The Complete World War 2 Aviation DVD Collection The largest collection of World War 2 aviation films available anywhere in the World!
35 DVD Complete Warbird Collection If you're as committed to World War II planes as we are, you deserve a break! You've probably seen short clips taken from some of this films used in cable TV network documentaries -- these are the full length originals! We're offering you all 35 DVDs in Zeno's Second World War Aviation Collection for 60% off the single DVD price & get a free bonus DVD with free two Day Priority Mail Shipping (US ) Sale -- Save an 33% off the Collection Price

The World War 2 Bomber DVD Collection
15 DVD Bomber DVD & free Bonus
Sale -- Save 33% off the Collection price & free Priority Air (USA)

Behind the Scenes in World War 2 Volume 7

* 354th Fighter Group D-Day Pilot Interviews June 7th 1944
The 354^th, known as the “Pioneer Mustang Group,” was the first unit to fly P-51 Mustangs fighters in combat in Europe, starting on December 17, 1943. The Group, part of the Ninth Air Force, was comprised of three Fighter Squadrons: the 353rd, 355th & 356th. On the night of June 6th, 1944 as part of D-Day invasion operations their mission was to escort Douglas C-47s towing gliders full of paratroopers to be launched over the Cherbourg Peninsula in Normandy.After successfully completing that mission they returned to their base at Boxted Airdrome, Essexshire, England refueled & took off very early on June 7th to fly combat air patrol over the D-Day landing beaches.
This film has interviews with 354 F.G. pilots conducted immediately after their return to base after the morning mission, still wearing flight gear. You'll see & hear 354th F.G. CO Col. George R. Bicknel, and Squadron leaders Maj. Jack T. Bradley (353rd), Capt. Robert W. Stephens (355th) and Maj Richard E. Turner (356th), along with some of the Groups most experienced pilots giving their accounts. Most of them aren't formally identified, but we were able to name them using archival photos.

* “Ramrod to Emden – The Thunderbolts” Special Restored and Annotated Edition.
This classic documentary film shows the legendary 56^th Fighter Group P-47s on a bomber escort mission to Emden, Holland, in October , 1943, from early morning briefing, through action packed fighter opposition over target to touch down and debriefing.That alone makes it worth seeing - but something has always been lacking. Probably due to war time censorship, out of all the pilots and personnel shown, only fighter Ace Francis “Gabby” Gabreski, then CO of the Group's 65^th Fighter Squadron, is identified by name. For the first time anywhere, using surviving archival photos taken at the time as a reference, we've been able to put names to many faces, including 56^th FG CO Hubert “Hub” Zemke and legendary aces like Major Dave Schilling, Captain Walker “Bud” Mahurin, Major Gerald “Jerry” Johnson and many more.
And last but not least, we've done a scene by scene digital restoration of the video and audio, made from the best archival copy of the film available.

* “Fighter Kills” Gun Camera Film, Europe, January to December 1944
“Fighter Kills” is a series of gun camera film compilations of air to air and air & to ground fighter attacks produced by Army Air Force Combat Camera Units (AAFCCUs) and distributed to serving personnel as news, instruction and motivation. You'll see shoot downs of Me 109s, 110s & 210s, Fw 190s, Ju 88s, an FW 200 transport and more. Highlights include taking down an Me 163 “Komet” Rocket Plane and numerous shots of attacks on Me 262 “Schwalbe” jet fighters, accompanied by a description of their known capabilities and tactics to use against them. Over half an hour of non stop action!

* USAAF Bombing Missions Against the Japanese in the Pacific & Burma, August 1943-July 1944 (28:00)

The opening film shows a series of attacks by A-20s, B-24s and B-25s, escorted by P-38s on Japanese shipping North of New Guinea and the harbors at Wewak & Hansa Bay. Highlights include very low level attacks by A-20s and B-25s with in cockpit views. This is followed by a series of high quality newsreels showing B-24 & B-25 attacks on Rabaul, Rangoon & numerous other targets in Burma, Nauru in the Gilberts by B-24s based at Guadalcanal, and more B-24 missions targeting Pacific islands including Wotje, the Woleai Group and Wake Island. Includes footage showing USAAF bases & personnel, in the air action including fighter attacks and overhead views of “bombs away.”

