View of Diamond Head, framed by palm trees on Waikaki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii. Street scene with building. Inside, a sign reading: "Commander in Chief U.S. Pacific Fleet." In his office, Admiral Chester Nimitz is seen holding a staff meeting. He and one of his staff look over charts with magnifying glasses. Animated map shows prospective supply lines overwater to Australia from Pearl Harbor and Panama. View of U.S. supply ships in a convoy underway in the Pacific Ocean. Soldiers in life vests looking over the railing of a troop ship. Animated map shows threats from Japanese bases in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands in World War 2. Task Force 8, assembled around the Aircraft Carrier Enterprise (CV-6) prepares to attack Japanese positions in the Marshall Islands. The Cruiser, USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) in calm waters. Deck of the Aircraft carrier Enterprise, filled with F4F aircraft with engines running. A Douglas SBD Dauntless aircraft takes off from the Enterprise. View from the carrier as the Cruiser Salt Lake City passes to starboard. U.S. Cruisers begin naval bombardment. Smoke rising from burning shore installation. Formation of Douglas SBD Dauntless aircraft overhead. Port in Australia, with ships docked and a sentry patrolling. Soldiers waving from a troop ship arriving. Troops disembarking. Body of a P-38 aircraft being offloaded. A Cruiser docked at end of wharf.
Animated map of Philippines and Guam. Pre-war scenes of buildings in Philippines before Japanese attack. Flag waving from a building in Manila, Philippines. Filipino civilians running on streets and Japanese planes bombing in Manila during World War II. Fire on a house due to bombing. Scenes of devastated houses. Christ's statue dropped on ground in a church. A bell on the church. An animated map of Pacific region and focuses on Australia. Scene of General Douglas MacArthur. American troops gathered in an Australian port. Japanese attack by air at Port Moresby. U.S. troops debarking. Anti-aircraft guns firing in Midway Island. Admiral Chester W Nimitz decorates heroes of the battle of Midway. Scenes of ships in sea. A plane and some U.S. troops on boats. Scene of U.S. troops in jungle. Animated map of Solomon Islands. U.S. flag on a ship. Fighters and land-based Army bombers fly in air. Soldiers save themselves from firing by plane. Scenes of U.S. soldiers on island. Japanese signboard on a tree.
Aftermath of Pearl Harbor attack. People in Oahu, Hawaii, prepare to deal with more air attacks by Japanese. Armed U.S. soldier in sandbagged position, in Hawaii. The territorial governor of Hawaii, Joseph Poindexter, signing a declaration of Martial Law. Four thousand members of Oahu's Civil Defense Committee, dressed in dark bottoms and white tops, wearing steel helmets with "W" on them, standing at attention in formation on grounds of a stadium. Windows in all downtown shops taped to prevent flying glass. Sand bags surrounding a power substation. Huge quantities of barbed wire in a storage yard and strung along the beaches, along highways, around schools, and public buildings of Oahu. A man pushing a lawn mower between sandbagged defense positions in a residential neighborhood. Construction machinery digging defensive trenches. Bomb shelters being constructed of precast concrete. Air raid sirens installed and school children leaving their building and sheltering in deep trenches during a test. Very small children taking shelter in zig-zag trenches and donning gas masks. Huge assemblies of children, and of grownups, all donning gas masks. Little children being dressed in capsule-like "bunny mask" protective gear.One of them crying inside the covering. Crowds of women and children lined up on a veranda waiting to receive these "bunny masks." Military personnel, civilians, and school children, all carrying personal gas masks with them at all times. Innumerable old rubber tires saved in an open yard. Japanese-Americans donating blood to the American Red Cross and lined up to buy war bonds. Soldiers arresting a Japanese resident known to be an enemy agent. Boarded up shops of Japanese-Americans, who had been interned. Japanese-Americans removing all Japanese language signs from their areas. Language school buildings with closed signs. An empty and boarded-up Shinto temple. One Japanese-American replacing his cafe sign with one reading: "Keep 'Em Flying Cafe." U.S. Army troops posted on roadways. The Aloha Tower in camouflage paint. A Lurline steamship leaving port, and being replaced by warships. Prewar view of people enjoying Waikakee beach, and current view of two boys playing in sand near barbed wire barriers. City streets deserted at twilight, as blackout procedures take effect at dusk. Views of darkened homes and palm trees silhouetted against sky at dusk. The "ghost" of a sailor killed in World War II, stands in front of Arlington cemetery, Washington, DC, and converses with the ghost of a soldier killed in World War I. They discuss idealistic notions about ending wars for good. Displays of flags is seen, including: Australia; Belgium; Brazil; Canada; China; Costa Rica; Cuba; Czechoslovakia; Dominican Republic; England; Ethopia; Greece; Guatemala; Haiti; Honduras; India; Yugoslavia; Luxembourg; Mexico; The Netherlands; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Norway; Panama; The Philippines; Poland; Russia; El Salvador; South Africa; and the U.S.A. "V" created in the sky by a skywriting airplane.
