First of three American air attacks on Japanese positions in Hong Kong on 25 Oct 1942, during World War II. U.S. Army Air Forces North American B-25 Mitchell aircraft lined up at an airfield in China. General Claire L. Chennault, of Flying Tigers fame, discusses the missions with Colonel Caleb V. Haynes China Air Task Force (CATF) Bomber Section Commander and Colonel Robert T. Scott (CATF's 23rd Fighter Group Commander) 11th Bomb Squadron B-25 takes off from Ehr Tong Airfield at Kweilin (Guilin), China along with P-40 fighter escort. Formation of escorting Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters. B-25 bombers in flight over mountain ranges. Bombs being dropped over the Hong Kong headquarters of the Japanese. Bombs impact and smoke rises.
Film starts wirh slate reading: "R.A.F. Blasts Holland." At an Royal Air Force (RAF) base in England, United Kingdom, ground crewmen work on a British Supermarine Spitfire aircraft. Closeup of RAF pilot in cockpit of an airplane. Closeups showing fires burning and severe destruction of the Philips Electrical works at Endoven, the Netherlands, in aerial photographs taken during a bombing attack by RAF 2 Group, on December 6, 1942. Animated map illustrates the flight path of the attacking bombers from England, across the North Sea and the German occupied Holland, to Endoven. View of a de Havilland Mosquito bomber with propellers turning and then one of a Mosquito bomber in flight overhead. View from a warship of several RAF 2 Group aircraft flying low over the North sea. Glimpse of a Mosquito bomber flying low enough to affect the ocean surface. View from another aircraft in the formation, of a Mosquito bomber underway low over the water. View of a pilot in a cockpit, wearing learher helmet with earphones and an oxygen mask. View from aircraft approaching the coast of Holland, with two others already low above the mainland. More views of the bombers flying extremely low over Holland. View from a bomber showing agricultural land and the Philips Electrical works at Endoven, dead ahead. German flak guns fire and the bombers return fire by strafing the target building. The camera aircraft pulls up climb above the building and maneuvers over a river and city. Scene shifts to views from a high altitude group of RAF 2 Group, over the target. Views of their bombs bursting on target complex, causing fires and heavy smoke. Scene shifts, again to the bomber aircraft recovering at their home base in England. (Narrator states that 12 aircraft did not make it back.) View of a mosquito bomber crash landed. A severely damaged Lockheed PV-1 Ventura bomber. A crash landed Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber. Air crews conversing after arriving back from the mission. (Note: Losses to 2 Group were heavy, with 14 aircraft brought down by flak and enemy fighters, a 20% loss rate. Three more aircraft crash-landed on returning to England. Fifty-seven aircraft had been damaged and needed repairs.)
USS California (BB-44) at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States. A marine sentry moves past in the foreground. Men look at the ship in the foreground from a dock. Crew and dock workers on the deck of the ship. View of aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) passing by in the background (having arrived at Pearl Harbor September 21 for repairs). USS California was departing for Puget Sound Navy Yard for major reconstruction following her damage during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the prior December 7. The USS California underwent dry dock repairs at Pearl Harbor Drydock Number Two until June 7, 1942, and then was moved under her own power to a wharf at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for reinstallation of guns in July before departing on October 10 for the Puget Sound Navy Yard. (World War II period).
Views from a dock at Pearl Harbor toward USS California (BB-44) operating under her own power and departing Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, bound for Puget Sound Navy Yard for major reconstruction following her damage during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the prior December 7. View of crew on her decks looking out over the dock and harbor area. Views from the dock as the battleship slowly moves out. The USS California had been at drydock number two in Pearl Harbor for repairs until June 7, 1942, and then was moved under her own power to a wharf at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for reinstallation of guns beginning in July before leaving for the Puget Sound Navy Yard on October 10. (World War II period).
Excerpts from "The War at Sea From Hawaii to Malaya," a 1942 Japanese film that purports to present naval aspect of World War 2 from Japanese perspective. A Japanese radioman reports message about casualties to high ranking Japanese naval officer aboard a warship. The officer stands as the list of casualties is read. A photograph wrapped in black, of a young Japanese Naval Officer. Scene shifts to Japan, where members of a Japanese family listen to a radio news broadcast, about their son's honorable death. Another family listening to radio, his school teacher also listening. Girl in Kimono goes into an art room, kneels near the picture of a flaming ship and prays for the dead. View of a high torii (gate).
Activities of Japanese soldiers in Corregidor, Philippine Islands during the Battle of Philippines of World War II in 1942. A relief map of Corregidor, Bataan and Manila. The island of Corregidor. Japanese Navy Aichi D3A 'Val' in flight over the island. Smoke rises due to bombardment. Japanese Marines land on a rocky beach of Corregidor. Japanese soldiers carrying flame throwers climbing up a cliff with the aid of a ladder. A soldier uses a flame thrower on a covered trench. Several Japanese soldiers run along the base of a steep hill. Japanese soldiers and British and U.S. prisoners of war in the foreground around time of surrender of Allied forces to Japanese. Buildings in the background. A barrage balloon moored close to the ground. A group of US, British and Japanese enlisted men. U.S. Army General Jonathan Wainwright speaks to two British enlisted men. Japanese, British and U.S. enlisted men converse in the foreground. Two Japanese officers enter a building and an officer salutes. The enlisted men on the porch of the building. The coastline of Corregidor in the foreground. U.S. and British prisoners on a hillside. Japanese soldiers climb up a steep hill. U.S. and British sailors and enlisted men march. Destroyed gum emplacement. Entrance to a tunnel on the side of a rocky cliff. Interior of the tunnel equipped with desks and typewriters.