This rare WWII film contains several segments. The first profiles America’s inland merchant marine, the riverboats that carried grain, coal, lumber, cotton and other vital war material up and down rivers during WWII. The film shows riverboats on various rivers including the Missouri, the Ohio River, the Mississippi, and others. Dredges are also shown at work at the 2:15 mark. Barges are shown carrying railroad equipment, and steam ships including paddlewheel and side wheel vessels are shown. At the 3:00 mark, the blitz is shown on London, with the city aflame from Nazi bombs, and needing “Food for Freedom”. Here American food is used to support the British at war. America’s grain belt is the nation’s first line of defense, more important than steel or coal and oil. The National Farm Program, to feed America and its allies, is also mentioned. The film’s third segment, at the 6:30 mark, shows the “Young Eagles” training at Maxwell Field, now known as Maxwell Air Force Base. This establishment formed the Air Corps Training Center, spanning nine U.S. states. Here various crewmen and pilots are trained to serve in the U.S. Army Air Force. Basic crew training is shown including the use of LINK trainers, navigation and instrument flying, maneuvering, and more. T-6 Texan training aircraft are shown at the 8:30 mark.
The Air Corps Tactical School opened July 15, 1931. The school evolved into the Army Air Corps (later, U.S. Air Force’s) first tactical center until the imminence of American involvement in World War II forced a suspension of classes in June 1940 that resulted in permanent closure of the school. One of the school’s notable achievements was its development of two aerial acrobatic teams: the “Three Men on a Flying Trapeze”, put together by then-Captain Claire L. Chennault in 1932, and the Skylarks in 1935.
In 1940, it was announced that the installation was to be converted into a pilot-training center. On 8 July 1940 the Army Air Corps redesignated its training center at Maxwell Field, Alabama as the Southeast Air Corps Training Center. The Southeast Air Corps Training Center at Maxwell handled flying training (basic, primary and advanced) at airfields in the Eastern United States.
An Air Force Pilot School (preflight) was also activated which instructed Aviation Cadets in the mechanics and physics of flight and required the cadets to pass courses in mathematics and the hard sciences. Then the cadets were taught to apply their knowledge practically by teaching them aeronautics, deflection shooting, and thinking in three dimensions. In June 1941, the Army Air Corps became the U.S. Army Air Forces, and on 8 January 1943, the War Department constituted and redesignated the school as the 74th Flying Training Wing (preflight).
During following years, Maxwell was home to six different schools that trained U.S. military aviators and their support teams for wartime service. As World War II progressed, the number of required pilot trainees declined, and the Army Air Forces decided not to send more aircrew trainees to Maxwell Field.
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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
