Ferry Pilot

Soldiers All gives a panoramic view of the men of the British Commonwealth in training, featuring the operational training undergone by Canadian soldiers and airmen in Britain. Interesting shots of field maneuvres, of the daily activities of Canadian officials in Canada House, of Canadian bomber and fighter pilots on active service, and an amusing sequence at a camp concert party, give a realistic picture of Canadians overseas. The camera next shifts to the advanced training of officers at the Royal Military College, Kingston, and ends with the training of Australian and New Zealand airmen in Canada including their reactions to Canadian life.

This newsreel on the mobilization of manpower during World War II shows how the workers on production lines produced a tremendous volume of materials for the Allied war effort. It points out that after the war these workers expect to find the opportunities of peace.

This short film from WWII focuses on the increasingly important roles women occupy on the various war fronts. In England, their more active jobs include ferrying planes from factory to airfield and operating anti-aircraft guns. In Russia, they are fighting on the front lines as well as acting as parachute nurses, army doctors and technicians. In Canada women have joined active service auxiliaries, and thousands labour day and night in factories turning out the tools of war. From the Canada Carries On series.

This short documentary includes highlights of the Allied advance from Normandy to Antwerp during WWII, including the bombing of Calais, the capture of V-2 launching sites, action on Walcheren Island and the arrival of Allied ships at Antwerp.

This newsreel documentary made during WWII was used to illustrate Britain's preparations for an air attack. Scenes depict destruction wrought by enemy planes, the efficiency of retaliation by the Royal Air Force and the precautions taken in Canada against possible air attack. Part of the Canada Carries On series.

This short film depicts the strength and resources of the Royal Canadian Air Force, with its 32 overseas squadrons. It includes footage that explains the Allied air strategy of hitting the German army's nerve centres and features Canadian airplanes destroying a German munitions train.

This short documentary shows the gruelling training WWII-era Canadian Army officers received in order to “crush the toughest enemy on earth.” Their training is not only in physical endurance and defence; they study science, geography, first aid, weaponry, covert communications and the qualities of a good leader. A sense of camaraderie and teamwork is instilled in the men throughout their training.

This short documentary, produced by the NFB for the Department of Munitions and Supply, profiles Canada’s World War II-era munitions factories, which produced explosives in vast quantities. Looking at a typical munitions plant, we learn about the science behind the explosives, the strict safety precautions required in these workplaces, and the methodical work of the plant’s largely female wartime labour force.

This feature documentary examines its own genre, which has often been called Canada's national art form. Released in the year of the NFB's 75th birthday, Shameless Propaganda is filmmaker Robert Lower's take on the boldest and most compelling propaganda effort in our history (1939-1945), in which founding NFB Commissioner John Grierson saw the documentary as a "hammer to shape society". All 500 of the films produced by the NFB until 1945 are distilled here for the essence of their message to Canadians. Using only these films and still photos from that era, Lower recreates the picture of Canada they gave us and looks in it for the Canada we know today. What he finds is by turns enlightening, entertaining, and unexpectedly disturbing.

This animated short produced during WWII shows how Plugger helped the war effort by renting out his spare room so that a new worker could be brought in to work an idle machine at the munitions plant.

From the Canada Carries On series, this documentary emphasizes the importance of conservation and rationing, and the increased industrial production, during World War II. It suggests that "tomorrow's world" will be more prosperous and better planned because of the war efforts.