Distribution of motion pictures to U.S. Military units during World War II. Men work in an office of overseas motion picture service in New York. Men tying a document related to shipment of films. Men discuss amongst themselves. The films are placed in wooden cases for shipment. Animated map shows various locations. An airplane in flight. Men unload the wooden cases from the airplane. A ship docked in a harbor. Men gather near the ship. A man enters a building in New Delhi, India. A sign outside the building reads: 'India Film Exchange Film Library'. A sign outside other building reads: 'Special Service Section'. Men stand outside the building. A car arrives near the building. The films are transported to remote areas with the help of dog sleds and camels.
U.S. diplomatic and military mission to Tibet led by Major Ilia Tolstoy and Captain Brooke Dolan at the height of World War II. Map shows countries in Southeast Asia. Map shows a way through which mission passed starting from India to China. British political officer Sir Basil Gould, Chief Minister (Gongzim) of Bhutan Raja Sonam Tobgay Dorji, his wife Rani Chuni Wangmo (Dorji), and the daughter of the Maharaja of Sikkim are seen on a lawn where gifts for Dalai Lama are displayed. Kangchenjunga Mountain at a far distance. Members of mission with horses at Natu La pass. Horses loaded with bags used for transporting potatoes. The Himalayan Mountains and valley. Travelers come to a halt at a place in mountains where horses unload. They start journey again and men drive horses loaded with wooden boxes. Indian troops under British command at formation. British officers walk by the troops. Raja Dorji and others walk. Honor guard gives send-off to Raja Dorji and British officer. Snow capped mountains. Mules loaded with wool pass the village. Mission members and honor guard reach British tail station, Gyantse in Tibet. British and American flags raised in gesture of friendship. U.S. mission members welcomed by British Major and Tibetans. U.S. mission people and Tibetans at a reception at house of British State agent. A Tibetan ceremony is held.
Chinese troops trained by OSS (Office of Strategic Services) in China Burma India Theater during World War II. A flooded rice paddy field. They walk in a line and passing through the paddy field. The trainees cross the flooded paddy field. The troops carry rifles on their back and march forward. Farmers in the background harvest crops. Hay stack in the foreground and the troops walk past the stacks. They carry gun of their shoulders and advance. The troops advancing in the grassy area. They enter a town. The troops carry essential supplies for delivering it to the trained soldiers.
Chinese and U.S. troops receive supplies in Burma during World War II. Trucks destructed due to landslide. Supplies are packed on a railroad at Calcutta, India. Supplies shifted to narrow gauge cars in Burma. Loaded on trucks at Ledo Road. Trucks haul over the Ledo Road. Scenes of Smoke signal. C-47 skytrains are loaded at Ledo. The supplies dropped to troops in the field.
Opening scene shows Lend Lease military equipment covered with canvas, at a port in the United States, during World War 2. A B-26 bomber with wings removed outboard of its engines, is being maneuvered for shipment at a port in the United States. A Lockheed P-38 airplane is moved on a crane and then rolled along a pier toward the stern of the U.S. Light Cruiser, USS Phoenix (CL-46) which is docked there. Wings of a Curtiss SOC-1 Seagull scout plane can be seen on the Phoenix. Two more P-38 aircraft are rolled along the pier, past another Brooklyn class Light Cruiser at the end of the pier. (Her triple 6-inch gun turrets are noticeable.) Crated supplies are seen being lowered into ship cargo holds. An American M2 light tank being lowered from a crane. An American M3 Lee tank being secured in a ship. Numerous tanks in a ship’s cargo hold. Next, a convoy of ships carrying war materiel overseas is seen at sea. A U.S. Cruiser plunging through heavy seas. View from her bridge overlooking her triple gun turrets, as her bow is awash in waves. A formation of U.S. battleships, led by a Nevada class Battle Ship armed with twin over triple forward gun turrets. She is followed by what appears to be a modernized Pennsylvania class Battleship and other battleships. A British Battle Cruiser followed by another British warship. Various Allied battleships firing their heavy guns. Animated map tracing the “Lend-Lease” routes across the North Atlantic to Iceland, the British Isles, and Murmansk. Map also shows routes by sea and air to the West Indies, Brazil, and South Africa and West Africa, and then by air across Africa, to egypt and the Middle East. Other routes are shown to Suez, Iran, India, and China, as well as trans-Pacific routes to various places. American soldiers crowd the upper deck of a troop transport ship. A military chaplain conducts religious services aboard ship at sea. More views of ships in convoys. A U.S. Navy Kingfisher float plane in flight over the water. A barrage balloon aloft. A U.S. Navy Catalina PBY flying boat in the air above a fleet of supply ships in a vast convoy.
During World War 2, woman tells of selecting three, out of countless names of servicemen overseas, who have children at home. Their children were filmed. First seen is Diane Sandra Fine, one year old, daughter of Sergeant Bernard Fine, a U.S. Army mail clerk somewhere in India. Baby Diane Fine is in high chair and mother feeds her with spoon. Then she is seen in her crib, playing with a toy, and later ready to sleep. The next child seen is the son of Corporal Carl Christianson, of the 464th Quartermaster Company, serving somewhere in the Pacific. His boy sits in a high chair scribbling a drawing to be sent, along with a letter his mother is writing, to his father. Mrs. Christianson holds her son and he hugs her. The third pictures show the family of Yeoman Second Class, Earl M. Robinson. Shown are sons Terry and Danny, together with their mother, Geraldine Robinson, of Roanoke, Virginia. Three year old Danny rides on a hobby horse, while his mother dresses eighteen month old Terry. Exterior view of the Robinson home. More than 20 members of the extended Robinson family come out of the house.