View of a port in England, filled with Allied ships and boats to carry war materiel for Allied forces preparing to invade Europe during World War II. A barrage balloon aloft overhead. Yards full of military rolling stock. Scene shifts to wide street view in London including Whitehall Government buildings around the Cenotaph War Memorial (Whitehall, London SW1A 2ET, United Kingdom) in London, England. Inside the British military headquarters the Allied High Command is gathered to plan the invasion of Europe. Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower is pointing at a wall map, as senior Allied commanders, including British Marshal Bernard Montgomery, look on. Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft in D-Day paint stripes take off from an air base. Officers watch takeoffs from control tower porch. Views from Allied aircraft gun cameras show strafing from low altitudes destroying German ground targets, including railroads and airfields. A formation of Martin B-26 Marauder aircraft in flight overhead. Lines of communication such as road junctions being destroyed by bombing. Glimpse of copilot at controls in a bomber. Scene shifts to June 6, 1944 and the D-Day Allied invasion fleet underway across the English Channel. Allied warships bombarding the shores of Normandy, France. Landing Craft Tank (Rocket) firing salvos of rockets. Animated map shows the invasion forces striking the defenses of the German Atlantic Wall. View of British and American soldiers wading ashore from landing craft, and some falling to German gunfire at the shoreline beaches of Normandy. View of German defenders firing from inside a German fortifications. German soldiers firing machine guns from protected places overlooking the beaches of Normandy. Trapped American soldiers firing upwards toward the German positions in cliffs overlooking the beach. Later views of Allied troops in combat further inland. Animated map shows area of allied penetration after 19 days of bitter fighting. Allied Armor, trucks, and supplies moving inland from the beachhead. Barrage balloon above the improvised ports. Allied troops heading toward the port of Cherbourg and guns firing in that battle. American M8 Greyhound armored personnel carriers proceeding into the town of Cherbourg, Normandy, France. closeup of American soldiers firing small arms. Soldiers firing a howitzer point blank. The last of the German garrison troops surrender under a flag of truce, on June 27, 1944. Large group of German prisoners of war with hands clasped over their heads, being escorted under Allied guard from Cherbourg. Docks and facilities needing repair to make the port serviceable. U.S. Army engineers welding port facilities. Closeup of a locomotive operated by French railroad men, moving in the restored port.
Allied invasion of Normandy, France during World War II. U.S. General Joseph McNarney, Deputy Chief of Staff at a desk as he outlines the importance of June 6, 1944 the day Allied forces attacked the Germans in Normandy. He speaks about the decision to knock down the Nazis first and then the Japanese during the World War. He says that the invasion of Normandy was planned in November 1943. He also states how General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, planned and executed the invasion. He also speaks about how the U.S. Army Air Forces and the Royal Air Forces aircraft bombarded the coasts of Normandy prior to the D Day invasion. Past events show American soldiers getting onto landing crafts in England as they leave for the invasion. The soldiers aboard the ships in the English Channel. The soldiers read the Bible and comics, sleep and cook aboard the ships. On June 5th , 1944 the ships head towards Normandy for the invasion. In England gliders carrying paratroopers take off from an airfield to bombard the German positions in Normandy. British soldiers receive ration and work on motorbikes. TNT (trinitrotoluene) charges being prepared by soldiers tasked with demolition duties. British soldiers check their guns and other weapons prior to the invasion. Jeep and artillery being loaded onto aircraft.
Film begins showing Brigadier General James M. Gavin, Commander of the Force A (parachute) contingent of the 82nd Airborne Division, standing on the hood of a jeep, at an airfield, to brief his paratroopers as they prepare for the D-Day invasion, during World War 2. A C-47 transport plane taxis behind the assembled group of troopers. Barbed wire is strung in the foreground. Paratroopers are issued French currency before departure. Some gamble with it using dice. Troops are seen playing volleyball on a field surrounded by trees. On an airfield, one trooper hits ground balls with a soft ball and several others field it. Some other troopers sit in grass next to the ramp, assembling wooden containers for airdrop. Two Army Air Forces mechanics fasten a tow bar on the nose wheel of a British-built Horsa Mk.II glider. They then tow it with a tug. View from above of Horsa gliders and C-47 tow airplanes, all in D-Day paint stripes, lined up on an airfield ramp. Paratrooper tent camp is viewed from above. Then, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and other senior officers are seen visiting paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division, at the camp, on June 5, 1944, as they prepare to board their aircraft. Famous closeup of General Eisenhower speaking to a tall paratrooper who has his face camouflaged with grease paint.View looking down, as Eisenhower circulates among the troopers. Closeup of him conversing with another one directly.
