UNITED NEWS [Series Title]

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  • Title: UNITED NEWS [Series Title]
  • Film Number: UNY 166
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Edition of US-produced wartime newsreel, featuring the Allied invasion of Borneo at Balikpapan; the aftermath of a collision between a United States Army Air Forces medium bomber and the Empire State Building in New York City; the redeployment of American troops from Europe to the Pacific; the migration of displaced persons in Europe, and an American fleet in the Pacific defends itself from Japanese kamikaze suicide attacks.
  • Description: 'Allies invade Balikpapan'; wide shot invasion fleet at sea approaching Brunei Bay in Borneo. General MacArthur aboard one of the ships. Naval bombardment by guns and rockets; one vessel is Landing Craft Tank (Rocket) 331 (LCT(R) 331). MacArthur watches (possibly from USS Cleveland). A thick plume of black smoke rises from an oil fire on shore. Landing craft underway carrying troops of the Australian 7th Division. Spouts of water from incoming Japanese fire. Australian troops disembarking. Troops moving off the beach; a thick plume of black smoke in the background. Troops go forward. A dead Japanse soldier. Tracked carriers (LVTs; Landing Vehicle Tracked) move forward past burning buildings and through smoke. Troops walk past wooden buildings which are burning fiercely. Tracked carrier, named Nedra III, passing. Pall of drifting smoke. Carriers moving through a village. MacArthur and party pass camera. Oil fires. MacArthur and party. Australian troops follow a Sherman medium tank; smoke fills the sky behind. 'Bomber crashes into New York skyscraper'; view of the Empire State Building in foggy conditions. Street scene with tilt up the building. US Army military policemen hurry along the road. Looking up at the building. Long lens shot of smoke billowing from the building. Interior Empire State Building with firefighters and impact damage. Shots of the damage and fires being dowsed. Fire engines and ambulances at street level. A casualty, a civilian woman, is carried to an ambulance. A casualty is carried past camera on a stretcher. More stretcher cases. Interiors showing impact point and wreckage, including an engine. Wrecked office. Exterior landscape shot; view of the building. Exterior of the building with workmen aloft on scaffolding without any kind of restraint system; camera tilts down to show the dizzying height. 'US soldiers go direct to Pacific from Europe'; aerial shot of the Delta staging base in southern France. American troops board lorries. Troops board a transport ship docked at Marseilles, possibly marked 52 (USS Sumter?). Red Cross refreshments are served. Troops look at a map showing Japan and East and South East Asia. Troopship underway. 'Europe's stranded millions begin emigration home'; wide shot showing civilian refugees and waiting lorries, supervised by American troops wearing wolfs/bear head insignia. Civilian hefting their belongings. Men board lorries. Lorries moving off. Group of Russian civilians, including women and children at Schönau. Civilians board railway wagons. A group of women and children smiles from a railway wagon. A locomotive moves off. Wide shot with refugees in open wagons waving. Refugees on foot pass a sign, inscribed in Cyrillic 'Dobro Pozhalovat' ('Welcome') with an image of Stalin. Refugees moving on foot across a bridge and passing camera. 'US carriers fight off enemy suicide attacks'; off the coast of Japan, a very wide shot with American warships in the distance. A kamikaze strikes the battleship USS Nevada despite being badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire. The kamikaze plane's undercarriage legs are rolled past camera. A crewman displays a torn Japanese flag. Casualties on deck. Aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga endures a near miss. Footage from two angles of direct hit by kamikaze on Ticonderoga. View of the wounded carrier. Men working on the damaged flight deck with axes. Damaged aircraft are jettisoned overboard. [two vertical lines on tail] Views of damage to Ticonderoga.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: UNY 166
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-08-03
  • Production Country: United States of America
  • Production Details: Office of War Information (Sponsor) United Newsreel Corporation (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: MacArthur, Douglas (person) United States Navy, CLEVELAND (USS) (regiment/service) Australian Army, 7th Australian Division (regiment/service) United States Army Air Forces (regiment/service) New York City Fire Department (regiment/service) United States Navy, NEVADA (USS) (regiment/service) United States Navy, USS TICONDEROGA, aircraft carrier (1944) (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Volcano and Ryukyu Islands Campaign 1945, Pacific War 1941-1945, Second World War (event)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 829 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    UNY 166

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