Wake Island

Movie Poster

Country	United States
Directed by	John Farrow
Release Date	August 11, 1942
Language	English Japanese
Distributor	Paramount Pictures

Main Cast
Character	Actor
Major Geoffrey Caton	Brian Donlevy
Lieutenant Bruce Cameron	Macdonald Carey
Private Joe Doyle	Robert Preston
Private Aloysius K. Randall	William Bendix
Shad McClosky	Albert Dekker

Wake Island is a 1942 American movie directed by John Farrow, loosely based on the Battle of Wake Island in 1941. In June 1941, two US Marine Corps units occupied Wake Atoll between Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands. One unit is the 211th Marine Fighting Squadron of Marine Aircraft Group 21, the other is a detachment of the 1st Defense Battalion. The units will be equipped with weapons and ammunition by the end of October. A total of 385 soldiers are ready. The new commanding officer for maintenance and construction is civilian Shad McCloskey. McCloskey, who is skeptical of the military, oversees the construction of bomb shelters. Although there are many different nationalities among the team members, there is good camaraderie. On December 7, 1941, a Japanese diplomat makes his way to Washington after a visit to Wake Island. That same morning, the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.

The following weapons were used in the film Wake Island:

Handguns

Colt M1911

Nearly all U.S. officers and soldiers like Major Geoffrey Caton (Brian Donlevy), Lieutenant Bruce Cameron (Macdonald Carey), Captain Pete Lewis (Rod Cameron), and Sergeant Higbee (Bill Goodwin) have holstered Colt M1911 pistols.

Colt M1911 - .45 ACP

Lieutenant Bruce Cameron with his holstered Colt before taking off with his plane.

Another American soldier with a holstered Colt.

Pvt. Aloysius K. Randall (William Bendix) engages Japanese soldiers with his pistol.

Colt New Army & Navy

A Japanese officer at the end uses a Colt New Army & Navy revolver.

Colt New Army Model 1903 - .38 Colt

The officer enters the radio room with the revolver.

He shoots the revolver at the radio operator because he kept transmitting.

Submachine Guns

M1928/M1928A1 Thompson

A few Japanese soldiers are armed with automatic weapons that appear to be M1928A1 Thompson visually mocked-up to resemble German MP 40s. During the time of the Battle of Wake Island in 1941, the Japanese were not producing or issuing any submachine guns at all, and the Type 100 submachine gun would only begin to be issued in late 1942. An unmodified Thompson can be briefly seen fired by an American soldier.

M1928A1 Thompson with 30-round magazine - .45 ACP

A Japanese soldier clears a foxhole with his submachine gun.

An American soldier fires an unmodified M1928 Thompson.

On the left, a Thompson is held by another Japanese soldier. Note the hooded front sight.

Rifles

M1 Garand

U.S. troops carry M1 Garands at the beginning of the movie.

M1 Garand - .30-06 Springfield

Troops exercising with the Garands.

Springfield M1903

Both factions can be seen with M1903 Springfield bolt-action rifles.

Springfield M1903 Transitional (pre-WW2) issue - .30-06 Springfield

A soldier in the background carries the rifle fitted with an M1905 bayonet over his back.

Mauser Gewehr 1898

Some Japanese soldiers appear to be using German Mauser Gewehr 1898, standing in for correct Arisaka Type 38 rifles.

Mauser Gewehr 1898 - 7.92x57mm Mauser

A shot Japanese soldier drops his rifle.

Machine Guns

.50 AN/M2

.50 AN/M2 heavy machine guns are mounted in the wings of Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter aircraft.

.50 AN/M2 - .50 BMG

A wing-mounted M2 being fired.

Browning M2 Water Cooled

Private Joe Doyle (Robert Preston), Private Aloysius K. Randall (William Bendix), and other U.S. soldiers on Wake island use the water-cooled version of the Browning M2HB machine gun.

Browning M2 Water Cooled - .50 BMG

The machine gun seen on the left as the fighter aircraft take off.

The foxhole of Doyle and Randall with the machine gun.

The MG being fired at Japanese planes.

Rear view.

Browning M1917A1

The garrison of the island is equipped with several Browning M1917A1 machine guns. Major Geoffrey Caton (Brian Donlevy) and Cpl. Gus Goebbels (Philip Van Zandt) man one at the climax.