* Martin B-26 Operations in France 1944 (18:00)
Three films:

• Double Header Marauder Operations 4^th AAFCCU documentary footage shows round the clock B-26 tactical missions in the spring of 1944 leading up to D-Day. You'll see base operations as well as in the air footage of Marauders attacking a wide variety of targets including supply depots, airfields & more.

• French Rail Lines Bombed focuses on a mission to hit the important rail yards at Dreux, South West of Paris, on June 12 to hinder the Germans ability to bring reinforcement to Normandy shortly after D-Day

• Interdiction was filmed after the Allies had swept across Northern France to show how precision bombing missions had destroyed key bridges across the Seine & Loire Rivers.

*Aerial Photography: Processing the Film 1941 (17:00)
Ever wonder how they processed the huge sheets of film (up to 9 inches wide) shot by reconnaissance planes like the Lockheed F5 during World War 2? Well this film, a gear head's delight, shows how they did it

* “Welcome Home” for returning World War 2 Veterans – 1945 (20:00)
“If there's any suspicion that returning soldiers are not fit for civilization, I can only say it's an indictment of our civilization.”
This dramatic film was produced to prepare the American people for the return of millions of service men and women from overseas duty at the end of World War 2. But as you'll see, it's message is timeless and applies to every conflict before and since. War changes people. This film operates on several levels to show its effects and lessons to be learned from the experience. It's has a no holds barred sweeping montage of combat scenes from the steaming jungles in the Pacific to the frozen forests of Northern Europe, including the loss of beloved comrades and self sacrifice to show the folks back home a glimpse of what they endured.

Tanks were justifiably feared by the infantry. In this nuts & bolts training film, an experienced "tanker" gives troopers the inside dope on what they need to know to take them on using a wide variety of tactics & weapons
Photography Fights
This is a dramatic recreation of actual events. A small group of U.S. Navy aerial photography analysts labor away in a steaming bunker at an obscure Pacific island airbase during the battle for Guadalcanal The tale is told in a deadpan style, chocked full of period lingo. They work closely with a laid-back F4F-7 Wildcat recon pilot who flies their missions. "As usual," not much out of the ordinary happens, until an anomaly is detected in a photo taken of a spot in the jungle at Munda on the Japanese held Island of New Georgia, within striking distance of Guadalcanal.
Kill or be Killed
Americans are brought up with the ideal of "fair play" in sports competition. The goal of this film is to bluntly drive home the reality that fair play can get you killed in a hurry on a battlefield. The idea is to kill the enemy first, without putting yourself in unnecessary danger. The emphasis here is on one on one encounters, including hand to hand combat, using any means necessary.
Suspended Runway
This amazing 'How To" documentary is from the top secret World War 2 archives of the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) the forerunner of the C.I.A. It could be right out of a James Bond film. In essence, you'll learn how to quickly construct a "Suspended Runway" capable of landing, raising and lowering and launching "Grasshopper" light aircraft in the jungle, above the undergrowth. And its all done with rope & pulleys and unpowered tools by a nine man crew!
Building a World War 2 Tank
You'll get a behind the scenes look in a defense building the complex M3 Lee medium tank. The Lee was the Army's first mass produced World War 2 battle tank, as seen in the Humphrey Bogart Hollywood classic "Sahara." It featured a turret mounted 37mm quick firing antitank gun and a hull mounted 75mm gun. It was exported in large numbers to Britain, Commonwealth countries and the Soviet Union as the "Grant," with several British mandated modifications.
Road Expedients
Like our popular video "Tank Expedients," this is another film in a series used to train troops on quick & dirty solutions for problems in encountered in the field of battle: aka "Expedients." In this case, for building roads in a wide variety of terrains and climates, using material and equipment available on the spot
Medical Services in the Invasion of Normandy
Most documentaries on D-Day focus on the logistics that went into military aspects of the combined amphibious & airborne assaults. This fascinating "Restricted" documentary gives a behind the scenes look into the complex planning and execution that went into providing rapid and effective medical services for wounded servicemen & women, saving thousands of lives.
D-Day & Normandy Campaign Situation Maps
This remarkable series of Top Secret "situation maps," shown in slow motion time lapse, are the actual ones used by Allied 12th Army Group Headquarters to show the position of Allied and German military units in the Normandy Invasion area from D-Day June 6 through the "Breakout" across Northern France through August 25th, 1944. This gives a unique perspective on the course of events.
Movies at War
When I talk to World War 2 vets, often some of their fondest memories come from watching movies in the field during a "break in the action," in tiny ad hoc theaters. But the role of "movies" for American forces went far beyond entertainment, which is what this short documentary is all about.

