I. 'ROCKET-FIRING PROJECTILES.' Footage taken in the interior of a British armaments factory highlights the various production steps in the manufacture of 60-lb 3-inch rocket projectiles (RP) for aircraft. Female factory workers fill RP casings with cordite strands. A female factory worker uses a Cambridge Indicator to test the electrical circuits of the RP firing mechanism. Female factory workers mill rocket warheads, which are later finished using rotary polishers. A female factory worker fills the 60-lb RP warhead with a combination of "biscuit" and liquid TNT (trinitrotoluene) explosive filling. Completed RP casings and warheads are stacked pending delivery to the Royal Air Force (RAF). At an unidentified airfield location (Northern France) RAF armourers attach fins and warheads to RP casings, the completed 60-lb 3-inch rockets are slid onto the launching rails of a Hawker Hurricane Mk IB fighter aircraft (no squadron codes visible). Operational footage shows RP attacks on German coastal positions and strongpoints.

II. 'LORD GORT IN PALESTINE.' A camouflaged BOAC Douglas DC3 transport aircraft taxies to a halt at an airfield in Palestine and Lord John S S P V Gort emerges to be met by various dignitaries. Lord Gort (new High Commissioner for Palestine), is escorted from the airfield by members of the Palestine Mounted Police and is cheered in Jerusalem by small groups of civilians who have gathered by the roadside.

III. 'PACIFIC.' Stock shots show United States Navy (USN) ships silhouetted on the horizon firing a barrage at unseen Japanese positions (location undisclosed). US troops (USMC ?) board waiting DUKW 2.5-ton 6x6 amphibian vehicles which set out for the shoreline of "an island off Dutch New Guinea." A United States Marine Corps (USMC) soldier sits in a DUKW, cradling his M1 Garand .30-inch self-loading rifle and smoking a cigarette. DUKW amphibians emerge from a sea mist (or fine smokescreen) and move towards shore. USMC troops wade across a shallow lagoon under shell fire. US M4A1 Sherman tank (cast nose) "Woolf" drives up the beach which is pock-marked with impact craters from the recent naval bombardment. US infantry move off the beachhead supported by LVT2 Water Buffalo amphibians. Burning Japanese single engined fighters (possibly a Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa) lie near a rough landing strip. Australian troops carrying Lee-Enfield Mk III .303-inch rifles walk past stationary US LVT-2 amphibians. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) engineers survey land as a possible site for an airstrip. Members of a US construction battalion use a Caterpillar tractor to bulldoze wrecked Japanese aircraft. United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft drop supplies at low level over a jungle airstrip. Stock shot footage shows General Douglas MacArthur (Live) giving his "I shall return" speech (re Philippine Islands).

IV. 'SPECIAL- FUNERAL OF LORD MOYNE.' (Reel 2) An item covering the military funeral held in Cairo for Lord Moyne (British Minister Resident in the Middle East) and his driver Lance-Corporal Fuller. Extended footage shows a British Army artillery tractor transporting the flower-bedecked coffins on gun carriage and limber as the funeral procession makes its way to All Saint's Cathedral. A guard of honour is drawn from members of the Cairo City Mounted Police. The item concludes with the coffins of Lord Moyne and Lance-Corporal Fuller being taken from the gun carriage and carried into All Saint's Cathedral.

Notes

Production: although the film titles credit the commentary to Rex Keating, the printed version held by the Film and Video Archive attributes it to David Abercrombie.