Opening scene shows Henry Ford speaking at the dedication of the U.S. Navy Service School, on land of the Ford Motor Company, in Dearborn, Michigan, during World War 2. Ford says, "During this crisis, our organization wants to do everything possible to help Americans and the President." Scene shifts to the Eickes-class destroyer, USS Elliot (DD-146), steaming with black smoke billowing from her stacks. Some other unidentified ships are nearby. View of a U.S. Navy Submarine tender with several submarines on either side of her. The U.S. Submarine, USS Sturgeon (SS-187) moving slowly in very calm waters, and then with two other submarines moving together in the ocean. Closeup of submarine O-3 (SS-64) moving at periscope depth and then surfacing and later cruising on the surface with crew on deck.
Film opens showing Ford Motor Company President, Edsel Ford, with a shovel, breaking ground for some kind of construction at the company's Dearborn plant site. Camera pans over views of company buildings. Many cars driving in the vicinity, most are mid to late 1930s models. Pedestrians walking on sidewalks of the campus. Modern buildings on the campus.
People gathered around a new Brewster SB2A Buccaneer dive bomber parked on an airfield. Next, the engine starts, groundsmen pull the aircraft chocks, and it taxis out for takeoff. The aircraft takes off delaying gear retraction, somewhat. Then it is seen buzzing the airfield at low altitude, with landing gear up..
Twenty one New B-17B bombers of the U.S. Army Air Corps 19th Bombardment Group are parked at Hickam Field in Honolulu, after flying 2400 miles from San Francisco, on May 31, 1941. Several views of the B-17s on the field. One simply displays the number 96 on its tail. A momentary glimpse of a Lockheed P-38 aircraft taxiing away, past parked B-17s. (World War II period).
Opening scene shows U.S. Army Brigadier General Charles H. Bonesteel, Commander of the VI Corps Area, seated in a new jeep with Ford Motor Company President, Edsel Ford, at the wheel in a Ford Motor Company factory in during World War 2. This jeep is the first in an order for 1500 jeeps being delivered by Ford to the U.S. Army. Ford Company executives in business suits, covered by white lab coats are in the background, along with regular factory workers. One executive signals for the jeep to be moved ahead, out of the factory. Next, the film shows jeeps being demonstrated at the Ford Motor testing ground. Army officers and Ford Company executives line a ridge overlooking the test ground as drivers take several jeeps through their paces in demanding circumstances. Scene shifts to Fort Benning, Georgia, where jeeps of the Army's 4th Division are seen driving along a dirt road towing small field artillery pieces. Several are also seen driving (without artillery pieces) through dense woods and other obstacles at the Army base.
Activities at Ford River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan during World War II. Freighter being loaded by a huge crane. Locomotive wheels turning. Smoke stacks of the Ford River Rouge Complex. Foundry and sparks flying in the factory. Metal poured into smaller ladle. Molten metal being moved by crane in a large ladle. Machine in operation. Crankshaft on conveyor. View of crane hooks and machine. Worker punching time card. Feet of workers walking in the plant yard. Automobiles in traffic that narrator states are nowadays equipped with safety glass.
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.