We found this stash of B-Roll footage of Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer patrol bombers and Bat glide bombs in the National Archives holdings. The Privateer was the ultimate combat expression of the B-24 Liberator series of aircraft. Seven feet longer than a B-24, and fitted with a towering single tail, the heavily-armed Privateer was an electronics platform that saw action as a Navy patrol bomber in the Pacific war in 1945.
When designated as a PB4Y-2B, the Privateer was equipped to carry a pair of Bat radar-guided glide bombs, one under each wing. The Bat is considered the first operational automated guided missile. Watch for the blunt radome visible on Bats carried by some of the Privateers in this footage, and watch for a Bat release from a PB4Y-2B. Stored B-roll on a film reel is sometimes not contiguous, and the scene jumps back and forth to show arming Privateers with boxes of .50-caliber ammunition, and bombs being fitted with shackles and fins. The machine gun ammunition was not only for the defense of the Privateers -- .50-caliber rounds could be devastating, especially on smaller wooden Japanese ships. And most ships had to be considered viable combat targets since they could provide picket reporting posts, or serve as transportation in combat areas.
This footage is dated June 1945, with a caption sheet indicating some scenes depict Okinawa, and some views are overwater near enemy-held Korea.
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