In the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the United States prepared to enter total war.

Episode 2: The US Enters Total War

Following Pearl Harbor, the Japanese expanded their empire into the Philippines, Indochina, and the Java Sea. Americans in the Philippines faced serious pressure from the enemy.

Episode 3: The Japanese Empire Expands

Over Christmas week of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill met to reaffirm their "Germany first" policy in the war.

Episode 4: Roosevelt & Churchill Meet Over Christmas

General Douglas MacArthur faced pressure after the Japanese resumed their attack on the Philippines, with intense bombing of Manila and surrounding islands.

Episode 5: The Japanese Resume Attack on the Philippines

In the opening weeks of 1942, the empire of Japan advanced throughout Southeast Asia; Singapore and the Dutch East Indies were under fierce attack.

Episode 6: Japan Advances in Southeast Asia

American industry braced for the war effort on the homefront like never before in its history. President Roosevelt created the War Production Board to prepare war efforts accordingly.

Episode 7: The American Homefront Mobilizes

Few could imagine the extent of Nazi Germany's antisemitic policies. The Wannsee Conference, held in January of 1942, outlined the horrific "Final Solution" to exterminate the European Jewish population.

Episode 8: Nazi Germany Outlines "Final Solution"

On January 26, 1942, the first US troops arrived in Europe, in Northern Ireland. This marked the beginning of the Allied effort to defeat Nazi tyranny.

Episode 9: The First US Troops Arrive in Europe

The media and government propaganda encouraged the participation of women, both on the homefront in production lines, and directly through the transportation of military supplies.

Episode 10: Women Join the War Effort

On February 15, 1942, the Japanese captured Britain's critical base at Singapore. This event raise the stakes of the war in the Pacific, and eroded the prestige of the British Empire in Asia.

Episode 11: Singapore Falls to Japan

The Roosevelt Administration's civil liberties record was barred, as thousands of Japanese Americans were relocated to internment camps this week in 1942.

Episode 12: Japanese Americans are Relocated

Multiple Axis victories in the winter of 1942 signified a long a difficult fight for the Allies. Many serious defeats would serve as roadblocks before the tide eventually turned in the Allies favor by mid-year.

Episode 13: Axis Victories, Allied Hardships

As the United States entered its fourth month in the war, Japanese successes continued throughout the Pacific. The Allies suffered a defeat at the Battle of Java Sea, and realized the challenges that lied ahead.

Episode 14: Allies Suffer Defeat at the Battle of Java Sea

In early 1942, MacArthur was ordered by President Roosevelt to go to Australia and leave the Philippine islands after heavy fighting. Given the Allies' precarious position, on March 11, the General left the islands, but vowed to return.

Episode 15: MacArthur Vows to Return to the Philippines

In the Spring of 1942, the United States faced a shortage of materials necessary for wartime production, and began issuing ration stamps to help the war effort.

Episode 16: The US Begins Issuing Ration Stamps

By the last week in March 1942, the German battleship Tirpitz was in need of repair. The British commandos had achieved their objective in the raid on the St. Nazaire dry dock.

Episode 17: British Succeed in St. Nazaire Raid

Winning the Battle of the Atlantic was vital to the success of the Allies in World War II - something that the Germans knew. The threat of u-boat attacks made delivering supplies a great risk.

Episode 18: Waging the Battle of the Atlantic

With morale among the military and among Americans staggeringly low in early 1942, a dangerous mission was planned to strike Japan. On April 18, 1942, 16 B-25 bombers took off from the USS Hornet, deep in enemy waters, in what would become known as the Doolittle Raid.

Episode 20: The Doolittle Raid

The Japanese High Command chose to extend its defensive perimeter and prepared an assault on Australia. As a result, on May 4th a series of skirmishes broke out which became known as the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Episode 23: The Battle of the Coral Sea

General George C. Marshall encouraged the creation of a Women's Auxiliary Corps—known as WAC for short—to help the war effort, and on April 14th, 1942, Congress authorized its creation. Women from all over the country flocked to recruiting stations not only for the first chance to serve in the United States Army, but to become one of the 450 officers.

Episode 25: The Women's Auxiliary Corps

After the bombing of Tokyo, Japan was eager to attack the US Navy base in the Midway Islands. Instead, because US codebreakers broke the Japanese naval code JN-25b, three US aircraft carriers were waiting for the Japanese planes. While the United States lost an aircraft carrier and a destroyer, Japanese losses were far greater, and the Battle of Midway came to be known as the turning point for Americans fighting in the Pacific Theater.

Episode 27: The Battle of Midway

On June 18, 1942, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met in Washington, DC, to discuss the possibility of opening a second front for the war in Europe, although what a second front constituted remained under debate. At this meeting, the then-little-known General Dwight D. Eisenhower became the the commander of the Allied forces in Europe.

