This WWII film “Pacific Menace” was produced as part of the industrial incentive program by the War Department. Intended to be shown to workers at naval aircraft, munitions and supply factories and shipyards, it was “Dedicated to the Workers Who Supply the Navy’s Fighting Needs.” This black and white film recounts the US involvement in the war effort against Japan and specifically the Battle of Luzon in the Philippines, and then tells the story of how an American airbase was built virtually by hand in war-torn China.
The film opens with a map of Luzon. A landing ship receives a mortal hit from a Japanese fighter plane, possibly a kamikaze 1:05. The landing craft streak ashore 1:16. General Krueger’s 6th Army attacks Luzon 1:28. The men exit the landing craft and begin their attack 1:40. Amtraks and other tracked vehicles roll through the town 1:58. The people in the villages of the Philippines welcome the Americans with Old Glory already flying 2:14. The locals cheer the American Armed Forces 2:26. Rockets are fired from the back of a Jeep 2:40. Admiral George F Hussey speaks about rockets 2:43. Amphibious craft armed with beach rockets fire 105mm shells 3:22. Once ashore, rockets are fired from land-based launchers 3:38. Men load rockets onto the bottom of the wings of war aircraft 3:55. Slow-motion pictures show how rockets are fired from an airplane with credible accuracy 4:10. Rockets are fired into the beachhead 4:25. An F4U Fighting Corsair lands on the deck of an aircraft carrier 4:53. A Hellcat tries to land but it’s tail is shot up and it falls off the side of the carrier 5:04. All of the deckhands come to the aid of the pilot and the plane 5:15. The pilot is saved. An Avenger comes in for a landing with low fuel and barely makes it. The pilot is relieved. 5:35. A Grumman Avenger TBM (torpedo bomber) arrives back on deck but the gunner has been killed by enemy fire 5:41. The ship’s company gathers on deck to submit the gunner’s body to the sea – in the plane, in which he gave his life – 6:07. The men on deck disperse 6:30.
At 6:54, another segment in the film tells the story of how an American air base in China was built and then abandoned. Stones for an airfield are brought by hand by Chinese peasants 7:08. The peasants crack stone and move earth and water with their bare hands 7:30. The water is pumped by wheel and pulley and powered by man 7:34. A 10-ton roller is pulled by 200 people to flatten out the runway 7:47. All oil and gas needs to be flown in from the outside 8:06. The gas is pumped through troughs from 55-gallon drums into storage tanks 8:15. Empty barrels were left to rust 8:24. Animated map shows how the Japanese continue their march south, splitting China in half 8:30. American air bases in China are abandoned 8:40. Fighter planes finally take off and leave the war zone. Those that cannot fly out are burned 9:02. All buildings, barracks and other structures are destroyed 9:18. The End.
The Battle of Luzon was a land battle of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony the Philippines, and allies against forces of the Empire of Japan. The battle resulted in a U.S. and Filipino victory. The Allies had taken control of all strategically and economically important locations of Luzon by March 1945, although pockets of Japanese resistance held out in the mountains until the unconditional surrender of Japan. While not the highest in U.S. casualties, it is the highest net casualty battle U.S. forces fought in World War II, with 192,000 to 205,000 Japanese combatants dead (mostly from starvation and disease), 8,000 American combatants killed, and over 150,000 Filipinos, overwhelmingly civilians who were murdered by Japanese forces, mainly during the Manila massacre of February, 1945.
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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
