky and a calm sea. My action station was after the four-inch gun quarters and when I had reached my proper billet, the enemy had opened fire on us. I could see her on our starboard beam. We thought she was the shearer. As I watched her, I saw six jets of flame leap from her 11-inch guns. After a short interval, I saw the results of these jets. As fountains of water suddenly rose up near us. As no arduous had come through from the control to load the guns I had been charged off, because the enemy was out of range of them, I ordered the guns crews to rig hoses and wet the decks. We were still doing this when I saw the Marines turret being hit. Now Captain Bell of the Exeter. What did we do on that Wednesday morning? Nothing very much really, but that which every officer and man is so accustomed to do, that it is really second nature to him. In London, First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. Ladies and gentlemen, the news which has come from Montevideo, has been received with thankfulness in our island, and with unconcealed satisfaction throughout the greater part of the world. The pocket battleship, Raft Spee, which had been for many weeks preying upon the trade of the South Atlantic and Meta Doom. The Graf Spee was dead. There was much controversy following the scuttling. Naval experts the world over condemned Chancellor Hitler for ordering the end of the great ship while she was still able to travel at great speed, while still able to fire her massive power. For the Graf Spee, Captain Lonsdorf, there was a similar end. Three days after his ship went down in the waters of Montevideo, he performed a ceremonial suicide. He wrapped around him the flag of the old Imperial Navy. Then Lonsdorf, veteran of Jutland, put a bullet in his head. On May 5th, the final epitaph of the Graf Spee. An item from Montevideo read, the steel of the Graf Spee today was sold for 1,000 pounds to Senor Julio Vigalajara. The Graf Spee, dead after only five years of life, had cost three and three quarter million pounds to build. Now an aftermath to the sinking of the Graf Spee, which many historians believe may have brought the war more quickly to Scandinavia. The auxiliary of the Graf Spee was the German ship Altmark. Aboard the Altmark were many British merchantmen picked up after the Graf Spee had sunk their ships, some 300 men. After the Spee was scuttled, the Altmark used all her cunning to avoid capture. She moved from South American waters to the waters surrounding the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark, Norway. Finally, she moved into the territorial waters of Norway. British reconnaissance planes moved into the area. One of the pilots who spotted her said, I flew around her several times and saw that she was flying the Norwegian flag. Here's a report from another one of the pilots who spotted the Altmark. My navigator was able to identify the ship immediately as the Altmark through his binoculars. So she was painted a different color from what we had been told. And I closed formation with the leader to inform him that we had sighted our quarry at last. On February 16, 1940, His Majesty's ship Cossack intercepted the Altmark. Two Norwegian gunboats signaled the Cossack that the Altmark had been searched and been found empty of prisoners. Winston Churchill personally wired the Cossack captain to make certain. That evening, a Cossack boarding party went aboard the Altmark. They found 299 British prisoners. Here is one of them. I cannot find words to express our admiration for the magnificent seamanship and bravery of all those engaged in our rescue. Now the aftermath of the recapturing of the Altmark prisoners. In Germany, Chancellor Hitler watched with concern the movements of British ships in Scandinavian waters. The reason? Neutral Norway and neutral Sweden were important keys to the German war effort. Sweden's great iron ore deposits were Germany's main source of supply for the industrial war plans. In winter, ice locked Swedish ports forced the shipments to go through the Norwegian port of Narvik where German ships transported the ore to the homeland. Almost since the war's beginning, First Admiralty Lord Winston Churchill pleaded for the mining of the Norwegian territorial waters to prevent the unhampered movement of German ships. Fearing world scorn if they brought the war to neutral Scandinavia, the British government turned down 12 Churchill warnings. But now the Altmark action off Norway brought fear to Germany. An allied takeover of Norway's ports would immobilize the ruer war effort. Operation Vaser is planned. The takeover of Norway. The date of the invasion, April 9th. Now the unbelievable. As Germany prepared for the invasion of Norway, Great Britain finally reacted to the danger. On April 8th, they mined the Norwegian territorial waters. Norway protested. The following day, Denmark was informed by Germany that they had evidence that the allies were about to invade Scandinavia. Hitler said, since the Scandinavian countries cannot adequately protect themselves, German armies would move in to protect them. The following day, Germany informed Norway of the allied invasion. Germany too would come to their aid. The invasion of Norway and Denmark was underway. Here is the actual BBC announcement. This is the BBC home service. Here is a special news bulletin. As listeners to our early morning bulletins will have heard, Denmark has been invaded by German forces and Norway is at war with Germany. Clement Attlee, later to become British Prime Minister, spoke of the attack. The brutal, unprovoked attack on the two neutral, peaceful Scandinavian states shows clearly that the rulers of Germany are devoid of any respect for international law and morality. Denmark and Norway, two small, weak states, have done nothing which could give the Germans any cause of complaint against them, unless indeed the mere fact that these countries were the home of the highly civilized free peoples was in itself an offense to these modern barbarians. The phony war was over. The Germans were again on the march. Just three days before in Great Britain, Prime Minister Chamberlain in a major speech said, after seven months of war, I feel ten times as confident as I did in the beginning. I feel that our position now is stronger against the enemy than it was in the beginning. Then came the statement that in 35 days would ring derisively through the House of Commons as his government began to fall, said Chamberlain on April 5th. When war broke out, it was natural, since German preparations were far ahead of our own, that the enemy would take advantage of his initial superiority and attempt to overwhelm us and France before we had time to make good our deficiencies. Is it not a very extraordinary thing that no such attempt was made? Whatever the reason, one thing is certain. Hitler has missed the bus. A token British expeditionary force was sent to Norway. It met with disaster. There is a British soldier just returned from Norway. I'll tell you one thing about the Germans. They're not the same Germans as in the last war. So Operation Wesser was successful. In Norway, a new name would arise that would until the end of hostilities stand as a symbol for treachery and treason the world over. Quisley, Vittkun Quisley. Quisley, former Minister of War, collaborator. Quisley, Prime Minister of Norway during the German occupation. Quisley, hanged as a collaborator and traitor by his own country immediately after the war. So now the Germans were on the march again. In a few short weeks, the war would explode with unequaled fury. With Operation Wesser successful, the German high command could now turn their full attention to Operation Yellow, the invasion of Belgium and the low countries, and simultaneously the invasion of France. It is May 7, 1940. In the House of Commons, there is crisis. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain stands almost alone against the abuse of almost all the House members. The debacle in Scandinavia has all but tottered the government. There are again cries of speak for England, and the once calm, unperturbed Chamberlain is now shaken and defeated. One by one, the speakers call him to the mark, and he is verbally annihilated by friend and foe. The cries ring throughout the chamber. Hitler missed the bus. Hitler missed the bus. An angry Leopold Amory leaps to his feet and brings other members cheering to his side when he rings out Cromwell's famous words, depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go. And finally, the venerable beloved David Lloyd George, in one of his last major utterances to the group that cheered him a hundredfold times in the past, spoke these crushing words. It is not a question of who are the Prime Minister's friends. It is a far bigger issue. He has appealed for sacrifice. The nation is prepared for every sacrifice, so long as the nation is confident that those who are leading are doing their best. I say solemnly that the Prime Minister should give an example of sacrifice, because there is nothing which can contribute more to victory in this war than that he should sacrifice his seals of office. In three days, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain would resign, and Winston Churchill would be called to kiss the hand of the King. Winston Churchill would become Prime Minister of Great Britain. The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company has brought you The Phony War, the actual voices and sounds of the most dramatic and tragic era of the last century. This program was written, produced, and directed by Bud Greenspan. My name is David Perry.
