- 2 days ago
Assault on New Britain – The Untold WWII Battle is a powerful World War II documentary that captures the intense Allied assault on New Britain. This film provides rare footage and in-depth coverage of the strategic operations, the harsh jungle environment, and the bravery of the soldiers involved. A must-watch for history enthusiasts who want to uncover one of the lesser-known but crucial battles of the Pacific campaign.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The
00:30The
01:00There's an old saying in the army, the longest march always begins with the first step.
01:06By the same token, the greatest battle usually begins with one word.
01:10One simple code word which becomes the symbol of the whole operation.
01:15So it happens that the battle for New Britain begins with the word overpower.
01:22The secret army code word.
01:24And it means that at a certain time, at a certain place, American troops will land on the Jap-held island of New Britain.
01:33It's a tough island to crack.
01:35The Japs gave it plenty of teeth.
01:38A powerful naval base at Rabaul, good airstrips, and over 100,000 troops spotted in different places and expecting a visit.
01:47And besides Japs, there's always the jungle.
01:51Never before in history has a large-scale war been fought on such difficult battlefields.
01:58Looks pretty, doesn't it?
02:00Pretty as a picture and a pre-war travel advertisement.
02:03But how is it to live in?
02:07Ask Joe Soldier.
02:09A jungle-clad paradise crawling with bugs, snakes, and lizards, spiders.
02:15Ask him about sweating out a march through blazing equatorial heat.
02:20Ask him about the smell.
02:23That wet stench of the jungle.
02:24Yes, and don't let him forget to mention those tropical sunsets.
02:30Bring in the malarial mosquito.
02:35An attack is prepared in staging areas where the men are rehearsed for the job.
02:40Quietly, secretly, systematically.
02:43Men and equipment start moving into three separate areas along this coast.
02:48This is done so there'll be no large concentration of troops in any one spot to tip off the plan.
02:54A task force is a miniature army, tailored for a particular job.
03:02This one consists of a regiment from Texas,
03:05a battalion of artillery and service troops,
03:07quartermasters, signal corps, engineers, and medicos.
03:11They know what this staging area means.
03:15A jumping-off place for something big.
03:17Out here, housekeeping starts from the ground up.
03:30You pick yourself a place and start chopping.
03:35It used to be hard work mowing the lawn on Sunday afternoons.
03:39Try mowing cunai grass with a machete.
03:41Meantime, a couple of hundred miles to the north,
03:47the second task force marches into their staging area
03:50to prepare for their part in the operations.
03:53These men have seen something of jungle fighting.
03:56They're Marines, and they cut their teeth on Guadalcanal.
03:59In the third staging area, it's more Marines, more guns, more shells,
04:12more thorns to press into the side of Tojo's Island of New Britain.
04:17On back of the men come the trucks, the half-tons, the jeeps, the bulldozers,
04:22a community on wheels, carrying the thousand and one needs of a task force.
04:29Food for bellies and gun barrels.
04:32Canvas for cover.
04:34Wires for communication.
04:36The tools of the jungle army.
04:41When the lot is cleared, you stretch out your house.
04:44It doesn't take long.
04:45Just fasten the ceiling, get under the center pole, and hoist.
04:52And leave plenty of slack on those ropes.
04:56The first rain will do the tightening.
04:59Nudging out elbow room in this wilderness
05:01and getting your stuff across swamps and streams is pretty rugged.
05:06But it's good practice for jungle warfare.
05:19Bridges need plenty of attention.
05:22Mountain rains can swell these streams to torrents that can drown the truck.
05:27And transportation is important out here.
05:34When it comes to jungle construction, you can't beat a fuzzy wuzzy.
05:38Uncle Sam has thousands on his payroll.
05:40The foreman checks everything.
05:56Thatched roofs keep out most of the rain, some of the heat, and none of the bugs.
06:01And don't think these builders don't know the value of money.
06:08Money will buy a pig, and a pig can be exchanged for a wife.
06:12Here's where that boy scout training comes in handy.
06:32And this lad is an awfully tough critic.
06:39Outfits sprawl over a staging area for miles.
06:43It's a signal cord job to tie them together with telephone lines.
06:46Not much like hometown telephone poles, but the technique of climbing them hasn't changed a bit.
06:54The nerves run back to the brain.
07:06This switchboard at headquarters will handle a thousand calls a day.
07:11Orders, reports, requests, instructions.
07:15The field phones out where the jungle begins.
07:17When a jeep or a truck is issued to a driver, that's his baby.
07:29And he keeps it clean.
07:38The old swimming hole.
07:40Jungle style.
