Description
Object description
Edition of US-produced wartime newsreel, featuring Royal Air Force daylight bombing over Europe; a meeting of the International Labour Organisation in Philadelphia, USA; the burial of US Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox; the wind tunnel testing of a giant propeller; the launch of the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard, and American troops fighting on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands
Content description
Part 1: United News main titles. 'Huge air fleets bomb Nazi war plants in Europe'; aerial footage showing a very low altitude flight by RAF Douglas Boston light bombers, flown by French and Dutch crews, crossing the enemy coast, apparently attacking a factory. Explosions below. Two RAF Mitchell medium bombers (marked NO:J and NO:V; RAF 320 Squadron) in flight.
Content description
Part 2: '40 nations meet for international labor parley'; exterior of Philadelphia Temple University. A sign reads 'International Labour Conference'. Interior hall. Walter Nash, president of the International Labour Organisation speaks from a lecturn fenced by a battery of microphones. Pan along the front row with three men in discussion. Two other men speaking. Translators wearing headsets at work; a Chinese delegation hearing the translation. Further shots of delegates.
Content description
Part 3: 'US Secretary of Navy buried with high honors'; march past with civilians and naval personnel watching. The coffin of William Franklin Knox (Frank Knox) passes; it is borne on a gun carriage. Servicewomen march past. Sailors march past. A parade of US admirals salute the arrival of the coffin at Arlington National Cemetery. Firing party fire a salute. The American flag that covered the coffin is folded. The Secretary's widow is led away by a naval captain.
Content description
Part 4: 'Wind tunnel tests propellers for giant planes'; inside a wind tunnel a very large propeller is fitted to an engine by male technicians. The engine is fired up; observers can be seen watching from a window. Views of the test chamber and the control room. An engineer (?) in a suit pushes a lever forward. A rev counter rises. The lighting is dimmed to show the glowing engine exhausts. A young woman enters the test chamber and her hair and clothing is blasted by the wind. Closing shot of the propeller.
Content description
Part 5: 'New aircraft carrier launched by US Navy'; at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn the new Essex Class aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) waits on the launching ways. The sponsor, Mrs John S McCain, wife of the US Navy admiral, smashes the champagne on the hull and the ship slowly slides into the water; tugs can be seen in the background.
Content description
Part 6: 'Latest films of US action in South Pacific'; interior with Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur in discussion over maps. Map of the Pacific quickly dissolves to show Papua, New Britain, and the Solomon Islands; Bougainville is highlighted. Naval bombardment. Smoke rising from the shore. Aircraft drop smoke bombs on a treeline a short distance from watching American troops of 37th Infantry Division. An American soldier uses a field telephone. Nearby a smokescreen spreads. Troops move up along a road and into the jungle. Major-General Beightler, commander 37th Infantry Division. Sherman medium tanks move up. Kneeling infantry, bayonets fixed, waiting to move forward. Two infantrymen behind a tank; one speaks to the commander via the hull telephone. Troops advance close behind advancing tanks (Sherman and Stuart light tanks). View through a tank's vision slit shows another tank firing. Soldier fires a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). A group of soldiers, including one with BAR, M1 Carbine, and M1 Rifle, and others, firing their weapons from a standing position (this shot probably not taken in action). Looking down a road as an American soldier (?) ducks into cover; dust rises from a near miss by a bullet. Soldier fires an M1 Garand. Soldiers follow a Sherman. The Sherman (named Black-) fires its main gun. Something (a rocket?) is fired into a bunker. Troops throw grenades. Looking through undergrowth as a smoke grenade (?) bounces along the ground in front of camera. A phosphorous grenade explodes dramatically in front of a group of soldiers, one of whom is using a flamethrower. The flamethrower operator torches the ground. A casualty on a stretcher is carried away. Troops going forward. Firing a bazooka. A soldier fires a BAR towards a target (a bunker?) at close range. Another soldiers fires a bazooka before ducking for cover. An explosion across a clearing. Dead Japanese in their positions. American soldier with Japanese bayonet. Bulldozer fells a tree. Dynamiting a large tree. Laying and rolling an airstrip. Control tower. Signaller with radio set. View of the runway. A C-47 Skytrain (Dakota) lands on the strip. Men run towards the aircraft. End title.
Physical description
35mm