National Glider Meet at Elmira, New York. U.S. Air Chief Major General H.H. Arnold boarding glider and taking off and taking off. Men standing near winch which supplies take off. Gliders in air, soaring and landing.
View of U.S. Army Air Corps officers and cadets at Detroit City Hall. The air cadets being sworn in for service in the United States Army in World War 2. Hollywood stars Bud Abbott and Lou Costello along with Dick Foran on hand for the swearing in to congratulate the new airmen. The comedy due Abbott and Costello also seen escorting actress Carol Bruce at the Premier of their new comedy movie. Views of large crowd and few several police officers restraining the crowd beneath the Fox Theater marquee and entrance as it shows premier of movie "Keep 'Em Flying."
Berlin City police control crowds of protesting people on a street in Berlin, Germany. Large crowd of Germans in open air assembly. Many demonstrate support for a new German Republic. People with signs and banners. One announces a group's support for the German Socialist Republic. Some carry tricolor flags of Germany. Some carry solid (red?) communist flags. The crowd marches by the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate. Berlin Police on horseback control the marchers. A man conducts a band of muscians in the midst of the crowd back in the open air assembly location.
Camera focuses on a 1954 Chevrolet ambulance as it approaches, driving across an airfield in Guatemala. It pulls up next to a Guatemalan Air Force DC-3 aircraft, where it is met by several Guatemalan soldiers. One of them converses with the pilot, who is wearing a flight suit. The camera shifts focus, momentarily, to a North American T-6 aircraft taxiing onto the runway for takeoff. Then it focuses, again, on the soldiers , ambulance, and parked DC-3 aircraft. As the pilot approaches the ambulance, several soldiers remove a patient on a litter and carry it to the door of the aircraft, where they place it on the ground and assist the patient to climb a few steps up and into the aircraft cabin. He holds up his right leg, which is bandaged, as he is helped by a crew member. Scene shifts to view from the aircraft cockpit as it departs from the airfield and proceeds over rugged hilly countryside. Aerial view of buildings in a town on the water. More views of fairly barren land below. View is interrupted and then resumes with more aerial views from the aircraft cockpit. Pilots are seen in the cockpit. The remainder of the film shows aerial views of Guatemala City (probably the destination of this air evacuation mission).
U.S. Navy provides aircraft carrier ferry service for the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War 2. View of the USS Ranger (CV-4) at sea with sunset and clouds in background. Scene shifts to the ship's company, turned out on deck in dress whites. An accompanying contingent of U.S. marines, is also seen presenting arms. Next. Rear Admiral, Ernest D. McWhorter,Commander Task Force 22, is seen conversing with Captain C. T. Durgin, Captain of the USS Ranger. Scene shifts to flight deck of the Ranger, where deck crews are readying Curtiss P-40L airplanes for flight to the former Vichy French Anfa Airport near Casablance (captured by the Allies in Operation Torch). One P-40 is named "Regina IV." U.S. Army Air Force 57th Fighter Group commander, Colonel Frank H. Mears, shakes hands with a navy officer, from the cockpit of his P-40. He then takes off. More P-40s follow. Closeup of an Army pilot in cockpit of a P-40, giving a thumbs up. P-40s forming up in flight overhead. Navy officers and sailors watch the departing P-40s and give thumbs up for approval. P-40s buzz the carrier as they depart for Casablanca, Morocco.
View of Eagle Squadron units of the British RAF, composed of Americans who volunteered to assist Britain against Germany before the United States entered World War II. The Eagle Squadron members are receiving Army Air Force insignia wings from Brigadier General Frank Hunter as they formally exit the RAF and enter the 4th Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Eighth Air Force. Close-up views of Hunter presenting wings to the airmen, some of who had served the RAF for two year including in the Battle of Britain. The three squadrons, 334th, 335th, and 336th, parade in the rain at an airbase. The American flag is raised beside the RAF flag on a flag pole.
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