This silent 8mm home movie was shot in Italy by an American airman or crew chief / maintenance worker during 1944. The film begins at :22 with shots of Americans posing in front of a pissoir. At :50, a wrecked plane — probably Italian or German — sits on the ground. It is probably a variant of the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79, either a SM.79B or SM.79C. At 1:17 the tail of an American aircraft # 476643 is shown. Work is being done on the tail. At 1:54 a C-47 and other American aircraft are shown on the field. The mountain seen at 2:30 might be Vesuvius. At 2:36 are shots in an Italian city, most likely Naples. At 3:10 the post office is seen. At 3:20 a sculpture is shown with the words “Real Teatro Di S. Carlo”, this is the roof of the Teatro Reale di San Carlo opera house in Naples. The Castel dell’Ovo is seen at 3:40. At 4:12 are shots of the harbor area with a warship visible in the distance and another at anchor. At 5:10, American personnel are seen living in tents, apparently sharing a care package. At 5:35, a wrecked airplane is shown, missing the entire front fuselage. At 6:08, what appears to be fighter aircraft, possibly P-47 Thunderbolts, are seen operating from the airfield. At 6:55 is aerial footage of the Italian countryside. At 7:05 a man wearing glasses poses for the camera. Behind him are tents. At 7:25 a group of Army Air Force men are decorated by an officer. At 8:16 a large formation of aircraft are shown flying overhead. At 8:29, a C-47 flies overhead. At 8:53, a C-47 is seen with many others at an Army airfield. At 9:08 a glider is towed behind the plane. At 9:20, are aerial shots of the Italian countryside. At 9:57, paratroops make a drop. At 10:04, men sweep up debris near a ruined metal structure, probably an airplane hangar. At 10:37, a group of Army Air Force personnel are seen at Sienna, Italy, the Piazza del Campo. At 11:07 nuns walk in front of a cathedral, the Duomo di Siena. At 11:59, a large estate is shown in the countryside. At 12:51, footage of kids being served food by the airmen (this footage is dark as it was not properly exposed). At 13:50, maintenance workers and pilots are seen in front of a C-47. At 14:30 an airplane engine spins and then coughs to a stop and the crew pound the ground. At 15:13 an airman poses in front of a building. At 15:28, maintenance work on a C-47 engine. At 16:21, the undercarriage of a C-47 is shown being inspected along with a landing gear tire. At 16:41, tents are shown. At 17:11, air to air shots of C-47s flying in formation This is probably another paradrop. At 17:29 the aircraft make steep dives. At 17:39, crewmen are shown relaxing with cups of coffee and donuts while a Red Cross girl watches. At 18:00, are shots from inside a C-47 cockpit of a pilot manipulating the controls.

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. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com