(THIS VERSION INCOMPLETE — SEE 82374)

In this US Navy Combat Bulletin (No. 4), produced in Cooperation with the U.S. Army Pictorial Services, viewers get updates to the Allied war efforts in Europe and the Pacific. The bulletin begins with a segment on air combat support. Footage from cameras on U.S. planes show German planes being shot out of the air and the strafing of German ground targets, including trains. “Piggyback” planes fly toward Allied lines (also known as Mistel, “Piggyback” planes refer to composite aircraft with an unmanned component filled with fuel to serve as a bomb); North American P-51 Mustangs of the 8th Air Force shoot down the German aircraft combination of Focke-Wulf 190 fighters and Junkers 88 twin-engine bombers. A fighter squadron shoots at grounded German planes at an enemy air field, and the grounded planes are hit, burn, and produce thick smoke. The next segment shows the Allied crossing of the Rhine as the U.S. Navy and Army engineers oversee the surprisingly smooth operation. LCMs and LCVPs are trucked past Massbracht (03:02) and to the Rhine. Army engineers use cranes to move the boats from the trucks into the river (03:50). Tanks and men move onto the landing craft and are ferried across the river. An aerial shot shows the German town of Wesel (04:30). The next update takes viewers to an air base in England, where British Stirling bombers of the British 6th Airborne wait for the mission. Men climb into the planes. U.S. airborne units in France prepare to take off in gliders (06:00). Nylon ropes hook the Waco CG-4A gliders to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain tow ships. The C-47s and CG-4As take off (06:37), carrying the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment. In England, the Stirling bombers take off with Hamilcar and Horsa gliders (07:30). Footage shows the perspective from inside the gilder during takeoff. Men in a Sterling bomber man their stations as they cross the English Channel. Aerial footage shows the farmlands of Belgium. Allied aircraft fill the sky. An Allied aircraft lies in flames near the banks of the Rhine River (09:11). Gliders are released from the towing ships. A glider lands without incident (09:33); footage shows another glider crashing as it lands. The next segment shows a Navy submarine returning to Guam after an extended operation. The crew stand on the sub as it docks. Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood climbs aboard and congrats the ship’s officers and men. Blindfolded Japanese prisoners are led out of the sub and placed in custody of the Marines (10:56). The submarine crew pose for a group photo then happily receive their mail. The final update of the bulletin is on the invasion of Okinawa. At the advanced U.S. headquarters in Guam, commanders plan the invasion of Okinawa. Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher climbs aboard his flagship (12:58). Lt. General Simon B. Buckner meets with other commanders to map out the attack. Footage shows battleships firing on Japanese targets; landing craft move men and tanks to shore. The U.S. 77th Division establish beachheads on the Kerama Islands. Japanese civilians surrender to U.S. troops and gratefully receive medical attention and food. U.S. soldiers destroy a Japanese suicide boat hidden in a cave (15:20). The bulletin then shows footage of the Navy’s heavy shelling of Okinawa (15:55). U.S. rocket ships fire batteries (16:24) to soften the Japanese island before troops go ashore. Footage shows the intense firepower; troops then take the beach. U.S. naval ships fire on Japanese planes (17:41), destroying a large number of the planes. The bulletin shows a rocket ship that was damaged when a hit Japanese plane crashed into it. Supplies and tanks are unloaded on the beach (18:40). Tanks and troops move off the beach and head across the island.

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