The War #9

Year Published: 1943

Creator: Army Pictorial Center.

Description: This WWII Armed Services information film, "The War #9" (1943) contains several segments. First, "How To Swim In 10 Easy Lessons", showing amphibious training at Camp Gordon Johnston in Florida. Second, "Back Home - New York City", which shows wartime conditions in NYC, including rationing. Third,"Soldiers Of The Snow": Life for Soviet soldiers on the Eastern Front Fourth, an episode of "Strictly G.I." entitled "V-Mail" which shows how V-Mail works. Finally, it concludes with USMC General Vandegrift introduces combat footage of the Guadalcanal campaign. 0:00 Main titles. Camp Gordon, Florida, where soldiers are undergoing amphibious training to prepare for water-based attacks. 1:16 Soldiers use various strokes, including the "phal flip," to swim while fully equipped. 1:35 They learn how to quickly shed equipment by taking a floating position and unfastening their belts. 2:01 The soldiers practice jumping from a boat deck fully equipped without injury, emphasizing the danger of keeping a helmet on or a rifle in their hands. 2:51 They undergo a more pleasant period of training—a swim without equipment—but are then forced to swim through a stretch of burning oil. 3:08 The men learn to swim underwater and use their hands to push away the burning oil as they surface. The narrator jokes that in a real emergency, they'll be swimming away from the flames, not chasing them. 3:52 A New York taxi driver narrates a segment on how the war has changed life in the New York City. He notes that gasoline rationing has reduced traffic, eliminating "Sunday drivers" and making public transportation more crowded. 5:02 He talks about the new blackout conditions, where Broadway's famous lights are now dimmed to protect ships at sea. 5:34 He then discusses food rationing, explaining that consumers now need ration books to buy groceries. 6:18 People are shown waiting in line to get their ration books. The narrator mentions that a family with eight kids is now the most popular in Long Island City due to the number of points they receive. 7:11 The taxi driver complains about the difficulty of managing points and makes a final note that citizens know where all the resources are going and are happy to support the war effort. 8:10 V-Mail, a service that converts letters from home into microfilm to save shipping space. 8:33 The V-Mail forms are described, with rules for writing to ensure they can be photographed correctly. Softer pencils are preferred over hard ones. 9:06 The film shows the process, where letters are sorted by destination, sliced open by machine, and then photographed onto 16mm film. 10:05 One hundred feet of film can hold 1,600 letters. The narrator highlights the efficiency, stating that 605,000 letters, weighing 70 pounds as film, replace 37 tons of mail pouches. 11:37 At the destination, the microfilm is enlarged into 5 1/2 x 4 inch facsimiles. 12:14 The enlarged letters are then sliced, folded, and inserted into special V-Mail envelopes by machine. 13:01 The narrator concludes by encouraging the use of V-Mail to save space and time, which he says will help bring the soldiers home sooner. 13:21 General Vandegrift discusses the cooperation between the Army, Navy, and Marines on Guadalcanal, stating that they all worked together, looked alike, and fought alike. 14:27 He praises their unity and recounts how they "shattered forever the myth of Japanese invincibility." 14:58 Victory won't be easy, but the American fighting man's intelligence is superior to the Japanese's training to "die." 15:42 The General speaks about the difficulty of jungle fighting and the need for preparedness. 16:08 The narrator returns and continues the story of Guadalcanal, mentioning how they bombed Henderson Field but never succeeded in destroying it, thanks to the quick work of men and tractors. 16:56 He concludes by praising the "heroes" and the Navy's protection, proving the services are an "unbeatable team."

Complete Record: This WWII Armed Services information film, "The War #9" (1943) contains several segments. First, "How To Swim In 10 Easy Lessons", showing amphibious training at Camp Gordon Johnston in Florida. Second, "Back Home - New York City", which shows wartime conditions in NYC, including rationing. Third,"Soldiers Of The Snow": Life for Soviet soldiers on the Eastern Front Fourth, an episode of "Strictly G.I." entitled "V-Mail" which shows how V-Mail works. Finally, it concludes with USMC General Vandegrift introduces combat footage of the Guadalcanal campaign. 0:00 Main titles. Camp Gordon, Florida, where soldiers are undergoing amphibious training to prepare for water-based attacks. 1:16 Soldiers use various strokes, including the "phal flip," to swim while fully equipped. 1:35 They learn how to quickly shed equipment by taking a floating position and unfastening their belts. 2:01 The soldiers practice jumping from a boat deck fully equipped without injury, emphasizing the danger of keeping a helmet on or a rifle in their hands. 2:51 They undergo a more pleasant period of training—a swim without equipment—but are then forced to swim through a stretch of burning oil. 3:08 The men learn to swim underwater and use their hands to push away the burning oil as they surface. The narrator jokes that in a real emergency, they'll be swimming away from the flames, not chasing them. 3:52 A New York taxi driver narrates a segment on how the war has changed life in the New York City. He notes that gasoline rationing has reduced traffic, eliminating "Sunday drivers" and making public transportation more crowded. 5:02 He talks about the new blackout conditions, where Broadway's famous lights are now dimmed to protect ships at sea. 5:34 He then discusses food rationing, explaining that consumers now need ration books to buy groceries. 6:18 People are shown waiting in line to get their ration books. The narrator mentions that a family with eight kids is now the most popular in Long Island City due to the number of points they receive. 7:11 The taxi driver complains about the difficulty of managing points and makes a final note that citizens know where all the resources are going and are happy to support the war effort. 8:10 V-Mail, a service that converts letters from home into microfilm to save shipping space. 8:33 The V-Mail forms are described, with rules for writing to ensure they can be photographed correctly. Softer pencils are preferred over hard ones. 9:06 The film shows the process, where letters are sorted by destination, sliced open by machine, and then photographed onto 16mm film. 10:05 One hundred feet of film can hold 1,600 letters. The narrator highlights the efficiency, stating that 605,000 letters, weighing 70 pounds as film, replace 37 tons of mail pouches. 11:37 At the destination, the microfilm is enlarged into 5 1/2 x 4 inch facsimiles. 12:14 The enlarged letters are then sliced, folded, and inserted into special V-Mail envelopes by machine. 13:01 The narrator concludes by encouraging the use of V-Mail to save space and time, which he says will help bring the soldiers home sooner. 13:21 General Vandegrift discusses the cooperation between the Army, Navy, and Marines on Guadalcanal, stating that they all worked together, looked alike, and fought alike. 14:27 He praises their unity and recounts how they "shattered forever the myth of Japanese invincibility." 14:58 Victory won't be easy, but the American fighting man's intelligence is superior to the Japanese's training to "die." 15:42 The General speaks about the difficulty of jungle fighting and the need for preparedness. 16:08 The narrator returns and continues the story of Guadalcanal, mentioning how they bombed Henderson Field but never succeeded in destroying it, thanks to the quick work of men and tractors. 16:56 He concludes by praising the "heroes" and the Navy's protection, proving the services are an "unbeatable team."