A World War 2 amphibious beachhead is seen with numerous ships offshore, and a barrage balloon aloft overhead. USS Landing Ship Medium number 553 is pulled up close to a transport ship from which an army truck is being offloaded. Numerous U.S. troops are seen on the transport deck. Another Landing Ship Medium (number 541) is c.lose to a transport ship. A Benham class destroyer is seen. A Coast Guard Captain smokes a cigarette as he looks out a porthole on his ship. A U.S. wartime supply convoy at sea. An officer sounds an alarm aboard a U.S. Combat Coast Guard Cutter. Crew responds and fires depth charges against a German submarine. The submarine surfaces and the Cutter fires at it using a deck gun. View of oil on the water.
Headlines about Normandy victory, bombing of Tokyo, and Philippines during World War II. Worker in war plants, Allied planes drop bombs over enemy positions in Europe. Allied invasion of Normandy and victory. Celebrations in Paris and liberation of Brussels. Franklin D. Roosevelt reelected as President after defeating Thomas A. Dewey.
'US Navy speeds fighting planes to war fronts'. Admiral William Halsey inspects sailors and marines lined up on board a ship in Europe during World War II. Deck crew places P 40 fighter planes in formation. Planes taxi along and take off. Planes in flight. 'Eagles quit RAF to fly with Yanks'. Pilots of Eagle Squadron stand in ranks on board a ship. Brigadier General Frank Hunter pins up insignia onto them. Pilot parade and American flag hoisted.
The role of United States 1st Infantry Division in various campaigns during World War II. United States 1st Infantry Division men cross the Ludendorfff bridge at Remagen, over river Rhine in Germany. Smoke rises from the banks of the river. American soldiers move across Germany and enter Czechoslovakia. Closeup of faces of war weary United States Army infantrymen shown. A U.S, Army soldier sleeps.
Allied invasion of Normandy, France during World War II. United States paratroopers from different professions with camouflage make up on their faces they prepare to leave England for the invasion of Normandy. The paratroopers being briefed before the take off. They put on their combat gear. U.S. General of the 9th Air Force Brereton shakes hands with the paratroopers. The paratroopers board an aircraft and take off. U.S. Army Air Forces C-47 aircraft take off from different airfields in England to bombard Normandy, France. Aircraft in flight. A gunner aboard an airborne aircraft. Bombs being released. The bombs explode causing a pillar of smoke to rise up. German coastal defenses being bombed.
In opening scene, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is giving a "pep talk" to senior officers assembled at the Northern part of the German "Atlantic Wall" defenses in Scandinavia, during World War 2. A German sentry is seen in front of a large coastal fortification bearing the name "Skagerrak." Camera focuses on the barrel of a huge coastal gun. Closeup of the sentry. Troops travel on a small gauge railway carrying canisters of propellant and shells to a unique heavy coastal gun installed , near Kristiansand, Norway, overlooking the Skagerak Strait. (The gun is a 28 cm SK C/34 naval gun, similar to those installed on some battleships. But this one was appropriated from an abandoned German Army super-tank project.) An alarm bell sounds in the fort and soldiers respond. Next, huge coastal gun shells are seen being moved on conveyors to the gun. A team of gun operators recite preparation steps out loud as they adjust range, bearing, and other parameters before firing the weapon. Gunners load a shell into the gun breech, followed by several propellant charges. The breech lowers inside the fort as the gun barrel is raised to desired elevation. The gun is fired. More commands are spoken aloud and another round is fired. Glimpse from outside of gun flash at night. Complete change of scene shows a map of Crimean Peninsula. Anti-aircraft guns are shown at coastal areas. A quad-barreled FlaKvierling 38 gun is seen. German forces entering the Crimea. Infantry walk in and others, ride in open trucks.One soldier mans a light gun mounted on the back of a 6-wheeled truck. German soldiers posted on roads directing incoming traffic of trucks carrying troops. Closeups of German soldiers riding in open trucks. A trio of German Army officers watches the incoming troops. Local refugees carry their belongings as they flee from battle fronts.