Free French civilians arrive in Algeria,North Africa during World War II. Ships arrive in harbor. Band plays. Dignitaries watch as the Free French civilians disembark ship. Civilians walk in line. Free French soldiers are given food at a hall.
French Foreign Legionnaires during practice landings under U.S. Navy supervision in North Arfica. Lnding Crafts Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) move off shore. Soldiers climb down landing nets from transport to LC. Soldiers in a craft with a flag. One soldier looks ahead through binoculars. Soldiers wade to the beach. Barbed wire fences on the beach. Two half tracks driven off the LC ramp and aross the beach. (World War II period).
French Foreign Legionnaires during practice landings under U.S. Navy supervision in North Arfica. French fighter planes swoop low over a beach. Dummy explosions on the beach. Landing Crafts approach the beach. Soldiers get off the crafts and run inland. U.S. Navy and French officers watch the exercise. Black smoke due to the explosions. A LC with a flag approaches the beach. Soldiers wade through the water towards the shore. Planes fly low over Landing Crafts Mechanized (LCM) off shore. (World War II period).
French Foreign Legionnaires march with the military band in North Arfica. Soldiers play various instruments as the band marches on the streets. The troops march on cobbled streets. They cross a maintenance building. (World War II period).
'Normandy: Air borne invasion of fortress Europe ' Allied invasion of Normandy. Lieutenant General William S Knudsen introduces the film to be presented, expressing thanks to makers of the glider aircraft used in the invasion, who are the intended audience of the film. Field Order no1, 9th Troop commander Carrier. A man puts a Top Secret seal on the order. The Captain of United States 82nd Air Borne Division briefs men about the terrain with the help of a mosaic. A map of Europe shows principle cities of the continent. Map and narrator describe German Atlantic Wall coastal defenses on European continent. A giant concrete coastal gun emplacement. A large German railroad coastal gun moved out of a concrete shelter. Various concrete structures, sandbag structures of coastal guns. A concrete base gun turret revolves. Huge coastal guns protrude from concrete gun emplacements. Huge steel and concrete tank barriers stretched across. Large concrete and steel structures built along the coast to prevent assault craft from landing. Combined Chiefs of staff of the United Nations at a meeting. George Marshall and Henry Arnold at the head of the table during the meeting. A map shows invasion area near Le Harve. Troop Carrier units departing for Allied invasion on Sicily, Africa on 10 July, 1943. The United States C-47 aircraft take off towing gliders from an airfield in Africa. Troops transported from British 1st Air Borne division and United States 82nd Air Borne division. Dust rises as aircraft take off from a desert field. Demolished gliders on field and beside water. Multiple views of demolished gliders. C-47 in flight and paratroopers jump from the plane in New Guinea. Instructor trains paratroopers in United States. Discussion and demonstration of improvements in glider equipment and usage after Sicily Invasion and prior to D-Day Normandy invasion. Two men attach link nose chain to glider. Parachute extended and held open by men. Pilot of a glider talks to the pilot of the plane towing the glider over intercom.
United States Army Eighth Air Force, Second Air Division B-24 Liberator bombers bomb oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania, during World War 2. A map depicting a flight path from North Africa to Ploesti and Germany. B-24 Liberator aircraft drop bombs over Ploesti. A group of B-24 Liberator bombers in flight. Aerial view of Ploesti. Machine gun aimed at Ploesti. Aerial view of an oil refinery on fire. A group of B-24 Liberator bombers flying low over Romania. An oil refinery on fire in Ploesti. Clouds of thick smoke covers the bombed oil refinery. Oil refinery tanks on fire. Firemen use hoses to put out fire in oil refinery. German and Romanian men rush to burning oil refinery. German soldier uses firehose to put out flames. B-24 Liberator bombers returning to North Africa. People watch a B-24 Liberator bomber land on airfield. B-24 Liberator bomber taxiing after landing. United States Army men gather in airfield. Colonel Leon W. Johnson of the 44th Bombardment Group being awarded the Medal of Honor for leading the attack on the Ploesti oil fields.