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Created in 1951, Crusade in the Pacific was an early television documentary that remains one of the most comprehensive looks at the Pacific Campaign on land, sea, and air. In 26 separate 30-minute episodes, the documentary journals the World War II through stock footage along with the timeless voice of Westbrook Van Voorhis. This episode of Crusade in the Pacific, Part 11, "Attack in the Central Pacific: Makin and Tarawa," looks at the Allied campaign in the Gilbert Islands in the Central Pacific. Allied aircraft first target the Marshall and Gilbert islands in a series of raids. The United States then uses amphibious landings to attack the atolls of Makin and Tarawa. Casualties are heavy on Tarawa, but eventually the atoll is taken.
The film opens with aerial footage of volcanic islands and atolls of the Pacific. Footage shows the Gilbert Islands. Japanese soldiers march through jungles (01:32). A Japanese tank moves across a river. Japanese troops set up a machine gun (02:25), fire mortars and artillery guns, and rush across fields in what appears to be training (possibly Mt. Fuji appears in the background). At the Quebec Conference at Chateau Frontenac in August 1943 (03:22), Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King meet. U.S. reconnaissance analysts reconstruct recon photographs of the Gilbert Islands (04:09). A Consolidated B-24 Liberator takes off and flies through the sky (04:47). Gunners on the ship wait for combat with Japanese planes. Footage shows the gunners firing at Japanese planes and then dropping bombs on the Marshall Islands’ Japanese air bases. FDR and Churchill meet with Chiang Kai-shek in Cairo in November 1943 (06:23). Footage shows Japanese forces attacking in China’s Hunan Province. Tanks destroy walls and fire on a village. In Russia (07:26), Soviet tanks move across a field, and Russian soldiers fire artillery guns on Nazi forces. Allied amphibious task forces move sail toward the Gilbert Islands (08:10). A ship refuels on the move. Marines are briefed on the terrain of Tarawa Atoll. Marines prepare ammunition for attack. On 21 November 1943, the Allied assault on Makin Atoll begins (10:00); Allied planes bomb Japanese targets. The 165th Regimental Combat unit of the Army’s 27th Division moves in LCM landing craft to Makin. Men and what appears to be a 75 mm Pack Howitzer move off an LCM. Near Betio Island in Tarawa Atoll, fighter F6F Hellcats take off from carriers (11:53). Navy ships shell Betio Island (12:30). Marines are stuck in landing craft due to low tide (13:24). Other marines ride “alligator” LVTs over the reefs to shore. Japanese planes attack U.S. forces heading to shore. Marines of the 2nd Division land on shore and dig in on the beach. Footage shows dead marines floating in the water. Time and Life Correspondent Robert Sherrod reports on the progress of the Allied forces (15:25). Footage shows the intense fighting between U.S. and Japanese forces. A solider fires a flame thrower on a hilltop (16:48). Medical Corps men take care of wounded soldiers; injured Marines are evacuated from the island. Footage shows the destruction of the assault, as Japanese buildings are in ruins or burning. A bulldozer pushes earth off a Japanese bunker (18:44), and U.S. soldiers drop grenades down into it. U.S. troops march captured Japanese and Korean soldiers to temporary holding areas. Marines stand at attention as the American flag is raised above Betio Island (19:58). The Union Jack is raised nearby. The documentary shows a cemetery on the island (21:50), and men stand at attention while a bugler plays “Taps.” Navy Seabees repair an airstrip. A Hellcat lands on the restored airstrip. On 25 November, Marines leave the atoll. Pilots fly SBD Dauntless A-24s over the Marshall Islands. Aerial footage shows an atoll being bombed (24:50). Planes fly over a U.S. carrier, and a Navy submarine passes by, concluding the film.
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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 www.PeriscopeFilm.com