Produced by the Office of War Information in late 1942 or early 1943 for civilian indoctrination, this newsreel shows various aspects of the war. It begins with a segment about wartime travel, and how a lot of capacity is lost due to needless trips being made by civilians. A soldier is shown missing his bus, because a civilian took an unnecessary trip.
At 3:11, a mobile laundry is seen being used by the U.S. Army, to wash up to 7,000 uniforms per week in the field.
At 5:40, the Alaskan Highway known as the Alcan Highway, is dedicated in the Yukon after 7 months of construction. The Alaska Highway was constructed during World War II for the purpose of connecting the contiguous United States to Alaska through Canada. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and runs to Delta Junction, Alaska, via Whitehorse, Yukon. Completed in 1942 at a length of approximately 1,700 miles (2,700 km), as of 2012 it is 1,387 mi (2,232 km) long. The difference in distance is due to constant reconstruction of the highway, which has rerouted and straightened out numerous sections. The highway was opened to the public in 1948. Legendary over many decades for being a rough, challenging drive, the highway is now paved over its entire length.
The segment also shows an overview of Alaska with its gold mines, coal mines, oil refineries, and other natural resources. American air forces are shown flying missions against the Japanese at the 9:58 mark.
At 10:15, Damien Parer Australian cameraman is introduced, presenting a segment about jungle warfare. Damien Peter Parer (1 August 1912 – 17 September 1944) was an Australian war photographer. He became famous for his war photography of the Second World War, and was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire at Peleliu, Palau. He was cinematographer for Australia’s first Oscar-winning film, Kokoda Front Line!, an edition of the weekly newsreel, Cinesound Review, which was produced by Ken G. Hall.
At 15:40 the film ends with the Marine Hymn.
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