War Dept Report

You are partners in the Army's mission. For the first time in its history, the War Department is making an official report on the military situation directly to the war workers of America. This is not a propaganda film. It is not a sermon or a pep talk. It is an official report by your general staff. How strong is the enemy today? How hard is the job ahead? Caesar rant now stuffed in a little plane heading for the nearest airport. From there by larger plane to Hitler's headquarters. As Adolf greets the duche, he must see his own future in this broken heart of man. [music] But who will rescue Hitler when his turn comes? That's Victoriao Mussolini, his son tagging along. [music] [music] Foreign Minister Ribbentrop makes it an official conference. In [music] out. The briefest access conference on record. [music] The first fascist, the weakest axis party is gone. There is still Germany. There is still Japan. They don't consider themselves weapons. Why? How strong are they? First, Japan. An old handed aggression. Korea, Manuria, China. And then they struck at us. The Japanese task force on the approaches to Pearl Harbor, including two aircraft carriers. December 7, 1941. Pilots are briefed. At the last moment, they learn their objective. These captured pictures were taken by Japanese Navy cameramen. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] for English-speaking Asia. They put on English headlines. Following Pearl Harbor, Japan extended her empire with startling swiftness over the Far East. Burma, Java, Indochina. The newly conquered outer zone is incredibly rich in resources and slave labor. Most of the world's rubber, a large part of the world's tin. A good share of the world's oil have been seized. Japan, Manuria, North China are the inner zone. Self-sufficient in basic industrial needs. power, iron, coal. Japan's food supply is ample. She grows enough rice to meet her needs, and a surplus comes from Manuria. [music] Soy beans, potatoes, and fish are plentiful. Strongest of Japanese resources is manpower at home and in conquered lands. In 1931, when she began the rape of China, Japan alone had a population of 75 millions with 1 and a2 million men under arms and 3 million producing weapons. Today, the armed forces have doubled. The war workers have tripled. Now, the Japanese dominate a subject population of 385 million. Hardworking, cheap labor that can be used in war production. Although the Japanese have suffered severe losses in aircraft, they have more firstline [music] planes now than when they attacked at Pearl Harbor. Faster, better armed, more maneuverable. Japan's greatest military strength is her strategic position. She has spun around herself a web of powerful bases and major strongholds. Every base is supported by the others. If we destroy planes in Rabal, a few hours later more planes come from neighboring bases. Whereas our losses in New Guinea and Atu cannot be made up from Midway. This is the great strength of Japan. This is what is meant by interlocking bases and interior lines of supply. At any one point we attack, we come up against the whole system. So far, we have only dented these defenses. This system is defended to the death. The task of destroying these fanatical warriors was not easy. It has just [music] begun. [music] The destruction of Germany is further along. The myth of the German army's invincibility is forever shattered. [music] But make no mistake, that army today is still a powerful fighting machine. Well equipped, highly trained, battleh hard. Germany has three times the combat divisions it had at the beginning of the war. Each division comprises 15,000 men. Today there are some [music] 300 divisions. You have heard how the Germans lost about 25 divisions at Stalenrad, Tunisia and Sicily and more on the deeper in the Crimean front. Army intelligence reports that the Germans have meanwhile created or reformed 60 new divisions. Each of these divisions was given more and better weapons than the divisions destroyed. All this equipment was produced by increasing the number of war [music] workers 50%. Largely imported foreign labor. This does not include the millions in conquered countries who have to work like it [music] or not for their Nazi masters. Some quizzlings like it. Here is a labor rally Nazi style. Nazi stooges hire dictator of labor Robert Lei. They have come from 19 European countries to receive their orders. They will go back to try to offset American production. Workers must eat. Germany today is better fed than she was in 1918. Heavy workers [music] and soldiers actually eat better today than at the start of the war. Other civilians get enough to keep healthy. The people who are starving in Europe are those who can't or won't work for the Nazis. The natural wealth of Europe is being looted. Germany suffers no dangerous shortages in any basic war material, whether coal, steel, oil, or rubber. With Nazi ruthlessness and German fairness, Europe has been made into an arsenal of fascism. [music] [music] The enemy is exploiting to the limit the most densely industrialized continent in the world. To keep pace with the changing war, the Germans have had to stop some production and increase other. as