From "The Last Bomb": The defeat of Japan through American airpower in World War 2. Mix of actual combat footage and a small amount of vintage, dramatized, pilot in cockpit footage. A single B-29 from the 39th Bomb Group (stationed at North Field Guam) drops clusters of incendiary and fragmentation bombs over Japan. Bombs away view of large number of bombs falling toward Japan. A formation of B-29s from the 498th Bomb Group, Isley Field, Saipan, in flight during a daytime bombing mission over Japan. Explosions and smoke rise from targets in Japan, including two Japanese aircraft plants and an airdrome as part of U.S. tactical plan 574. Color, low aerial view of massive bomb damage over Tokyo following U.S. air attacks of March 1945. Escorting P-51s from Iwo Jima engage defending Japanese fighter aircraft in dogfights. Aerial gun camera footage of Japanese airplanes being hit, exploding, bursting into flames, and falling from sky to crash. Later, P-51s conduct strafing attacks against Japanese ground targets, including: lines of communication; railroads; marshaling yards; factories; airfields; ships; and harbors. Color gun camera footage shows these strafing attacks. P-51s returning to land at Iwo Jima and performing celebratory rolls over the field. Crippled B-29s making emergency landings on Iwo Jima. A B-29 from 500th Bomb Group with an engine shutdown. A B-29 from the 29th Bomb Group. Bad weather over runway at Iwo Jima forces a P-51 pilot to bail out over the field. A B-29 from the 6th Bomb Group ditches in water near beach on Iwo Jima. A B-29 crashes and bursts into flames during landing at Iwo Jima (all crew escapes.) Firefighters douse the flames with foam. Formation of B-29s from 39th Bomb Group returning to Guam after bombing mission over Japan. A B-29 crashing on landing and bursting into flames. Sole surviving crew member being carried on stretcher, as firemen and rescue teams work at scene. Formations of B-29s from 498th Bomb Group and 9th Bomb Group, in flight. Good color view from B-29 of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, which brought about the capitulation of Japan and end of World War 2. Large mushroom cloud rising into the air following atomic bomb explosion at Nagasaki.
Surrender of Japanese Imperial forces leads to end of World War II. V-J Day (Victory over Japan) celebrations in August 1945. Americans celebrate as newspaper headlines announce V-J Day. Close up view of man holding Boston Post with headline "War Is Over." Teeming crowds in New York City's Times Square celebrating the news. Crowd of citizens, soldiers, and sailors in uniform surrounds a newspaper with headline "U.S. Announces Jap Surrender." Happy crowds of people waving, jumping, and smiling in jubilation. People show V signs. U.S. warships underway at sea. U.S. soldiers aboard ship. Japanese troops parading in Japan. Japanese aircraft lined up in flight line ready for take off to defend the Japanese mainland. Japanese amphibian tanks lined up ready for use against a possible allied invasion. Aerial view of actual atomic bomb explosion over Hiroshima as seen from second B-29 aircraft accompanying the Enola Gay on the bombing run on August 6, 1945. Ruins of twisted metal and debris in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and civilians walking among the devastation. Japanese civilians along road. Japanese Generals deplaning and meeting U.S. General MacArthur on an airfield. Troops of 11th Airborne Division land in Japan. Marines reach Japanese shores at Yokosuka Naval Base in Landing crafts. American soldier raises American flag in Japan. American troops aboard Japanese battleship Nagato after Japanese surrender. View of the Nagato (later used as a target ship during Operation Crossroads).