07:42It's the bath, shower, and laundry combined.
07:47First scrub your skin, then scrub the clothes you just took off.
07:58This may not be your favorite cafeteria, but it's the only one handy right now.
08:04And it's the quartermaster's job to see that the army is fed.
08:14There's a mess of vitamins that'll pat your ribs.
08:16But don't get us wrong.
08:18We still like home cooking.
08:26These are the canvas cities that Joe Soldier built out of jungle and kunai grass.
08:31Like their forefathers, these troops have tamed a corner of wilderness into a temporary home.
08:36The helmet makes a swell wash basin.
08:51And you can't do this with a family sink.
08:56And now to work.
08:59It begins with the task force commander giving the details of the job to the men who are going to do it.
09:04There will be two landings on New Britain.
09:08The first at Arroway, to divert the Japs from the main landing a few days later at Cape Gloucester.
09:16Arroway is a peninsula.
09:17A small force will make a landing up here in the enemy's rear, they hope, and move down the peninsula to join with the main forces who will land along here.
09:29Complete surprise is the main thing.
09:34Hit fast and hard.
09:36Gain a foothold before the Japs can move a large force against you.
09:39That's what unit leaders are telling them.
09:43A soldier has to know what he's supposed to do, where he's supposed to do it, and why.
09:53And this is the time to check your weapons.
09:57A gun jam on a beachhead might happen only once.
10:00The same thing is going on up in the marine staging area.
10:07Weapons, equipment, and the men themselves get a personal once-over.
10:14Anti-aircraft protection stays on its toes, just in case.
10:2037-millimeter anti-tank teams have to load, aim, and fire almost simultaneously.
10:26They can get off about 30 rounds a minute.
10:30It's rumored that a lone-star governor once said,
10:37By gad, if the United States ever goes to war, Texas will go with it.
10:42And here she is.
10:53There'll be artillery, too, for knocking out Japs' strong points.
10:57Sometimes it takes a flamethrower to burn out a pillbox.
11:02They work well in jungle warfare.
11:06That could be a NIP installation.
11:12Native fighters, or bongs as they're called,
11:15give our troops a few tips on the technique of jungle fighting.
11:19The training is carried out under simulated battle conditions.
11:32And, soldier, those aren't pebbles hitting the stream.
11:36You've got to know how to fire at sounds, too.
11:39Because jungle fighters seldom see each other alive.
11:43The last stages of training begin aboard the ships that will carry the troops to their mission.
11:50This practice ends in a full-dress rehearsal.
11:59Two detachments are going to make the landing in rubber boats.
12:04It takes a lot of practice to handle these.
12:07It's dangerous.
12:08Plenty dangerous.
12:10No protective armor.
12:11No more speed than your own paddle power.
12:14Regular types of landing craft may have trouble getting over the coral reef at arrow-weight.
12:30So buffalos and alligators have been selected to bring the first wave of assault troops ashore.
12:36What's an alligator?
12:38It's an amphibious tank.
12:40What's a buffalo?
12:41It's an amphibious tank, too, but it's got more armor.
12:46They look like bad dreams.
12:48And they'll deliver the first punch.
12:51And now let's hear what the general thinks.
12:54The secret of your success is your squad and platoon leaders.
12:57They must get hold of their outfits and control them.
13:00But control doesn't mean bunching.
13:02The buffaloes will land in a wave.
13:04From then on, their tanks.
13:06They crash through the underbrush.
13:07They knock out trees, followed by riflemen.
13:10You run upon a Jap machine gun nest.
13:12What do you do?
13:12You circle it, infiltrate, use grenades.
13:15And don't make the mistake of stopping to help a man who gets hit.
13:18You haven't got time.
13:20Let the medical men pick him up.
13:21So now, it's up to you.
13:23Remember, you can only go forward.
13:25You can't go back.
13:26There'll be nothing to go back to.
13:28Just grab a piece of beach and start shoving.
13:30Okay.
13:34Are there any questions?
13:35I'm going to go back to you.
14:05Now comes the parade of men and supplies.
14:21The loading, the checking, the counting, the packing.
14:27It's the war of logistics.
14:29Adding up to the final question mark.
14:32Will the troops who make the landing have what they need, where they need it, and when they need it?
14:40Training is over.
14:42Rehearsals are over.
14:44This is it.
14:51Remember, this is only one of three task forces.
14:54And it's going to make the landing at Araway a few days ahead of the big staff at Gloucester.
14:59The commander-in-chief, who is responsible for the coordination of the whole plan, comes down for the takeoff.
