Military Cinema
Welcome to the MilitaryCinema.com website. After many years of research we are pleased to bring you this archival film footage of a number of Army Air Corps Combat Units of World War II. After watching hundreds of hours of film footage we have identified clips/segments of various bomb and fighter groups. We then arranged the material chronologically along with introductory material that describes the scenes you see. The DVDs can be played on a computer or dvd player connected to your televison. Amateur historians, researchers and family members will enjoy all types of scenes on these movies; from the men doing daily activities on the ground to missions in the air. Most of the movie footage found on these dvds was taken by the Combat Camera Crews of the Army Air Forces & Army Signal Corps. We hope you will find a video or two that you will enjoy!
What's Inside, A Film Highlight
Cottontails of the 450th Bombardment in Flight.
A Mission Ploesti on 22 July 1944.
Seven B-24s were in close-formation above and to the right of the top turret gunner and his Liberator. The windows were open in the waist sections of each aircraft their gunners searching the sky for enemy aircraft as Pratt Whitney motors propelled the planes of the 450th Bombardment toward their target, the docks at San Stefano, Italy. It was May of 1944, the group would fly missions to this target on the 12th and 17th. Planes were echeloned below and to the right of the aircraft as they approached the target and prepared to drop their eggs.
As they passed over the target the men could see clouds of smoke rising from the explosions below in the harbor and on the docks as the bombardiers of the 450th had successfully hit another target. Then the pilots guided their bombers to the rally point where the squadrons made their way back to their base at Manduria, Italy.
The B-24s continued to fly in formation for protection from enemy aircraft. Many of the aircraft still had the distinctive white rudders which could easily be seen in the sky and distinguished some planes in the formation. This marking coined the phrase 'Cottontails', however, it made it easier for the Germans to pick out in the large bomber stream of groups that made up each 15th Air Force mission.
The formation looked good, and in the safety of the formation, the men still sweated out the rest of the mission as the B-24s flew home. These would be the 60th and 63rd missions for the 450th, they would fly over 200 more before victory was achieved.
This narrative is not fiction, it is one scene filmed by the men of the 1st Combat Camera Unit telling the story of the men and aircraft of the 450th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, World War II. This scene and many others like it are found on a new DVD containing identified footage of the 450th, researched, organized and brought to you by Military Cinema. 104 minutes of black and white, silent film footage. Order Your Copy Today for $29.99.
IX Troop Carrier Command & 17th Airborne Division Motion Pictures. Military Cinema is pleased to announce the upcoming release of "Troop Carrier - Across the Rhine"; archival film footage of the Troop Carrier Groups and 17th Airborne Division as they prepare and execute Operation Varsity the jump across the Rhine River on March 24, 1945.Watch as C-47 and the new C-46 Commando aircraft of the IX Troop Carrier Command fly in a huge skytrain to deliver the troops and equipment. There is even some unique color footage of this event. Order your copy today: "Troop Carrier Across The Rhine"
A B-24 Mission to Ploesti in World War II. It was 22 July 1944 and another mission for the men and the B-24 Liberators of the 451st Bombardment Group. The target for today was the oil fields at Ploesti, Rumania one of the most heavily fortified targets that the men of the 15th Air Force would face. While some easy targets became known as 'milk runs', Ploesti was anything but that, the flak towers that the Germans had setup comprised primarily of 88mm guns were as dense as any target in the European Theater. To complicate matters for the group and the bombardiers, the Germans had distributed hundreds of smoke pots that were lit creating a dark cloud covering that obscured the target rail lines, marshalling yards, refineries and cracking plants. Even before the group had all taken off and reached assembly area, one aircraft crashed on takeoff killing five crewmen and injuring the other five. Other crews would takeoff in plain sight of the smoke from the wreckage a grim reminder of what they faced today. Combat camera unit cameramen capture B-24s flight formation as the aircraft with their 4 Pratt & Whitney radial engines bite the air in relatively clear sky on their way to the target. One such Liberator is "Ice Cold Katie" tail number 42-7751 assigned to the 726th Bomb Squadron. The right waist gunner is seen on alert for enemy fighter aircraft before they take their stations when the B-24 enters the flak box