Opening scene shows tents housing more than 1500 Japanese prisoners of war at Kadena, Okinawa during World War 2. The area is surrounded by fencing and, as camera pans, it shows an American soldier overlooking the prison camp as he holds a Browning M1919A6 light machine gun. Another view of the prison compound with warning sign against admittance and another sign reading: "PW inclosure." As narrator refers to "mopping up operations" a jeep carrying more Japanese POWs drives past the signs. Ambulatory Japanese POW entering the prison compound past armed military policeman. View from inside the compound as Japanese POWs enter. A POW being frisked by a U.S. soldier. Closeups of some Japanese prisoners standing behind barbed wire enclosure. American soldier makes notes as he interviews a prisoner. POWs receiving haircuts under a tent in the stockade. Others washing and shaving at an outdoor trough of water. Some seen playing a board game at a tent. POWs in a wrestling contest, surrounded by others watching. Prisoners offloading supplies from a truck and stacking them in their compound. POWs cooking food in large kettles and distributing it to other prisoners. Various views of prisoners in the compound. U.S. medics attending to a wounded POW, administering blood plasma. Numerous Japanese prisoners loosely assembled outdoors. Next, on June 22, 1945, U.S. troops are assembled for a flag raising ceremony. The U.S. flag is raised on a tall flagpole to mark the securing of Okinawa. An unidentified U.S. Army Lieutenant General leads the ceremony, saluting as the colors are raised. (Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., Commander, 10th Army that took Okinawa, was killed 4 days earlier, on June 18, 1945.)
Chinese troops recapturing Liuchow, China. Liuchow, the former U.S. 14th Air Force Base and largest communication center in South Central China, in ruins after the withdrawal of Japanese forces. The burnt buildings on the streets in Liuchow. The ruins of buildings along the sides of the road. Chinese troops walk along the road. The Chinese troops recapture Liuchow on 13th June 1945. The civilians in China cheering and welcoming the soldiers to the town. The Liuchow Air Base, which was not usable since the Japanese forces had dug holes in places. The entire stretch of the airstrip being blocked with gas drums. The center stretch of the airstrip being damaged. An Air Force engineer examines the heavily mined air strip. Men of Chinese 169th Division assemble for the flag raising ceremony on 2nd July 1945. The troops are welcomed by a citizens' committee. The Chinese 169th Division Major General addresses the men. The Chinese flag hoisted. The troops salute the flag. (World War II period).
German troops are seen in white winter uniforms, during World War 2, with some holding panzerfaust. Narrator mentions combat against Anglo-Canadian forces, and then speaks of preparation for the New Year's offensive. Heinrich Himmler, as commander of Army Group "Oberrhein" had ordered the launch of Operation Nordwind to recapture Strasbourg. Accordingly, On New Year's Eve, 1945,The Germans launch an offensive (Nordwind) into Alsace, attacking the Allied 6th Army Group at multiple points. On January 5, 1945, Army Group Oberrhein begins a support attack by General Otto von dem Bach's XIV SS Corps, the 553d Volksgrenadier Division, reinforced with armor and commando units. They are seen crossing the Rhine river in small boats at Gambsheim, just ten miles north of Strasbourg. Allied aircraft bomb German positions on the West bank of the Rhein (Rhine) River. The German troopers seize high ground West of the Rhein. German troops are seen firing recoilless anti-tank weapons in a field, Views of knocked out British and American tanks. Abandoned German Jagdpanzer IV faces a U.S. Tank Destroyer. German troops are seen advancing into town North of Strasbourg (Herrlisheim, Drusenheim, Offendorf ?). Scenes of destruction in town. Words: "Haus Bewohnt Civil" scrawled on homes to identify them as civilian occupied.
A film on preparations that are made for prosecution of axis war criminals following World War 2. Ratification of the surrender documents (from surrender two days earlier at Reims) held at Soviet headquarters in Karlshorst, Berlin, on May 9, 1945. German officers Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff as the representative of the Luftwaffe, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as Chief of Staff of OKW, and Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg as Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine enter room and are seated. View of Keitel signing the surrender document. Scene change to Hall of the United Nations Conference, held in San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945, with delegates from 50 Allied nations creating the United Nations. This was officially the United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO). Leaders of various United Nations countries address delegates present in the War Memorial Opera House of San Francisco, including Edward Stettinius Jr of the United States. Next: A meeting of the military tribunal Chiefs of Counsel of many nations, including France, Russia, Great Britain and the United States, held in London, England, United Kingdom. They sign the International Military Tribunal Charter governing how the major war criminals from World War 2 would be tried.
CRITICALPAST.COM: About Us | Contact Us | FAQs - How to Order | License Agreement | My Account | My Lightboxes | Shopping Cart | Advanced Search | Featured Collections | Website Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy ©2026 CriticalPast LLC.
License Agreement |
Terms & Conditions |
Privacy Policy
©2026 CriticalPast LLC.