Scenes of the Royal Netherlands Indies Army Air Corp (ML-KNIL) at Kallang Airfield in Singapore during World War 2. Group of Dutch pilots gathered together for a group photo around aircraft B-3111, the plane of Lt. Frederik Pelder. The pilots are from 2-VLG V which was ordered to Singapore when the shooting war began, arriving 9 December 1941 and returning back to Semplak on 18 January 1942. Skull and cross bones held by commanding officer of 2-VLG-V, Captain Jacob Pieter van Helsdingen. The pilots and crew laugh and smile for the group photo shoot. A Dutch Martin 139WH (export version of the B-10) being loaded with bombs. Machine gunner seated in position in the aircraft. The Dutch Martin 139WH in flight overhead. Several views of Dutch Brewster B-339D fighter aircraft taxiing and in flight. Dutch pilots "scramble" (in response to alarm )and run quickly to their "Brewsters." Dutch Brewster B-339D aircraft take off in flights of three and join up in formation. An Australian Hudson I aircraft with Twin Wasp engines seen briefly as it taxis on the airfield.
Remembering the battlegrounds of Singapore (Syonan Island) in World War II. Fields, mountains and collapsed structures after the Fall of Singapore. A man pays respect by putting flowers on grave. Soldiers salute. Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi visits island near Singapore and pays respects to soldiers who fell in battle there.
Flashback Scenes of Repulse at Sea. The British flag on warship. The British Navy in HMS Repulse. Signboard "Prince of Wales". A British sailor wearing hat embroidered ‘HMS Repulse”. Warships in Singapore harbor and at sea during World War II.
Surrender of British-led forces on February 15,1942 in Singapore during World War II. British Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival led by a Japanese officer, marches with a flag of truce to the Old Ford Motor Factory in Bukit Timah to negotiate the surrender. Sign on a building 'Ford'. Interior: British General Percival seated at table with another officer. Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita comes out from his car and enters into a building. British General Percival, Japanese General Yamashita and other officers sign surrender documents. Ruins and smoke rising. Barbed wire perimeter. Japanese flag seen. Japanese celebrate their victory.
Japanese artillery fired in the Malay jungle, Kuantan during World War II. Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) soldiers load and fire artillery. Smoke rises due to the firing. A map of Singapore showing British positions. The map zooms into Pulau Ubin island. A soldier watches enemy action through binoculars. Japanese troops cross the Straits of Johor from Malay to Singapore in small boats and wade ashore with equipment. Shirtless Japanese gun crewmen load shells into artillery. A Japanese soldier puts a blade on his bayonet. The artillery fired and airplanes drop bombs as screaming Japanese infantry advance along a muddy road. British and Allied prisoners of war (POWs) are being searched and led away by Japanese guards.
A summary report purporting to reflect phases of Japanese so-called "Tanaka Plan" beginning with Conquest of Manchuria, followed by Conquest of China; establishment of bases in South Pacific; and Conquest of the United States. Animated map shows pressure by German forces in offensive against Soviet Union and illustrates German air war against Britain. Scenes of bombing destruction in Britain, including overturned double-decker bus in ruins of buildings. A Nelson Class British battleship viewed from dead ahead. She is followed by the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. American newspaper headline reads: "Navy Bill Passes House." and "Huge Sum Voted for Two Ocean Navy." A line of U.S. Navy battleships underway, led by the USS Mississippi (BB-41). A field full of U.S. M3 Lee tanks moving in formation, as they are overflown by several Douglas B-18 bombers. Assembled Japanese leaders in a forum. Japanese Naval officers in a planning conference. Closeup shows Admirals Shigeyoshi Inoue and Raizō Tanaka pointing at a chart and conversing as other officers look on. Next, bomb bursts and black smoke rises as the attack on Pearl Harbor is underway. The USS West Virginia, USS Tennessee, and the USS Arizona, burning on Battleship row, during the attack. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek with staff officers walks to a waiting car. Forces allied with China, including American troops marching; British troops marching; and Dutch Colonial troops marching (in Batavia, the Capital of the Dutch East Indies). Japanese troops continuing their conquest of China, firing a field piece, and infantry charging in World War II. Newspapers announce Japanese advances into Malay Peninsula and Hong Kong. Others cite fall of Singapore fortress and of Corregidor (6 May, 1942). Animated map shows Japanese occupation encompassing Indochina, Thailand, and Burma (with loss of the Burma road) all of which compounded China's war efforts.