I. 'MID EAST-FIELD MARSHAL SMUTS VISITS CAIRO.' Field Marshal Jan C Smuts (South African Premier) sits on a bench in the garden of the British Embassy in Cairo, in the company of Lord and Lady Killearn (Sir Miles and Mrs Lampson) and their children Jacquetta and Victor. The Field Marshal walks in the embassy grounds accompanied by Lord and Lady Killearn, the commentary describes Smut's visit as a short stay prior to his return to South Africa. Field Marshal Smuts addresses the men of the 6th South African Division who are drawn up in parade formation at a desert location prior to performing a march past in honour of the visiting Field Marshal. General Sir Alan Brooke looks on from the reviewing stand as the march past is in progress.

II. 'RUSSIA-ACTION ALONG THE BLACK SEA FRONT.' Russian Naval and Army infantry carry large calibre mortar shells along a trench network in a defensive position near the Black Sea port of Novorossisk (Novorossiysk) in the Kuban. A mounted messenger arrives, apparently to inform of an intended German tank attack against the Russian positions. Red Army officers run through a trench system to reach a vantage point. A Russian gun crew manhandle a 45mm Protivotankovaya Pushka obr 1930g anti-tank gun into a defensive position. Stock shots show an artillery barrage by Russian 152mm Gaubitsa-Pushka obr 1937g field guns; smoke rises in the distance from the impacting shells. The commentary states that the German attack was driven back by a heavy Russian artillery bombardment and attacks by anti-tank infantry units. A Russian T-34/76 (D ?) tank drives through open country laden with a tank-descent infantry team. Russian 76.2mm Pushka obr 1942g dual-purpose field guns are fired at unseen targets from emplaced gun pits. Russian infantry ride on a captured German PzKpfw III tank (Ausf N with 75mm gun and armoured side skirts ?) that is towed by a T-34/76 tank.

III. 'PACIFIC-JAPAN LOSES ANOTHER STRONGHOLD IN SOLOMON ISLANDS.' A United States Navy (USN) landing craft (LCA ?) delivers supplies to a beach on Guadalcanal Island. A USN J2F-6 Grumman Duck amphibian aircraft leaves the surf and taxies up an inclined beach. United States (US) personnel offload bombs (1000-lb ?) from a landing craft prior to their being taken to Henderson Field by soft-skin vehicle. The commentary states that the footage has been filmed by the New Zealand National Film Unit (a New Zealand Army camera team is possibly a more likely source) during the closing phases of the Guadalcanal fighting. Members of the New Zealand camera team display captured Japanese rations that include compressed barley, compressed fish and sugar, all packaged in waterproof wrapping. The commentary highlights the tactical importance for the Allies of the capture of Henderson Airfield over views of Henderson Field. A US Atlas diesel caterpillar tractor flattens palm trees at Henderson Field during work to lengthen the runway for use in heavy bomber operations. US Marines march along a road lined with palm trees armed with M1 Garand .30-in self-loading rifles and M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifles. US troops move through jungle foliage carrying supplies and a mortar bipod. US troops (Marines ?) dig foxholes on high ground overlooking Japanese positions (unseen). A bare chested US Marine calls for air support on a field telephone. Unidentified Allied aircraft (Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bombers ?) bomb Japanese positions in the distance. A US Marine stands ready with his finger on the trigger of a Thompson M1A1 .45-in sub-machine gun, others rest on the ground by the cover of jungle foliage with their Garand self-loading rifles lying close to hand. A USN landing craft (LCM P39-30) is beached at an undisclosed location presumably to deliver supplies. The commentary describes the grim fighting in the Solomon Islands as being the first of the stepping stones to the mainland of Japan.

IV. 'ITALY-THE BATTLE FOR ROME.' A British Eighth Army artillery team use a Caterpillar tractor to tow a heavy field gun (Ordnance 4.5-in ?) through viscous mud in the Chieti Region of Italy (Abruzzi Citra) in the environs of the River Sangro. British Ordnance 5.5-in field guns fire at high elevation from the mud of a Chieti valley as smoke from the barrage rises on a distant mountain ridge. Russian staff officers acting as observers during the Sangro battle meet Lieutenant-General Bernard C Freyberg (NZ Divisional Commander) and officers of the Second New Zealand Division. Ordnance 25-pounder howitzers fire at high elevation from the cover of an olive grove, the barrage is directed by a NZ Army major using binoculars. Stock shot footage shows General Bernard Law Montgomery talking informally to a British soldier who wears an artilleryman's leather jerkin. German Wehrmacht prisoners are escorted to holding areas by soldiers of the Second New Zealand Division. Second New Zealand Division infantry perform mopping up operations, entering shell-damaged buildings during the search for snipers. NZ infantry fire Lee-Enfield Mk III .303-in rifles and Thompson M1A1 .45-in sub-machine guns from the cover of building rubble. An NZ infantryman throws a Mills 36M hand grenade (defensive pattern) at an unseen enemy, taking cover as the grenade explodes. An NZ infantry detachment move cautiously towards a battle damaged Italian rural villa (Podere) armed with Lee-Enfield Mk III .303-in rifles with fixed bayonets. NZ infantry climb into German defensive tunnelling works armed with Smith and Wesson .38-in revolvers, the use of larger weapons being precluded by the narrowness of the tunnel system.

Notes

Associated material: items I and IV are repeated at WPN 289