Description
Object description
Edition of US-produced wartime newsreel, featuring Allied air attacks in North Borneo and Europe; a medal ceremony for the United States 92nd Infantry Division in Italy; the arrival of Generals Wedemeyer and Hurley in China; an inter-Allied boxing contest in Rome; flight tests of an American copy of the V-1 flying bomb, and amphibious landings by United Stated forces on Luzon in the Philippines.
Content description
Part 1: United News main titles. 'Allied bombers strike on two fronts'; aerial footage, taken from a B-24 Liberator bomber of the 13th Air Force flying at low altitude, showing an attack on an oil storage facility in North Borneo. Several of the oil storage tanks are seen in flames; the cameraman is close to a waist gun position with a gun barrel occasionally entering shot. Somewhere in Europe; gun camera footage shows fighter aircraft being shot down and a strafing attack on a parked German aircraft, which explodes in a fireball.
Content description
Part 2: '92nd Infantry Division honored in Italy'; troops of the 92nd Infantry Division on parade. Medals are presented by Major-General Lucian Truscott. The division is inspected. March past.
Content description
Part 3: 'Americans in new posts in China'; General Albert Wedemeyer, commander US Army China theatre, steps down from an aircraft and inspects a guard of honour of Chinese troops. At Chungking, Major-General Patrick Hurley, US ambassador to China, is escorted up stairs to a large building. Chiang Kai-Shek. The general is presented to him; he offers a deep bow.
Content description
Part 4: 'Inter-Allied boxing meet'; Rome exterior; tilt down an obelisk inscribed 'Mussolini Dux', now marked with a placard 'US Army Rest Centre'. Men run round an athletics track. Interior; boxing gym with men skipping and sparring. Men doing exercise. A boxer receives a massage. Another has his hands bound. Interior hall decorated with Allied flags. The boxers are introduced to a senior American officer. Shots of boxing matches, including a sequence in which a black pugilist gets up after being knocked down, and is beaten down again by his white opponent.
Content description
Part 5: 'New robot bombs tested'; two civilians examine a model of a V-1 flying bomb (or a very similar US copy). Assembling a flying bomb; a cutaway drawing highlights the engine. Welding. Test-firing the engine; two civilian men, spectating, put their fingers in their ears. A flying bomb is fired from an inclined launching ramp. An impressive aerial view of a flying bomb launch, taken from an aircraft passing the launch site. A flying bomb launch with the camera aircraft in shot.
Content description
Part 6: 'Landing on Luzon'; invasion force at sea off Mindoro with anti-aircraft fire in the sky. A Japanese single-engine fighter is fired at. An aircraft hits the water close to a large landing craft. A Landing Ship Tank (LST) burning fiercely. A destroyer attempts to assist a burning landing craft. An LST on fire. Aerial view of small wooden buildings and open fields on Mindoro. An American man gives instructions to a Philippino civilian. Laying an airstrip. Douglas C-47 Skytrain (Dakota) aircraft overhead and landing. A single-engine fighter dives vertically into the ground. A P-38 Lightning, on fire, attempts a crash-landing (parked Dakota 223616 (or 816)); the aircraft strikes the ground and partially disintegrates. Pilot staggering from the wreck, apparently injured. Close-up pilot, looking bewildered. Burning wreck of the P-38. At sea. A map of Luzon with Lingayen, Manila, Bataan and Corregidor marked. Naval bombardment and landing craft heading ashore at Luzon. Men coming ashore. Stores on the beach. A banner 'Evacuation' with red cross. A Philippino woman is treated by medics. Civilians (including children). A group of American officers in discussion with a civilian man. LVT with howitzer passes. LVTs pass with men riding aboard. Jeep passes. Troops pass Manat Toll House. Aerial view of terrain with a wide river, flooded paddy fields and a four-span bridge. Onboard a landing craft going upriver. Civilians at the riverside. An American flag flies over some wooden buildings at the riverside. American troops enter a town. American troops are greeted by an ecstatic crowd (a signpost gives directions to Santa Barbara and San Carlos). End title.
Physical description
35mm