Footage
Buzzing Death Bombs
See and hear the V-1 rocket—the buzz bomb—that tormented Allied forces and civilians in Europe. When an overhead buzz bomb fell silent, death was on its way.
The Bill that Created America’s Future
Check out Uncle Sam’s GI Bill for WWII vets—a deal that gave America an educated workforce and thriving middle class—in this no-malarkey wartime film.
The big, mighty B-29
Pull down the blackout shades and watch the artful wartime propaganda film Birth of the B-29. You'll be in 1945 faster than you can decipher MCMXLV!
The surrender is signed
This United News newsreel puts you aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, as a witness to Japan’s official surrender.
GI fun at Hitler’s house
Take a GI’s victory tour of the Berghof—Hitler’s home in the Bavarian Alps near Berchtesgaden, Germany—in this 1945 newsreel.
Hitler Youth tell their stories
In a March 1945 German newsreel, Hitler Youth boys—like the ones GIs encountered in Heilbronn—talk proudly of their combat experiences.
To the Shores of Iwo Jima, Parts I and II
Thanks to heroic military cameramen, you can follow the US marines onto Iwo Jima in this 1945 Office of War Information film. Shown in two parts.
Battle of the Bulge on film
The Battle of the Bulge unfolds onscreen—along with a toughen-up message addressed to home-front civilians—in this 1945 army newsreel.
Carmen Miranda in full flower
Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda adds Latin spice to the 1942 film Springtime in the Rockies with her take on “Chattanooga Choo-Choo.”
Germany crushes the D-Day Invasion?
Watch a wartime German newsreel footage and see how the Nazi government made German civilians think the Allied invasion of Normandy was another victory for the Third Reich.
The Marianas Turkey Shoot in color
Pilots and carrier crews of US Task Force 58 demolish Imperial Japan's naval air power in the June 1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea.
US Navy forces Battle a U-boat
A destroyer and carrier-based planes take on German sub U-505 in a classic Victory at Sea episode.
The Andrews Sisters on the silver screen
The iconic vocal harmony trio perform the quintessential swinging WWII song "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" in the Abbot and Costello movie Buck Privates.
Veronica Lake and her dangerous hair
In this clip from the US Office of War Information, the silver screen sex symbol with the peekaboo hair gets a look that's safe for wartime factory work.
Bugs Bunny’s war bond shtick
Porky and Elmer back up the Cwazy Wabbit as he sings and dances for the war effort in the Looney Tunes short “Any Bonds Today?”
Leyte Gulf sea war
See real footage of air and sea combat during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in a segment from the 1950s TV series Victory at Sea.
Ella’s yellow basket
Songbird Ella Fitzgerald jazzes up a Wild West bus tour with her hit “A-Tisket A-Tasket” in Abbot and Costello’s 1942 movie Ride ’Em Cowboy.