Paratroopers of the U.S. 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, at RAF Station, Greenham Common, proceed, in full battle gear, to board C-47 aircraft for their flight to Normandy, France, on June 5, 1944, during World War 2. Camouflage is seen on their helmets and their faces are blackened. One group is seen boarding C-47, tail number 43-15296. An officer reads briefing notes to them.They don life vests. A Captain and two Sergeants discuss briefing notes.Paratroopers help others who have difficulty climbing aboard the aircraft because of their heavy and ungainly equipment. Ninth Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Louis H. Brereton speaks to Chaplain, Lieutenant Colonel Louis R. Goodrich, and shakes hands with some of the troopers, wishing them well, as they board C-47 number 42-92847, named, "That's All...Brother."(This was the lead aircraft for the airdrop, just behind the C-47s dropping pathfinders. It was piloted by the commander of the 438th Troop Carrier Group, Colonel John Donalson, and 87th Troop Carrier Squadron Commander, Lieutenant Colonel David Daniel.) The C-47s taxi out for takeoff, as senior officers watch them depart. (Note: There has been confusion about the name of the lead aircraft, C-47, 42-92847, because Colonel Donalson normally flew one named "Belle of Birmingham. " Research, including information from his daughter, indicate that he chose 42-92847, as lead aircraft, because it would have to be cut open to accommodate SCR 717C radar equipment, and he didn't want that done to his favorite airplane.)
Allied invasion task force loading tanks, vehicles, troops and equipment on ships,at British ports, in readiness for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, in World war 2. Armored vehicle seen loaded onto USS Boone County (LST-389) at Falmouth in Cornwell, England on June 2, 1944, as troops load various ships. Troops near anchored craft USS LCI(L)-84 and another vessel (possibly marked 48 or 49). Tanks, bulldozers, and heavy equipement being loaded. View of Landing Ship Tank LST-621 and then LST-317 being loaded. DUKW vehicles in queue to load. A U.S. Army soldier is hoisted aboard a British Royal Navy ship in a special harness. British sailors around him and another U.S. Army soldier on the deck. Invasion troops from England and the United States spending their waiting time aboard ships. Three seen playing musical instruments: Accordion, guitar, and violin. Several play cards. Two practice gymnastics. Some prepare weapons and ammunition (view of LST-506 or LCI-506 in background). Navy sailors and U.S. Army troops huddled together in tight groups as they are briefed by their respective officers regarding the invasion mission.
Three pilots, Major Gerald Montgomery, Major Howard D. (Deacon) Hively, and Captain Shelton W. "Shell" Monroe, of the U.S. Army Air Forces 334th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, discuss a map during World War 2.. Logos of the Eagle Sqadron and the 334th Fighter Squadron displayed above a wall containing small painted German crosses representing enemy aircraft destroyed, probably destroyed, and damaged. Airman stencils two more under the destroyed column. Major Howard D.Hively of Athens, OH.,with another Major looking at record of aerial victories on the wall. Hively holds a sign reading "300 destroyed." He hands it to the other Major who tacks it onto the wall using the butt of his .45 caliber automatic pistol as a hammer. They smile and shake hands. Then Lieutenant Timothy Cronin stencils three more crosses in the destroyed column, under the 300 sign, as Lieutenant Victor Rentschler looks on smiling. The two men each recorded kills on Christmas Day 1944, one of which was the 300th kill for the squadron. (Shelton W. Monroe was later killed in Korea after his plane was shot down on April 17, 1951. )