French soldiers attack Communist forces in Vietnam, French Indo China. With heavy artillery and napalm bombs, they blast villages in which the Communist rebel forces have entrenched themselves. They fire artillery. Airplanes in flight dropping bombs during "Operation Mercury". Smoke arises due to the firing and bombardment. Some rebel forces surrender to French forces. French soldiers examining wounds of a Communist Vietnamese soldier. Communist prisoners of war seated on the ground. Some prisoners are being handed cigarettes. Women and children refugees and elderly Vietnamese citizens walk towards safe places behind French lines.
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) press conference at Palais De Chaillot in Paris, France. The press conference held by Anthony Eden, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Great Britain and Earl Alexander Minister of Defense, Tunis. Anthony Eden speaks first and mentions the problems confronting the group and the solutions to solve it. He states that help can be provided with materials and supplies. If the British do well in Malaya it will react favorably in Indochina. Earl Alexander states that this is his first meeting. He further says that the meetings are held in a friendly and cooperative spirit.
A United States Army Lieutenant General and a Navy Admiral, seated under a grass covered canopy with group of French officers. The Commander of French Forces in Indochina, General Henri Eugene Navarre, looks through binoculars. A flight of two American Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star jet fighter aircraft drop bombs and pass overhead. French soldiers cross a stream in boats and advance on the opposite shore. French Army engineers assemble a pontoon bridge over which camouflaged army trucks then drive.
French Army forces fight the Reds in French Indo-China, Vietnam. Soldiers fire artillery. The Communist forces advance towards the defense lines held by forces of France. Smoke arises due to firing. Injured French and Vietnamese.
French troops prepare for defense in Vietnam. French paratroopers trained in American planes and methods, train for future action in Indo-China. Low- flying American-made planes drop napalm bombs, score a major victory over the communists near Hanoi. Soldiers help the civilians after the bombarding and destruction in Saigon. Destroyed vehicles on street.
French military and government officials at a ceremony in Indochina on the ground of a Buddhist temple. The group gathered in an outdoor courtyard with a giant black cauldron or pot with steam coming from it. Shift to an indoor setting where a French official addresses the audience gathered from a lectern on a stage. Shift to an outdoor scene with a large group of monks entering the Wat Phnom Daun Penh temple by ascending the stairs in front. An arch bridge over a river. Cars on a road in Indochina. A steam locomotive pulling rail cars through a pass and racing toward camera position at high speed. An aqueduct in Indochina and a series of canals funneling water to rice fields, and a view of a farmer plowing on a wet field with the help of oxen. Views of the Pasteur Institute ("Institut Pasteur" over the doorway) in Indochina. Scientists in white lab coats working in the Institute with microscopes. Glass sample jars labeled "Cholera" being packed into boxes.