Mrs. Gunn's Diary: Jan. 29, 1942

Brits in Singapore, Americans in Ireland, tax on car owners, and ice on airplane wings

Once again, Mrs. Gunn’s diary covered many war stories on one page. “We do not hear very good news from Singapore and I doubt if the British can hold out,” she said. She was right; Singapore fell to the Japanese in mid-February. On the home front, she and her husband had learned they were required to buy a $2 sticker for their car. That was equivalent to $38.49 in current dollars.

Her physicist husband Ross was leaving for New York to attend a conference of the Meteorological Society to hear “papers on the problem he is working on — ice on wings of airplanes which makes radio useless.” Not to mention flying hazardous!

The final news item she mentioned may come as a surprise to today’s readers: The first American Expeditionary Force had landed — in Northern Ireland. Paid subscribers can read on about the second coming of the Yanks.

The clipping from the Washington Evening Star of Jan. 27, 1942 was accessed vis newspapers.com.