often and as drastically as we have. But these problems are common to all war economies. The Germans [music] have taken them in their stride. Their films boast of their industrial strength. They are making good their post. [music] They are building many new submarines. They are increasing their locomotive production. [music] The conclusive proof of German strength is the quality of her weapons. The new 60tonon Tiger tank is a good example. It is in mass production. It is appearing on all fronts. [music] Plane production is up. After the Luftwaffer was forced on the defensive, it made fewer bombers, but this made it possible to produce more fighter planes. [music] [music] Deadly fork works, deadly measurements. Every new model is better than the last. Workers in the rur in the arsenals of France and Czechoslovakia are forging huge [music] coastal gardens. Slave labor builds their imp placements, gigantic concrete [music] structures. It is ironical to see the experts of lightning warfare feverishly building imaginable lines. The masters of the Blitz Creek worry about the coming ally in Blitz. [music] [music] [music] [music] They do not scorn to use such orthodox weapons. On the other hand, they know the need for mobility and firepower. They have developed this rocket gun with a firepower equal to six heavy howitzers. Its mirage is devastating. [music] The enemy is strong, but your army is determined to accomplish its mission. This report is concerned with what it takes to get at the enemy and to destroy him. This is the attack on Renova. A small operation on one front, only one of 10 fronts we are supporting at the ends of 56,000 m of supply lines which must be protected by our navy. [music] Logistics is the military science of getting the right numbers of men to the right places with the right equipment at the right time. For every man a division takes over seas, 7 and 12 ship tons of supplies and equipment are needed. This is only initial equipment. Everything from locomotives to signal keys, from bombers to shoes. Over 700,000 different kinds of items for the infantry, for the artillery, for the many specialized branches of the army. Each item required in enormous quantities that must be procured, produced, transported, [music] stored, and distributed. A staggering intricate task of organization. For specific operations, more of certain items are needed. Just before his attack on Sicily, General Eisenhower radioed for great quantities of additional material. Waterproofing kits for trucks and tanks. Tons of asbestous grease. More ducks. More communications and signal equipment. More radio sets. Walkietalkies. Telephone switchboards. Mine detectors. Miles of new wire. [music] New engineering items for building peers, roads, bridges, air drones, railroads for opening up damaged ports. Back from a mission, it's landing gear damaged. This item of initial equipment must be made good. The army word is replacement. Replacement in a sand. Replacement in Sicily. This tank in the Vuno River must be replaced. So must six out of every 10 rifles every year. and eight out of 10 machine gun. [music] Every month, replacements, food, and maintenance for each man require another ton of shipping. For half a million men, this means 1 half a million tons, 50 Liberty ships a month, miles of storage space. Initial equipment plus replacements is not the whole story. The army must have big strategic reserves to be prepared for emergencies. Part of this strategic reserve is used to arm liberated peoples fighting on our side. For the French, we have already equipped 11 divisions. Then there is lend lease, our earliest weapon and still an important part of our military plan. Lend lease is United Warfare. Our contribution to great fighting allies. England, China, Russia, now supplied by way of Iran. 6,500 American planes [music] have joined the Russian Air Force. With a little paint, a white star becomes a red star. Finally, a considerable part of our production is always in motion to the front. Regulating the smooth flow of these goods is the part of logistics known as [music] distribution so that weapons will be where they are wanted when they are wanted. The pipeline of distribution must be full and flowing even under fire. It's a never ending battle. [music] Compile two more. We still lose ships and their precious cars. But on all seas, the Navy is winning great logistical [music] campaigns. In the Pacific, there are no local sources of supply. There are few ports, so supplies have to be unloaded across the beach. The men must battle jungle conditions, heat, rain, and malaria to move in supply dumps. Defend the beach heads and advance their positions while engineers behind the lines build the ports, the roads, the bases that are the springboards for [music] heavier offenses. In face of these supply difficulties, the army has often turned to its airarm for a solution. But though heroic feats have been performed, big offenses cannot be sustained by air supply alone. To supply our 14th Air Force in China, the plane that delivers 4 tons of gasoline uses up 3 1/2 tons for itself. 