U.S. military trucks, part of a convoy of 113 vehicles, led by Brigadier General Lewis Andrew Pick, are seen traversing the Ledo Road (aka the Stilwell Road) approaching their final destination of Kunming, China, on February 4, 1945, during World War 2. (They departed Ledo, India, on January 12, 1945, traveling a distance of 1,079 miles.) (Narrator gives distance as 1,044 miles.) View from an overflying airplane shows the long column of trucks on the road below. View from the ground, of the convoy reaching the city gates, where it halts as General Pick and his staff proceed through the gates to a speaker's platform set up in a covered pavilion displaying American and Chinese flags, and pictures of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. General Pick and staff are introduced by Chinese General J.L. Wong who, speaking in English, celebrates this first convoy over the Ledo Road, and points to a banner containing four Chinese characters that spell out "The Road to Victory." General Pick takes the podium, shakes hands with General Wong, and accepts the banner from him. Camera shows the area completely filled with Chinese troops, witnessing the ceremony, including many sitting atop a nearby roof. General Pick speaks briefly, accepting the banner on behalf of the convoy members. He then leaves accompanied by the Governor of Yunnan Province, China. Officers cut a ceremonial ribbon across the road at the West Gate of the city, and the convoy is led into the city by two Chinese soldiers on motorcycles. Chinese spectators line the way and celebrate with firecrackers and cheers, as General Pick passes, standing in a jeep, displaying the Amercan flag and with the Chinese "Road to Victory" banner in its back seat. views of the convoy trucks proceeding through the city. Closeup of one, with a painting of the road, and snow capped mountains, and "First Convoy over the Ledo Road" and "Pick's Pike Life Line from India to China" painted on its canvas cover. A sign over one of the shops along the road reads in Chinese and English, "Welcome First Stilwell Highway Convoy." Views of troops waving from the trucks and Chinese citizen spectators crowding the sides of the road to watch.
American troops in their drive toward Manila, in 1945, during World War 2, pass several knocked out and burning Japanese Type 89 Chi-Ro tanks. A dead Japanese soldier, shot dead while trying to commit suicide, lies on the ground with an undetonated hand grenade in his mouth. U.S. M4A2 sherman III tanks and infantry of the XIV Corps moving on the Lingayen Plains Philippines, leading to the capital, Manila. U.S. armor towing artillery ford a stream, as they pass beneath framework of an apparently unusable bridge. A battery of U.S. M101 105mm Howitzer artillery pieces is set up and bombards the Clark Field area. One striking shell produces an explosion, fire and column of black smoke. U.S. troops ride forward atop tanks. Glimpse of one soldier with flamethrower tanks on his back. American tanks firing their guns. Destroyed Japanese aircraft on the ground. A soldier using a mine detector to sweep the area. He signals to another soldier who comes to probe the area with a long knife. Next a soldier is seen standing in a hole dug around a bomb Placed nose up under the ground by the Japanese. Soldiers pull it from the hole, using a rope. U.S. soldiers walk in area full of similar holes and bombs pulled from them. General Douglas MacArthur is seen, on January 26, 1945, walking among remains of Japanese aircraft at Clark Field. He visits the Filipino cemetery at Camp O'Donnell, which was a prisoner of war camp, considered the terminating point of the Bataan Death March, where some 20 thousand Filipinos and almost 2 thousand Americans died during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. MacArthur is seen standing by a large Christian Cross monument, and walks among untended graves marked with small wooden crosses. The Mount Pinatubo volcano is seen on the horizon in the background. MacArthur and those accompanying him walk around a large monument containing a placard written in tagolog. U.S. soldiers start a mortar barrage against Japanese forces dug in on "Hill 70." Infantrymen move through trees and brush to flush out the entrenched enemy. Glimpse of type of improvised device made of explosives and gasoline, that U.S. soldiers are using to drive Japanese troops out of their fortifications. As a soldier watches with binoculars, the camera records several of these devices exploding with great force. Glimpse of a dead Japanese soldier on the ground. U.S. troops ride atop an M18 Gun motor carriage of the 637th Tank Destroyer Battalion, as it crosses a river. American tanks and infantry moving cautiously across a bridge as shells explode ahead of them. Tanks firing at Japanese troops entrenched in hillside above a road. Large numbers of American infantry marching along a road accompanied by tanks. Areas around them burning from fires set by retreating Japanese forces.
