Happy birthday, Charles Collingwood

It is the birthday of broadcast journalist Charles Collingwood (1917), who was among a group of early television and radio reporters who were recruited by CBS broadcast news pioneer Edward R. Murrow to cover Europe before and during World War II for the network. Most were print journalists who were working for newspapers or wire services. They became known in broadcast circles as Murrow's Boys. The group included such broadcast luminaries as William L. Shirer, Eric Sevareid, Howard K. Smith, Winston Burdett, and Richard C. Hottelet. Mary Marvin Breckinridge was the only woman in the group. Collingwood covered the Blitz and battles in North Åfrica and France (including the invasion of Normandy) during the war. Later, he was the host of a CBS documentary series Adventure. He also covered the White House, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War. He traveled to North Vietnam during the war, and later wrote an espionage novel The Defector (1970) based on the trip. Collingwood had blond, curly hair and a handsome face, plus he was an impeccable dresser. Murrow nicknamed him Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Shirer covered Hitler's rise in Nazi Germany

It is the birthday of journalist William L. Shirer (1904), who is best remembered for his history of Nazi Germany, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960). Shirer was a correspondent in Europe for the Chicago Tribune, then the International News Service. Edward R. Murrow hired him to help him cover Europe for CBS radio in the early days of broadcast journalism. Shirer remained in Germany during Adolph Hitler's rise to power and at the beginning of World War II, where he witnessed and reported on the growth of the Nazi dictatorship. After the war, Shirer advocated for a harsh treatment of Germany. He narrated this film of captured Nazi propaganda for the Army Navy Screen Magazine, a program that was shown to American soldiers overseas. The program was supervised by famed Hollywood director Frank Capra.