Combat Bulletin No. 42 (film #2 on tape #7 of This Film Is Restricted (Marathon Music # Video, 1997)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]

In this last Combat Bulletin of the set, you can tell that the war is winding down. In "Meeting of Allied Leaders," we see footage of the famous meeting of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin at Yalta. In "Nazi Shipping Attacked Along Norwegian Coast," we see aerial footage of sea battles off the coast of Norway. In "New Air Crew Oxygen Bottle," resourceful GIs figure out a way to improvise a larger oxygen tank for use when crew members must repair the plane while at an altitude requiring oxygen (repair work requires more oxygen than piloting). In "St. Nazaire Truce for Civilian Evacuation," trains carry French civilians out of St. Nazaire, which is still held by the Germans. In "Capture of St. Vith," the workings of a captured German mortar are shown. In "Boots Improvised to Fight Trench Foot," those crafty GIs are at it again, inventing warm boots fashioned from blankets to keep their tootsies warm and dry in snowy foxholes and preventing trench foot. In "Baily Assault Bridge," a portable bridge is demonstrated. In "Activities in Burma," we see more jungle fighting. In "Army-Navy Planes Hit Japanese Installations," we see aerial footage of the bombing of targets in Japan and Southeast Asia. In "Operations in the Phillipines," canned food is distributed to starving civilians, Fillipino guerillas are trained, and we see still more jungle fighting. I think the ending was cut off of this one.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.