This silent movie shot off of Iwo Jima in March of 1945 begins with target practice. At 1:30 a Radioplane OQ-2 target drone is launched as a gunnery target and shot down at 2:01. At 3:55 amphibious vehicles are shown at the beach along with LST-782. At 4:17 supplies are moved inland at Iwo Jima or possibly, Okinawa. The scenes at 5:48 appear to be Okinawa. At 7:34, Marines move down a road in column. At 8:25, scenes aboard USS Bayfield APA 33. 10:00, blinker light in use, and 10:07 bulldozer or tractor moved onto the ship by crane, followed by jeeps, trailers and other equipment bound for the next invasion site.

The OQ-2 Radioplane was the first mass-produced UAV or drone in the United States. A follow-on version, the OQ-3, became the most widely used target aircraft in USA service, with over 9,400 being built during World War II.

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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