15:14General MacArthur and General Kruger, on the right, commanding the 6th Army, have a last-minute chat with the task force commander.
15:26What they said is a military secret.
15:30The first assault waves are ready.
15:32Time doesn't even wait on generals.
15:47And time is running out.
15:49This is goodbye.
15:51And good luck.
15:57There they go.
15:58The buffaloes and alligators are going to load on the mothership.
16:28Meantime, the main force loads aboard its transport.
16:54Once up the net, the landing craft that brought them will be hoisted aboard.
16:59And the rubber boat detachments move out to load on the destroyer that will carry them.
17:10The convoy is on its way to meet its naval escort.
17:17This is D-Day minus one.
17:20The men know that means the day before invasion.
17:37This last-minute check on weapons goes on aboard every ship.
17:41Nobody has to be told to do it now.
17:43Ammunition to fight malaria is the daily atoprine pill.
17:55This, too, happens on every ship.
18:10Last-minute instructions to officers and non-cons.
18:13It's called briefing.
18:14See, over there, if I ask.
18:16Whatever happens, keep contacting.
18:19Message center will be in here.
18:23Get your messages back as fast as you can and go.
18:26Keep your men dispersed.
18:28Cut out a bunch.
18:30Look out for this high ground over here.
18:32You'll have to hit it from the flanks, I think.
18:35And above all, keep moving in this direction.
18:39You've all got compasses.
18:40we're at the rendezvous point
18:47the task force commander
18:48leaves to board one of the destroyers
18:50of the escort
18:51and now the convoy will sail
18:56through the night to arrow
18:57troopships flanked by destroyers
19:02and led by mine sweepers
19:05and sub chasers
19:06tomorrow belongs to the headlines
19:24in hometown papers
19:25to the radio commentators
19:27the casualty lists
19:29but these few hours
19:31belong to each man
19:33to spend as he likes
19:34D-Day
19:54under the protection
20:07of the naval barrage
20:08the first assault waves
20:10keep circling
20:11awaiting the order
20:12to start in
20:13there they go
20:19a jet plane
20:28rockets packed with high explosives
20:57calling cars to clear the beaches
21:00of small arms fire
21:01more planes coming
21:22ours we hope
21:24it's a sky full of angels
21:27our own B-25s
21:29now it's the air force's turn
21:35and they know their way around
21:37they've been softening it up
21:39for the days in advance
21:40propaganda leaflets
21:51propaganda leaflets to tell the Jap
21:53what's happening to them
21:54and why
21:55the naval barrage
22:05drove most of the Japs
22:06it's off the beaches
22:07up on the cliff
22:07and that's where the planes
22:10work them over
22:10strafing may not wipe out
22:13a ground force
22:14but it keeps them ducking
22:15there's the landing place
22:24the first casualty
22:28result of a Jap machine gun burst
22:31it's safe to raise your head
22:36and look at the shore now
22:37and here's why
22:39this is what naval barrage
22:43and air bombing
22:44can do to a shoreline
22:45remember you can only go forward
23:01you can't go back
23:02there'll be nothing to go back to
23:04just grab a piece of beach
23:05and start shoving
23:06still a few snipers around
23:11patrols grope ahead
23:19of the main body
23:20to feel out the Jap's strength
23:22and locate his positions
23:24you saw troops keep advancing
23:44the peninsula was lightly held
24:10but there are still plenty of Japs
24:12to comb out
24:13you don't see many
24:16except this kind
24:19the objective is to push
24:27about three miles up the peninsula
24:29then dig in and hang on
24:31more and more troops
24:37are fed up to the rapidly advancing front
24:39by jeeps
24:40alligators
24:43alligators
24:44buffalo
24:48grab is over
24:53now to hold on
24:55counterattacks may strike anywhere
24:58anytime
24:58better be ready
25:00beach gun emplacements
25:06for all-round security
25:07that's an air raid warning truck
25:10that's an air raid warning truck
25:10under the camouflage
25:11and every man digs a place
25:14to dive into
25:15when the zeros come
25:17communication keeps pace
25:24with combat
25:25switchboard and message center
25:27open for business
25:28supplies
25:34supplies are needed faster
25:35than ships can bring them
25:36supplies are needed faster than ships can bring them
25:37parachute-borne ammunition coming down
25:45but they don't always select ideal landing places
25:50that dirty pool is being converted into drinking water by the engineer water purification unit
26:07men may one day forget many things of this war but never the taste of chlorine
26:21casualties from the front get attention in the surgical tent
26:34the man on the table got a shell fragment in the lake
26:39enemy planes
26:43the man on the table
26:45the man on the table
26:46the man on the table
26:47the man on the table
26:48the man on the table
26:48the man on the table
26:49the man on the table
26:50the man on the table
26:51the man on the table
26:52the man on the table
26:53the man on the table
26:54the man on the table
26:55the man on the table
26:56the man on the table
26:57the man on the table
26:58the man on the table
26:59the man on the table
27:00the man on the table
27:01the man on the table
27:02the man on the table
27:03the man on the table
27:04the man on the table
27:06the man on the table
27:07the man on the table
27:08the man on the table
27:09the man on the table
27:10the man on the table
27:11the man on the table
27:12This is what's left of the surgical tent filled with wounded men after a direct hit.
