USAF General Henry Arnold meets crew of U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 Super Fortress at Bolling Field, Washington, DC during World War II. C-47s lined up on the flight line. General Arnold, Lieutenant General Barney Giles and Brigadier General Lauris Norstad walk on the field. Crew members lined up in front of B-29. General Arnold in the foreground. General Norstad introduces the Aircraft Commander, Lt. DO Horsfall of Kalamazoo, Michigan, who salutes and shake hands with General Arnold. Lt. Horsfall introduces members of his crew who step forward, salute and shake General Arnold's hand. General Arnold tells the crew that U.S. bombers from China bases had been unable to reach the Japanese heartland. But B-29s from the Marianas would now be able to strike places like Hokkaido and Kyushu. He dictates a message for Horsfall and crew to write on a bomb. Crew members gather around bombs as the pilot writes the message, reading: 'To the war lords of Japan we have not forgotten. The B-29s will remind you again, again and again!'
United States soldiers in Saipan during World War II. Map of Pacific Ocean with China, Japan, Saipan. Island of Saipan. Living conditions of the soldiers. Pup tents, dugouts in the area. Runway with ocean in the background. Piles of equipment stacked up. Soldiers lift a crate on to a truck. Man pushes gas drum along rails. Jeep pulls two barrels in a trailer. Piled equipment and tents in the background. Soldiers ride a horse-drawn cart. Row of tents. Soldiers walk along the area. Tents in the foreground.
A vast project to build a major airfield on Saipan, in the Marianas Islands, to enable U.S. B-29 operations against Japan mainland. Bulldozers and trucks work on the field. Asphalt plant in operation and a rock crusher in use. A lone B-24 Liberator bomber is seen in the middle of the field. Trucks transport asphalt and rock to strip. The asphalt being laid by the soldiers and then rolled on the strip.
U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 Super Fortress in flight during World War II. Map of Pacific Ocean showing Saipan, Philippines,China and Japan. B-29 circling overhead. A B-29 on final approach over water, with landing gear down. A B-29 flies over the field with gear up. Another B-29 in level flight at altitude, with landing gear down. A B-29 makes approach and lands on the new airfield, as interested military personnel watch from side of runway.
U.S. Marine Corps F4U aircraft of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing are seen along with U.S. Army Air Forces P-38 in flight over Southern Okinawa, during World War 2. Numerous scenes of the aircraft attacking positions of enemy Japan with napalm incendiary bombs. Balls of fire erupting and smoke rising from the hills. Formation of Corsairs returning from the mission.
Film beginning shows a line of Indian women carrying large wooden bowls on their heads as they walk past a line of Boeing B-29 Super Fortress bombers parked on an airfield ramp in India during World War 2. A B-29 bomber descends and lands on the airfield runway. Scene shifts to the Boeing factory at Wichita, Kansas, where most of the aircraft were manufactured during World War 2. (They were also made by Bell Aircraft Company in Atlanta (Marietta), Georgia, and by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Omaha, Nebraska.) In the Wichita plant, a large room filled with B-29s under construction is seen. A line of women uses hand power tools to finish aircraft parts. A large section of a B-29, including landing gear and tires, moves by overhead crane to be mated with another section in an assembly operation. Men manually push a landing gear with tires installed, along a floor. Workers walk along underneath an assembled B-29 as it is towed out of the factory. Tail view of a B-29 with engines running. View of man working on a B-29 tail rudder. Wing flaps being lowered in function check. Scene shifts, again, this time to China, where a line of B-29s is seen on a ramp at a secret base. A jeep drives under the left wing of a parked B-29, guarded by an armed Chinese sentry. Chinese laborers work with hand tools to make a ditch to drain water from the airfield ramp. Chinese workers unload and roll 55 gallon drums of gasoline for aircraft fueling. A Chinese name (Ding How!)painted on the fuselage of a B-29. Major General Claire Chennault shakes hands with some of a B-29s crew as they prepare to depart on a bombing mission. A Chinese soldier gives the crew a "thumbs up" sendoff. The B-29 takes off on the mission. a group of airmen sit atop a B-29 to watch the takeoffs. Camera focuses on another takeoff and then shows a B-29 aloft, glinting in sunlight and then cruising above clouds. Glimpse of B-29 flying over snow covered mountains (possibly in Japan).