WORLD WAR II WAR FILM 19 FIREPOWER DOCUMENTARY " HOW GOOD IS A GUN? " 25514
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- Опубліковано 27 січ 2025
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An official War Department film produced by the United States Army Signal Corps during WWII, “How Good Is A Gun?” opens with a scene from “a valley where Nazis rule. A valley of death.” As the camera pans across the ruins of what was once a town, the narrator says that no rocket or “mysterious ray” destroyed this place. “Just firepower - firepower of American war production … fighting to save this town and every town from the swastika.” American infantrymen are shown sharing cigarettes at mark 01:08 after the fight as dubbed audio explains how the American people “have a right to know how good the guns are so they keep making them good” and the narrator adds near mark 02:00 that “superior firepower saves lives.” At 2:21, soldiers are seen watching a movie about firepower. The film continues as we see soldier firing a light carbine, an M1 Garand (“which can make a leaky bucket out of any sniper’s head”), and a Browning Automatic Rifle as they cut through trees and cement walls, as well as firing bazookas, 60 mm and 81 mm mortars that can reach Nazi soldiers hiding two miles away, and anti-tank guns. We see the 105 mm Howitzer M3 in use starting at mark 05:15, followed by the 155 mm Long Tom field gun. At mark 06:06 the camera follows troops out of the training camp and into the battle as we see the weapons in action. Sherman tanks roll past at mark 07:15 as they advance toward the Germans, and the narrator’s enthusiasm cannot be contained as he introduces the 240 mm Howitzer M1 (aka the Black Dragon) at mark 08:15. Tanks and tank destroyers are shown moving into a valley as shells fly and the Allies finally enter the town at mark 11:46, carrying minesweepers and M1903 Springfield rifles “to flush the snipers.” The fruits of the Allied efforts are shown at mark 12:25, as grateful residents emerge from caves and hideouts and we’re reminded that “the terror of our shells have driven out the greater terror - slavery and the German invader.”
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Oh yeah, my dad was a radioman and gunner on SBDs (Dauntless Dive Bomber) & on the PBY Catalina flying in the “blister” doing Patrol and Rescue missions in WW2.
Artillery - King of battle ! 38th Infantry division. 163rd Field Artillery. 1982-88
Love Periscope Films
Here it is. Haven't found footage from Cassino anywhere. Thanks for the vid.
_"Is that you, John Wayne?... Is this me?"_ ... i kept thinking that when i hear the narrator LoL
there's a long tom on display in a park in a town a few miles east of me. it's a big mutha'.
Beautiful
That 60mm mortar was actually an M1 81mm mortar
Sad that they filmed these battle weary GIs and no one thought to record sound. I would like to hear anything they had to say. I can only suppose this is during the Italian Campaign and that was long and brutal and sadly under represented.
:54 They never envisioned Detroit in 2023
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
We liberated the shit outta that medieval village.
At 5.05 mins. That is actually the Pack Howitzer, the 'little brother' of the 105 howitzer.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_howitzer
It was designed for mountain and airborne troops.
5:03 😩👌
Peace thru superior fire power. God bless the USA
My father was in the Tenth Mountain Div fighting for 1 hill at a time while France got all the press The Germans would use the ruins to fight from.
The story is the Germans were unhappily surprised when they were being attacked at higher altitudes and the attackers were not struggling in the thin air.
How many of the largest Artillery Pieces actually saw action as the logistics to transport them to where they were needed was an issue?
Sort of like the Nazi Panzer Maus Tank.
Impressive size and firepower, but size, weight and performance hardly got off the drawing board. What? Only 2 were made.
Did someone tell the Paper Hanger, hey Boss, this just ain’t gonna work!!!
Great video, I enjoy seeing what each weapon can do!
Again, the larger Artillery Pieces, point me in the direction where I can see them in Combat, because I never really have seen much of them in films.
Thanks for preserving our history. IMO, Young people have little knowledge or information regarding the World Wars or “Police Actions” like Korea and even Viet Nam.
The Counter Culture and P. C. People are more concerned about everyone feeling good and tearing down monuments to our history.
I’m not even sure about what is taught in school anymore regarding our own wars that occurred on US soil.
I’ve even run into some educators that think History should be dropped as a Subject taught in schools.
Yeah, they’re doing such a great job with the basic subjects lol.
