Evocative World War II-era film following a troop train: the coordination of effort; its staging and assembly of cars, cargo and passengers; its heavily guarded journey through the American countryside; and the food, sleep, exercise, training, drilling and recreation of its soldier-passengers.
This item is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives - Public Domain
Producer: U.S. Office of War Information
Audio/Visual: Sd, B&W
http://www.archive.org/details/TroopTra1943
Found this little gem of a film while searching for possible footage on troop trains for my documentary. This was made in 1943 and even though it depicts a fictional armored division, it does show actual footage. Instead of me blabbering on (for a change), I will share the comments of others who viewed it. I plan on using some of the footage within my project, for it is public domain.
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Reviewer: Spuzz - - May 2, 2005
Subject: Where's Bjork when you need her?
Great little film about how one whole troops is transported. vehicles and all, across the country. Told with no narration, the film follows the load up of vehicles, the load up of men (love the fact they would have a marching band to send them off) and finally, the train is off! it goes through the country with some great shots here. Apparantly, noone has ever been in a train before as they havent seen a berth. The troops are allowed out for a bit of exercise and a bit of frolic in the sun and then it ends! Awww! I could've watched more of this, because this was fun! Reccomended!
Also, watch for the homoerotic points in the film (especially in the map scene)
Reviewer: Ron C - - April 19, 2004
Subject: Troop Train and the Camp Croft Connection
This was a worthwhile download. This 1943 movie attempts to show the viewer the activities associated with the troop movement (including equipment) of a fictional armor unit. There is little dialogue, mostly titles for narration, and lots of good railroad shots.
The reason I sought this film out was a connection it has with Camp Croft, a former US Army Infantry Replacement Training Center located in South Carolina. At about the mid-point of the movie, a band (Croft's 2nd IRTC Band/163d Army Band) is shown and I assume the music is theirs as well. Troops moving past the band are from the 40th Infantry Training Battalion and the camp is shown in the background. A really neat find!
Reviewer: cashel - - September 27, 2003
Subject: reality
honest telling of a vital world war 2 story..Told in 13 minutes in b/w film without any trick or animation..
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"