Featuring members of the Michigan National Guard, this black & white home movie film shows an awards ceremony, and then an armored exercise and bivouac involving Sherman tanks, WWII era armored personnel carriers and jeeps. This is circa the late 1940s or 1950s. It’s not clear where the film was shot, possibly in Michigan, but also could be at one of the Army’s armored centers such as Ft. Benning, Georgia.
Opening: members of the United States National Guard salute as an award ceremony (or decoration day) and review gets underway (:09). A civilian, who is seen throughout the first part of the film, gets into a jeep (:21). It’s not clear who he is — he could be a U.S. Senator or Congressman, or even a more important personage such as Secretary of Defense. A crowd of civilians have gathered, alongside National Guard personnel (:30). The man seen earlier exits a jeep and walks over towards a stage and joins high ranking officers for the review (:57). Military march (1:04). The man puts a pin on one of the uniformed National Guardsman (1:27). Men march (1:35). National Guard Soldier holds an award (1:42). National Guard trucks and jeeps (1:57). Trucks tow howitzers (2:20). Ambulances (2:36). Trucks and Sherman tanks (2:47). Man stands next to Military officers (3:01). Men in uniform march in unison with their rifles (3:24). Soldiers salute (3:52). A procession of tanks (4:17). A procession of military vehicles (4:36). Men march (4:42). Tank on the move (4:50). Part two of the film shows a live fire exercise and bivouac. A soldier stands in road and then gets back into his jeep (4:58). Sherman tanks doing practice maneuvers on a field (5:03). Tanks line up in a row (5:33). Grinning soldiers laugh and joke with one another (5:42). Sign for the Armored Training Center (5:52). Jeeps and trucks parked on a field (5:56). Signs for Moving Target Exercise, Shot Group Exercise and Manipulation Exercise (6:15). Sign for Tank Driving Range (6:27). POV from sitting on a moving vehicle – going down a dirt path onto a field (6:31). A soldier holds his helmet (7:28). A soldier smiles and moves around (7:45). A tank on the field slows and the men exit (7:56). A military vehicle goes down a hill, stops, and men exit followed by a tank (8:33). A tank slows and men exit (9:46). Men get into a tank (10:15). Soldiers rest on the ground (10:21). Men line up in the chow line (10:36). Soldiers eat and relax in a field (10:45). Soldiers rest and some stand up (11:02). Soldiers walk around, look at the camera (11:49). Man inside a tank; tank on the move (12:09). A soldier backs up waving tanks on slowly as they move forward (12:31). A soldier shaves, at base camp, as another one pokes fun at him (13:00). Base camp life (13:13). A man gets stuck in a tent (13:31). Soldiers stand around and then two of them approach one another and shake hands jokingly (13:44).
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
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, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
