“This is an Official Film. Its showing is limited to those persons authorized to attend War Department theaters under Army Regulations 210-390 July 10, 1942.” With that, this black-and-white film —“The War: A Current Information Film for the Armed Services #10” — begins as a medley of “The Army Goes Rolling Along,” “The US Air Force Song,” and “Anchors Away” play with the opening credits. Produced by the War Department, the Army Service Forces Special Service Division, and the Signal Corps (with the cooperation of the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard), we are introduced at mark 00:57 to the “newest, biggest battlewagon on any ocean in the world,” a ship that “belongs to the USA.” This is the battleship USS North Carolina. Although specifics such as speed, complement, and armament, and patrol area are all secret, the viewer is assured that “any enemy aircraft that spots her won’t get back to its base.” Following a demonstration of the unidentified ship’s fire power, the film cuts to “Tell My Boy” at mark 02:45, as a montage of parents are shown, a female narrator reminds the viewer that “we gave our sons to our beloved America. Proudly we wait for news from them,” as the viewer is told how the Civilian Volunteer Self Defense Office of the Bronx organized a program so that foreign-speaking parents could dictate a letter to their sons in the armed forces. “This is only a small part of the war effort but what a great deal it means to these mothers and fathers — and their sons.”
Mark 05:30 takes us to a Marine Corps bulletin, “I Was There,” and we meet Barney Rosofsky — better known as 1920s and 1930s boxing champion Barney Ross — who enlisted in the Marines in 1942 as a private and served in the Pacific Theater. The film shows us highlights from his boxing career, including a May 1934 contest against Jimmy McLarnin at mark 05:55 in which Ross won the Welterweight Championship. (He would also be a world champion in the lightweight and light welterweight divisions during his career.) From there, we see Sgt. Barney Ross at mark 07:47, who explains how he received his promotion: “You take a boat to Guadalcanal and go in with the Marines.” During the Battle of Guadalcanal, a wounded Ross was credited with single-handedly fighting nearly two dozen Japanese soldiers before carrying a wounded soldier to safety the next morning. “The Japs never stopped firing that night,” Ross recalled at mark 10:08. “That night was by all odds the toughest round I have ever slugged through.” He went on to be earn a Bronze Star for his heroism, and in the film explains that he accepted it on the behalf of his entire company. “This isn’t a one man’s war.”
“This Dog’s Army,” presented at mark 10:40, features a “canine narrator” and his tale of enlisting in the army. At the “Dogs for Defense” induction center, we catch a glimpse of child star Shirley Temple at mark 11:37 and the story unfolds of how dogs are examined, “including certain parts where only a dog should look.” Canine basic training begins at mark 12:52, including how to become an attack dog.
The film concludes with the “Story of Malta” beginning at mark 15:46. (The Siege of Malta occurred from 1940 to 1942 in the Mediterranean Theater and pitted the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force against German and Italian forces for the strategically important island.) The film shows us a visit by Britain’s King George VI at mark 16:05, following the Allied victory, as he honors the Maltese people, as well as captured German footage of German planes taking to the sky at mark 17:00 as part of a combat mission against Malta. By mark 19:55, as a choir sings “Onward Christian Soldiers,” the narrator remarks that in the end all that was left was the island of Malta itself, but that was enough to allow the people to take up their lives again.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
