U.S. Army tanks of 1st. Platoon, A Company, 710th Tank Battalion operating in support of Marine Corps infantry at Horseshoe Valley in Peleliu Island, Palau on October 8th 1944. Tanks are receiving fire from hidden Japanese 37mm guns up on the hills. Damaged trees in the area. United States Marines with tanks patrol on the island. U.S. tanks equipped with flamethrowers fire at Japanese positions. Marines on alert positions watch from behind bushes.
U.S. 1st Marine Division operations on Peleliu, during World War 2. U.S. F4U Corsair aircraft, flying low and slow, with gear down, drop napalm incendiary bombs on Japanese troops dug in on a ridge. Huge explosions seen. A C-47 transport airplane taxis on airfield. F4U Corsairs are seen parked and tents are pitched nearby.Several C-47s are parked on a ramp. Three F4Us taxi past them headed to the runway. F4Us take off and one is seen bombing Japanese positions on the ridge. Slate notes 1st Marine Division and D+24. Major General William Henry Rupertus,kneels on one knee, in sand, as another officer (shirtless) briefs him. They briefly discuss tactics and then walk away. Marine rifleman firing into burning wreckage of a Japanese position. Marine firing grenade from his rifle. Two Marines stand on beach with LVT (landing vehicle tracked) on the sand, nearby. They point at large ship offshore. Views of the Peleliu beachhead, with numerous ships and landing craft beached, including the second USS Seaward (LST 278) that collided with LST-129 and suffered considerable damage, On October 2, 1944. (LST-129 may be the LST seen next to LST-278.)
U.S.LST-129 and the second USS Seaward (LST-278) next to each other, in rough surf at rock strewn Orange Beach III, Peleliu, in the Palau Island group, during World War 2. These two LSTs collided and suffered damage on October 2, 1944. View of airfield with U.S. F4U Corsair aircraft parked. An F4U landing on the runway. Another aircraft takes off. Construction equipment and tents seen on airfield. A PBY Catalina aircraft takes off. Change of sequence shows battlefield with bare trees. F4U aircraft flying low and slow, with landing gear extended, drop bombs, raising heavy smoke clouds, at Japanese positions just beyond a nearby ridge.
View of situation map showing various actions by U.S. forces during the battle for Peleliu Island, Palau, from September 15th to October 15th, 1944. Key events are marked on the map in terms of D+days. View of tents on ground.
Opening slate reads LST 554, and date 8-13. Views of U.S. invasion task force vessels underway toward Peleliu Island (Palau), during World War 2. A 110 foot wooden Subchaser, number SC 633 is seen close, to starboard of camera boat (LST-554) and refueling lines are stretched between the LST and the Subchaser. Ensign Maynard K. Ross of Philadelphia, PA, directs the take-up of slack in the refueling lines while a Navy Commander on the LST bridge oversees the operation. (Note: SC 633 ended up running aground during the invasion.) Break in sequence and scene shifts to glimpse of slate reading August 20, 1944, and then view aft on LST 554. On the bridge, 21-year-old Ensign Charles Kahler, of Schenectady New York, uses a sextant to shoot sun lines. Another officer is seen taking relative bearings with a pelorus. Sailors are resting on deck. A series of splashes are created in the water by gunners testing their weapons. LST 557 is cruising to starboard. Puffs of black FLAK smoke appear overhead as antiaircraft weapons are tested.
Pacific Theater during World War 2. U.S. Battleships and Portland class heavy cruiser bombard Peleliu island in Palau. Two Battleships underway at sea. Flash and smoke seen as battleship fires 14 inch guns.Fire and explosions on the island. Large smoke column rises over the beach.