U.S. Army Air Forces operations in the Pacific during World War 2. Animated map of world shows U.S. Army Air Forces locations. Formation of Us Army Air Forces B-17s in flight. Animation shows expansion of Japanese holdings in the Pacific Ocean. Animation shows location of U.S. 5th Air Force. Mechanics work on early model of B-17s of 5th Air Force at air base in Australia. Japanese convoy underway in the Coral Sea. Action of Battle of Coral Sea by U.S. Navy and Australian Navy ships and aircraft. Bombs away view as B-17 in flight drop bombs. Japanese vessels in water being bombed. U.S. Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bomber in flight. U.S. Army Air Forces pilots board P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft. U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchell bombers' engines starting. B-17 in flight. Formation of RAF (Royal Air Force) Beaufort bombers in flight. Interiors of aircraft shows Australian pilots at controls. Japanese convoy in Bismarck Sea. Australian and U.S. aircraft attacking at very low altitude ("mast high") to "skip bomb" the Japanese ships. Interiors of aircraft shows gunners strafing ships. Bombing of Japanese ships.
Camera pans across scenes showing masses of Chinese. Narrator cites their large population as a war asset. Lt Gen. Daniel Sultan Commander of US Forces, India–Burma Theater (USFIBT) describes the Allied mission as simply "placing guns in the hands of men in order that they can kill our common enemy." He describes Japan's 1942 strategy of completely isolating China from outside help. Animated map shows Japanese forces attacking China from bases in Thailand and advancing north, driving British forces into India, and leaving Burma in Japanese hands.Glimpse of Japanese troops occupying Burma. Views of American troops evacuated to India. View of Chinese soldiers boarding U.S. Air Transport Command C-46 transport planes for flights from Kunming to Dinjan and Chabua, India. Closeup of some troops inside the cabin of a plane. Chinese soldiers await transport as a C-47 aircraft takes off in the background. Aerial view of two C-47 planes in formation. View from the air of high cloud covered mountains. Storm clouds over the mountains. Downward view from an aircraft flying over the Himalayan Mountains (called flying the "hump" by U.S. pilots). View of Chinese soldiers inside a transport plane. View out the window of a transport plane landing in India. A C-46 airplane taking off. A large formation of Chinese troops seen after more were brought from China to India, later in the war. American soldiers training troops of the Chinese 38th and 22nd Divisions. General Sultan speaks of the need to build up the U.S.Air Transport Command. Two C-47 airplanes on the ground. One named "The Joker." View of sky filled with B-24 Liberator bombers. Sky filled with C-47 transport planes. Chinese soldiers training in Kunming, climbing out of trench in live fire exercise with machine guns firing over their heads and explosive charges detonating near them. Air frame of a P-47 aircraft being loaded and several of Bell P-39 Airacobra aircraft being loaded aboard ship bound to strengthen the U.S. Army 10th and 14th Air Forces in Burma, in 1944. Covered P-47 aircraft without engines being towed by jeeps along a street in Burma. A large airfield with many U.S. fighter planes parked on its ramps. Engines being installed on P-39 aircraft. A flight line filled with P-40 aircraft displaying Chinese roundels. Some fly over a flight line of U.S. Army Air Forces P-39 aircraft. Glimpse of a fighter plane escorting a transport aircraft. A formation of B-24 Liberator bombers dropping bombs and exploding on Japanese ground targets. Workers are seen unloading large amounts of cargo from a B-24 bomber. Workers rolling a large bomb from the plane onto the tailgate of a truck.
American air attack on Japanese cities during World War II. A U.S. Army Air Force B-29 Superfortress aircraft in flight as it drops bombs over an airplane factory in Nagasaki. Bombs impact and billows of smoke rise up. A map depicts the air strike on Tokyo by U.S. aircraft that took off from Saipan, Mariana Islands. During an American air attack on Iwo Jima, Japan U.S. Army Air Force P-51 Mustangs shoot down Japanese aircraft. A Japanese airplane descends as smoke rises. B-29 aircraft in formation flight as bombs are being dropped and smoke rises. A damaged B-29 comes in for landing at an air base. The damaged B-29 aircraft. U.S. Army Air Force aircraft lined up at an air field.
United States Army Air Force at their base in the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, during World War II. Personnel at the base of Detachment-A, 21st Bomber Command Provisional Unit. Soldiers eating breakfast at tables near the tents of the base. Volcanic area near the camp. Medical officers and enlisted men digging latrines in volcano ash.
Reenactment to illustrate how newly recruited civilians might arrive at a base to commence training as U.S. Army Air Forces flying cadets. The recruits, in civilian clothes, arrive in private cars and park in a base parking lot. One group of four arrives in a 1940 Chevrolet Special Deluxe convertible coupe automobile. A large number of recruits in civilian clothes, carrying luggage, walking across a lawn towards a building on the base. Two are seen carrying tennis racquets. The scene is shot at Randolph Field in Texas. It is repeated twice, that is, in two takes.
Two squadrons stand before General Chen at podium during transfer of F-104 planes to Chinese Nationalist Air Force at Kuang Kuan Air Base in Taiwan. Two Chinese Nationalist F-104B's in the background. Chinese Nationalist F-104B taxies and turns. Four F-86F planes stationary. Chinese Nationalist F-104B flies by. Major General Doran and a Chinese Nationalist look up at aircraft. Chinese Nationalist officers look at sky.
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