FORWARD COMMANDOS!

[Music] Southward sweeps the war power of Japan Southward into the glittering Pacific Seas most poop convoys tentacles of Conquest striking through the scattered defenses with a speed that stuns the world from this desperate allout bid for Empire stems a mounting tale of Alli disaster strategic bases lost vital raw materiales driven ever further south already the United Nations High command knows that all its tactics must be revolutionized to meet these lightning drives on the lessons of Europe as well as Asia the whole world is learning how to combat the shock assaults of axis strategy forc back from Center to the very rim of the Battleground the communication lines of Britain and her allies are stretched to bursting Point yet to check further access drives they must Counterattack on front by using light and Speedy forces in their thrusts against the better supplied German Africa core more permanently effective are the new tactics of the Red Army Whirlwind attacks against the enemy's front carefully synchronized with violent Guerilla onslaughts behind his lines already this deadly plan has forced the n to divert into Russia divisions sorely needed to quell rebellion in the west seizing their opportunity Serbia's Fierce chetniks mobilize in armed Uprising beating the Nazis in a dozen pitched [Music] battles equally damaging are the British raiding forces striking with lightning speed keeping Nazi Coastal garrisons on the Run thus across the whole of Europe Raiders and guerillas shake and loosen the German grip Paving the way for the mass Invasion which alone can bring final Victory symbol of this new and daring Warfare are Britain's Commandos the organized Desperados who form the advanced guards of tomorrow's large- scale counterattacks handpicked for initiative and fearlessness they are the Storm Troopers of land sea and air [Music] these latest pictures from behind the Libyan lines show the new Commando training with its tactics of assault borrowed from Warriors the world over here in the glare of the desert they assemble and disperse on the signal and Hike system of American football they learn the method and precision of the German the vice loocks of Japanese jiu-jitsu [Music] gone of the days of blind obedience to rigid orders mobility of mind machine and man is everything the parachute troop the tank crew the Personnel of a battery each is a small highly skilled team of gangsters quick Off the Mark quicker on the draw today military Experts of every free country are watching just such films as these authentic records of the recent campaigns in Libya where the new methods of warfare are being tested in hot action in the stretches of the desert it is a war of give as well as take but the spoils are permanent in enemy planes armored vehicles prisoners adapted to a 100 different climates and conditions the same tactic is coming into use in every part of the Globe even in the forests of Burma and the Indies Australian and Netherland shock teams experts in the art of jungle camouflage have been working behind the Japanese lines sniping harrying sabotaging most ENT and successful teachers of mobile Universal Warfare are the strategists of Soviet Russia we shall not surrender Moscow and today The People's Army is mobilized to defend to the death every city every inhabited locality in the smallest Village the toxin summons the entire population to Arms well they know that Guerilla fighting must often mean capture and capture for make their daring descent than [Music] spitsbergen from spitz's radio station might have gone out meteorological information invaluable to a Nazi Arctic [Music] command from its coal mines might have come fuel for Raiders to Harry the North Atlantic Sea Lanes from mormans to [Music] Iceland today a new inter is focused on all the lands which cluster around the pole and especially on those which lie across the northern approaches to the Western Hemisphere for as Germany and Japan reach ever farther across Arctic seas towards the Western World military men all through America know that they must look to the Northland not only as their first line of defense but also as an ideal training ground for cold weather Warfare fastest of these Northern lands is Canada whose winter climate is equaled in severity only by Russia in her huge northern regions amid temperatures often at 60 below Z live Trappers and miners Mounted Police patrols with their teams of huskys bush Pilots taking off from mining towns far up in the Arctic Circle like Jim Hill the railroad King these men of the Northland don't give a tinker damn for any people on whom it does not snow Small Wonder that the Army units station through these snow clad Hills should possess all the tough endurance essential to Warfare in the northern hemisphere armored vehicles go through their normal exercises in temperatures far below zero new motor toboggans haul sleds with rations and Equipment enough for 30 men for 5 days or unloaded carry a scout through trackless country at 40 [Applause] mph Gunners muffled in white Parkers and wearing snow glasses practice rapid movement and camouflage in the pine forests of the northern [Music] World toughest military Center in all North America is the winter training school at Paha Ontario here come officers ncos and men from every regiment in the nation to train under weatherwise Mountaineers and Young Veterans of the campaigns in Finland and Norway this is no Ski School the Art of skiing learned from childhood is taken for granted but men must know how skis can serve the fighting man they must constantly remember that in extreme cold death can take the hindmost and that frostbite and tyus May March with the [Music] men and in Russia the Germans discovered too late that cold could stall and destroy their intricate pancers n fite unserviceable save the Nazis of their machines and unserviceable too are their men sent to fight in the bitter cold untrained and [Music] unprotected first lesson therefore that the winter Warrior learns is how to look after himself in the open he must be able to pick a concealed campsite taking care that ski tracks do not reveal his position to the enemy he must be cautious in cutting down branches for on a cold day the sound of an axe can be heard 10 Mi off he Stacks his skis and Equipment ready for instant action he builds his bivwak of pine bows and a single piece of canvas he learns to live off the land killing creatur features as skillfully camouflaged against the winter background as himself stretch the skin of any North American and beneath you find the Steely fiber of Daniel Boon and jiger Jones whose boast was that he could walk Barefoot along a fallen black Larch at 40 below and kick out every knot from step to stem so these modern Pioneers gradually Harden themselves soon they March without great coats no matter what the temperature carrying full battle equipment and hauling heavy toboggans in this regime of physical and mental toughening rations play a vital part for the 5-day March which climaxes his training each man carries only 8 