Red Cross Newsreel 6, 1942, “A Review of Red Cross Services to the Armed Forces in North Africa and Sicily with the Fifth Army in Italy”,

One of a series of newsreels produced by the Red Cross during WWII, this film shows the Fifth Army in Sicily and mainland Italy and the activities of the Red Cross overseas. In this era the Red Cross was doing a great deal of humanitarian work, helping reduce some of the psychological pressures of combat for American troops. The American Red Cross Service Club is shown at the 1:50 mark, with soldiers shown taking showers and getting haircuts, good food and R&R. Red Cross female volunteers are also shown handing out donuts and other goodies, and entertaining troops including African American soldiers at the 3:41 mark.

Red Cross workers are also shown giving tours in Italy (including Pompeii) at the 5:30 mark. Female workers are shown doing all sorts of work including a lot of physical labor — such as pitching their own tents, carrying supplies, and more. The Red Cross Clubmobile is also shown visiting Army Air Force fields, greeting returning air crews and giving them donuts, coffee, cigarettes, and a friendly face to talk to.

Ice cream (!) at the front is seen at 9:42. No wonder the troops loved these gals.

A second segment shows an American Red Cross representative delivering mail and acting in support of the troops. At the 12 minute mark, first aid and medical care is shown — including the use of blood gathered in the USA through blood drives — is administered. Mobile hospitals, evacuation of the wounded, and medical care provided by the Red Cross are all shown. A purple heart is shown being handed out at 19:22. Work with shell shocked troops is shown at 19:49 (including African American soldiers).

A great shot of a guy driving a Jeep up a muddy road is seen at the 21 minute mark.

The American Red Cross Clubmobile Service was a mobile service club created during World War II to provide servicemen with food, entertainment and “a connection home.” The Clubmobile was conceived by Harvey D. Gibson, a prominent New York banker and American Red Cross Commissioner to Great Britain, as a way to reach servicemen in airfields, camps and other theaters of war. All of the services provided by the Clubmobile were free, although some Clubmobiles began charging for food after 1942. Women who volunteered for the Clubmobiles were popularly referred to as “donut dollies,” since one of their biggest tasks was making doughnuts for the servicemen.

The Red Cross required the Clubmobile volunteers to be between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five, have some college education and work experience, and to be “healthy, physically hardy, sociable and attractive.” Each Clubmobile was fitted with a kitchen consisting of a built-in doughnut machine and a primus stove for heating water for coffee. One side of the kitchen opened out for serving food and drinks, while the rear of the Clubmobile consisted of a “lounge” area with built-in benches that also doubled as sleeping bunks. The lounge also contained a Victrola with loud speakers, current music records, books, candy, gum and cigarettes.

The women who worked the Clubmobiles were stationed in a town near American Army installations and traveled to a different army base each day. They learned how to make doughnuts and coffee in a Clubmobile kitchen, and would then drive around the base, chatting with the servicemen, handing out snacks, and playing music.

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 like: “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 and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com