WAR FILM 36, one of the War Department’s newsreel and informational films produced during WWII, consists of several segments and dates to late 1944 or early 1945. First, “Great Floor” shows the construction of a runway for B-29 bombers in China. Since no motorized or mechanical devices are available, 72,000 Chinese work on one airfield using primitive rock breaking and other traditional construction techniques. According to the narrator, these “super airfields” are being built by Chinese who are hoping for revenge on the Japanese for the invasion of their nation. At 4:40, another segment entitled “Sky Guys” shows paratroops in action in Europe, flying towards a drop in C-47 aircraft over Southern France near Toulon. At 6:50 another segment “Coming Home” is shown, with Marines shown landing at Guam. The Second Battle of Guam (21 July – 10 August 1944) was the American recapture of the Japanese-held island of Guam, a U.S. territory in the Mariana Islands captured by the Japanese from the U.S. in the 1941 First Battle of Guam during the Pacific campaign of World War II. At 10:53, enemy caves are blown up and bodies are shown rotting in the sun. At 11:14, an American casualty is shown after being shot by a Japanese sniper. Finally at 12:15, the recapture of Guam is complete, with the remains of the original U.S. Marine Barracks shown in ruins.

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