First Fighter Squadron in New Guinea 1942-1944 (Color)

In 1981retired Air Corp's Lt. Col. Ken Gerrish donated home movies he shot during his service on Papua New Guinea between 1942 and 1944. As Engineering Officer he was responsible for maintaining P-39s for the 36th Fighter Squadron and P-38s for the Eighth Fighter Group of the Fifth Air Force. You'll see P-39 Airacobras, P-38 Lightnings and B-25 bombers operating from muddy airstrips carved out of the jungle, along with the men who maintained and flew them.

Film Communique 1943

Little Detroit - A huge marshaling yard is built from scratch in a Mediterranean port
Troop Carrier Command - New Guinea Operations
The Price of Rendova A massive amphibious assault, supported by air and naval bombardment is launched against the Japanese held island of Redova, stepping stone for seizing the nearby airbase at Munda, on New Georgia.

World War 2 G.I.s “Baptism of Fire”
"In your first battle, your worst fight isn't with the enemy, it's with yourself," is theme of this gritty, no holds barred World War 2 training film, nominated for an Academy Award in 1944.

Army- Navy Screen Magazine highlights – shown only to members of the Armed Forces (1942-1945)

Attack in the Marshalls In one of the first major amphibious operation in the Pacific, the strategic Island of Kwajalein is seized from the Japanese, a key airbase for the upcoming “Island Hopping” campaigns using combined force.
Somewhere in Italy American 10^th Mountain Division troops train for steep terrain assaults with an elite Italian “Alpini” unit that had recently switched sides from Mussolini's Fascists.

Fifth Army Mobile American Expeditionary Radio Stations. AES trucks in Italy were specially equipped to function as mobile radio stations, broadcasting popular records, radio shows like”The Shadow” and live USO shows with stars like Marlene Dietrich to front line troops.
Rescue - American and Filipino POWs are liberated and from Japanese camps.
Iron War Horses U.S. Army Railroad Battalion troops are trained at a specially constructed base at Camp Claiborn, Louisiana, before being deployed to operate railroads overseas,
Seized from the Japs See captured Japanese films showing elite troops being trained for amphibious landings before the Pacific campaign was launched.
The Fighting Dutch Thousands of Dutch soldiers, sailors and airmen who escaped from occupied Netherlands or were stranded in the Far East after the Japanese occupied Dutch colonies were trained and organized into effective fighting units in the Pacific theater.
Three Day Pass in India American servicemen & women who may have never ventured beyond their town back in the U.S.A. are given useful tips on adapting to Indian culture when they get some time off from their duties.
I Was There A U.S. Army nurse describes her experiences during the fall of the Philippines to Japanese forces, accompanied by vivid documentary footage.
Burma Outpost Rare footage of daily life in an American forward observation post in Northern Burma, set in almost impassible jungle terrain.
Munda Outpost After bitter fighting to take it from the Japanese, the strategically vital air strip at Munda, on the Island of New Georgia in the Solomons, was rebuilt using heavy equipment and subsequently maintained by the Afro-American 828^th Engineer Aviation Battalion.
Private Snafu In the Aleutians, Iles of Enchantment (Oh Brother!) A humorous look at duty on the frigid Alaskan island chain. The Private Snafu cartoon series combined slap stick entertainment with useful info.

With a heavy emphasis on air action, this is one of the best “Behind the Scenes” editions yet!

The Third Air Force Presents “H- Hour!” New Discovery! The Third Air Force was the largest of the four U.S. Army Air Forces based in the U.S.A. during World War 2. Headquartered in Tampa FL, it encompassed the South Eastern United States with a network of specialized airfields, tasked with training 10s of thousands of pilots & air crew. They produced “H-Hour” to show trainees what to expect when they joined their combat units, using real life examples with different aircraft performing missions around the world. Very high quality film footage!