over the target. Dark black puffs of smoke, harbingers of death and destruction, begin to litter the sky around the Liberators as they approach the target and begin their bomb run. The bomb bays open and the general purpose bombs exit the plane headed for their target over 20,000 feet below. The sky has become darker as the Germans increase their rate of fire of their 88s and the sky shows thousands of explosions among the planes of the 451st. The flak explosions appear to float in the air as the B-24s fly through, determined to reach their objective. Below a large dark smoke The planes have flown straight and level over their target, then turned off toward a rally point where they close up formations to fill voids left by their compatriots who were hit by flak and dropped out of formation. The gunners return to their stations to again be vigilant in protecting their plane from enemy fighters for the nearly 4 hours it would take for them to make their way back to their base at Castelluccio Airfield in Italy. In a poignant scene, a lone white speck is seen drifting below the formation, it's a single parachute of one airman who exited his critically damaged B-24, his fate unknown to the men of the formation as they returned home.cloud is seen rising from the target as the Liberators again have flown a successful mission. This narrative is not fiction, it is one scene filmed by the men of the 1st Combat Camera Unit telling the story of the men and aircraft of the 451st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, World War II. This scene and many others like it are found on a new DVD containing identified footage of the 451st, researched, organized and brought to you by Military Cinema. 180 minutes of black and white, silent film footage. Order your copy today for $29.99.
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451st Bombardment Group DVD Ships for Christmas. Our latest dvd on the 451st Bombardment Group (B-24 aircraft) of the 15th Air Force will begin shipping before Christmas 2014.
5th Bomb Wing and 99th Bombardment Group DVDs begin shipping. Today the first orders of two new DVDs began shipping. 99th Bombardment Group and 5th Bomb Wing. These films are based on groups of the 15th Air Force based in North Africa and Italy in World War II. The 99th BG was a B-17 group. The 5th Bomb Wing DVD contains footage of the 2nd, 97th, 99th, 301st, 463rd, 483rd Bombardment Groups and includes footage of the 1st Fighter Group when they were assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing. If you are a World War II history enthusiast, then you need to add these two films to your military history library.
15th Air Force Film Released. 450th Bombardment Group. Military Cinema announces the release of a DVD on the 450th Bombardment Group of the 15th Air Force. Known as the Cottontails they flew B-24 Liberators. This DVD adds to 15th AF released films of the 2nd Bombardment, 97th Bombardment, 304th Bomb Wing, 82nd Fighter and 325th Fighter Groups. If you are a historian or enthusiast of the air war as waged by the 15th from their bases in Italy then you need this movie of the 450th BG.
New Releases - 12th, 319th, 321st Groups. Military Cinema is pleased to announce the shipping of three Aviation films. 12th Bombardment Group - Earthquakers, 319th Bombardment Group, 321st Bombardment Group. The films of these groups contain footage in Egypt, Tunisia and much more during 1943, 1944 and 1945. View exciting archival movie film footage taken by the Combat Camera Units of the Army Air Forces. Great entertainment and historical research.
First Titles Released. Military Cinema proudly announces the shipping of our first 6 DVD titles: 82nd Fighter Group, 97th Bombardment Group, 47th Bombardment Group, 325th Fighter Group, 304th Bomb Wing, 2nd Bombardment Group. We are happy to get these historic footage films to the market so that you can enjoy this history. Watch a variety of scenes through the signal corps and combat camera unit's eyes as the photographers accompanied the air crews on missions and on the ground. Over the next weeks we will be shipping additional titles; these can be pre-ordered at this time.
The Curtain Goes Up On Military Cinema. Welcome to Military Cinema, we are bringing you researched and identified film footage of World War II ! If you enjoy the Military History Channel like us and wonder if there must be more film footage out there, then you have come to the right place. We have endeavored to find as much archival film footage as we can on specific topics that we think you may be interested in viewing. As you scan through our store you will see that we have a number of Fighter Group and Bombardment Group histories slated for release over the next 60 days. These first batches of films cover a variety of aircraft types including B-17s, B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, A-26s, P-38s and P-51s. We hope you will enjoy these unique visual records of America's heroes of WW2.
