1. Tragedy in Jerusalem
An item covering the aftermath of the bombing of the King David Hotel (HQ of the British Palestine Army Command) in Jerusalem on July 22 1946. The badly damaged exterior elevations of the King David Hotel are shown as British troops and Palestinians clear rubble in an attempt to find possible survivors. The commentary describes the victims of the bombing as being "murdered in cold blood by the notorious Jewish terrorist organisation - Irgun Zvai Leumi". A crane is used to lift fallen masonry. British High Commissioner, Sir Andrew G Cunningham and Chief Secretary Sir John V W Shaw arrive for a tour of the bombed hotel. British infantry use oxy-acetylene torches to cut masonry girders. The dead are taken away on stretchers. British medical officers check inert bodies for signs of life in the back of a parked ambulance. Union flag draped coffins are carried through Ramleh Cemetery past a British Army guard of honour armed with Lee-Enfield No.IV .303-inch rifles.
2. Bikini - the atomic bomb
Crates containing livestock are loaded by crane onto the deck of one of the seventy-three target ships anchored near Bikini Atoll in anticipation of the air-burst (Able) atomic bomb test forming part of Operation Crossroads. Close up footage shows Admiral Blandy of the United States Navy (USN). USN ratings shear a sheep before adding anti-flash cream to its exposed skin. Close up footage shows shipboard animal-holding boxes that have been designed to give its occupants varying degrees of exposure to nuclear flash and heat. USN ratings leaving a target ship, throw their kitbags into a waiting landing craft. Brief footage shows Captain Bibby, the last man to leave the unidentified target ship.
Elsewhere, United States Army Air Force (USAAF) groundcrews load an atomic bomb into the bomb bay of Boeing B-29 Superfortress #7354 "Dave's Dream" (atomic bomb is not shown and the loading procedure is carried out behind tarpaulins). Brief footage shows USAAF Major W P S Swancutt, commander of B-29 "Dave's Dream". Close up footage shows the legend "Dave's Dream" on the front fuselage side of B-29 #7354. Aerial footage shows B-29 "Dave's Dream" en route to the Bikini dropping area. Observers don goggles prior to the atomic explosion. Aerial footage shows a B-29 Superfortress bomber opening its bomb bay doors. Aerial footage shows Bikini Atoll. Extended shipboard and aerial footage shows the air-burst atomic explosion dwarfing the target ships anchored nearby.
