Activities of the Seabees at Munda Point in the Solomon Islands during World War 2. Views of utter destruction from the U.S bombardment of Munda. Destroyed buildings, facilities, Japanese airplanes and dead Japanese soldiers. Leafless trees and damaged wooded area. Seabees commence cleanup and construction. They cremate and bury the dead Japanese. Trucks and bulldozers move over muddy terrain to level the land to construct an airstrip. Views of the steady progress of construction over the period from August 8 to August 12, 1943. The airstrip is completed within 5 days. On the 5th day a Navy F4F aircraft lands on the coral runway. . The pilot in the cockpit smiles. The Spirit of 76 is painted on his airplane. Views of other F4Fs landing on the coral runway.
Sequence starts at Tontouta Air Base in New Caledonia, on the near left side of runway 2 in the area of the 13th Troop Carrier Squadron ( a.k.a. the Thirsty 13th) with their plane "Lady Eve" on the right. (The 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron was assigned to the 13th TCS on January 9, 1943, and remained with it until the end of the war. But they also flew on planes of the 63rd and 64th TCSs, and with the Marines.) Takeoff is on runway 11 at Tontouta Air Base. A pilot and a co-pilot at the controls in the cockpit of a C-47. A navigator at work. C-47s in flight west over New Georgia, 10 miles southeast of Munda, near Eghelo. The plane landing at Munda has no tail number and is probably a U.S. Marine Corps plane. They evacuate wounded soldiers from Munda airstrip on New Georgia Island in the Solomon Islands during World War 2. Doors of the aircraft are opened. An ambulance backs to the door of the aircraft. Litter patients are removed from the ambulance and loaded aboard the C-47.
Major General Nathan F. Twining, Commanding General, 13th Air Force. arrives to congratulate fighter Pilots of the U.S. Army Air Forces, at Henderson Field, on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, during World War 2. (The 339th had successfully accomplished a highest priority mission, shooting down Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's airplane on April 18, 1943.) Major General Twining, wearing a pith helmet, steps out of his jeep and walks towards a group of 339th Squadron Pilots. He examines the nose wheel of a P-38, as a group of pilots stand around him. General Twining converses for a while with Major John W. Mitchell, Commander, 339th Fighter Squadron, who led the mission to down Admiral Yamamoto's airplane. Later, members of the 339th Squadron are photographed in conversations with one another.
General Twining arrives to congratulate fighter Pilots of the U.S. Air Force, in Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands, during World War II. General Nathan Twining steps out of his jeep and walks towards a group of Air Force Pilots. He congratulates Captain John Mitchell and then speaks to Pilots of the 339th Fighter Squadron. General Twining and other Pilots stand in front of a P-38 fighter airplane and talk. Pilots who shot three Zero Fighters and three bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) over Ki hill Airfield near Munda Point. The three Pilots, Captain Thomas Lamphier, Jr.,, Lieutenant Busby Frank Holmes and Lieutenant Alex E Barber pose for a photograph. (These three would later participate in U.S. Operation Vengeance, on April 16, 1943, in which they engage a group of Japanese aircraft, including one carrying Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack. He would perish when they down the Mitsubishi G4M bomber carrying him.) Pilots leaving in a jeep. A Pilot stands on the wing of P-38 fighter, besides its canopy.
A film titled 'Air Aspects of the Campaign against Munda' based on USAAF (United States Army Air Force) activities on New Georgia group of Islands, Solomon Islands during World War II. USAAF P-38 Lightning in flight over the Solomon Islands. An animated map highlights Munda Point in New Georgia. A USAAF officer takes a look at aerial reconnaissance photographs. The officer talks over a phone at his desk. An animated map highlights Vila in Kolombangara. An animated map connects Vila and Munda Point with Henderson Airfield on Guadalcanal. U.S. 13th Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortress bombers take off from an airfield and bomb Japanese airfield at Munda Point.
Activities of the U.S. Navy Seabees in the Solomon Islands during World War II. A jeep struggles through flooded muddy area in Solomon islands. Palm trees all around. A quonset hut in flooded waters. A man wades through thick mud over what had been a U.S. constructed road. A man suffering from malaria is examined. Malaria patients are cared for. A formal ceremony to honor U.S. troops who died from malaria. A soldier salutes and honor guard with rifles stands at attention. Following instructions from the Medical Command, Seabees commence battle against anopheles mosquitoes (blowup of one is shown). Seabees spray with various equipment and install water filtering systems. Scenes show success of the anti-mosquito measures. Numerous explosions are seen as Seabees use explosives to clear jungle for construction. A Douglas SBD Dauntless aircraft takes off (machine gun in rear cockpit).Seabees bulldoze Palm trees to clear jungle and build numerous quonset huts to house U.S. forces.
CRITICALPAST.COM: About Us | Contact Us | FAQs - How to Order | License Agreement | My Account | My Lightboxes | Shopping Cart | Advanced Search | Featured Collections | Website Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Links ©2024 CriticalPast LLC.
License Agreement |
Terms & Conditions |
Privacy Policy
©2024 CriticalPast LLC.