20,000 gas coupons every trip. Suppose we wish to transport a 100,000 tons of cargo every month from San Francisco to Australia. By sea, it would take 44 ships with crews of 3,200 men burning 165,000 barrels of fuel. By air, the same job would take over 10,000 four engine transports with crews of 120,000 men. They would use up about 9 million barrels of gasoline fuel, which must be supplied in route by tankers, 85 tankers, 41 more bottoms than are needed for ship supply alone. Air supply must be tied to surface supply. There is no permanent substitute for the combination of ship, railroad and truck. [music] The main job of the air forces [music] is fighting. Air superiority is essential to all operations. [music] Air support of ground fighting is the job of the tactical air force. [music] The strategic IC air force operates against the enemy's interior according to a long range plan. [music] Strategic bombing is aimed at the heart of the enemy, laying waste his factories, attacking his morale. From England, our eighth air force is bombing Germany systematically. But we will never have enough planes and bombs to wipe out so big an industrial nation. However, by carefully selecting key points, we can cut down German war production. We've attacked aircraft plants at Reaganburg, [music] Marianburg, Braymond, Venered, and a dozen others. We've attacked the oil plants at Plowest. We also smashed such vital though littleknown industrial bottlenecks as the ballbearing plants at Vineport. We lost 60 heavy bombers. They lost half an industry for months. But bomb plants are repaired. We must hit them again and again. We and our allies have already dropped over a million tons of bombs on Nazi Europe. We need millions of tons more, billions of bullets, thousands of planes. Strategic bombing means a sustained, constantly increasing effort, [music] not only against her industries, but also against her defenses. Germany is fighting back with increased firepower. Anti-aircraft barges fill the sky with steel and show a defensive strength hitherto [music] unknown. From Nazi flag boats, [music] signals are sent over an intricate warning system, clearing through elaborate plotting walls, and fighter planes are quickly concentrated at the danger point. Our gunners face vicious opposition. [music] A fortress escaped. Another [music] of our planes will not return. In the outskirts of Berlin is this graveyard of smashed American bombers. We must replace this equipment. These men can never be replaced. In attacking Japan, we face an entirely different situation. Our air bases closest to Japan are far from home and far from Japan. From San Francisco to Atu is some 3,500 miles. New Guinea is more than twice that distance, double that for China. On this route, we go through the back door, India, by air to China. These faraway bases are themselves a long way from our objective. In no other theater of war does space dictate our strategy so decisively. In the illusions, the nature of the terrain severely limits the size and number of our air. Flying operations are handicapped by year round bad weather. Planes designed for strategic [music] bombing could be used only for small rails. [music] From these rugged storm ridden islands, our pilots flew their liberators against Tatou and Kiska on successful tactical missions. But strategic bombings of Japan from here is not feasible. In New Guinea, the jungle hinders all transport except air. To start an airfield, a landing strip must be cleared in the jungle grass. A plane arrives with light construction equipment. Then more planes with heavier equipment. Finally, supplies are left and troops for action against the enemy. As our lines move forward, [music] a new base is laid by the same painful metal, the old one often discarded. [music] In this slow advance, we capture larger bases. Only then can we make punishing raids such as this one. Destination [music] Weiwang on this raid. 120 planes were destroyed on the ground. Some zeros managed to take off against us, but they might as well have stayed on the ground. [music] Even these larger bases are only stepping stones in our island advance. They are not bases for strategic bombing against Japan. Our bases nearest to Japan are [music] in China. But China does not have the factories, the materials or the industrial skills capable of maintaining our [music] planes and building our bases. Engineers, equipment, and supplies must come from America. [music] 13,000 m by sea to Kolkata. vents overland to eastern India through 500 m of primitive country. No modern roads, few railroads, a country scourged by malaria. On the last leg of the journey, everything must be flown into China through the 17,000 ft passes of the Himalayas, the most treacherous skyways in the world. Gas, oil, munitions, spare parts, all must come by air. This supply line cannot sustain large scale fighting. What about the use of Siberian bases for bombing Japan? Vladivvastto is at the end of a long exposed supply route which is particularly vulnerable from Cabaras down. Along the route the Japanese have deployed a half a million troops. If we or the Russians use these air bases, Japan would immediately attack. Russia would be involved in a two-front war. The Soviets are engaging the main Nazi strength. A two-front war for Russia would ease the pressure on the