Camera pans across scenes showing masses of Chinese. Narrator cites their large population as a war asset. Lt Gen. Daniel Sultan Commander of US Forces, India–Burma Theater (USFIBT) describes the Allied mission as simply "placing guns in the hands of men in order that they can kill our common enemy." He describes Japan's 1942 strategy of completely isolating China from outside help. Animated map shows Japanese forces attacking China from bases in Thailand and advancing north, driving British forces into India, and leaving Burma in Japanese hands.Glimpse of Japanese troops occupying Burma. Views of American troops evacuated to India. View of Chinese soldiers boarding U.S. Air Transport Command C-46 transport planes for flights from Kunming to Dinjan and Chabua, India. Closeup of some troops inside the cabin of a plane. Chinese soldiers await transport as a C-47 aircraft takes off in the background. Aerial view of two C-47 planes in formation. View from the air of high cloud covered mountains. Storm clouds over the mountains. Downward view from an aircraft flying over the Himalayan Mountains (called flying the "hump" by U.S. pilots). View of Chinese soldiers inside a transport plane. View out the window of a transport plane landing in India. A C-46 airplane taking off. A large formation of Chinese troops seen after more were brought from China to India, later in the war. American soldiers training troops of the Chinese 38th and 22nd Divisions. General Sultan speaks of the need to build up the U.S.Air Transport Command. Two C-47 airplanes on the ground. One named "The Joker." View of sky filled with B-24 Liberator bombers. Sky filled with C-47 transport planes. Chinese soldiers training in Kunming, climbing out of trench in live fire exercise with machine guns firing over their heads and explosive charges detonating near them. Air frame of a P-47 aircraft being loaded and several of Bell P-39 Airacobra aircraft being loaded aboard ship bound to strengthen the U.S. Army 10th and 14th Air Forces in Burma, in 1944. Covered P-47 aircraft without engines being towed by jeeps along a street in Burma. A large airfield with many U.S. fighter planes parked on its ramps. Engines being installed on P-39 aircraft. A flight line filled with P-40 aircraft displaying Chinese roundels. Some fly over a flight line of U.S. Army Air Forces P-39 aircraft. Glimpse of a fighter plane escorting a transport aircraft. A formation of B-24 Liberator bombers dropping bombs and exploding on Japanese ground targets. Workers are seen unloading large amounts of cargo from a B-24 bomber. Workers rolling a large bomb from the plane onto the tailgate of a truck.
Two U.S. Pennsylvania class battleships underway at sea, with other warships in background, during World War 2. One fires to starboard with her 14-inch guns from the forward triple turrets. U.S. Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bombers flying in formation over mountains. Glimpse of General Douglas MacArthur with General Joseph (Vinegar Joe) Stilwell in gunner's station of a bomber. Montage of brief glimpses showing U.S. forces engaging Japanese forces in: amphibious assaults; firing weapons in New Guinea and other Pacific islands. U.S. warship firing naval guns. U.S. ship firing at attacking Japanese aircraft, with sky full of black flak clouds. Admiral William (Bull) Halsey. Mitsubishi A6M Zero kamikaze aircraft blown up close to flight deck of U.S. aircraft carrier. It misses the ship and crashes in flames, exploding in the water, astern. U.S. General Joseph Stilwell, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, British Allied commander Lord Louis Mountbatten, and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, photographed together in India. Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek seated for a picture with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Camera moves back revealing British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, also seated. Behind them stand key allied military leaders, including (from the right) Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, Commander-in-chief in India; Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South-East Asia forces; George Giffard — commander of Eleventh Army Group; U.S. General Daniel Isom Sultan, deputy to General Stilwell; General Joseph Stilwell, Commander China-Burma-India (CBI) Command; and General Albert Coady Wedemeyer, Chiang Kai-Shek's Chief of Staff. General Joseph Stillwell is seen stepping from a military cargo plane, and being greeted by