13th Ordnance Test Aberdeen 1931

This 1931 silent newsreel, Thirteenth Test Ordnance Department, Aberdeen MD, Oct 8, 1931, filmed in black-and-white 16mm at Aberdeen Proving Ground, captures shaky footage of ordnance demonstrations before bleacher audiences. Pathe Sound News and Paramount Newsreel trucks loom, cameras perched atop, recording artillery blasts and troop maneuvers. Highlights include an early autogiro whirring overhead and parachutists drifting down, testing innovations of the era. The reel cuts to the Hotel Montclair’s sign and facade in Aberdeen, a hub for visitors, framing a pre-war spectacle of military might and media buzz on October 8.