Birth of the B-29

1945 Documentary

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About Birth of the B-29

Over shots of volcanic eruptions, a narrator describes Japan through bushido, Hakko ichiu, and Shinto, and says a new weapon will cross the ocean and bomb the mainland. The film then follows B-29 Superfortress assembly, with workers of both races and sexes, and credits miners, lumber workers, bond buyers, and dead servicemen. It says each bomber is larger than the Mayflower. The Twentieth Air Force flies the planes to China, where allies build fields. A B-29 takes off and the narrator says, "Next stop - Japan!"

More about Birth of the B-29

A 1945 War Department film on the building of the B-29 and its use against Japan.

Themes

  • a bomber larger than the Mayflower
  • a factory of many hands
  • China as the forward field
  • B-29
  • Superfortress
  • Twentieth Air Force
  • Japan
  • assembly line

Background

Made in 1945 for the War Department as the B-29 campaign against Japan was underway. The Twentieth Air Force is the unit the film sends to China.

Notes

  • The closing line is the narrator's "Next stop - Japan!
  • The factory sequence presents the bomber as the product of assembly lines, raw materials, and bond sales, not of one plant.

Scenes

  • Workers of both races and sexes assemble the bombers.
  • A B-29 lifts off toward Japan.

Also available

  • Internet Archive (Birthoft1945)

Quotes

Next stop - Japan!