The Army Air Force Comes of Age

VIDEO HERE  (23 minutes)

“Army Air Force Comes of Age” is a late 1940s-era black-and-white film chronicling how America’s air potential came of age during World War II in terms of size, efficiency, and striking power. The film features footage of WWII-era military aircrafts, bombs, and battles as well as footage of the atomic bomb blasts that ended the war. Note: we believe this is part 2 of a 2 part film, we have not yet located part 1.

AN/MPN-1 mobile-ground landing radar system (0:06). Air Force officers release weather balloon (0:09). Telecommunications radar rotates above service station (0:13). B-32 Dominator takes off from air strip (0:21). Logo for Air Transport Command (ATC) painted on facade of military plane (0:34). Freight carried by ATC: Military passengers, dispatches, mail; 1945 expansion of distances travelled and new ATC divisions across East Asia, Middle East (0:38). ATC “hump” operation: Douglas C-47 A planes being loaded with supplies, flying over snow-capped mountains; Delivering supplies to troops of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, Flying Tigers 14th Air Force Division (1:23). Fleet Curtiss P-40 aircrafts (1:54). Map of Japan, archival footage American troops closing in on Japan across southwest Pacific: Battle of Leyte Gulf, Battle of Luzon, American commander Douglas MacArthur (2:24). Aerial view Douglas C-47s operating as troop carriers, Battle of Corregidor; Parachutes dot sky as troops land on island (2:37). North American B-25 Mitchell Gunships drops bombs on Japanese troops in jungle of Luzon (3:13). Fleet of Boeing B-29 Superfortress planes based in Mariana Islands take off from base, battle against Japan in the Pacific (3:39). Battle of Okinawa, Japanese suicide attacks on American naval fleet, B-29s drops bombs on Japanese airfields Shikoku (4:17). General Henry H. Arnold greets troops stationed int eh Pacific (5:00). Graph showing increase in monthly bomb tonnage dropped on Japan 1944-1946 (5:08). Bombing of Nagoya, Bombing of Shizuoka: Images ruble Mitsubishi Aircraft Engine Works in both locations (5:49). Bombing of Tokuyama naval fuel station, Oshima (6:09). Hustle and bustle, traffic throughout Pre-War Osaka, Japan; Contrasted with footage of aerial bombing attack on city (6:27). Pedestrian traffic, interior of department store, geisha attends to women at makeup counters in pre-War Tokyo (6:58). Operation Starvation: USAAF laying sea mines along Japanese sea routes (7:30). Map of South East Asia, military targets: Harbors of Rangoon, rivers in Burma, ports of Indochina and Siam; Coordinated mining campaign with RAF and Australian forces in New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Indonesia (7:48). Graph showing number mines laid in Far Eastern waters 1943-1945 (8:42). Shots of sunken, destroyed Japanese commercial ships as result of campaign (10:05). Japanese civilians, prisoners of war emaciated from starvation (10:30). Chart of comparative aircraft losses in war against Germany, Japan (10:55). Trinity (nuclear test) explosion at Los Alamos lab as part of Manhattan Project (11:19). Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Russian invasion of Manchuria (12:05). Japanese surrender, signing of agreement on USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, testimonials from Japanese officials on defeat: Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura, Vice Admiral Kenji Ugaki, Fleet Admiral Osami Nagano (12:41). Sign for USAAF Center Orlando, Florida; tactical and strategic improvements, technical developments i.e. McDonnell XHJH-1 Whirlaway, Curtis-Wright XP-55 Ascender, Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster (15:15). Development of jet propulsion Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, other performance increase indicators (15:56). Guided missiles: Aerial torpedo, glide bomb, Azon bombs (16:50). Specialized missiles: Low altitude bombing, phosphorus and napalm bombs (17:20). British RAF Tallboy (bomb) (17:39). German Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (17:54). German jet aircrafts, missiles:  Messerschmitt Me 262, Heichal 162, Wasserfall guided missile, V1 flying bomb, V2 stratospheric rocket (18:15). Japanese armament: Phosphorous bombs, Fu-Go balloon bomb, Kamikaze attacks (19:36). Atomic bomb mushroom cloud, montage archival footage WWII soldiers traversing jungle, ruins of buildings in Europe (20:15). General Carl "Tooey" Spaatz speaks to camera from office desk (21:13).Cars, buses on city street in Washington, D.C. United States Capitol Building seen in distance (21:56). Boeing B-29, film ends (22:38).