Map points to Allied positions during Battle of the Bulge in World War II. British soldiers walk in a trench on the prong of the attack south of La Roche en Ardenne (La Roche-en-Ardenne or sometimes just Laroche). Trench in the snow covered area. British soldiers wear warm clothes and try to stay warm in the trench. British soldier knocks hole in ice and draws water into a bucket. British soldiers wash and shave with the freezing water. They heat water and use it to make cups of tea. They move on tanks to location where British and American forces meet and greet. The soldiers talk amongst themselves. On 14 January 1945 armored recce cars of the 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry, 51st Highland Division, meet GI's of the 347th Infantry, 87th U.S. Infantry Division, near Ortheuville. The first link up between troops of VIII Corps and British 30 Corps. Another encounter between British soldiers, dressed in white camouflage smocks, with Americans of the 87th U.S. Infantry Division at Champlon. Later that same day. Field Marshal Montgomery wearing a new beret, commands the northern forces. British soldiers advance on a roadway and supplies move on vehicles. Houses in the background. U.S. 3rd Army soldiers shovel snow during a blizzard, clearing the way for trucks with supplies and mail to pass. Large tractors with snow plow attachments clear snow. On January 14, 1945, American forces gently sweep snow from the bodies of American soldiers at Malmedy who had surrendered to the Germans a month prior but were then massacred. (These were mostly U.S. forces of the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion) German prisoners of war look on apprehensively as the Americans uncover the victims of the Malmedy Massacre. American soldiers look at from a snow covered hillside into the village of Houffalize in Belgium. A twisted sign for Houffalize is seen, and wreckage and destruction in the town. Close views of wrecked and burned homes in Houffalize. Destroyed tanks with one tipped in a river
U.S. Strategic bombing survey film about the situation in Japan after atomic bombing in World War 2. Film titled 'Effects of Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki'. Map of Japan. Location of Hiroshima. City of Hiroshima. Camera pans over view of the city of Hiroshima before the atomic bomb destroyed the city. Buildings and huts in city of Hiroshima pre-destruction. Portrayal of events on August 6, 1945: Sentry standing on a platform. Sentry stands near 'bell' air raid alarm. Sentry in dugout cave. Narrator relates that bomb was dropped. Still image of Hiroshima mushroom cloud explosion seen. Views of destroyed Hiroshima (from September 1945). Bomb damage to large concrete building. Ruins of the city. Damaged street cars in street. Hiroshima station. Hiroshima Prefecture office building damaged by blast. Damaged buildings. Statistics of casualty and damage.
Devastated area in north eastern Hiroshima following August 6, 1945 atomic bomb attack in World War 2. Simple shacks and buildings are being built using rubble material after the devastation of Hiroshima. Damage at Higashi station. Newspaper headlines about the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, and the warning to Japan by the President of the United States. A map of Japan shows the location of Nagasaki. Scenes of Japanese workers in arms factories building torpedoes and munitions, some wearing kokumin-fuku worker uniform. Workers in an assembly line munitions factory of Mitsubishi. A map shows a torpedo plant in the north and a steel and an arms plant in the south, then plots the center point between them as the U.S. target for the "Fat Man" atomic bomb attack. View of the atomic bomb explosion over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, as seen from the B-29 bomber "Bockscar" (sometime called Bock's Car or Bocks Car). Mushroom cloud rises up to the sky. Wing of the B-29 bomber in the foreground. An aerial view of rubble and destroyed buildings in Nagasaki following the atomic bomb attack. Destroyed Mitsubishi steel plants beside the sea.
Korean propaganda film depicting suffering of the Korean people under Japanese occupation prior to and through World War 2. Korean citizens answering questions of Japanese civilian officials during period of Japanese occupation before World War 2. Japanese warship carrying Nakajima E4N bi-wing scout plane. Steel truss bridge being bombed. Koreans being forcibly recruited to fight for Japan. Koreans being tortured and imprisoned at hands of Japanese. Aircraft dropping bombs on ground targets. Slate announces August 9, 1945, marking the Soviet invasion of Japanese occupied areas, including North Korea, in World War II. Destroyers dropping depth charges. Battleships firing heavy guns. Soviet infantry rushing from a ship to engage Japanese forces. Soviet soldier offloading an M1910 Maxim Sokolov Machine gun onto a pier. Amphibious assault by Soviet forces. Artillery barrages. Explosions and smoke. Soviet infantry attacking industrial facilities and planting the Red flag on a hilltop in a rural area. Japanese troops surrendering to Soviet soldiers. Fallen Japanese gunner in gun position with shell in his hands. Numerous other fallen Japanese soldiers. Captured Japanese weapons and war materiel, including many swords. Japanese prisoners of war seated in an open area. Various destroyed Korean buildings and temples. Denuded trees in war zone. August 15th, 1945, shows Japanese citizens listening to a loudspeaker broadcast by Emperor Hirohito, announcing the surrender of Japan, and end of World War II. Shackles are removed from Korean prisoners. Koreans celebrate in the streets. The Korean flag flies from houses in a village. Korean people march, sing, and cheer everywhere in the country. A seated band of musicians plays. Scene shifts to the deck of the battleship USS Missouri, where Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu in formal attire sits to sign documents of surrender. General Douglas MacArthur, and other senior allied officers, stand nearby as Soviet Lieutenant General Kuzma Nikolaevish Derevyanko sits to sign for the USSR. Japanese civilians living in Korea, during the Japanese occupation, are seen moving with their belongings, to be relocated back in Japan.
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