27:42For these men, the roads are long gone.
28:11Having received emergency treatment, the wounded are evacuated to hospitals in New Guinea.
28:23This landing was a complete surprise to the Japs, so resistance was light.
28:28Except at the upper end of the peninsula where the rubber boats went in before dawn.
28:33They met heavy machine gun fire before they could reach the beats.
28:37The boats were destroyed. The men were scattered.
28:40They just couldn't swim and fight at the same time.
28:44But the main landing is successful.
28:47The Japs have been driven back up the peninsula.
28:53The beachhead is established. The task force commander is ready to make his report.
28:58And now for the main event. The landings on Cape Gloucester.
29:15Arrowy was the faint with the left. Gloucester will be the right to the jaw.
29:20Here, here, and here. The forces will capture the airstrip and converge, setting up an American stronghold on the supply line to Rabaul.
29:34In the marine staging areas, it is Christmas Day.
29:37The last mass before sailing for Gloucester.
29:52We'll see you in the main words.
29:54We'll go with the coast.
29:55We'll see you in the next half of theACK.
29:56We'll see you in the sights.
29:58No.
29:59No.
30:00No.
30:01No.
30:02No.
30:03We'll be running for Gloucester.
30:04Swing at the cafe.
30:06They will also be running for Gloucester.
31:11These two landings are the first stage in the neutralization and envelopment of Rabao.
31:24On Christmas night, a vast convoy sets out.
31:45Cape Gloucester, New Britain.
31:53Nearing the height of the naval bombardment, the first assault load into Higgins boats.
32:16On Christmas night, a vast convoy sets out.
32:46And the umbrella of air protection arrives on time.
33:10Back at the beaches, the jungle crawls with Japs.
33:33They're dug in and well fortified, but not against this.
33:37The bombardier once boasted he could hit a derby with a dime.
34:06Here's where accuracy really counts.
34:09Just back of the beaches, but not too far in.
34:15Just back of the beaches, but not too far in.
34:32The bombardier.
34:33The bombardier.
34:34The bombardier.
34:35The bombardier.
34:37The bombardier.
34:38The bombardier.
34:39The bombardier.
34:40The bombardier.
34:41The bombardier.
34:42The bombardier.
34:43The bombardier.
34:44The bombardier.
34:45The bombardier.
34:46The bombardier.
34:47The bombardier.
34:48The Hickens boats keep moving in.
35:18And under this air cover, the invasion fleet creeps forward.
35:48The Hickens boats keep moving in.
35:55The Hickens boats keep moving in.
36:03The Hickens boats keep moving in.
36:10The Hickens boats keep moving in.
36:17The Hickens boats keep moving in.
36:22The Hickens boats keep moving in.
36:25The Hickens boats keep moving in.
36:35The Hickens boats keep moving in.
36:37to screen our landings.
36:44Here come the first waves in Higgins boats.
36:52Not ghosts from Pearl Harbor, but American boys.
36:56Tom, Dick, and Johnny.
36:58The boys are used to play baseball in the vacant lot on Saturday afternoons.
37:03The youngsters that drove jalopies and sang the popular songs.
37:08You may have wondered sometimes if they'd ever amount to anything.
37:12Well, here they are, giving everything they've got.
37:19This is jungle.
37:22These assault waves are like a hand stretched out in a dark room, feeling their way.
37:28If they are stopped here, the main force landing behind them is stopped too.
37:37Let's go, let's go!
37:39Boom!
37:40Boom!
37:41Speed the
37:50Jazz shortage.
37:59Boom!
38:01Contact with the enemy.
38:31Contact with the enemy.
39:01And here come the landing craft infantry, called LCIs.
39:08They're bringing the main fighting strength to back up the assault wave.
39:57Stuff has to be carried in the hard way.
40:14The trucks come later.
40:38Digging in, up at the front.
40:52Here's a highly trained specialist.
40:55Even a Jap sniper can't camouflage his scent.
