Japanese international activities during 1931-1945. Opening scene shows Japanese troops embarking on ships bound for an invasion of Manchuria, in 1931. Officers walking on the dock, amongst the departing troops. Scenes of explosions and destruction. Views of Shanghai during Japanese attacks in 1937. Destroyed buildings. Civilian dead lying in the streets. Japanese soldiers racing along a street in a three wheeled motorcycle vehicle. Change of scene shows Japanese diplomat Yosuke Matsuoka addressing a League of Nations meeting in 1933, after that body adopted a report blaming Japan for events in Manchuria. He objects to that action and then leads his delegation in walking out of the meeting. View of Japanese delegates in top hats and bowler hats exiting the building. Scene shifts to Japanese forces firing artillery and machine guns in Manchuria.They wave large Japanese flag victoriously after a battle. The next scene shows Italian forces occupying Ethiopia and raising the flag of the Kingdom of Italy, as Italian troops salute, presenting arms of rifles with fixed bayonets. Axis leaders celebrate the 1940 Tripartite Pact between German, Italy and Japan. The festivities take place in a hall displaying the three nation's flags on the walls. A large number of persons attend including Japan's Prime Minister, General Hideki Tojo, seen with two celebrants. Scene reverts to China with Chinese civilian people trying to escape from invading Japanese forces. The refugees carry their belongings as they flee. Occasional shell burst is seen among advancing Japanese troops as Chinese soldiers put up resistance. Chinese soldiers firing artillery. In the U.S., Japanese envoys Kichisaburō Nomura and Saburō Kurusu are seen walking together into a building and entering a room inside. Next, are views of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, with huge plumes of smoke obscuring the bombed U.S. battleships in the harbor. U.S. battleships in line formation in the Pacific during World War 2. Aerial view of U.S. warships moving in parallel. British ships augmenting the U.S. warships. Naval guns firing. U.S. amphibious assaults on Japanese held islands in the Pacific. Prisoners of the Japanese who suffered in the Philippines. General Douglas MacArthur mingling with former prisoners and internees upon his return to Manila in 1944. Aerial views of Iwo Jima. Naval bombardment and amphibious assault of Iwo Jima. Numerous fallen Japanese soldiers. The iconic American flag raising by U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima. View of Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. during the campaign on Okinawa, where he was killed in action. A Soldier being carried on a stretcher. Another throwing a hand grenade. U.S. soldier firing at a Japanese defender who falls out of his bunker. Large numbers of Japanese prisoners of war assembled in a field. Japanese Kamikaze attacking U.S. warships off Okinawa. The sky filled with antiaircraft flak clouds. View of 40mm Bofors antiaircraft cannon firing and a Japanese plane falling and exploding on impact in the ocean.
The film 'The Saga of the Franklin' to honor and remember the men who served in the U.S. Navy during during World War II. A board reads USS Franklin (CV-13). The log book of the ship. An entry from the log book. The ship leaves San Francisco, California in February 1945. A U.S. flag flutters on the ship. The ship in the western Pacific Ocean. A fleet of ships underway at sea. Aircraft take off from the deck for a mission on July 4th, 1944. The target is Iwo Jima, Japan. Other ships nearby. Guns are fired. A Japanese Kamikaze aircraft crashes on a ship. An aircraft in flight. Explosions on the ground below. A Kamikaze aircraft is hit by guns fired from USS Franklin by Air Group 13. Rocket equipped aircraft struck Japanese ships. Aerial view of burning ships in water. Kamikaze aircraft in flight. A Kamikaze aircraft which has been hit, falls downwards in a mass of fire. It crashes into water. A Kamikaze aircraft crashes into water near a ship. A ball of fire rises up. A Kamikaze aircraft crashes into USS Franklin on October 30, 1944. After being repaired, USS Franklin reaches Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A band plays to welcome the ship. U.S. Navy WAVES ( Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) on the ship. A U.S. Navy Vice Admiral decorates sailors. Air Group 75 and 35 aboard the ship. Aircraft on the deck. An aircraft takes off from the deck of the carrier. An aircraft prepares for a take off. A white diamond painted on the tail of an aircraft in flight. An aircraft comes in for a landing. An LSO ( Landing Signal Officer ) signals using flags. He makes a signal for an aircraft to cut off its engine while landing. The aircraft makes an arrested landing. An aircraft lands on its nose. Men sunbathe in Hawaii. A party abroad USS Franklin. A cake to celebrate the 9000th landing on the carrier. Ensign A. W. Graf who had made the landing cuts the cake.
