WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. This film contains images of war atrocities and may not be suitable for viewers of all ages.

This 1944 film, RETURN TO GUAM, was produced by the U.S. Navy about the taking and recapture of the island of Guam. The film also shows the history of U.S. involvement in Guam, including the participation of native Chamorros in the Navy and in defense of the island. Aside from showing the invasion and recapture of Guam, the film shows the horrific massacre of the Chamorros conducted by the Japanese — with many of them executed by firing squad and their bodies desecrated by the occupiers.

The film begins with the rescue of George Tweed, the only survivor of the original U.S. garrison of Guam. Tweed was discovered when a convoy of American ships neared the island and saw lights flashing from the island in Morse code “information”. Tweed relates his harrowing story of how he survived in the bush for 31 months with the help of the natives, Chamorros.

The narrator then explains that the island of Guam means much to the people of America, none more so than the Chamorros sailors on the convoy. The film, through the voice of a Chamoro, relates how good life was on the island, how the US had opened schools and clinics for the natives, and trained them for self-government.

Then, on 11 December 1941, the island is assaulted by a huge force of Japanese planes and ships. The outnumbered garrison of about 500 men defends the island, but to little avail, and contact is lost with the mainland within hours. The American people and Chamorro diaspora don’t know what happened to the friends and relatives on the island.

So the long process of industrial rearmament and “island hopping” begins with each element being scorned by a “Japanese” man with a radio speaker in silhouette behind a curtain. And then the island is taken. Surprisingly little is actually shown of the battle, but Tweed is shown talking to some of his superiors about the experience of the Chamorros on the island, the brutality and torture that the Japanese inflicted on them, and several photographs of Chamorro severed heads are shown, with the narrator explaining why each was decapitated.

The Second Battle of Guam (21 July – 10 August 1944) was the American capture of the Japanese-held island of Guam, a United States territory (in the Mariana Islands) during the Pacific campaign of World War II. After the battle, Guam was turned into a base for Allied operations. Five large airfields were built by the Seabees, and B-29 bombers flew from Northwest Field and North Field on the island to attack targets in the Western Pacific and on mainland Japan.

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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