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"LIBERATED SAIPAN"
World War II Home Movies

Color and b&w home movie footage filmed by two U.S. Navy men stationed on Saipan, beginning in 1944 after it was liberated from the Japanese and continuing on into 1947 while the island was under U.S. Navy control.

The first film was shot in 1944-1945 by Lt. C. E. Thompson (USNR). You'll see scenes filmed in a tent camp by the beach -- daily activities of the men, shaving, bathing, working and goofing off. There's rare footage of the civilian internment camps where native islanders and Japanese civilians were kept until after the war ended. I believe the footage shows the camp at Chalan Kanoa, but later footage may also show Susupe. Camp scenes include people doing laundry, cooking, planting crops, children playing, riding in carts, etc. There's some footage filmed of Navy men smoking and drinking at the USNAB Officer's Mess, and footage filmed while sight-seeing around the island -- Suicide Cliff, Bird Island, panoramic overviews and more.

The second set of films was shot by Ray Miller, from 1945 to 1947. It includes panoramic views of his base, men working with bulldozers and road equipment, men hoisting a damaged F4U Corsair onto a barge, port activity, and shots of explosions on the other side of a hill.
The later footage was filmed when U.S. Navy dependents were living on the island -- there are shots of family exploration excursions through caves and to remote beaches -- you'll see them poking around in a wrecked Japanese ship and looking at piles of weathered skulls and bones in the jungle, and then enjoying a picnic lunch with the kids. They look at "The Last Command Post", Banadero Cave, where the Japanese commanders held out to the very end of the battle, finally committing suicide. There's a rope and noose hanging down the outside wall. The wives join their husbands on a trip by Landing Craft to Tinian where you get to see more of the sights. The movies end with a farewell from Kobler Field, with officers and wives be-decked in floral leis, posing for photos and then boarding a transport plane, with ending footage of the Golden Gate Bridge shot from the deck of a ship.

Other footage includes:
~ 2nd Marine Division Cemetery
~Ancient ruins on Tinian
~Old Man By the Sea rock formation
~LST-45
~LCT-1354
~YCV-16 Aircraft Transportation Lighter
...and more

The DVD has a soundtrack of 1940s Armed Forces radio shows.
Running Time: 1 hour 3 minutes

PRICE: $24.00

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Click Below to watch some clips from "Liberated Saipan" -- Please note that because of the transfer process this You Tube video is of a lesser quality than the actual DVD.

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