Investigation of the Pearl Harbor attack by Japan during World War II in the United States. Officials of the Joint Congressional Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack gather in the court room. Officials seated at their desks and Major General Walter C. Short, U.S. Army (retired), addresses them about the Pearl Harbor attack by Japan. He states that he appeared for the hearing of Pearl Harbor attack in August 1944. No indication was made by the war department about the attack. No information was furnished by them. If they had furnished the information, some decisions or actions could have been taken. He talked to officials of the war time division, but no conclusions were made.
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.
Brief view of damage to Light Cruiser, USS Birmingham (CL-62) suffered while trying to aid Light Aircraft Carrier, USS Princeton (CVL-23) which burned and exploded from Japanese bombing, on Oct. 24, 1944, in World War 2. Scene shifts to United States sailors aboard a battle ship wearing Purple Heart medals awarded following Battles of Midway and Coral Sea. Fleet Admiral Chester W Nimitz, commander of U.S. Navy forces and General Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.S. ground forces, look at a map on wall, and consult together. MacArthur holds his traditional corn cob pipe. Admiral Nimitz on battlefield inspection tour with Admiral William Halsey and Navy Secretary Frank Knox in Solomon Islands. American flag flutters at United States Base camp. President Roosevelt, Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur meeting at CINCPAC headquarters. Nimitz points at a map on wall. Roosevelt and MacArthur having private conversation. Admiral Nimitz hands pointer to General MacArthur, who prepares to brief the President about the final invasion of Japan. Admiral Nimitz climbs over an obstacle and sits next to President Roosevelt. Outdoor scene on Hawaii, President Roosevelt seated and Admiral Nimitz and other officers standing in relaxed gathering.
Animated map shows U.S. forces extending control in the Pacific to the Mariana Islands islands in the Pacific during World War 2. It shows chain of airfields linking island of Truk to homeland, Japan. Map focuses on island of Truk, in Micronesia, showing concentration of Japanese aircraft, ships, and troops there. Paths of U.S. air and naval attacks on Truk are shown. Map shows Japanese fleet withdrawing and U.S. forces by-passing Truk to concentrate on the Mariana islands. U.S. naval task force is seen off the island of Saipan on June 11, 1944. Two U.S. battleships are followed by two escort aircraft carriers/ Barrels of battleship triple guns firing at Saipan. Landing Craft Tank: Rocket LCT(R) firing salvos of rockets. Glimpse from aircraft, overhead, of landing craft leaving white wakes during amphibious assault. Closeups of U.S. troops in landing craft. View from shore of American troops storming ashore through surf, from landing craft, under heavy enemy fire. Closeup of soldier hunkered down in sand. Soldier dropping down from side of beached landing vehicle tracked (LVT). A dead U.S. soldier floating in the water. Troops firing from their LVTs. Shells striking on sandy shore. Marines running with stretcher over their shoulders Fletcher class destroyer firing her guns to port. Brooklyn class light cruiser firing guns to port. View from ships flying Japanese flags, of Japanese warships headed to engage U.S. fleet. Japanese aircraft carriers and Aichi Kokuki KK dive bomber (Val) taking off from a carrier. Aerial closeup of Japanese Val aircraft in flight, with pilot clearly visible before he banks his plane to the left. Formations of Japanese Val aircraft in flight. Formation of American Grumman TBF Avenger aircraft engaging the Japanese. Gun camera film showing Japanese aircraft being shot down. A Japanese aircraft crashing into the sea. Sailors of U.S. ship firing batteries of Bofors 40mm anti aircraft guns. and 20mm anti aircraft guns. Black flak clouds in the sky. A Japanese plane crashing into the sea. Aerial view of formation of Japanese Val aircraft in flight. Closeup of a Japanese Kawasaki Ki-61 (Hien) aircraft maneuvering to attack. More views of Japanese Val aircraft in formation. American dive bombers dropping bombs on, Japanese held, Orote airfield. View from the air of bombs striking and smoke clouds. Fires burning on the airfield. An American navy F6F hellcat plane diving. Gun camera film showing Japanese aircraft being downed. A plane director on deck of U.S. aircraft carrier. Two Grumman TBF aircraft taking off from a carrier. View toward tail of one taking off. U.S. aircraft in formation overhead, and then peeling off in trail formation to attack a target. Japanese ships being strafed. U.S. infantry continuing heavy fighting on Saipan.