Target for Today

Last updated

Target for Today
Target for Today.jpg
DVD cover
Directed by William Keighley
Music byAlexander Steinert
Production
company
Distributed by U.S. Government
Release date
  • 1944 (1944)
Running time
90 minutes
LanguageEnglish

Target for Today is a documentary film describing the preparation and mounting of a United States Army Air Forces raid on East Prussia. It contains much combat footage of B-17 and B-24 bombers and named for the phrase used at briefings before air raids. The October 1943 footage was filmed during Eighth Air Force attacks on Nazi Germany industrial targets in Anklam, the 22nd Air Base in Marienburg (on the 9th), [1] and Gdynia in occupied Poland. Prior to the combat footage, the documentary explains Operation Pointblank target selection and depicts planning, briefing, and preparation.

Contents

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doolittle Raid</span> US bombing of Japan on April 18, 1942

The Doolittle Raid, also known as Doolittle's Raid, as well as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to strike the Japanese archipelago. Although the raid caused comparatively minor damage, it demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attacks. It served as an initial retaliation for the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, and provided an important boost to American morale. The raid was named after Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, who planned and led the attack. It was one of six American carrier raids against Japan and Japanese-held territories conducted in the first half of 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eighth Air Force</span> Numbered air force of the United States Air Force

The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces Strategic – Global Strike, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). The Eighth Air Force includes the heart of America's heavy bomber force: the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the Rockwell B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber, and the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fifteenth Air Force</span> US Air Force formation

The Fifteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force and Twelfth Air Force into a new numbered air force responsible for generating and presenting Air Combat Command's conventional forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Polebrook</span> Former Royal Air Force station

Royal Air Force Polebrook or more simply RAF Polebrook is a former Royal Air Force station located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east-south-east of Oundle, at Polebrook, Northamptonshire, England. The airfield was built on Rothschild estate land starting in August 1940.

<i>Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress</i> 1944 film by William Wyler

The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress is a 1944 documentary film which provides an account of the final mission of the crew of the Memphis Belle, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. In May 1943 it became the third U.S. Army Air Forces heavy bomber to complete 25 missions over Europe, but the first to return to the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Shipdham</span>

Royal Air Force Shipdham or more simply RAF Shipdham is a former Royal Air Force station located 3 miles south of Dereham, Norfolk, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Great Ashfield</span> Former Royal Air Force station in Suffolk, England

Royal Air Force Great Ashfield or more simply RAF Great Ashfield is a former Royal Air Force station in Suffolk, England. It is located 10 miles (16 km) east of Bury St Edmunds and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Great Ashfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Hardwick</span> Former RAF station in Norfolk, England

Royal Air Force Hardwick or more simply RAF Hardwick is a former Royal Air Force station located between the Norfolk villages of Topcroft and Hardwick in England. It is around 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Bungay, Suffolk.

<i>Combat America</i> 1945 documentary film

Combat America is a 1945 documentary film produced in World War II, narrated by Clark Gable. At the time of the film's production in 1943, Gable was a 1st Lieutenant in the Eighth Air Force, part of the United States Army Air Forces. While he was stationed in England, Gable flew five combat missions from May 4–September 23, 1943, and during one of them, his boot was struck by an anti-aircraft shell, and he was nearly hit by other flak bursts. Gable's film crew included MGM cameraman Andrew J.McIntyre; 1st Lt. Howard Voss, a sound engineer; Master Sgt. Robert Boles, a cameraman; Master Sgt. Marlin Toti, another cameraman; and 1st Lt. John Mahlin, a scriptwriter."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">22nd Air Base</span> Military airport in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland

The 22nd Air Base is a Polish Air Force air base east of Malbork, Poland, near the village of Królewo Malborskie. It was officially constituted on 1 January 2001, replacing the disbanded 41st Fighter Aviation Regiment. The main unit based there is the 41st Air Tactical Squadron flying Mikoyan MiG-29A/UB fighters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">19th Special Operations Squadron</span> Military unit

The 19th Special Operations Squadron is an Air Force Special Operations Command unit, part of the 492nd Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. It conducts crew training for AC-130 and Lockheed MC-130 aircraft.

<i>Mosquito Squadron</i> 1969 British war film directed by Boris Sagal

Mosquito Squadron is a 1969 British war film made by Oakmont Productions, directed by Boris Sagal and starring David McCallum. The raid echoes Operation Jericho, a combined RAF–Maquis raid which freed French prisoners from Amiens jail in which the Mosquitos took part.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">385th Air Expeditionary Group</span> Military unit

The 385th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed. It was last known to be stationed at Incirlik AB, Turkey. It is currently a tenant unit of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chakulia Airport</span> Airport in Jharkhand, India

Chakulia Airport is an airport in India. It is located southwest of Chakulia, a town and a notified area in Purbi Singhbhum district in the state of Jharkhand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">97th Operations Group</span> Military unit

The 97th Operations Group is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 97th Air Mobility Wing of Air Education and Training Command. It is stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">384th Air Expeditionary Group</span> Military unit

The 384th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command. The 384 AEG may be activated or inactivated at any time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">44th Fighter Group</span> Military unit

The 44th Fighter Group is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The 44 FG is an associate unit of the active duty 325th Fighter Wing of the Air Combat Command (ACC). If mobilized to active duty, the 44 FG is operationally gained by ACC. Otherwise, the 44 FG operates as a geographically separated unit (GSU) of AFRC's 301st Fighter Wing at NAS JRB Fort Worth, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombing of Yawata (June 1944)</span> Air raid on Japan during the Pacific War

The bombing of Yawata on the night of 15–16 June 1944 marked the beginning of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) strategic bombing campaign against the Japanese home islands during the Pacific War and was the first such raid to employ strategic bombers. The raid was undertaken by 75 Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers staging from bases in China. Only 47 of these aircraft dropped bombs near the raid's primary target, the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata in northern Kyūshū, and little damage was caused. Five B-29s were lost in accidents during the operation and two were destroyed by Japanese aircraft.

<i>The Thousand Plane Raid</i> 1969 film by Boris Sagal

The Thousand Plane Raid is a 1969 DeLuxe Color film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Christopher George and Laraine Stephens. Although claimed to be derived from Ralph Barker's The Thousand Plane Raid, the storyline of the film inaccurately portrays the first raid as an 8th Air Force mission while the actual attack was undertaken by 1,047 Royal Air Force bombers against the city of Cologne, Germany in May 1942.

<i>Bombing the Nazis</i> 1943 Canadian film

Bombing the Nazis is a 10-minute 1943 Canadian documentary film, made by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) as part of the World War II newsreels shown at theatres in Canada and abroad. The film describes the Allied air war over Europe during the Second World War, concentrating on attacks in 1942 and 1943 on an automobile factory in Vichy France.

References

  1. "U.S. Bombing: Arnold calls the Marienburg raid the best example of precision bombing" (pdf). Life. November 8, 1943. p. 119. Retrieved 2009-12-24.