Opening Slate reads: 19 March 1945, Enemy bombs hit (pictures made shortly afterwards shooting aft from forward deck). It refers to Japanese bombs striking the American Aircraft Carrier USS Franklin (CV-13). Heavy billowing smoke obscures the view for a moment. Then sailors are seen on the flight deck of the Franklin fighting a fire with hoses. More fire breaks out and smoke billows from the deck. Fire fighters continue efforts with hoses. New fire breaks out near the edge of the deck opposite the ship's island superstructure. View from other direction shows sailors all over the deck near the island trying to contain the fire. A slate appears reading: A series of violent explosions begin (made from USS Hickok - DD-673). This refers to filming from the USS Hickok. The USS Franklin is seen consumed by fire and covered by dense black smoke rising high into the sky. The smoke turns more white. A new view from the Hickok shows fire and smoke coming from the area of the carrier's island and blowing aft. A different view shows both white and dense black smoke enveloping the Franklin. Next, firefighters are seen again, on the Franklin's flight deck, forward of the island, continuing to battle the fires that see concentrated amidship. Slate reads: USS Miller alongside (refers to the destroyer, USS Miller, DD-535).View of the USS Miller close-by. Another view of sailors fighting the fire on the Franklin's flight deck. Brief view, from a parapet on the island, shows smoke. Also seen are water intakes stretched out from the ship, presumably providing water for firefighting. Back on the Franklin's flight deck, firefighters work against a backdrop of white smoke. a closeup shows portions of the flight deck broken and tilted into the hangar deck. More views of sailors on deck, forward of the island, fighting the fires. Glimpse of hangar deck below, where large section of flight deck has fallen. Firefighters with hoses working there.
Hollywood stars walk on a ramp at the Hollywood Museum in Universal City, California. Hollywood personalities sitting at a table to watch the fashion show. Hollywood star models walk on the ramp wearing gowns and jackets of the world's outstanding designers. Hollywood star models include Angie Dickinson, Gina Lollobrigida and Judy Garland. The fashion show honors Universals new movie "The Chalk Garden". The new Hollywood Museum is the beneficiary.
Opening scene shows view from stern of a warship in an Pacific U.S. Navy task force during World War 2. Other convoy warships are seen in far background. Closeup of American flag on a ship. Glimpse of U.S. Destroyer moving behind the camera ship. Four warships in side-by-side formation. Naval guns firing in the dark at night. A U.S. light tank being loaded aboard a ship at a dock. Several towable pieces of field artillery covered and ready for loading at the port. Numerous army trucks parked in a group at the port. Silhouettes of U.S. Army soldiers, in full battle gear, ascending a gangway to a troop transport ship. Heavy field guns being loaded aboard a ship. Cargo manifests for U.S. Army Transport Service ships preparing to sail from the New York Port of embarkation in Brooklyn, New York. Several Army transport ships underway in the ocean. A Fletcher class destroyer nearby. A Yorktown class aircraft carrier. Closeup of a sailor manning a Bofors 40mm antiaircraft gun on board an aircraft carrier. Fletcher class destroyer in background. View from the bridge of troops on open deck of a transport ship. Sailors standing near variety of guns aboard a warship. Sailors scanning skies for enemy aircraft. A Grumman F4F aircraft being launched from deck of an aircraft carrier. Quad Bofors antiaircraft guns being fired and skies filled with black flak clouds. View down from Bridge on the Island of an aircraft carrier, showing antiaircraft gun positions. More views of black flak clouds. Sailors in battle gear on the aircraft carrier deck. Bofors guns firing. View from carrier flight deck of Japanese Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" attacking close to the carrier. It is struck by gunfire and bursts into flames. Another Japanese Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bomber passing close to the flight deck. It bursts into flames and crashes into the water, close to the carrier, exploding violently in heavy black smoke. View from carrier of transport ships following.
'Know Your Ally: Britain' - An Allied propaganda film to solidify Anglo-American solidarity within the ranks as well as to counter Nazi German propaganda aimed at weakening the alliance during World War II. Scenes in the United States of a college football game as a player makes a touchdown and a crowd erupts in loud cheering. Football team at blocking and tackling practice on a practice field. A World War 2 tank fires. British and American soldiers fire artillery and infantry forces running on a battlefield. Explosions occur and smoke rises. Views of soldiers of China, Russia, Britain and the United States. Allied troops march. Idaho, United States and Britain on a map showing population. Vehicular traffic and pedestrians on a road including cars and double-decker buses and pedestrians showing congested space in Britain. People talk to their neighbors. British policemen seen. British citizens emerge from underground transit system. Groups of British men, women and children in crowds are seen. Image of British Bobby police officer with hand up and narrator relates that British police do not carry a gun. Newspaper headlines about a strike, a catastrophe in Britain. Animated map of the Great Britain shows that it is surrounded by sea. Ships at sea. An old man and a boy sitting on a stoop with a model of a tall masted sailing ship. Brief views of cities in different parts of the world, including Sydney Australia; an unidentified South African port; an aerial view of the city of Wellington, New Zealand; parliament and government buildings in Ottawa, Canada; a large passenger ferry boat passing by with the skyscrapers of Manhattan New York City in the background.
New records completed at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France. Two U.S. Air Force helicopters land at the Le Bourget airport in Paris. The captains make the first non stop transatlantic flight aboard the helicopters. Men greet and welcome the captains for setting a new record. Captains and crew pose with the helicopter. In final scene, a Douglas DC 8-61, the world's largest jet airplane, lands at the airport after its first flight. Passengers get off the DC-8 aircraft.
German civilian Matthias Gierens, a 37 year old railroad worker, is hanged in Rheinbach Germany for the August 15, 1944 murder of a downed American flyer, who was later identified as U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lieutenant Lester E. Reuss, from Forsythe, Montana. Reuss was the navigator on U.S. Army B-17 bomber #42-31183 which was downed by German aircraft after it attacked the Airdrome at Wiesbaden, Germany. Gierens and three other German civilian men, Peter Kohn, Peter Back, and Matthias Krein, were convicted on June 2, 1945 in Ahrweiler, Germany, for the murder of the American airman after his parachute landing near Priest, Germany. The trial was the first Allied trial in Germany of civilians charged with a war crime. Military police are seen escorting Gierens toward the gallows in a prison yard in Rheinbach. A German Catholic priest performs the rites. U.S military officer reads charges as Gierens is readied for execution (the officer is possibly Lt. Col J.V. Roddy, of San Francisco, who was in charge of the hanging). Trap door opens and Gierens is hung. The U.S. Army executioners were Master Sgt. John C. Woods, a former Texas State executioner, and Staff Sgt. Thomas Robinson, of Bronx, New York. Witnesses present included seven U.S. Lieutenant Colonels and one British officer, a number of Military Police, news correspondents, and photographers.
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