Episode 29: Churchill Goes to Washington

As early as May 1942, Erwin Rommel's Africa Corps rolled onto the offensive, defeating the British in the Battle of the Cauldron.  Rommel's troops went on to take Tobruk in Libya, an act so impressive that Rommel was promoted to Field Marshal. Unsatisfied, Rommel continued to Egypt, where the Axis overtook the seaport Mersa Matruh

Episode 30: The Desert Fox Races Across Africa

When the Nazis attacked the Soviet city of Kursk, they intended to cut off the Soviet Union's economic supply lines rather than its army. However, the Soviets lost less men than the Nazis anticipated, and the culmination of this battle led to a turning point in the war on the Eastern Front.

Episode 31: The Battle of Kursk

General Carl Spatz was an early advocate of the use of bombers. He was appointed to command US air forces in Europe in July of 1942. On August 17, 1942, the first All-American bombing raid over Europe commenced, carried out by the US 8th Air Force in B-17 bombers.

Episode 37: All-American Bombing Raid

On September 15, 1942, German ground forces began what was meant to be their final assault on the Soviet city of Stalingrad. But Soviet troops held tenaciously. On September 22, German troops reached the center of Stalingrad -- but the Russians refused to surrender.

Episode 42: The Battle of Stalingrad

Five weeks after the Battle for Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal in the South Pacific, the Marines defeated an all-out offensive launched by the Japanese. By November, the war had become one of attrition.

Episode 45: The Battle for Bloody Ridge

By mid-October, General Bernard Montgomery had amassed an enormous superiority in North Africa. The British 8th Army prepared for the next round in the Battle for Egypt.

Episode 48: The Battle for Egypt

On November 8, 1942, the greatest amphibious operation to date, Operation Torch, commenced. 60,000 troops advanced in an effort to liberate Nazi and Vichy French controlled North Africa.

Episode 49: Operation Torch Commences

In the fall of 1942, the Japanese managed to bring only a trickle of supplies and men to the island of Guadalcanal. To achieve a decisive victory in the battle, the Japanese sent enough reinforcements to outnumber the Americans. However, American radar installations detected the Japanese advances.

Episode 50: The Battle of Guadalcanal

On November 15, 1942, in a naval battle off the coast of the Solomon Islands, the USS Juneau was one of two cruisers attacked. On board Juneau were the Sullivan brothers, five brothers who joined the Navy to avenge the death of a childhood friend at Pearl Harbor. It was the first time since the Civil War that a single family suffered such a great loss.

Episode 51: The Sullivan Brothers

On November 19, a Soviet counteroffensive was being launched to the north of the city of Stalingrad. The following day, the Red army attacked to the south of Stalingrad. Within a week, the German Sixth army was in danger of being cut off.

Episode 52: The Battle of Stalingrad

The year of 1942 saw the race for the atomic bomb between the Allied and Axis powers. Throughout the year, as scientists gathered throughout the country, the possibility of the bomb moved closer to becoming a reality.

Episode 53: The Race for the Atomic Bomb

The majority of fighting against Japan was conducted on tropical islands, such as Guadalcanal or the Solomon islands. On some of these islands, Malaria was the most common cause of death or illness, proving to be another challenge for Allied Forces to overcome.

Episode 54: Malaria in the Pacific

With each passing month of war, rationing became more of a necessity. After rubber and gasoline were rationed, the next item was shoes. Coffee and butter were also in short supply during the winter of 1942-1943.

Episode 55: Rationing Becomes a Necessity

To help finance the enormous cost of the Second World War, the federal government began to sell loans to private citizens and corporations known as "war bonds." In December 1942, the Department of Treasury launched the first War Loan Drive.

Episode 56: Buy War Bonds!

On December 31, an Allied convoy bound for Russia was intercepted by a fleet of large Nazi warships. Over a three hour period, the British destroyer escort fought with the Germans. The conflict came to be known as the Battle of the Barents Sea, and the German Navy had been routed.

Episode 57: The Battle of Barents Sea

Commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Second World War with “World War II Chronicles.”  Hosted by famed newsreel narrator and “The Voice of World War II” Ed Herlihy, “World War II Chronicles” features original archival footage from the wartime era to spotlight the week’s events, exactly 75 years ago.  

Created by the American Veterans Center in association with the National Archives, “World War II Chronicles” was originally produced to commemorate the 50th anniversary of WWII, airing on more than 500 stations nationwide, and is now re-released as a special podcast series. To learn more about “World War II Chronicles” and the American Veterans Center, visit www.americanveteranscenter.org.

World War II Chronicles

Popular tracks