Part 1: Recco Pilot. Photo Reconnaissance pilots received the most in depth training in the Air Force. You'll get a good look at a Lockheed F-5 (recon version of the P-38) inside and out and follow the aircraft and her pilot on a long range mission filming the Japanese base at Rabaul.

Part 2: B-17 Crew on Mission over Germany. Meet the crew of B-17 “Knock Out Dropper” and follow them on a maximum effort bombing mission to the hit the ball bearing plant at Ekner, West of Berlin, from their early morning briefing to “bombs away” over the target.

Part 3: B-25s in the South Pacific. In December 1943, B-25s hit Japanese bases and shipping at Cape Gloucester, New Britain. Flying at very low level just above the jungle they bomb & strafe the enemy using machine guns, 75 mm canon and drop “parafrag”parachute bombs.

Part 4. P-47s on a long range bomber escort mission to Germany. Thunderbolts take on '109s, '110s, and '190s. Lots of P-47 gun camera film, supplemented with captured German film showing Luftwaffe fighters scrambling to meet them.

Part 5 D-Day,June 6^th, Paratroopers land at night in Normandy while B-26 Marauders and A-20Havocs range across Northern France, attacking troop concentrations, railroads, ammo dumps and fortifications.

*Combat Weekly Digest Highlights 1943-1945 These films were shot by Army Air Force Combat Camera Units (AAFCCUs) on all fronts and were shown only to Allied Armed Forces personnel. Combat Cameramen road along on missions documenting them as they happened, giving a unique record of aircraft and crews, much of which you wont see anywhere else. Excellent qualityfootage shot over targets too. More than 20 films!

*Army Navy Screen Magazine Highlights 1943-1945 (20:00) A Life Magazine style film series shown only Armed Forces personnel. Excellent quality film footage!

* Around the clock with the RAF. Lancaster bomber crews are briefed and set on their way on to a night mission over Germany. The next day, RAF Boston attack bombers launch from the same fields to flying on the deck tohit targets on the Continent.

* Back Home in Burbank – Inspiring film showing blind men and women, accompanied by their guide dogs, performing specialized tasks on the P-38 Lightning assembly line in Burbank, California.

* WASPs American women are trained to perform aircraft maintenance & become pilots, freeing up men for combat duties.

* Youth Power – Thousands of high school age boys and girls worked in aircraft defense plants after school and during summer vacation. You'll see them performing surprisingly complex tasks assembling bombers and P-38 fighters.

News & Information films seen only by U.S. Army, Navy & Air Force personnel!

A Welcome to Britain with Burgess Meredith
G. B. Shaw said, "The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language." That was never more true than when tens of thousands of American servicemen poured into the British Isles during World War 2. This charming, humorous film, starring award winner Burgess Meredith, was an Anglo-American co-production shown to prepare Yanks for successfully dealing with inevitable culture shock when they started moving among the general population in the U.K., and just as importantly, how to avoid unintentionally offending their hosts.
Army Air Force Combat Camera Units Weekly Digest -- Highlights 1944-45
These film bulletins were seen only by service personnel. They usually covered air action, but AAF cameramen also occasionally covered other combat in their area. Gun camera & bomb drop film as well as "you are there footage on the ground Maps are used to show specific locations.
Army-Navy Screen Magazine Highlights 1941 -1945 This was a bi-weekly series of films produced by the Army, Air Forces & Navy shown only service personnel providing war news from battlefronts abroad and defense efforts at home, often featuring first person accounts.

Four exciting films with two hours of digitally restored sound & video in excellent condition!

* Photographic Intelligence for Bombardment Aviation Top secret & never shown to the public, this picture is an amazing time capsule from World War 2. Starring screen legend Alan Ladd (Shane, This Gun for Hire) it's like a real life detective story, seen only by Air Intelligence trainees. “Smitty,” an American Captain in photo analysis stationed in a misty Scottish castle, becomes obsessed with a photo recon picture taken over Hamburg, Germany, that has anomalies he just can't explain. The story of how he solves this riddle using persistence, insight and World War 2 High Tech (including “Stereo Vision”) is a fascinating tale.

