U.S. Army Air Service Douglas World Cruisers (DWC) in the United States during their first flight around the world. In Boston, Massachusetts Major General Patrick, head of the Army Air Service, praises his aerial pioneers and Mayor of Boston James Michael Curley presents Lieutenant Lowell H. Smith, and Lt. Erik H. Nelson watches. Views of the ceremony. Major General Patrick inspecting an aircraft. Aerial view of a squadron of airplanes flying over New York City. Aerial view of two world cruisers in flight. Edward. Prince of Wales, visiting the United States, is among those at Mitchel Field awaiting the aviators. He looks at the sky. Several people in the crowd look through binoculars. A world cruiser coming in for a landing at Mitchel Field, Long Island. View of the world cruisers on the airfield and the crowd around the aircraft. The Prince of Wales in the crowd. Several views of crowd welcoming the world cruisers.
Closeup of a freighter steaming past the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. Sailors riding on a commercial bus near the entrance to the U.S. Naval Base, Norfolk, Virginia. Traffic at the road intersection. Entrance sign identifying the U.S. Navy base. Views of ships docked at the base. Flags flying outside the Headquarters of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT). View of the great map room inside the headquarters. Officers from various NATO countries seated for a briefing conducted by A U.S. Navy Captain circa 1954. The most senior officers, including the first SACLANT, Admiral Lynde D. McCormick, step close to the map, where he speaks to the briefing officer. Closeup of the briefing officer moving images of aircraft over the map in the vicinity of the Portuguese Azore Islands. Closeup of straits of Gibraltar and then of Brest and Cherbourg on the coast of France; the Western approaches to the British Isles; the Norwegian coast; Iceland; Northern Labrador; the whole seaboard of Canada and the United States. View of waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Glimpse back to Admiral McCormick at the briefing map and then to a partially submerged submarine moving in water of the Atlantic. Narrator mentions subs of the 1960s. U.S. nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine launches a polaris missile. Final view of briefing map.
PBY Catalina aircraft seen inflight above an Allied convoy of ships at sea. Closeup of British flag displayed at stern of one ship. A destroyer escort in the convoy. U.S. Army engineers creating a road in an area of wilderness. A steam shovel empties its bucket into a truck. A surveyor taking readings with a transit. Two graders moving side-by side as they level a new road A tractor pulling a drum compactor. A vehicle drives on a mountainside road built by Army engineers. Snow covered mountains seen in background. Animated map showing far flung places where military supplies had to be delivered during World War 2. An open Army truck carrying American troops on Guadalcanal in the Pacific. U.S. soldiers walking on a pier at Attu in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. American soldiers arriving at a pier in Accra, Gold Coast. Soldiers hold the American flag on a hilltop in Casablanca, French Morocco. Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang, in Chungking. American troops in foul weather gear neat tents in Kiska, the Aleutians. Troops offloading from a troop transport ship in Cairo, Egypt. Troops in Algiers, and in Sicily. Troops hitting the beach in an amphibious assault.
Montage of World War II scenes in rapid succession, including: British flag flying; British civilian men looking through debris and victims of Japanese bombing in China; a German armored car moving rapidly; Heavy artillery pieces firing; German SdKfz 251 half-track armored personnel carrier rushing past the camera; The German Nazi flag flying from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France; German troops marching through the Arc de Triomphe (Arch of Triumph) as they occupy Paris; New York Times newspaper headline reading: "Nazis execute 50 French hostages in Bordeaux!" French Army prisoners of war; British Colonial troops in a labor gang; German Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft in flight; French refugees fleeing advancing German forces; Momentary closeup of ME- Bf-109 firing guns and then climbing away from roadway filled with refugees. Animated illustration showing shadows of German bombers flying towards Britain. Numerous dead civilians, victims of Axis military actions in various parts of the world. The White cliffs of Dover. Formation of German Heinkel HE-111 bombers coming over England. Aerial view from above of numerous German Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers in flight. British Royal Air Force airman ringing alarm bell and RAF pilots scramble; responding by running to their spitfire aircraft, taking off and climbing to intercept German bombers. Closeup of one pilot in his cockpit during dogfight. A formation of three German Ju 87s seen from below. Gun camera glimpse of one being shot down from behind. An aircraft shot down and crashing. German aircraft bombing England at night during Battle of Britain (1940). Point of view shots from inside German aircraft during blitz over Britain, with aerial views of explosions and fires on ground in England. Narrator mentions Coventry as a target. Smoking ruins from German blitzkrieg bombing. Aerial views of areas bombed by German aircraft. British civilians carrying coffins and lowering them into grave sites as they bury victims of Nazi German bombing. Closeup of the shoulder patch worn on uniforms of soldiers in the U.S. Service Forces. Views of war materiel in warehouses and being loaded aboard ships destined to the war zones. American soldiers on a Pacific island. United States Army soldiers engaged at communications centers and using radio and radar antennae. Military equipment and weapons being moved by railroad train. Military supplies being loaded on rail cars and railroad trains running on tracks. U.S. troops on a beachhead following an amphibious landing. A British soldier eating bread. Two American soldiers drinking from cups. Closeup of a military police "MP" armband. Large formation of marching U.S. soldiers. Closeups of soldiers in the field, using radio telephones, cutting through barbed wire, looking out of ship porthole windows, and some simply posing momentarily for the camera. A U.S. Army soldier showing the "V" for victory symbol with his hand.