41:01Fresh troops forward.
41:16Wounded to the rear.
41:33You never know what's around the next bush.
41:43Dead Japs aren't always dead.
41:45Better be sure.
42:11Enemy strong point.
42:12Enemy strong point.
42:18Enemy strong point.
42:21Rainbow at the end of the night.
42:25There was no potential.
42:29You're going to be right back.
42:30Let's go.
43:00Here's the bazooka.
43:13This is a hand-carried rocket gun.
43:16Fire in it takes close teamwork.
43:30Hand grenades, mortars, bazookas, and flamethrowers did this.
43:58There's a hand-carried rocket gun.
44:28After the LCI's have been emptied of men, the towering LSTs, landing ship tanks, move
44:39in, bringing everything for the establishment of a beachhead.
44:49This succession of ships, all in their proper order, thousands of men and tons of supplies
44:55have been one purpose, to keep a thin line of riflemen fighting their way forward into
45:01the jungle.
45:18Hoes and alligators, mechanized sledgehammers, smashing holes in the jungle wall.
45:42Bucket lines to pass the ammunition.
45:57The LCI.
46:04The LCI.
46:09The LCI.
46:16The LCI.
46:32Jeeps do a lot of things, but they can't swim.
46:39Medium tanks to crush pillboxes.
47:00Medium tanks to crush pillboxes.
47:07The LCI.
47:14The LCI.
47:19The LCI.
47:22The LCI.
47:26An hour or two later, the trucks roll in.
47:28But they can't go everywhere.
47:35Ammunition is being spent fast.
47:41The LCI.
47:53The LCI.
47:54For every finger squeezing a trigger, there are a hundred others pulling, hauling and carrying.
47:59It's all part of the same job.
48:17That's barbed wire they're carrying.
48:32As soon as there's any place to phone to, there's a telephone line to do it.
48:38The LCI.
48:48The final protective line against counterattack must be prepared.
48:59You may be hit from anywhere, anytime.
49:02From the flanks, or from the rear, or from the air.
49:32At 2.35, enemy dive bombers.
49:47Jap planes shot into the water.
49:49More than 60.
49:51Costing less than a dozen of our own.
49:55The Japs concentrated on the destroyer Bronson.
50:00That's the Bronson standing on end.
50:03Sinking fast.
50:23But among the floating wreckage are survivors.
50:30Exhausted.
50:31Some dying.
50:32Some dead.
50:33Some with clothes blown off by the concussion of bombs.
50:37Some with clothes blown off by the concussion of bombs.
50:40Some with clothes blown off by the concussion of bombs.
50:44Some with people who killed the lus.
50:48Exhausted.
50:49Some with their clothes blown off by the concussion of bombs.
50:54Some with clothes blown off by the concussion of bombs.
51:13These are a part of 208 survivors
51:17who will remember the Bronx when they fight again.
51:24Back at Gloucester, it had begun to rain.
51:27The folks back home are eating Christmas dinner about now.
51:31Out here, it's the day after.
51:34And just another day.
51:37The folks back home are eating Christmas dinner about now.
51:41Out here, it's the day after.
51:44And just another day.
51:50The folks back home are eating Christmas dinner about now.
51:54Out here, it's the day after.
51:56And just another day.
51:59Out here, it's the day after.
52:01The long run of dreams and death.
52:02Out here, it's the day after winter.
52:04It's the day after.
52:05Out here, it's the day after winter.
52:08And just another day.
52:09Just one more enemy, mud.
52:39Just one more enemy, mud.
53:09Information gained from prisoners confirms what we know.
53:22The advance is nearing its main objective.
53:24But every step forward means some men coming back on stretchers.
53:37Sometimes it takes too long for the stretchers to arrive.
53:55Medical officers scrubbing up for emergency treatment before evacuation.
54:19The country doctor, city surgeon, working together 25 hours out of the 24.
54:35Part of the price of a bomb is the most important part of the war.
54:45Part of the price of a beach landing.
55:15Yes, it's a wounded Jap, receiving decent treatment and a cigarette.
55:36And on the beach the next day, wreckage.
55:43Through the rain and darkness of enemy waters, they're going back to hospitals in rare
56:13area.
56:15And on the beach, they're going to be in the sea.
57:22Fire!
57:25Fire!
57:28Fire!
57:35One day of American living, bought and paid for.
57:42Fire!
57:43Fire!
57:44Fire!
57:45Fire!
57:46Fire!
57:47Fire!
57:48Fire!
57:49Fire!
57:50Fire!
57:51Fire!
57:52Fire!
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