Description
Object description
Edition of US-produced wartime newsreel featuring American air attacks against Japanese targets on the Philippines; the preparation of Red Cross parcels for Allied prisoners of war overseas; the 59th anniversary of the Uruguayan military academy at Montevideo; a large computer in use by the US Navy; American troops in action at Peleliu in the Pacific, the Allied assault on the Gothic Line in Italy, and the capture of the port of Brest in France.
Content description
Part 1: No opening or story titles. Gun camera footage of air attacks by US Navy aircraft on Japanese shipping, including merchant ships and a destroyer; one merchant ship is hit by gunfire and explodes in spectacular fashion. Burning oil tanker (?). Strafing attack on a building, standing on a coastal headland, with a tower (according to the commentary sheet, an anti-aircraft tower). Camera gun footage of Japanese fighter aircraft being shot down. Strafing attacks on Japanese airfields on Mindanao. Map showing the Philippines; an arrow appears and points to Leyte. Invasion force, including tank Landing Ships (LSTs) at sea. Admiral Halsey in discussion over a map with other officers. Newsreel footage from 1942 showing General Jonathon Wainwright (he is identified by an on-screen caption). Captured Philippino troops. General Macarthur visits the front and speaks with an officer.
Content description
Part 2: 'Red Cross parcels for war prisoners'; exterior of a square, brick-building marked with red crosses and 'Koller and Smith Co. Inc'. Interior civilian women packing Red Cross parcels. Close-ups of a various small items including 'Milko whole milk powder', 'Jack Frost tablet sugar' and 'Phenix' cheese. Shots of the parcels being packed on a roller runway. Close-ups of soap and multi-vitamin packets. The boxes are closed by a machine, sealed, printed and delivered by chute to a waiting lorry.
Content description
Part 3: Uruguay military academy marks 59th anniversary'; exterior Montevideo military academy with flags flying from masts. Looking up at a crest 'Escuela Militar'. A guard of honour presents arms to President Juan Jose Amezega. The President and senior officers arrive at a parade ground. Senior officer addresses the parade with a microphone. Close-up President and two senior officers. A sword is presented to a junior officer. March past of Uruguayan officer cadets.
Content description
Part 4: 'Giant calculator solves problems in mathematics'; interior at Harvard University showing a large computer manned by United States naval personnel. A man wearing a star on his epaulette takes notes. Programming the computer by adjusting a vast bank of small dials. A sailor laces up a long strip of punched paper. The paper runs through the machine. A female naval officer watches as an 'Electromatic' typewriter prints the output.
Content description
Part 5: 'Battle for Peleliu in final stages'; a group of American infantry huddle behind a tank. Tracer fire hitting undergrowth. A thick plume of smoke rises beyond trees. A soldier passes a building or bunker which is billowing white smoke. Looking up at the turret of a tank marked 'C14'. A Sherman tank goes forward with infantry in support. Infantry crouching near a tank. A soldier fires a Thompson submachine gun. An apparently Japanese man, walking along a exposed crest, throws what appears to be a piece of wood down towards the camera; he falls, apparently hit by American fire. Drifting white smoke. An American soldier, back to camera, appears to light a fuze. A soldier, leaning off a ledge while being held by a rope, fires a Thompson vertically downwards. A grenade is dropped vertically (into a bunker?). A demolition team (?) manhandle a dome-shaped tripod device into position. An explosion. Naval officers saluting. Marines saluting. An American flag flying.
Content description
Part 6: 'Allied armies break Gothic Line in Italy'; landscape shot of a hillside, apparently Mount Altuzza, with military traffic. American jeeps and ambulances pass camera. The road seen through barbed wire. An machine gunner behind a stone wall where another man keeps watch with binoculars. Hillside. A mortar fire and an M18 Hellcat tank destroyer fire against the hillside. The M18 Hellcat is marked '3-1' and carries the name 'Barry' and an image of a big cat with bared teeth. Hillside with smoke. A concrete bunker. The turret of a Panther tank, in a concrete emplacement. Destroyed concrete and earthworks. American troops pass a German assault gun with has fallen off the road. American troops on the march.
Content description
Part 7: 'Allied capture great French port of Brest'; aerial view of Brest. American troops watch as a Stars and Stripes is erected. General Walter Robertson, commander 2nd Infantry Division, with a German (General Ramcke, commander of the German garrison?). Germans are led away by military police. Close-up German officer in camouflage jacket. More German prisoners amomgst ruins. A German with 'Kreta' and 'Afrika' on his sleeve. German troops march away. Aerial view of submarine pens. Aerial view shattered apartment buildings; a large tented first aid post is also seen. End title.
Physical description
35mm