A little over a month since the U.S. got involved in the fighting and January 27, 1942 was not looking good. News from Burma, The Philippines, Singapore and Batavia wasn't good, with the Japanese driving hard on all fronts. The news from the Eastern front fared a bit better, with Russian troops recapturing strategic towns while counterattacking and pushing West. News of a vast Japanese spy network that had been operating in the U.S. the previous two years was about to be detailed by the Dies Committee, and no doubt lay the groundwork for the internment of Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast only a few months later.
By accounts a nervous day sixty-nine years ago, as reported by The Blue Network on the News Of The World broadcast for January 27, 1942.