An “exclusive for the men and women of American industry,” this black-and-white World War II-era film is the 10th in the Film Communique series (and also known as War Film 24) dates to 1945 and reports on military accomplishments to an audience of domestic workers producing materials for war. It is comprised of four short segments, the first being “Bingo” (mark 00:44) which depicts the coordination of several artillery units using radio communication to simultaneously fire on a German target. “Forty Five Minutes For Lunch” (mark 02:30) shows U.S. B-26 bombers from English airfields flying daytime raids over France. “A Few Quick Facts” (mark 07:55) is a film short providing informative animations about the USS Iowa (BB-61) and the superiority of the battleship and the American soldier. The final segment, “Battle of Hill 700” (mark 10:50), reports on the fight against Japanese Army’s 6th Division for control of Bougainville Island in the spring of 1944. The segment provides background on the 6th division’s role in Japan’s 1938 invasion of China, along with extensive (at times graphic) combat footage of the prolonged battle, the defeat of the Japanese, and the American soldiers’ impromptu Christian worship service (mark 19:00) in the jungle battlefield.
The Bougainville Campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied grand strategy in the South Pacific. The campaign took place in the Northern Solomons in two phases. The first phase, in which American troops invaded and held the perimeter around the beachhead at Torokina, lasted from November 1943 through November 1944. The second phase, in which primarily Australian troops went on the offensive, mopping up pockets of starving, isolated but still-determined Japanese, lasted from November 1944 until August 1945, when the last Japanese on the island surrendered. Operations during the final phase of the campaign saw the Australian forces advance north towards the Bonis Peninsula and south towards the main Japanese stronghold around Buin, although the war ended before these two enclaves were completely destroyed.
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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, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
