Film begins showing a sign in English pointing to the Tower Room of the Malmedy Protestant Church. Views of burning buildings from German counteroffensive (The Battle of the Bulge) begun December 18, 1944 during World War 2. Fire fighter pouring water from a hose. A substantial church building in background. Fire fighters directing stream of water upward onto side of a burning building. Closeup of fire fighter directing stream of water. Ice from fire fighting efforts. Change of scene to British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery exiting a building with U.S. Major General Matthew Ridgway, Commanding General XVIII Airborne Corps. They greet some British officers. Closeup of Montgomery and Ridgway walking together. A tank and driver silhouetted against light sky. Allied troops riding on a Stuart Light Tank. Armor moving along a rural road. Snow on the ground. British infantry walking in the snow and then marching along a cleared road. Trucks and armored vehicles in the background.Allied troops and vehicles passing substantial buildings, as they advance. Damaged buildings near a rail line. Allied forces advancing through rural area with many trees in background. Animated map showing the Allied push-back against the German offensive, showing British forces under Montgomery pressing from Malmedy and U.S. General Patton's advancing from Bastogne. Glimpse, from above, of allied bomber over enemy target. Bombs away view of bombs dropping from bomber aircraft and detonating on the snowy ground below. Allied troops moving in snow, beside a rail line and into a town. Four Allied soldiers make a fire and warm themselves, beside a parked snow-covered M4 Sherman tank. Then they begin removing snow from the tank. Army truck moving on snow-covered road. A jeep that slid off the slippery road. Other vehicles having difficulty on the snowy road. Trucks continuing to make their way along road through the forest.
Beginning of the German counterattack into Belgium, during winter of 1944-45 of World War 2. Opening scenes show German artillery barrages by Grille (Cricket) self-propelled artillery firing 15 cm sIG 33 infantry guns. This is the beginning of German Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt's Ardennes Counteroffensive (aka the Battle of the Bulge) in December, 1944. German soldiers riding on Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer moving forward in Ligneuville, South of Malmedy, Belgium. German infantry walk past a knocked out tank on their way toward the front, where smoke rises ahead. They pass burning American armor and vehicles destroyed by the German Luftwaffe (Air Force). Sounds of artillery fire are heard. Closeup of one soldier carrying an MP44 7.92 x 33 mm (7.92 Kurz) caliber assault rifle. The German infantry move along a ditch parallel to a burning column of U.S. armor and vehicles on the road, where it was wiped out by German aircraft. A United States 3" anti-tank gun abandoned at the roadside. German soldiers retrieve American cigarettes from a knocked out U.S. tank, and share them. At TC:02:00 the German gunner with a belt of ammunition around his neck, is Hans Tragarsky aka Walter Armbrusch, a soldier in the Kampfgruppe Hansen battle group formed during the Battle of the Bulge from SS-Panzergrenadierdivision Regiment 2, an infantry regiment of SS Pz Rgt 2 "Das Reich". (His image is well known but his identity is subject to debate.) German troops relax as they smoke cigarettes. A group of German soldiers sharing cigarettes, atop a Stug III tank destroyer. A German army Type 82 Volkswagen Kübelwagen drives past detritus of combat, near a village church. Glimpse of damage in City of Antwerp from a German rocket.
Opening scene shows Belgian rescue workers searching for survivors of a German V-2 rocket strike in the city of Antwerp, Belgium, on 17 December, 1944, during World War 2. Some clergymen help steel-helmeted emergency workers carry a victim from the rubble, on a stretcher. Aerial view of the port of Antwerp showing its extensive facilities including rail lines. U.S. Army troops of the American 2nd Infantry Division withdrawing in trucks towards Elsenborn, Belgium, as the German offensive gains ground. Snow covers the ground. Piles of fuel, gas, and diesel cans are seen on fire at a fuel dump near Stavelot, Belgium, where soldiers of Company A, 526th Armored Infantry Battalion, are destroying the fuels to keep them out of the hands of German forces advancing on the town. U.S. Army engineers carry boxes of TNT inside German-built pillbox fortifications and and blow them up. Large explosions seen. An engineer notching a tree beside a road. Others insert explosives and string wire to detonate the charges and create road blocks. Engineers place land mines into holes in a road outside of Elsenborn.
U.S. 1st Army troops pass an abandoned German pill box near Cambrai, on their way to the Belgian border, during World War 2. U.S. tanks advancing along road to Saint-Quentin on September 1, 1944.Road sign points toward St. Quentin. Some French civilians watch as troops ride into the city aboard military vehicles. American flag is seen at window of a building.September 2nd, lead elements of the 1st Army pass road sign marking boundary between France and Belgium. A road sign on ground at the old formal border reads "Douane Belge." American tanks speed across Belgian fields in pursuit of retreating German soldiers.US units firing tank guns and machine guns at German positions.Smoke rising.Destroyed and burning German artillery, tanks, halftracks, and other vehicles and equipment along side of road.Destroyed civilian automobile and wagons. American troops entering town where Belgian flags fly. German Army Captain, accompanied by U.S. troops, urges his soldiers to surrender.He steps over wire fencing into a field where German soldier are coming forward. View of numerous German prisoners of war being held in a meadow.
