FRANCE FLIES AGAIN

[Music] Willard was World's Heavyweight Champion when these pictures were taken Germany had overrun half of France pretty the Popular Song the United States was not at War but in 1916 in the skies of Europe American aviators were fighting and dying volunteers from a neutral Nation who had joined a foreign army to defend the Republic of France these are the American aces of the legendary Lafayette escad some of these men were killed some of them are fighting today but the Escadrille and its Indian Insignia was adopted by the French and has been part of their air for since that time in an Airfield somewhere in Africa the United States is presenting these Curtis warhawks to the French aviators of the Lafayette Escadrille these p4s are a long way from the one gun egg crates of the last war latur yub bom SI the nicknames are the same but these planes have Canon instead of single Vicor machine guns bulletproof armor plate instead of canvas a 100 times the speed and maneuverability of the original latu of T and biang guarded by spahis from French Morocco General spots and general dittle inspect the planes and make the presentation we gathered here to carry on a glorious tradition the of Eternal friendship between the Republic of France and the United States of America it is fitting that the planes which America gives today to the French Air Force should go to the LA at escad now that they are free to fight for France again I know that they will write new and thrilling pages in the history of their organization more general for two years French Aviation has been awaiting the moment when it could again take up its place in combat I want here on behalf of the commissioner to wish the lafad many glorious victories an ace of the first world war presents the flag of the United States to the escad these Patriots of the Republic have never acknowledged A Day of Defeat and fighting day and night with the Soldiers and Sailors and flyers have been the great underground armies of France the half starved and homeless Patriots of a nation under arrest you have read about their battles in the paper a German Lieutenant was found dead on a mountain pass the train to Bordeaux was wrecked mysterious fires destroyed a Munitions plant in Leon these have been the only weapons of the French people fire stealth and patience now they can look into the sky over Paris and Mal and see their own PLS again for France is a living Nation again free to fight free to avenge her betrayal in Paris there's a monument to the men of the first escad of 1916 for these men of 1943 when they have won the war the fourth French Republic will be their Monument alav UMO to Victory or death longitude 173 East latitude 52 North cold with fog sitting on the Bearing Sea in a few hours at to and a change in the course of war in the Pacific the japson thought it would be their own show they planned on Midway and the Illusions as the beginning then Alaska and then their march to Washington they bombed our Naval Base at Dutch Harbor and they attacked Midway and it didn't work never getting to Midway scared out a Dutch Harbor with only minor damage inflicted on a few fires they turned tail they left men on Kisa some on atto and then we started to move up we sent a force of Engineers to an uninhabited island called adak less than 300 mil east of Kisa halfway out on the illusion chain not a tree not a bush maybe a couple of wild foxes nothing more General Landrum later to command ground operations at atto had the command of that Landing the forces under him at adak had just One mission to build a bomber Runway so they got to work on the flat ground a site already chosen they dyed off one side of a tidal Lagoon they drained the water off they laid steel Landing mats over the hard sand bottom and then our bombers came up for an attack on Kisa which the Japs were reinforcing with new troops in a submarine base and a power station P3 8 Fighters furnished protection to the bombers as they flew over to stop the Japs from digging in too deep at just now the attack on ATU described by a man who was up there for air intelligence he saw the beginning he saw the attack on at he saw the whole show major France Q Wilson I was sent to the Illusions in April for the second time in 8 months this time as a Observer for the war department during the app two show I remained with the Air Force Intelligence Officers until the day of the attack then by plane went to Masco Bay on the island of ATU now at this time we had two Advanced airfields at adak and at amchitka the field at adak is here and much nearer to the Japanese held Islands the field at Anka is here from Anka where we did most of our bombing business it wasn't much more than a half hour's run to Kisa and an hour more to at to every day four months weather permitting we'd been bombing Kisa the Japs sort of expected an attack there we attacked Apu instead May 11 1943 the Convoy arrived safely the Navy had escorted it for 17 days without a mishap everyone was at Battle station Admiral Rockwell commanding the task force was running the whole show from his Flagship working against two enemies B and the Jabs at two was fogged out although we kept our planes overhead hoping for a break in the overcast to bomb and strap the enemy and then they gave the signal the Navy let loose with every gun [Music] about 16:30 in the afternoon the troops began going overside into the landing bars sometimes the soup would lift and they could see sometimes it would come down like a window shade it was cold as hell and wet when the fog was down [Music] I don't know how fast those Landing barges traveled but they really moved right along Scouts were first on the schedule followed by the main body of troops and then the artillery so far not a shot from the shore not a sign of a [ __ ] anywhere near the beach plans called for attack at Masco Bay and near HS Bay over to the north of the island all approximately at the same time all afternoon all night and into the next day troops kept Landing bigger and bigger stuff hit the beach one wave after another while the first troops had already started up The Long incline towards the massacre Holtz Bay pass right along with them went the Navy photographers who took these pictures I've got a lot of respect for their urds believe me a few thousand yards up Suddenly they hit [ __ ] fire and dug into the sticky eluan tund and then they brought the Howes ashore to take up where the Navy had left off socking it into the hill meanwhile down below the unloading continued without stopping the crews working as long as they could stand up to get the food the ammunition the equipment ashore and up to the forces in the hill [Applause] [Music] everything 30s 50s 37s 105 more ammunition more rations heavier clothing for the Mountain snow and all the while Vigilant Security along the beach line up in the passes the Sleep drove in sideways wet and mean but they pushed on up never knowing where the cleverly concealed [ __ ] imp placements were until the Japs would fire [Music] [Music] the enemy had planned a permanent base at at there is no doubt about that but the only Japs to remain there permanently wor were dead ones we found no wounded at all we took only 14 prisoners in the entire operation those wounded who did not commit Harry carry were evidently cremated along with the dead in an oil dump at HS Bay leaving their equipment behind it looked as if they had moved into those foggy Hills equipped for the beginning of a great advance and all they got was a place to die among our troops we had more casualties from the damn Delan weather than we did from the [ __ ] bullets Medics started taking the injured back to the ships in the harbor during the first days of the fighting it was a job getting some of them down the Slick Side of the Mountain a lot of them were carried piggy back or bundled in blankets each one of them had accounted for some dead Jabs some part in the capture of at two with our Advanced bases at adak and mka our possession of at two will help one hell of a lot in the blockade of Kisa the last remaining [ __ ] toold in the Elan chain at is ours but at adak Den amchitka bommer crew still board the daily Kisa Express tuning up for a Target that's been rocked and cut with more Sunday punches than any other spot in the Pacific maybe it's old stuff to these boys by now but in the Illusions it's never just the old milk run it's never the same thing twice up there in the Pacific there'll be 20 weather changes and a single flight and every change will be from bad to worse it's one constant battle through the weather to the Jem the weather picture Landing field out here much of the time rain can beat you back and flood the strip for fog can shut you out until your gas is gone you don't know where you'll land or when or in what shape you just know that half an hour away are jets on kitka 7,000 ft up over a volcanic island in the Pacific feels like a long way from home global war has picked some pretty lousy country for all of us this is no swamp in the Solomons no Desert in Africa but these black mountains this fog and coold are all a part of the same fight this is our Outfield and we'll be up here just so long as there are Japs to strap and the bomb [Music] la [Music]