* Ditch and Live in a B-17 Produced for the eyes of Allied aircrews only. Ditching was a fact of life for stricken aircraft, from the frozen white tops of the North Sea to the Shark infested waters of the South Pacific. "Lt. Reynolds.” played by veteran actor Arthur Kennedy (Lawrence of Arabia), is copilot on a B-17 that ditches at sea. He's survives by pure luck, but the rest of the crew is lost due to a lack of preparation. When he gets his own ship, Reynolds vows that his crew will thoroughly trained in B-17 ditching.

* Learn & Live: Pilot Heaven Pilot deaths during training were all too frequent in World War 2, a grim fact that was kept from the public, but was a matter of grave concern to the Army Air Corps. Shown only to pilots, this wonderful film is a unique combination of an entertaining, sometimes surreal storyline, with practical nuts and bolts safety training.

* Bonus: Carl Sandburg's “Bomber” This dramatic film was produced and shown to defense plant workers, lauding and encouraging their important work. Three time Pulitzer Prize winning poet & biographer Carl Sandburg wrote the script for this stirring tribute to a marvelous aircraft, the B-26 medium bomber, and to the men & women who built them in the Martin's Marietta Georgia plant.

* Position Firing for Aerial Gunners This entertaining and informative animated training film, featuring bomber waist gunner "Trigger Joe" (with the immortal voice of Mel Blanc) was developed to teach gunners the basics of how to shoot down attacking enemy fighters using iron ring gun sight machine guns commonly found on bombers like the B-17s & B-24. If you think you learned everything you need to know about leading targets on a skeet or trap range, think again. When you factor in variables like differing air speed between bombers and enemy fighters, angles of attack, direction, deflection, bullet drop, maneuvering & more, it's a whole new ball game.
* Coast Guard Report: The Normandy Invasion This remarkable film, primarily shot by Coast Guard Combat Cameramen, is a treasure trove of never before seen footage from the Normandy sea borne invasion, in very well preserved black and white film. The U.S. Coast Guard manned many of the specialized ships and landing craft used to transport men, tanks, vehicles and material from England to the landing beaches in France, sometimes sustaining heavy casualties. Some of these vessels carried combat cameramen with them to record this epic undertaking. The film starts with Landing Craft pilot training on Chesapeake Bay, moves on to intensive assault training in the U.K., and then through the Channel Crossing, D-Day on Omaha Beach & its immediate aftermath, including the massive storm that battered the landing beaches.
* Security on the March -- Tanks moving in column formation This well preserved film shows how to move armored columns on roads and cross country in combat areas, with an emphasis on tanks, in this case Shermans, shown inside and out. You'll learn the five keys to successful operations: Advance Preparation, Alertness, Concealment, Dispersal and Fire Power shown in great detail through live action, animations & graphics.
* Army Engineers in World War 2 (B&W 1957 24:00)
Engineers are the "unsung heroes" of the Armed Forces, handling a myriad of essential tasks.
The first part of the film shows the Army Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, VA. Recruits are given "hands on" training for a wide variety of core skills, including carpentry, demolition, operating heavy equipment, building different kinds of roads and bridges, employing a wide variety of hand tools & more. The second part of the film shows the special challenges faced by Engineers on jungle island campaigns in the Pacific.The third part of the film moves to the European Theater of operations & a new set of challenges like building docks, demolishing heavy concrete fortifications, salvaging flooded roads, laying and clearing minefields, constructing lengthy pipelines for fuel transfer and building a variety of bridges including timber trestle, pontoon & steel Bailey Bridges, often under enemy artillery fire
G.I. Training:" Three films
*How to Swim in 10 Easy Lessons Swimming with a full pack and their M1 in adverse conditions could be a life saver for a G.I.., including making their way through burning oil slicks and leaping from the decks of transports or landing craft. Learn how to do it "The Army Way.
* War Dogs Dogs were a G.I.'s "Best Friend" in numerous ways - including saving lives. See them in action, performing a wide variety of roles. Dogs often did jobs G.I.s couldn't do.
* Finishing School Select U.S. Army Ranger Units received specialized amphibious landing training in the Spring of 1944. You'll see it here in this classified film. They put it to good use on D-Day at Pointe du Hoc, where they went ashore on a narrow beach & scaled massive cliffs.