another officer. Stilwell is wearing a campaign hat. He has the CBI patch on his jacket shouder. A B-24 Liberator bomber takes off from a Chinese base at Liuchow, or possibly, Luiliang, China. (ostensibly carrying Chinese soldiers to India for training). U.S. marked P-40 aircraft are parked beside the runway. They display the shark teeth nose art of the Flying Tiger All volunteer Group of Claire Chennault. But this is 1944 and the aircraft are from the U.S. 23rd Fighter Group. Chinese soldiers are seen being armed and trained in India, with modern small arms. They are also seen fording a river with military supplies and moving in jeeps through jungle-like settings. Various views of Ledo Road construction in Burma. bulldozers, trucks, caterpillar tractors, explosives and men are shown in construction work. A jeep rides along a muddy section of the new road while U.S. and Chinese soldiers patrol on either side to protect it. Allied soldiers firing a small field piece. A C-47 aircraft airdrops supplies to the road builders. General Stilwell, standing with a Chinese officer, looks skyward at the aircraft. A C-46 Commando plane taking off from a field in India carrying supplies. Men loading a jeep aboard a C-46, plus ammunition and other supplies. Rare sight of supplies being loaded into nose cargo compartment of the one-of-a-kind XC-108A transport plane (modified B-17 bomber, tail number 41-2593). A formation of USAAF C-45 transport aircraft flying "over the Hump." Chinese P-36 Hawk aircraft in formation demonstrate firepower. Newly trained Chinese pilots marching and walking on flightline where solid-nose B-25s and P-40s are parked. Chinese and American pilots wave to each other from their P-40 aircraft. A B-25 takes off flanked by two P-40s. Bombs being dropped by Chinese B-25s. Japanese ship being strafed by Chinese fighter plane. Chinese laborers at work building an airfield without machinery. A large group pull a paving roller by hand. Chinese troops in combat with Japanese forces. One firing a Czech ZB vz. 26 light machine gun. Madame Chiang Kai-Shek addressing the U.S. Congress, 18 February, 1943.
At opening, film shows U.S. Army Air Forces Bell P-39 Bell Air Cobra aircraft dropping bombs on on Japanese held northern airfield of Myitkyina, which was later captured by the 3rd Battalion Merrill's on July 26, 1944. Aerial view from U.S. aircraft bombing the Japanese occupied city of Myitkyina, on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River, in Burma. Heavy smoke rising from bombs striking targets at the river's edge. (Narrator states, "the siege lasted 78 days.") Next, a regiment of Merrill's Marauders marches unopposed into the city. Animated map shows Japanese forces (15th and 33rd Division troops) attacking British-held town of Imphal, Burma. Ensuing scenes show well entrenched British forces in battle, with British soldiers firing heavy artillery, mortars, and Vickers machine guns. Glimpse of shells striking in hills. Momentary glimpse of Allied aircraft above the hills. (Narrator states the British "chewed up a couple of Jap divisions"," and the Allied rear lines of communication remained secure.) Animated map shows Chinese forces attacking Japanese forces west of the Salween River. View from a high position above the river bank. Rubber rafts line the shore and troops are assembling on the land. Next, troops are seen wading neck deep crossing the river with supplies floating along with them. Some paddle a jeep across the river on a makeshift raft. A truck at the edge of the river. Soldiers pulling together on a long rope line. Others crossing with hands on a line to support them as they wade in the water. Trucks bogging down in deep mud are helped by tow lines to others, ahead. Troops in a village where the road is inundated by rain waters flowing across it as a jeep goes past. Vehicles of all kinds sidelined by flooding waters. Jeeps speeding through water in some places and moving very slowly in the center of a muddy road where troops make their way on either side. Chinese soldiers scaling the stone wall of a fortress using ladders they made for the purpose. Troops firing a small artillery field piece and then charging towards battle-damaged buildings. Several are seen using flame throwers, that set building afire. More views of Chinese soldiers firing artillery and heavy machine guns. (World War II period)