I hear you. And your right. But they were for Bombarding heavy Forts and occupied towns. But yes logistically there expense compared to a squad of machine gunners and 2 tanks. Etc. was extreme. But if the enemy heard those biggies coming in. Then they will run. The most effective fear weapons were FIRE THROWERS LIKE FLAME TANKS
The US governor,t should have called this video “ The Lead Boukaki”
These Italians sided with the axis why are they all of a sudden “friendlies” ?
Italy was a kind of strange enemy to be fighting during the war. The thing to keep in mind is Italy in 1943 overthrew Mussolini, the Fascist leader who got Italy in the war to start with, and then joined the Allies. It didn't help matters that the Germans practically took over Italy during the course of the war, even rescuing Mussolini who set up a puppet state in the North of Italy, and with the change of sides the Germans grew increasingly hostile to the Italians. In fact, it seems Italian prisoners were given some leniency that others didn't get. For instance if the Italian POWs had relatives in the United States they could come visit them. One picture I saw showed a group of prisoners from Italy having dinner with their relatives in one camp. Moreover, the United States even set up a logistical unit made up of surrendered Italian prisoners who served in the European Theater.
The Sherman was called The Ronson because it was fueled with gasoline and not diesel. It would burn like a match when hit by german shells.
Ronson…Lights first time…every time.
Ronson didn’t adopt that slogan till the 50’s thats a myth
That nickname was made up after the war, and most like it are bullshit. Diesel tanks were not common during World War II, used mostly by the Soviets, Japanese and USMC. Panzers and Army Shermans both used gasoline just like most other tanks. The reason a tank burns when it is hit is mostly because of ammo propellant, not fuel. In reality, German tanks burned just as frequently as American ones, Although Sherman burn rates dropped significantly after ammo storage was moved to the floor of the vehicle. One of the major reasons behind this myth is because of their performance in North Africa in British service. British tank crews tended to overload their tanks with loose ammunition, sometimes having shells just piled up on the floor of the turret basket, dramatically increasing the chances of an ammo cook off when they were hit. Along with a healthy dose of Nazi propaganda.
We had some pretty good weapons and we had some pretty poor weapons as well. And it mattered somewhat but what made our weapons REAL war winners was the quality of the MEN who used them!!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️❤️
Curious they didn’t mention the 120 mm rifled mortar -
12:10 Not american troops, is braziliam army "FEB" in italy.
De onde tirou essa ideia? A FEB chegou no conflito DEPOIS da batalha de Cassino.
Long Tom was the name of Caption Hook's largest cannon onboard The Jolly Roger in the novel Peter Pan.
Coincidence?
just remember the other side also has similar killing machines.
He said the German matched us gun for gun. No they had a bunch of better weapons. One German was noted as saying our tanks can match any ten Sherman's, but y'all always sent the 11th.
Check out Clyde Barrows car
The true value of a gun is dependent upon contextual history.
Buy war bonds!
"American guns are better" said the Sherman to the Tiger...
Famous last words
Our tanks were lame, but our artillery was probably better than the Germans.... especially with the introduction of the proximity fuse. Artillery, more than tanks, is the King of Battle.
KurtB True.
***** I don't think so. Maybe if they first had conquered Britain.
HVAP rounds from 76mm Sherman could penetrate Tiger I's frontal armor at 1000m and still have enough energy left over to exit through the rear.
yeah it was famous last words................For the Tiger
imgur.com/EVKUetf
Three of My Dads older Bother’s were in the service during WW2 one in Combat from Grandmenil to the end of the War. One of My Dads Brother’s in Law / Uncles served from North Africa all the way through Italy as a heavy water cooled Machine Gunner. I really like these old films. All the BLM and ANTIFA riots must have done something to Me because those opening statements about keeping American Towns from looking like those of the Liri Valley / San Pietro have Me asking How good is communist Socialist propaganda and fifth columnist subversion. The Ballad of Kyle Rittenhouse could well be adapted to a contemporary version of this film. Alan Napier as Sturak in Big Jim Mclain could do a film called How Good is a riot and subversive insurrectionist clandestine operation’s like in John Wayne Punches Commies.
they sure freed the $hit out of that town
So who wants a Hillary hole?
Who needs a Hillary hole?
Since nobody wants or needs a Hillary hole, why are there Hillary holes?
I wonder if anybody actually believed the obvious propaganda and very bad acting was real?..Seems quite a few did so it was probably very good for civilian moral!..But the soldiers and gunners would have laughed their heads off if they'd seen it!
Correct. It's to keep war bonds and troops coming voluntarily.
Sad what we had to do. Sad that a lot hate us.
BS