The War Plans Division in Washington D.C during World War II. Folders on a table in an office. Inserts of individual folders marked with titles: China, India, Java, Libya, Australia, Philippines. A map of the Philippines, Japan, and surrounding countries on the table. Hands locate places on the map.
Map shows Solomon Islands in South Pacific. Truk and Australia are highlighted. Tulagi and Guadalcanal are shown. American Naval task force, including Attack Transports and warships seen underway in stormy Pacific waters. Sailors loading heavy naval guns aboard a U.S. warship. Ship's guns firing. Smoke rising from explosions on island. shows smoke rising. USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) is seen at time 1:34, firing its main battery. Douglas SBD Dauntless aircraft flying low overhead. U.S. Marines land on Guadalcanal. Marines wading ashore. American Douglas SBD lands at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. B-17s on Henderson Field, including B-17E Serial number 41-9145 of the 26th Bombardment Squadron.Long column of U.S. marines snakes across edge of airfield headed towards interior of Guadalcanal. Scene shifts to jungle interior, where they march two abreast over captured terrain. A building in the background. Marines firing a 105mm Howitzers. A B-25 bomber taking off. B-26 bombers in flight. Closeup of B-26 flying over water. View from cockpit of U.S. aircraft strafing Japanese held island, striking targets at shoreline and aircraft and supplies on a Japanese airfield. Japanese marines taken prisoner on Guadalcanal. Views of groups of Japanese prisoners of war. Japanese soldiers stand in formation and are also seen sitting in confined areas.US marines patrolling shore where numerous Japanese soldiers are seen dead.
Animated map shows New Guinea and Papau. Areas occupied by American and Australian Forces , seeking to dislodge Japanese Forces, at Buna and Gona, are shown. General Douglas MacArthur, arrives at Papua. He strolls through an American/Australian milltary camp in the jungle. He is dressed in a perfectly pressed uniform, smoking a cigar. (Narrator states he arrived to take personal charge of the offensive.) Closeup of MacArthur. American troops flown in from Australia, advance toward the Japanese positions at Buna. Another scene shows Australian troops making their way through jungles as they advance over the Owen-Stanley mountain range toward Gona. Australian troops fire mortars and one seen firing a Bren light machine gun. An American soldier firing an M1919 Browning machine gun. More views of Allied soldiers firing rifles and machine guns, including a water-cooled Browning M1917 gun. A bomb or shell explodes at a Japanese position. Scene shifts to Allied Military Headquarters in New Guinea, where staff plot information on large status maps about Japanese reinforcements arriving in the Bismark Sea, to bolster the enemy’s defenses. An Australian pilot runs to his Spitfire airplane, and American pilots rush to their B-25 Mitchell bomber, named “Dirty Dora.” An Australian Douglas A-26 invader airplane taking off. The B-25, Mitchell bomber (Dirty Dora) taking off. A USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress bomber taking off. More Allied aircraft taking off and in flight, including a formation of Australian A-26 invader airplanes. An Australian Airspeed Oxford training aircraft is seen diving . View from cockpit of an A-26 Invader airplane firing machine guns at Japanese ship. View of Allied warplane dropping bombto skip a Japanese ship. Bombs explode. Aircraft strafing Japanese ship. Various views of smoke rising from struck many Japanese ships. (World War II; WW II; World War 2; World War Two)