Behind the Scenes in World War 2 - Volume 8

Army Air Force Combat Camera Unit Film Reports 1943-45
* First American Bomber Raids on Berlin March 5-8 1944 *Dive Bomber Attacks at Monte Casino *Massive paratroop maneuvers in England before D-Day *Airborne troop landings & attack aircraft support the capture of Mytkyina Airfield, Burma *B-29 Raids on Rangoon & Kuala Lumpur *B-24s based at Morotai attack Mindinao, Zamboanga and Balibpapan, Borneo *Saipan based B-29 night attacks against Kobe & Nagoya, Japan *B-24s and low level B-25s support the invasion of Borneo at various landing beeches *Bomb Damage in Berlin shortly after surrender *Communications wire laying from flying aircraft over remote locations *Message pickup by a light plane without landing in Burma and more!
Self Propelled Anti Aircraft Weapons 1943 An overview of U.S. Army half-track turret mounted mobile anti aircraft guns, including the M-13 (two .50 caliber machine guns), the M-15 (two .50 calibers & one M1 37mm auto canon) and the M-16 (four .50 calibers). Shows them on maneuvers and in a memorable direct fire demonstration against ground targets.
461st AAA Battalion Direct Fire Support for 24 Inf. Div, Hürtgen Forest 11/4/1944 The film shows elements of the 461st AAA BAT, including M-60 Half-track M16s with quad .50 cals and GMC trucks towing 40mm Bofors M1 Anti Aircaft Guns, arriving at two locations in the Hürtgen forest. They set up positions and aim direct fire at distant Wehrmacht units in the forest. This is unusually high quality footage showing men and equipment up close. Live firing scenes are awesome!
Four Films Featuring Tanks:
1.The Sherman DD “Flotation Screens” for amphibious tanks were first developed by the British in 1941 and soon adapted for Valentines. This film shows a U.S. A4 Sherman version as it was deployed on D-Day, June 6th 1944. This fascinating "Top Secret" report shows in detail how the flotation screens and twin propellers were deployed and how the tank operated in water.
2. Armored Battle Sleds This one has to be seen to be believed! Chains of semi-circular armored tubes with Infantrymen lying flat inside are towed behind Sherman tanks into battle, avoiding enemy fire until they reach their destination. Then the troopers jump out and charge!
3. Captured German “Goliath” Remote Controlled Tracked Mines Goliath tracked mines were wire remote controlled mini-tanks used by the German Army as explosive filled demolition vehicles during World War II. 7,564 were produced & used primarily by specialized Panzer and combat engineer units.
4. Snow Suits for Tanks Company D, 353rd Tank Battalion (attached to 36th Inf. Division) paint their tanks winter white plus “driving practice for new men,” near Mackwiller, Bas Rin, France January 10th, 1945. Features M5 Stuart Light Tanks & M-4 Shermans and their crews.
Japanese Long Distance Paper Balloon Incendiary Bombs
During World War 2 Japan developed large hydrogen filled paper balloons that carried incendiary bombs all the way from Japan to the the West Coast of North America - from Mexico to Canada. Released near Nagoya at specific times of the year, they ascended to about 30,000' and road prevailing winds, traveling at about 100mph, taking about four days to reach the West Coast. The U.S. Navy recovered a few that crashed & failed to explode to study them and to recreate the replicas shown & explained in this fascinating film.
Seabees in Normandy – the Creation of Artificial Harbors
After the D-Day landings on June 6^th, until seaports like Cherbourg could be captured and put in service, artificial harbors had to be created off shore so essential men, equipment and supplies could be offloaded from transports and ferried or driven over piers to the beaches. Giant “Phoenix” concrete caissons were towed and sunk as the first step in creating large artificial “Mulberry”harbors. A lot more construction followed to complete the harbor with all its facilities, as shown in this very detailed film.
Japanese Americans Fighting for Their Country in Italy 1944
Soldiers of the 442nd Infantry Regiment talk about their service, the unit is shown in action and there's a tribute by 5th Army CO LTG Mark Clark.