Description
Object description
Edition of US-produced wartime newsreel, featuring the shooting down of Japanese aircraft by the United States Navy in the Pacific; the graduation of General Dwight Eisenhower's son John from the United States Military Academy at West Point; Native Americans performing traditional dances for a visiting group of Chinese airmen; the opening of the Fifth War Bond drive in New York City; off-duty scenes from the US Fifth Army in Italy and scenes of glider operations in Western Europe.
Content description
Part 1: United News main titles. 'Navy planes down Japs in Pacific battle'; an oblique drawing of the Pacific with various places marked (Philippines, Saipan, Truk, Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands, Rabaul, Pearl Harbor). United States Navy warships at sea. Wide shot; a Japanese aircraft flies through a blizzard of anti-aircraft fire. A large battery of twelve 20mm guns on the portside of a large ship. Various shots of Japanese aircraft being shot down by intense anti-aircraft fire.
Content description
Part 2: 'Eisenhower's son in West Point graduation'; high wide shot over an assembly hall. General Somervell addresses the cadets. Officer cadets file onto the stage. Camera pans to follow John Eisenhower. Eisenhower, wearing full dress uniform, with his mother. March past.
Content description
Part 3: 'U.S. Indians hosts to young Chinese pilots'; a group of Chinese pilots on an airstrip, in full equipment with parachutes. They fall out to their aircraft. Formation of aircraft passes overhead. Near the control tower at an airfield in New Mexico, Native Americans in traditional dress perform a dance. Chinese airmen watch the dance.
Content description
Part 4: 'Parade opens Fifth War Bond drive'; on Fifth Avenue in New York City a march past by a mass of American troops. Servicewomen march past. Sailors pass. Civilian spectators. Navy women. High view overlooking Central Park with the march passing.
Content description
Part 5: 'News flashes from U.S. Army in Italy'; Lieutenant-General Mark Clark inspects American servicewomen. One woman is decorated. A placard bearing the insignia of Fifth Army is presented to Clark. The women eating from a long table. On a sunny day two women play table tennis. A woman tends a miniature garden outside her tent. An American soldier barters with a female Italian stallholder, gesturing emphatically. Group of Americans eating. At an airstrip, a parked B-24 Liberator heavy bomber; chalked on the side of the aircraft are a number of Italian phrases (clearly intended for haggling over prices and inviting young ladies to accompany them) with a young Italian boy teaching a class of American airmen.
Content description
Part 6: 'Airborne forces play big role in battle of Europe'; at an airstrip American troops board CG-4 Waco gliders. Soldiers (in striking mottled camouflage uniforms) board gliders, load a jeep and an anti-aircraft gun onto gliders. Closing the hinged nose section and fixing the tow rope. A Douglas C-47 Skytrain (Dakota) (serial 42-23803) taxis past; ground crew run to attach the tow rope. Gliders are towed aloft. Aerial footage shows gliders under tow. Paratroops jump from the tow aircraft and the gliders. Gliders landing; serials 34 2259 and 261145 are seen. A glider marked 53 lands; its nose is opened and a jeep drives out. Troops run from their gliders. Anti-tank gun unloaded and towed away by a jeep. Two airmen erect poles to enable gliders to be 'caught' and towed back into the air. The method is demonstrated. End title.
Physical description
35mm