Film starts showing silhouettes of British tanks on the move, including one with a bulldozer blade. View from Allied warplane as bombs explode on the ground below. In November, 1944, infantry of the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units fire Bren guns as they advance in Belgium and secure the Scheldt Estuary, to open a shipping route to Antwerp for the Allies. They traverse a river and cross rail lines while advancing. View of destroyed steel bridge across the Maas (Meuse) river with several British troops wading in water nearby. Silhouettes of German prisoners of war marching single file. View from rear of German prisoners walking under guard with hands resting on their heads. British troops running beside the Scheldt river at Antwerp on September 4, 1944, as huge explosions occur in the river behind them. A column of British troops, marching on tree-lined road, enters outskirts of Antwerp, as local people cheer them. Views of the troops being greeted in the city itself. Columns of Belgian refugees are seen returning to their homes. One,injured, is carried by friends in a wooden cart. A contingent of British troops marching in the city. Glimpses of derricks in the Antwerp port and a ship under construction in a shipyard. An animated map shows German counter offensive through Belgium and Luxemburg on September 4, 1944. Refugees leaving again, ahead of the returning German forces. View of a road sign reading: "Bastogne." American military police checking credentials of some refugees as they leave. American soldiers jammed together atop a Sherman tank parked at a checkpoint. After delaying further German advance, through the Ardennes, on September 16th, American troops are forced back and seen leaving , in trucks and Sherman tanks, from Bastogne, past a road leading to Martelange. As weather cleared on September 22nd, a formation of British Hawker Typhoon ground attack aircraft are seen in flight and diving to attack lines of communication with machine gun fire and rockets. Several different views of the aircraft firing and smoke rising from the ground. Animated map of German advance depicts the so-called "Bulge" extending 60 miles into Allied territory. Captured German films show German troops,one carrying a rifle and another a Sig 44 machine gun, as they pass columns of burning Allied trucks, other vehicles and armor. Closeup of German soldier waving to others to follow him, as he runs ahead past burning Allied equipment. Several German soldiers hunker under a knocked out Allied tank, as a German Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer light tank destroyer passes their position. Closeup of German soldier smoking captured American cigarette. German infantry, walk past barrel of destroyed Allied tank. Several gather and smoke American cigarettes. One of them, with a belt of ammunition around his neck, is Hans Tragarsky aka Walter Armbrusch, of German Kampfgruppe Hansen, a battle group formed during the Battle of the Bulge from SS-Panzergrenadierdivision Regiment 2, an infantry regiment of SS Pz Rgt 2 "Das Reich". (This image is well known but his identity is subject to debate.) Glimpse of German officer walking with a soldier at the front, with background engulfed in flames.. Scene shifts to a formation of U.S. Army Air Forces C-47 transport planes seen, in flight, dropping food and ammunition to beleaguered American troops caught in the Battle of the Bulge. Change of scene to German Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer moving; Panzer IV tanks firing 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24 guns; and troops riding on a Tiger tank ( Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B). German soldiers riding in a streamlined Volkswagen Kübelwagen. German soldier in an open single seat courier car spattered with mud. Close-ups of him smoking a cigar. German soldiers looking at formation of American C-47 aircraft overhead. A U.S. Army Air Corps B-25 bomber in flight. View from Allied bomber dropping bombs that strike ground with many explosions. View from above of a B-24 Liberator bomber in flight. View on ground of shells and bombs exploding in wooded area and low level black flak clouds. Captured 88mm gun being fired by Allied forces. British soldiers in a Landing Vehicle Tracked, cross a stream and climb up a steep bank. View from British "Wasp" flame-throwing Bren-gun carrier, as it fires and resulting inferno of fires. Views from a long distance of other flame-throwers firing across the stream. Closeup view of one firing with fires burning on the opposite shore.
Allied campaign against the Axis powers in 1944 during World War II. People gathered outside the Colosseum (Piazza del Colosseo, 1, 00184 Roma RM, Italy) in Rome, Italy celebrate their liberation from occupation by Nazi Germany. Allied soldiers in trucks move past the cheering crowds. Pope Pius XII addresses the people from a balcony. Victory parade in Paris, France at the Arc de Triomphe (Pl. Charles de Gaulle, 75008 Paris, France) on August 26, 1944. French children clapping. People cheer as they carry banners. In Bucharest, Romania soldiers loaded onto trucks drive past crowds cheering after their liberation. On 3rd of September 1944 people cheer on the streets of Brussels, Belgium as Allied troops enter. A woman sits on top of a moving Jeep. In Belgrade, Yugoslavia on October 20, 1944 people celebrate their liberation. In Athens, Greece women carry a Greek flag and a flag being hoisted after their liberation.