©THIS DAY IN WORLD WAR II: JULY 4, 1943 By Linda Lee Greene, Author & Artist

July 4^th landed on Sunday in 1943. While the American servicemen stationed in areas of Great Britain who were lucky enough to have the day off kicked back in their bunks and read their latest correspondences from home and penned their own letters to “mom” or “sis” or “sweetheart,” oftener than not, a radio set filtering through a loud speaker into the barracks was background white noise to the settings. Compliments of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), those World War II Yank warriors were kept abreast of news and sports, and entertained by British fare delivered by British voices. It was all to the good, except that those programs didn’t go a long way in rescuing those young American boys from the doldrums once the excitement of the latest letter wore off and homesickness kicked them in the belly like a cantankerous mule.

Shoring up morale among the American fighting men as they prepared for the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe (D-Day) was an ever-present challenge for their superiors. One solution to the problem arrived by way of the American Forces Radio Network, which became the United States Armed Forces Network. Using equipment and studio facilities furnished by the BBC, from London on July 4, 1943 at 5:45 PM, the AFRN put U.S. Corporal Syl Binkin on the air, the first U.S. Military broadcasting voice those Yank fighters had heard in that venue. Over time, the American programs grew in number and reach and even gained favor among British and European listeners. Command Performance, a particular favorite, arrived from Hollywood via shortwave, with a weekly listening audience of an estimated 95.5 million. Productions were in direct response to actual troop requests such as: “the sound of Ann Miller tap dancing in military boots;” or “foghorns sounding on San Francisco Bay;” or “a slot machine delivering a jackpot in Vegas.” There were requests for Carole Landis and Lucille Ball sighs, and for Errol Flynn taking a shower. Why Errol Flynn taking a shower, I don’t know, but Frank Sinatra singing in the shower, I can understand. Sinatra, along with Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Jane Russell, and the usual suspects of that golden age of Hollywood stepped up to that microphone like clockwork, and did their part in sending to those American troops bits and pieces of home.

Books by Linda Lee Greene are available on Amazon.com.