U.S. military trucks, part of a convoy of 113 vehicles, led by Brigadier General Lewis Andrew Pick, are seen traversing the Ledo Road (aka the Stilwell Road) approaching their final destination of Kunming, China, on February 4, 1945, during World War 2. (They departed Ledo, India, on January 12, 1945, traveling a distance of 1,079 miles.) (Narrator gives distance as 1,044 miles.) View from an overflying airplane shows the long column of trucks on the road below. View from the ground, of the convoy reaching the city gates, where it halts as General Pick and his staff proceed through the gates to a speaker's platform set up in a covered pavilion displaying American and Chinese flags, and pictures of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. General Pick and staff are introduced by Chinese General J.L. Wong who, speaking in English, celebrates this first convoy over the Ledo Road, and points to a banner containing four Chinese characters that spell out "The Road to Victory." General Pick takes the podium, shakes hands with General Wong, and accepts the banner from him. Camera shows the area completely filled with Chinese troops, witnessing the ceremony, including many sitting atop a nearby roof. General Pick speaks briefly, accepting the banner on behalf of the convoy members. He then leaves accompanied by the Governor of Yunnan Province, China. Officers cut a ceremonial ribbon across the road at the West Gate of the city, and the convoy is led into the city by two Chinese soldiers on motorcycles. Chinese spectators line the way and celebrate with firecrackers and cheers, as General Pick passes, standing in a jeep, displaying the Amercan flag and with the Chinese "Road to Victory" banner in its back seat. views of the convoy trucks proceeding through the city. Closeup of one, with a painting of the road, and snow capped mountains, and "First Convoy over the Ledo Road" and "Pick's Pike Life Line from India to China" painted on its canvas cover. A sign over one of the shops along the road reads in Chinese and English, "Welcome First Stilwell Highway Convoy." Views of troops waving from the trucks and Chinese citizen spectators crowding the sides of the road to watch.
United States Army Air Force operations against the Japanese in China in 1944. United States Army Air Force 1st American volunteer Group pilots look at a map. A pilot in a cockpit with a sign on the plane as it reads 'Pilot R.T. Smith' Soldiers are briefed and a man puts an insignia on the collar of a soldier. An animated map shows the transportation of supplies across the Himalayas to China. Chinese troops. Planes in flight. Aircraft take off and fly in formation. American Fighters in flight. Japanese plane burns and descends. Another plane explodes in mid air and falls. Men look at wreckage of crashed aircraft. Allied Officers confer. Animation shows location of Chinese towns. U.S. Army Air Force aircraft take off for attacking the Japanese positions. (World War II period).
Allied action against Japanese in China. Supplies are loaded in a freight ship as it leaves for China from Calcutta, India. Body of trucks loaded onto flat rail road cars. Trucks lined up. Men load bags onto freight trains. They roll down barrels. Tankers are filled with oil. Trucks carry supplies. A freight ship arrives at a port. (World War II period).
Allied supplies reach China for an action against Japanese in China. Allied officers outside a building in China as supplies from India are unloaded from trucks. Boxes piled up in a room. Shells and barrels in a field. A jeep being loaded onto a plane in Calcutta, India. Planes take off. Aircraft in flight. It flies over snow covered mountains. Aerial view of a river. A United States Army Air Force plane comes in for landing in China. Equipment being unloaded from the plane. (World War II period).
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.
Preparations for United States Army Air Force operations against the Japanese in China. Chinese men , women and children at the construction site of an airfield. Women carry boulders in cane baskets. Men and women work at the field. Hand drawn carts loaded with boulders. Men pile up boulders in a field. Boys near a muddy water pool. Men carry water in baskets. A roller moves over the airfield.