Film titled "Service group" on the workings of the United States Army Air Force Service Group in World War II, and their role in keeping remote air force landing strips supplied and in good repair during World War 2. Aerial view of United States Army Air Force B-25 Mitchell medium bombers in formation over an enemy target area. Bombs away view as the B-25 aircraft release bombs over the coastal target area and explosions are seen on the ground. Aerial view of a partially sunken ship off of a Pacific island. A P-40 Warhawk fighter aircraft landing at a Pacific combat air field. Closeup of pilot as aircraft finishes taxi, and lettering on plane identifies him as Lieutenant R. McHale. Scenes on the ground at the air field, jeeps arriving at the airfield, pilots and crews in meetings and discussions, tents and quarters, meal operations, a soldier gets a shave, medical facilities, religious services, and watch towers. Pilots scramble to their waiting P-40 aircraft after tower spots enemy aircraft in the distance. Animated map depicts operations of the Air Service Center and logistics for supporting multiple Combat Air Fields. Scenes from the Air Service Center as new planes (P-38 Lightning) arrive and bombs are unloaded. Repair work and provisioning of supplies for the air fields.
Film opens with map of the world showing the various theaters of operation in World War II. Narrator refers to Allies liberating town after town, as they advance. View of American troops being welcomed in a European town during an advance (probably Italy in 1944). Next, African American troops are seen boarding troop transport ships. A huge convoy of ships is seen from the air. Huge piles of war materiel on a dock. Ammunition being delivered by landing craft from the transport ship USS Hunter Liggett (APA-14) to American troops at a beachhead in the Pacific. An African American sailors directs the lowering of a piece of artillery from a ship into a landing craft. Construction equipment being used to clear the way for a new landing field. Docks, roads, and bridges being built as the Allies advance. American troops in the swamps of the South Pacific. American Army engineers clearing trees to build the Alaska Highway (ALCAN Highway) in 1942. Corps of Engineers building the Ledo Road (from India to China) during the war. African American soldiers building a bridge across a river in Europe. A U.S. Army truck under fire, driving along a dirt road in Europe as shells burst all around it. U.S. troops firing various kinds of field artillery and tank guns. U.S. infantryman using a flame thrower. Closeup of African American soldier using a bayonet and others firing small arms. A tank being blown up by artillery fire. A Japanese Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero aircraft maneuvers overhead in the Pacific theater. An African American soldier runs to man his Browning .50-caliber, water-cooled antiaircraft machine gun, and begins firing as the Zero fighter plane strafes his position. Closeup of Japanese pilot in his cockpit and his machine guns firing from leading edges of his plane. His rounds strike all around the U.S. gunner, who turns and follows him with more fire. His tracers show behind the plane. Closeup of the African American gunner as he continues firing. View of the Japanese airplane rolling over and diving. Next the Japanese plane, aflame, crashes on a tropical island and explodes. (Note: It is apparent that some of these combat scenes have been made up of clips from other sources, edited into this film.) (World War II; WW II; World War 2; World War Two)
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