Scenes from life and career of Dwight D Eisenhower, 34th President of United States. U.S. Air Force plane lands and the President disembarks the plane in India, in 1959. He is greeted by the Indian President Dr Rajendra Prasad and other dignitaries. Emblem of 'Panama'. Sign of 'welcome Ike Crusader'. Large crowd welcomes Eisenhower. Motorcade goes through the city's street. Milestones in General Eisenhower's life and the international esteem with which he is held. Lt Col Eisenhower concerned about U.S. isolationism in 1940 as World War 2 is underway. Explosions in Europe due to bombing by German aircraft. Eisenhower and other officers in the General Staff study a map. Eisenhower plans the strategy as the commander of Operation Torch (he is shown talking to General George C. Marshall and Winston Churchill). President Eisenhower visits 4 continents and meets several leaders. Large crowds welcome him. General Eisenhower prepares for D-Day Invasion of France during World War 2. June 5, 1944: The Allied forces including troops, artillery, equipment, ammunition, aircraft and ships prepared. June 6, 1944: The Allies invade Normandy. Troops wade through the water during D-Day Normandy beach landings, while under enemy fire. German soldiers surrender. May 7, 1945: Nazi General Alfred Jodl signs the unconditional surrender of his government. General Eisenhower returns to the U.S. He receives a hero's welcome in New York during a parade. He visits his hometown in Kansas. Pictures of his family, childhood and college days. Eisenhower on his visits to various countries as President.
Film opens with map of the world showing the various theaters of operation in World War II. Narrator refers to Allies liberating town after town, as they advance. View of American troops being welcomed in a European town during an advance (probably Italy in 1944). Next, African American troops are seen boarding troop transport ships. A huge convoy of ships is seen from the air. Huge piles of war materiel on a dock. Ammunition being delivered by landing craft from the transport ship USS Hunter Liggett (APA-14) to American troops at a beachhead in the Pacific. An African American sailors directs the lowering of a piece of artillery from a ship into a landing craft. Construction equipment being used to clear the way for a new landing field. Docks, roads, and bridges being built as the Allies advance. American troops in the swamps of the South Pacific. American Army engineers clearing trees to build the Alaska Highway (ALCAN Highway) in 1942. Corps of Engineers building the Ledo Road (from India to China) during the war. African American soldiers building a bridge across a river in Europe. A U.S. Army truck under fire, driving along a dirt road in Europe as shells burst all around it. U.S. troops firing various kinds of field artillery and tank guns. U.S. infantryman using a flame thrower. Closeup of African American soldier using a bayonet and others firing small arms. A tank being blown up by artillery fire. A Japanese Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero aircraft maneuvers overhead in the Pacific theater. An African American soldier runs to man his Browning .50-caliber, water-cooled antiaircraft machine gun, and begins firing as the Zero fighter plane strafes his position. Closeup of Japanese pilot in his cockpit and his machine guns firing from leading edges of his plane. His rounds strike all around the U.S. gunner, who turns and follows him with more fire. His tracers show behind the plane. Closeup of the African American gunner as he continues firing. View of the Japanese airplane rolling over and diving. Next the Japanese plane, aflame, crashes on a tropical island and explodes. (Note: It is apparent that some of these combat scenes have been made up of clips from other sources, edited into this film.) (World War II; WW II; World War 2; World War Two)
A film based on getting U.S. supplies to Kunming, China from Chabua, India during World War II. An animated map links Chabua with Kunming. A USAAF (United States Army Air Forces) C-87 Liberator Express in flight over the Hump. An aerial view of the Himalayan Mountains. A USAAF C-54 Skymaster in flight. An animated representation of the content of materials carried by an aircraft over the Hump. USAAF transport planes land at Kunming in China. An animated map depicts the transportation condition over the Burma Road in January 1941 and by air over the Hump in January 1944. Dispersal of cargo and U.S. troops to various fighting fronts from Kunming. A transport aircraft takes off from Kunming. Chinese troops march. U.S. Army General Joseph Stilwell with U.S. Lieutenant General Claire Chennault in Kunming. A formation of transport planes.