Training and motivational film for U.S. Army Air Force crews preparing for the bombing of the Ploesti (or Ploiesti) oil fields in Romania, (Operation Tidal Wave) of August 1943. Final part of a training film to brief U.S. Army Air Forces aircrews in preparation for their bombing raid on the Ploesti oil refineries in Romania during World War 2. Formation of bombers is seen flying toward oil derricks in the oil fields. Aerial views of the oil fields and refineries. Oil storage facilities. Closeup of oil workers at a drilling rig. German officers walking in snow, ostensibly seeking places to obtain oil to fuel their wartime operations. German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and other Nazi officers examine a chart in Africa. German prisoners taken in North Africa. Large numbers of German prisoners walking across the desert. A flight of several German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter planes in formation. Italian Dictator, Benito Mussolini, walking with an entourage in an Italian colonial region of Africa. He climbs aboard an open rail car on a small gauge railway. Accompanied by others, the rail car is pushed along the track by Colonials in white garb. German Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, who commanded German forces attacking the Soviet Union in Operation Typhoon, is seen visiting a German base. Next, Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle has his hands on the fins of a bomb while posing with his flyers when underway in the Pacific, aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8) for their daring raid B-25 bombing raid on Tokyo, Japan. View of a B-25 taking off from the Hornet. An American B-17 flying fortress, bomber taking off for a daylight raid in Europe. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, speaking on radio, saying "We believe the Nazis and fascists have asked for it. And they're going to get it." Oil storage tanks ablaze with heavy black smoke rising.
A film titled 'The Life and Death of The USS Hornet' dedicated to the workers of America's shipyards and war plants during World War II. The Capitol building in Washington DC. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt gathered at press conference to announce the bombing of Tokyo Japan by Doolittle Raid forces in April 1942. Reporters run out to phones and typewriters. A man at NBC microphone in 1943. The headlines of newspapers read 'Japs Murder Doolittle's Fliers'. American people in groups and families listen to radio broadcasts, gathered at work and in living rooms around radios to hear the radio news. They buy newspapers at newsstands. Headline of newspaper reads "Carrier Hornet was Shangri-La". Workers at shipyard, factories, machine shops. Men and women war workers of varying ages and races, including white, Japanese-American, and African-American seen welding, machining, and working to buld the ship and its parts. Scenes from the launching of USS Hornet CV-8 in December 14, 1940, with sponsor Annie Reid Knox at the launching.
Training film for U.S. Navy titled 'Our Enemy - The Japanese'. U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Joseph S Grew states that Japan's logic is incomprehensible by Western standards and that they are 2000 years behind in ethical, social thinking. Wall charts in the background. Grew further talks about Japanese weapons. Hirohito's tomb in Hachioji. Emperor Hirohito on horseback followed by other Japanese officials on horseback. Japanese Army officials stand in formation. Troops lined up. Troops parade on streets. Japanese monks pass along road. (World War II period).
Convoy of Japanese supply ships in the Southwest Pacific during World War 2. Mysteriously, two explode. One sinks and one is left burning. Narrator describes similar losses of Japanese cargo vessels and Japanese reports attributing the losses to new superior American aircraft. View of Japanese Military High Command buildings in Tokyo, Japan. An Imperial Japanese Navy Night Fighter (QHAFMFA6) seen taking off. Japanese admiral boards warship to plan Imperial Navy strategy and tactics. Attacking aircraft is shown as a U.S. Navy PBY Catalina Flying Boat. Several views of Catalina flying boats in flight, painted black for night flying (called "Black Cats"). Aerial view of islands with small harbors where a PBY can hide during daylight. Base personnel gather at a catalina base awaiting an overdue returning PBY. She appears and buzzes base to announce successful mission. The PBY then lands in nearby harbor, taxis toward shore and is met by sailors in boats who attach a tow line to winch the PBY ashore, tail first. Squadron Commander meets the plane as the crew disembarks. Commodore Thomas S. Combs, Commander Aircraft 7th Fleet, arrives by jeep with Group Commander, Captain Peck. Crew gives quick accounting of mission. Corpsmen take wounded combat cameraman from the PBY on a stretcher. Tow pulls the PBY to area of ramp for servicing and repairs. Maintenance personnel note crew report of problems and begin corrective actions. They count 8 bullet holes in starboard wing.They find hole in fuselage from shrapnel that wounded the cameraman, and repair it. They repair a gas tank leak and refuel the PBY. View of 525lb and 1000lb bombs in Squadron dump. Armorers assemble belts of 50cal machine gun ammunition.They rearm the PBY with bombs under one wing and a torpedo under the other, and machine gun ammunition. They remove two black cats (animals) from inside the airplane. PBY crew plays water polo with a coconut. View of officer's quarters. Pilots prepare for next mission and go to intelligence briefing
Japanese people work to help the soldiers during World War II. Many Japanese girls hand sew army insignia in class. Japanese schoolgirls use sewing machines to make insignias. A teacher demonstrates insignia making in class. Sewing pattern for diagram is drawn on the blackboard. Other girls, wearing white aprons, sew some clothes and belts for the soldiers. Girls folding handmade parachutes and stacking them on a pile. View of the Imperial Diet building in Tokyo, Japan (1 Chome-7-1 Nagatachō, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 100-0014, Japan). Sign in Japanese reads “Section Committee”. Japanese office workers working inside a small office. Piles of paper on desks. Men seated at desk as they work on the documents.
City of Tokyo in Japan. Traffic and pedestrians move along road in Tokyo. View of a large building. Pedestrians along sidewalks. People catch buses from bus stops. People in subway.