worried Nazis and endanger American plans for coming operations. [music] [music] There is no one easy solution to our air attack against Japan. In Europe, the maximum range for efficient heavy bombing is about 600 miles. Even if all the planes used against Germany were suddenly available in China, the fundamental problems would remain, bases, supply, and greater range in aircraft. Even the new super bomber B29 can't solve all the problems. But we will overcome the difficulties. The difficulties of logistics, the difficulties of establishing air bases. We are softening up the enemy by air attack to pave the way for the final assault. But for our ground forces to meet the enemy, they must cross large bodies of water and take the enemy's beaches, whether in the Solomons or on the fortified coast of Europe. Amphibious assault bridges the gap between our bases and enemy shores. [music] It takes a lot of logistical preparation. [music] It takes many craft specially built tank landing ships, troop transport, infantry barges, ducks. It takes all kinds of equipment which must be combat loaded loaded to come off an efficient order ready for action. This takes more space. A 10,000 ton Liberty ship may carry only 2,000 tons when combat loaded. The ships are under the protection of the Navy which covers the assault. We've made landings in many parts of the world. Or Iran, Nicata, Randova, Munda, Salerno, Buganville. Everywhere amphibious assault follows a similar pattern. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] While assault troops engage the enemy, engineers prepare the way for heavy equipment, removing landmines, laying mats for wheeled vehicles. [music] where sandb bars blocked the way as at Lata continents were assembled to serve as temporary docks. Heavy equipment is needed at Salerno equally needed in Randova. All kinds of all places scores of jeeps, trucks, guns, armored cars, bulldozers. Unloading stores and ammunition takes a lot of manpower. The sea takes its toll in every amphibious operation. Drowned vehicles, swamp boats, fighting equipment corroded. Material of all kinds litters the beaches. This is the heavy price paid to tide, wind, shores, and surf. This is the price paid to the enemy. This was the 10,000 ton Liberty ship Robert Rome loaded with munitions for the second armored division in Sicily. This landing ship was hit at Jala for flaming deck full of halftracks personnel carriers that will never carry a man. And here is a tank landing ship off Guadal Canal, victim of Japanese fire. These are some of the extra costs of successful [music] amphibious assault. The great loss of equipment, the loss of lives. As under secretary of war, my job is the same as yours. getting out the stuff. I am glad that the general staff has made this report because it tells us not only what we have to do but why we have to do it. Japan is determined. Germany is powerful. We must match that strength and we must do more. Sicily serves an example of what it will take. In preparation for the attack on Sicily, vast stores of supplies were built up for 6 months. Our air forces made 50,000 sorties over Sicily. The initial assault used 3,200 vessels. Facing our troops were 15 12 divisions. There were 12 unwilling Italian divisions and three and a half German divisions. Allied casualties in Sicily were 31,000 killed, wounded, and missing. The size of the job ahead becomes clear when we realize that Sicily was only an outpost. Ahead are the heavily fortified coastlines of Axis Europe. the powerful industry behind them. 300 German divisions, the bulk of them on the Eastern front. Beyond Europe are the defenses of Axis Asia, Japan and the countries she has conquered. We have come to the year of decision. The blows struck in 1944 will determine the outcome of the war. We are ready for the test of our strength and of our spirit. The year will be one of hard work and tribulation. For many of us, a year of personal tragedy. A tragedy that reached our people after gradually covering the rest of the earth. On Corodor, Americans were captured, photographed as prisoners by Japanese cameramen. Other Americans and Filipinos paid an even higher price. War was not our choice. Pearl Harbor was struck while at peace. We Americans can never forgive their treachery. We can never forgive their brutality toward our helpless civilians. We can never forget the examples of Nazi culture in Russia. The acts that go beyond even wanting killing and torture. the blowing up of the Naples post office with a time bomb. These are not acts of war. These are crimes, cowardly crimes against defenseless people. They are typical of Ax's mentality. Ax's standards and Ax's ideas. The most vicious instincts of common murderers have been erected into a system of government. The enemy has a deep hatred for things which make us free men and women. A deep contempt for all humanity. Humanity's answer is the pledge of the Moscow conference to exterminate this vermin to bring the criminals to trial for every crime in every country. The People's Armies of the United Nations have pledged their lives to the unconditional defeat of the Axis aggressors, [music] [music] [music] whether in uniform or out. So pledge we all. [music]