Synopsis
Shot by an unknown USA serviceman, these silent home movies show homecoming from Europe in 1945 or more likely, early 1946. The film starts at sea and about:30 you will see the vessel which he rode on to return from the ETO. It's most likely a Liberty or Victory ship but could have been some other kind of auxiliary. At:58 the crew does a gunnery exercise, firing off anti-aircraft rounds at a non-existent target. At 1:22 the film shows several officers on the deck of the ship, presumably the man in the middle is the vessel's captain. At 1:56 passengers crowd the rail. At 2:05 a tanker slips by. At 2:14 the ship is approaching New York Harbor. it is met by a U.S. Army Transportation Corps. ship with a big "Welcome Home Well Done" sign on the upper deck. This is the ferry Miss America which greeted thousands of Americans outside NY Harbor. The ferry is seen closer at 2:45. At 3:15 the Statue of Liberty is seen. New York harbor is teeming with ships returning from the war, and you'll see them throughout the film. At 3;56 an ocean going tug comes past. At 4:00, a large hull is seen on the horizon. This is most likely the hull of the ruined French liner SS Normandie, which was gutted by a fire while at anchor. At 4:13 two aircraft carriers, their decks loaded with planes, are seen. One of them is USS Princeton CV-37 -- the name can be seen at 4:34. She was one of the Essex Class carriers built in 1945 and missed the war. At 4:15 a landing craft is used to transport personnel to…
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Details
- Running time
- 7 minutes
- Collection
- Ephemeral Films
Subjects on the Internet Archive
- Stock Footage