Weekly Digest “No. 26 Air Strip Construction” 51284 (1944)

Synopsis

This film is a part of the series titled ‘Weekly Digest’. It shows various footage from WWII fronts including construction of the airstrip on Green Island, footage of the pilots of the first all African American fighter outfit and captured German soldier interrogations in Italy. The footage was prepared by the First Army Air Forces Combat Film Detachment (:22). The first segment takes viewers to Green Island off the coast of the Solomon Islands in March of 1944 (:32). A new airstrip here was built within striking range of Rabaul (:39). In the Russel Islands, shipping caravan’s and LST’s prepare to deliver supplies for the completion of this air strip (:54). One of the groups to make the trip is a detachment of the Army Airways Communication System (1:02). Trucks and equipment pack into LST’s (1:12). A barrage balloon is pointed to (1:25) which vessels used for protection against low flying enemy aircraft (1:25). A shot follows of the convoy and the balloons moving out (1:34). 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns are seen (1:47). The vessels near Green Island (2:03) and line up to pass through the channel (2:09). A signal is flashed from the shore station to the convoy (2:19). Supplies are unloaded (2:36) and bulldozers mow through the jungle for the construction of the operations tower (3:11). Trees which were too large for the bulldozer are blasted out with dynamite (3:33). Men begin hand digging up the ground with shovels (3:54). During the operation, there was little water…

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Details

Running time

24 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage