BW - EP149—003: March 1944 With The Great Gildersleeve—Mid-March News With NBC's War Telescope

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

On Wednesday March 15th, 1944 during battle, the allies dropped nearly one-thousand tons of bombs and two hundred thousand rounds of artillery on the Monte Cassino Monastery, while trying to storm the building. They were unable to dislodge the Germans. The allies were having more success sinking submarines. Over the next forty-eight hours Allied forces sank one Japanese and three German subs. On Thursday at a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics seminar in Washington, D.C., NACA personnel suggested a jet-propelled airplane be developed. On Friday the 17th Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying nearly ninety American aircraft and displacing twelve-thousand italians, while Soviet forces took Dubno and Zhmerynka. The Soviets were set to begin their third Narva Offensive on Saturday as German soldiers began massacring people in both Romania and Italy. The Germans were facing heavy bombing at home, and all of Europe knew an allied invasion was coming. NBC’s War Telescope took to the air over WEAF in New York at 1:45PM.