Words At War Log


This series was an anthology of war stories and was produced in cooperation with the Council on Books in Wartime. The program promoted by Variety as “one of the most outstanding programs in radio.” The New York Times and Newsweek also took note of this series. It was used as a full summer replacement program for Truth Or Consequences (07/17/43 until 08/4/43), and then for Fibber McGee And Molly (06/27/44 until 10/03/44).
Many well known actors and actress were heard throughout this series of 98 broadcasts. Among those heard were Everett Sloane, Mandel Kramer, Frank Lovejoy, Karl Weber, Ed Begley, Wendell Holmes, Santos Ortega, Lawson Zerbe, Luis Van Rooten, Joan Alexander, Fay Baker, Lon Clark, Richard Widmark, and Jackson Beck.
John Dunning, author of the old time radio collector’s must have reference book, On The Air, referred to this series as “…one of the best “forgotten shows” of its day.

Broadcast History:
Network: NBC
06/24/43 to 06/05/45 various days and times
Music:
Frank Black and also Morris Mamorsky (1943) with the NBC Symphony.
Organist:
William Meeder (from 1944)
Writers:
Gerald Holland, Edith R. Sommer, Nora Stirling, Kenneth White, Richard McDonagh,
Neal Hopkins
Directors:
Joseph Losey, Frank Papp, Anton M. Leader, Garnett Garrison
Announcer:
Jack Costello
Hosts:
Carl Van Doren, Clifton Fadiman
Sponsors:
Mostly sustained, Johnson’s Wax (summer 1944)


Thursday 8:00 p.m.

06/24/43 # 1 Combined Operations
07/01/43 # 2 One World w/Wendel Wilke

Saturday 8:30 p.m. - Summer replacement for TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES

07/10/43 # 3 They Call It Pacific
07/17/43 # 4 The Last Days Of Sevestopol
07/24/43 # 5 The Ship
07/31/43 # 6 Firm Hands, Silent People
08/07/43 # 7 Prisoner Of The Japs
08/14/43 # 8 Love At First Flight
08/19/43 # 9 Last Days Of Sevestopol
(This is actually the first show of the new Thursday Fall series ... it
overlapped the summer series)
08/21/43 #10 Malta Spitfire
08/28/43 #11 Burma Surgeon

Thursday 11:30 p.m.

09/02/43 #12 Dynamite Cargo w/Jackson Beck
09/09/43 #13 Free Lands
09/16/43 #14 Since You Went Away
09/23/43 #15 They Shall Not Have Me
09/30/43 #16 Battle Hymn Of China

Tuesday 11:30 p.m.

10/05/43 #17 Eighty Three Days
10/12/43 #18 Paris Underground
10/19/43 #19 Shortcut To Tokyo (Christmas Program)
10/26/43 #20 Who Dare To Live
11/02/43 #21 Here Is Your War By Ernie Pyle
11/09/43 #22 To All Hands
11/16/43 #23 (Title Not Known)
11/23/43 #24 Escape From The Balkans w/Robert St. John
11/30/43 #25 Hail Caesar (El Duce)
12/07/43 #26 Book Of War Letters
12/14/43 #27 Mother America w/Jackson Beck, Bernard Lenrow (Bill Of Rights Week)
12/21/43 #28 Log Book - British Merchant Marine
12/28/43 #29 Ninth Commandment - Invasion Of Holland
01/04/44 #30 They Shall Inherit The Earth
01/11/44 #31 Eighty Three Days
01/18/44 #32 War Tide
01/25/44 #33 Condition Red
02/01/44 #34 White Brigade
02/08/44 #35 George Washington Carver w/Fredric March, Canada Lee
02/15/44 #36 The New Sun
02/22/44 #37 Assignment USA
02/29/44 #38 I Served On Bataan w/Tallulah Bankhead
03/07/44 #39 Weeping Wood
03/14/44 #40 Science At War
03/21/44 #41 Der Feuhrer
03/28/44 #42 A Bell For Adano
04/04/44 #43 Assignment USA
(Repeat of 02/22/44 because of comments about it made by Variety Magazine)
04/11/44 #44 Wild River
04/18/44 #45 Silence Of The Seas
04/25/44 #46 Tarawa
05/02/44 #47 Curtain Rises
05/09/44 #48 Gunners Get Glory
05/16/44 #49 Lifeline
05/23/44 #50 Lend Lease: Weapon For Victory
05/30/44 #51 The Navy Hunts The CGR 3070

Tuesday 9:30 p.m. Summer Replacement For Fibber McGee & Molly with Carl Van Doren

06/27/44 #52 Fair Stood The Winds Of France
07/04/44 #53 War Criminals And Punishment
07/11/44 #54 Captain Retread
07/18/44 #55 War Below Zero w/Clifton Fadiman Subs For Carl Van Doren
07/25/44 #56 Lost Island w/Clifton Fadiman Subs For Carl Van Doren
08/01/44 #57 Headquarters Budapest w/Clifton Fadiman Subs For Carl Van Doren
08/08/44 #58 Nazi's Go Underground w/Clifton Fadiman Subs For Carl Van Doren
08/15/44 #59 Heaven Below / China Looks Forward
w/Clifton Fadiman Subs For Carl Van Doren
08/22/44 #60 Pastoral w/Clifton Fadiman Subs For Carl Van Doren
08/29/44 #61 Simone w/Clifton Fadiman Subs For Carl Van Doren
09/05/44 #62 The Veteran Comes Back
09/12/44 #63 One Man Air Force
09/19/44 #64 The Return Of The Traveler
09/26/44 #65 Journey Through Chaos
10/03/44 #66 Pacific Victory, 1945

Tuesday 11:30 p.m.

10/10/44 #67 The Veteran Comes Back
10/17/44 #68 War, Criminals And Punishment
10/24/44 #69 Still Time To Die
10/31/44 #70 Return Of The Traveler
11/07/44 Pre-empted For Election Results
11/14/44 #71 One Thing After Another
11/21/44 #72 Barriers Down
11/28/44 #73 Camp Follower
12/05/44 #74 The Guys On The Ground
12/12/44 #75 Your School, Your Children
12/19/44 #76 The Cross And The Arrow w/Narrator: Bernard Lenrow (Christmas Program)
12/26/44 #77 Scapegoats In History / History Of Bigotry In The United States
01/02/45 #78 It's Always Bright Tomorrow
01/09/45 #79 Borrowed Nights
01/16/45 #80 Verdict On India
01/23/45 #81 The Story Of A Secret State
01/30/45 Pre-empted For Special Broadcast
02/06/45 #82 Ten Escape From Tojo
02/13/45 #83 What To Do With Germany
02/20/45 #84 Battle Report: Pearl Harbor To The Coral Sea
02/27/45 #85 Faith Of Our Fathers
03/06/45 #86 Rainbow
03/13/45 #87 Can Do
03/20/45 #88 Tomorrow We'll See
03/27/45 #89 Banshee Harvest
04/03/45 #90 Full Employment In A Free Society
04/10/45 #91 Apartment In Athens
04/17/45 #92 They Left The Back Door Open
04/24/45 #93 Brave Men (Ernie Pyle Tribute)
05/01/45 #94 The Hide Out w/Arnold Moss
05/08/45 Pre-empted For Victory In Europe Special
05/15/45 #95 The Road To Curftom w/Louie Van Rooten
05/22/45 #96 Wartime Racketeers
05/29/45 #97 Soldier To Civilian
06/05/45 #98 My Country

(Final Show Of The Series)


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Copyright © 2001 by Terry G. G. Salomonson. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States Of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.