Dating to the Korean War, this raw footage starts with a shot of a North Korean or Chinese soldier surrendering to U.S. Army soldiers. The enemy combatant at :16 appears to be an officer. At :30 smoke from an artillery strike is visible and at :47 what appears to be an air strike slams onto a distant ridge. At 1:00 a wide shot of the battlefield is shown and more artillery strikes are evident. At 2:45 in a scene reminiscent of the TV series MASH, a medical evacuation occurs by Bell Model 47 helicopter. At 3:48 a slate indicates the film was shot in September of 1951, during which time the Battle of Inchon was raging. At this point a denuded landscape is shown with Marines marching along a rough trail. At 4:28 a group of wounded soldiers are seen being moved in stretchers. It’s obviously exhausting work as up to eight men carry the stretchers. At 7:30, more North Korean or Chinese prisoners are shown. At 7:45 a wounded soldier with his face bandaged lies on a stretcher. At 8:12 a Huey dusts up a landing area and — just like in M*A*S*H — the stretcher bearers move up to the helicopter and load the wounded. At 9:30 the chopper zooms away to hospital. At 10:00 a tail slate — Sept. 16, 1951.
The Bell 47 is a single rotor single engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company’s first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first helicopter certified for civilian use on 8 March 1946. More than 5,600 Bell 47s were produced, including those under license by Agusta in Italy, Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan, and Westland Aircraft in the United Kingdom. The Bell 47J Ranger is a modified version with a fully enclosed cabin and fuselage. The Bell 47 entered U.S. military service in late 1946, in a variety of versions and designations for three decades. It was designated H-13 Sioux by the U.S. Army, and during the Korean War, it served a variety of roles, including reconnaissance and scouting, search and rescue, and medevac.
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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