lound of food less than 1/3 of the normal amount snow provides the water and a small fire is all that is required for preparation typical of assignments calling for skill and initiative is that of this fighting Patrol a 10-man team of crack skiers and woodsmen the task to deny a river crossing to the Enemy by blowing up a bridge and dynamiting the ice such an action performed in hostile territory demands the highest fighting qualities from every man involved each man knows his place in the gang each knows the details of the plan each must have perfect trust in his leader perfect confidence in his fellows in every Army new men with a genius for this aggressive type of fighting are coming to the four and it is significant that wherever in the new world these novel ways of War are taught the volunteers are Legion or deep in the roots of the American character is the love of independent pioneering the spirit which takes to hardship and danger as a natural inheritance [Music] many of these men were hard rock miners explosives are their trade and their pride they work fast that axe may be heard miles away across the hills down into the river goes the dynamite in waterproof containers Chargers snugly packed into the piers of the [Music] bridge their comrades cover them you have to shoot shoot low stomach level a moment's wait to check the waters flowing and then they melt into the landscape with a night in the open before them in subzero weather such is the new warfare hard Swift [Music] daring today the general staffs of every nation are deeply conscious of the need for close collaboration between Land Air and sea Fighters especially true is this in the defense of the Northland and the northern approaches to the Western Hemisphere for in the stretches of the Arctic wastes Land and Sea merge imperceptibly in the white Mists of the barren coasts significant of the military importance of polar flying is the fact that in Russia the Arctic air squadrons are a separate and specialized branch of the main Soviet Air Force less subject to storm Hazard than is commonly supposed the chief problems of Arctic Aviation are those of preserving from cold men and machines operating from isolated Northern outposts for the pilot there must be electrically heated clothing and special oxygen equipment to enable him to withstand not only the effects of height on speed of thought and action but the added difficulty of breathing in temperatures down to 70 [Music] below gone are the days when every Arctic Airman had to drain the oil from his motor lest it freeze instead new portable electric heaters ensure a quick restart so a new race of Arctic Fighters takes to the northern Skies extending the range of air power far across the Snow Camp Dome of the world interceptors and ski fitted Patrol planes searching the coasts for secret submarine bases and the big Patrol bombers Scouting For icebergs and Raiders alike guiding the convoys and the great circle routes far to the North of peacetime shipping lanes [Applause] [Music] and in for now the long range oceangoing OTS sweeping down from North Atlantic Waters can carry fuel enough for 10 days cruising off the new world Shores and wherever the enemy can go there must go the seamen and the ships of North America standing the strain of long watches when the winds from the pole cut to the Bone and freeze the tears and the look Lookout [Music] eyes up through the northern oceans and through the Drift Ice and the White Sea fogs up past the coasts of Labrador and Greenland guarding Munitions Bound for Britain bearing supplies and reinforcements to us contingents in far off Iceland and [Music] ster Westward to the North Pacific the trol the Frozen Cliffs of Alaska and the chain of the uan islands pointing like a dagger towards [Music] Japan they too are a vital part of the new warfare hardening themselves through long and bitter voyages in preparation for the final attack the final attack when these top fighters of sea and land and Sky were combined to cassid test of action here is the true story in the words of an eyewitness of a single operation one in a mounting tide of offensive Counterattack we sailed from England under sealed orders but I think most of us knew where we were going the Navy had sent heavy forces with us and they weren't Convoy forces only they were meant for attack and plans were laid for their movements to the Split Second [Music] we were a troop of Commandos British and Norwegians who had been in strict training for many months the time went slowly on our way to the rendevu but we kept busy putting fuses in our grenades and getting our equipment into perfect Readiness as we came near the coast we saw the skyline lit up by flares and we knew the Nazis were expecting us landing wouldn't be easy we thought [Music] [Music] all hell broke loose the shore battery started firing and our ships let go and reply with everything they had they must have beaten those enemy guns to a poke but when we got ashore there were great fires blazing and we didn't and organized up the assault boats came swiftly to Shore and each troop went to its place where we knew every detail of the ground from close study of lamps as day broke we were in the streets fighting our way from house to house while the Nazis sniped at us from roofs and hillsides they're good Street Fighters but we gave them a dose of their own medicine this time fires were raging everywhere now we had the eny well in hand we cheered as a big Destroyer slid up the P right there in Nazi Norway covered by a thick P of smoke the assault boats gunned their way into Shore in many places it was black as night but each troop had two-way radio and the whole attack kept pace like clockwork now the stretcher parties began to come back to the boats bearing the dead and wounded and the brave Norwegians who watched without protest when we set fire to their own houses took their injur to our boats for safe return to England but what helped us to Bear these losses was the sight of the Nazis waving White flags of surrender a long time since we had seen this and it did US good Some Gave themselves up but many lay dead in the streets and in the Blazing ruins of the town the fires drove out the quislings like foxes from their holes and they were sent back on the boats for whatever use they might be to the intelligence there were other tasks for us still to do jobs of demolition at key points which the Nazis guarded to the last man chief of these were the Great oil tanks the Navy had taken care of 16,000 tons of German shipping and so with our last job of demolition done our raid ended the raid ended but tomorrow they will return these Warriors driving forward on the Northern fronts of the United Nations they will will return again and yet again as vanguards of a great new Army seeking out the enemy wherever they can find him and in every corner of the Free World today men and women alike are recognizing in this hard and fearless Warfare not only a of action but the very Spirit of our time born of our necessity and our purpose forward Commandos and