Alternating World War 2 footage and dramatized scenes with actors. German Luftwaffe bombers destroying French cities. Invasion of France by Germany. Burning buildings and debris in French cities during 1940 invasion. Hitler viewing Eiffel Tower while visiting Paris in June 1940 after occupation. German flag atop Eiffel Tower. Allied fighter aircraft shot down, pilot ejects and parachutes to ground as aircraft crashes with explosion. Pilot landing in parachute, gathering and hiding parachute. Actors conversation segment. Footage of sad looking and defeated French soldiers marching in streets of France under occupying German guard, as depressed French citizens look on. French General Philippe Petain at desk delivering speech that calls for collaboration with Germans. Close ups of sad and crying French men, women, and children in streets of France suffering war and occupation. Petain salutes soldiers during a parade after he abolishes representative government. Petain speaks from podium to gathered soldiers. View of French General Charles De Gaulle, in Britain, calling for continued French resistance and speaking to French officers on a warship. Actor dialog segment. Footage of Petain visiting Hitler. They shake hands while photographers record the meeting. Actor segments. Footage of Free French forces training and marching in various cities. Free French soldier receives machine gun training. French officer training in Russia at a Soviet recognition ceremony. French soldiers carry railroad ties and discuss over a map. RAF spitfires in flight. Sign at training camp "French Air Force Squadron. Flexible Gunnery School." Allied naval ships at sea; close views of ship guns. Smoke rises from French ship fleet scuttled at Toulon November 27, 1942. Mobilized French citizens receiving rifle training. Free French Army encampment with French flag raising ceremony. French citizens gather to read posted German notices. Parade celebrating liberation of Paris in World War II. Happy French citizens smile and cheer French, American, and Soviet allies marching in Paris.
Operation Torch in World War 2. Allied invasion convoy off Casablanca, Morocco. American troops on ship's deck, cleaning and checking their rifles. Closeup of a wire from the Invasion Task Force Commanders, listing signals that will tell of the French forces' decisions. Closeup of U.S. troops boarding Higgins Boat from a transport ship. Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt on the USS Augusta (CA-31). U.S. President Roosevelt, Free French Commander, Charles de Gaulle, and French General Giraud, all issue calls for French forces not to resist Allied invasion. View of triple turret 8-inch guns on the USS Augusta. Sailors in their bunks. Suddenly guns from the shore begin firing on the invasion convoy. Shells explode in water near convoy ships, as sailors man battle stations and begin returning fire on Casablanca. French defenders signaled friendly attitude by directing searchlights vertically. British spitfire aircraft launch toward Algiers, from Gibraltar. British troops in an amphibious landing at Algiers on November 8, 1942. View of French Admiral Jean Darlan. Allied troops enter Algiers. American airborne troops parachute from C-47 transport aircraft over Oran, Algeria. Next section covers Battle of Casablanca: Allied warships fire at Vichy French ships and aircraft and more troops head to shore in landing craft. Sailors firing anti-aircraft guns from landing craft, at enemy aircraft overhead. A U.S. carrier-based SBD Douglas Dauntless aircraft as it descends in the sky. French sailors load 380mm guns on battleship Jean Bart and fire her guns. Glimpse of French Shore defense guns firing with shells exploding in waters offshore. Gunners aboard U.S. warship loading a heavy gun. Angered over British attack on the French Fleet in 1940, Admiral Daran refused to negotiate with the British. Inserted footage of French battleship Dunkerque exploding during British attack on French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir, July3, 1940. A tank driving ashore from a landing craft. Closeup of a French soldier (from the rear) firing his rifle at invading Allied troops. Allied medical corpsmen on the sandy shore, running with a litter. A jeep pulling a towed artillery field piece ashore from the surf. Medical corpsmen carrying a wounded on a stretcher. Allied troops fighting defenders in Casablanca. Animated map shows German invasion of Vichy France. View of Philippe Pétain, Head of Vichy France. View of Admiral Darlan saying goodbye to U.S. Lieutenant General Mark Clark after secret meeting of the two. Officers of German Armistice committees departing a North African city. Cheering crowds are happy to see them depart in a truck. French crowds cheering American troops. British Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson arriving at Algiers. French General Henri Giraud salutes. General Dwight D. Eisenhower salutes. Parading color guard with flags of France, Britain, and the U.S. Animated map shows German forces pouring into Tunisia. View of German troops on deck of a ship and at ship's anti-aircraft positions. General Eisenhower conferring with British and French allies. Camels used on rough terrain. American writes "Tunis Toonerville." in chalk. Allied troops sitting on floor of freight rail car with door open as old steam engine moves the train. Animated map shows German and Allied supply lines. A U.S. Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber landing on an airstrip. Numerous German warplanes parked in Tunisia. U.S. M2 tanks and other military vehicles moving along narrow mountainous roads. Locomotive transporting mules in stock cars. C-47 transport airplanes drop British and American airborne troops. Commandos disembark from ships at Bone, Algeria. Allied aircraft parked on a captured enemy airfield, under attack by German Dornier Do 17 and Heinkel He 111 bombers. A Parked American B-25. Allied soldiers firing small arms and anti-aircraft guns at German planes.
U.S. 7th Army forces moving in Army trucks in the French Riviera (or Côte d'Azur) , during Allied Operation Dragoon, in World War 2. French citizens on side of the roads cheering. A U.S. Army tank goes by the crowd. Members of FFI (French Forces of Interior) decorated with Silver Star by General Alexander Patch ("Sandy" Patch) and French General De Lattre de Tassigny, in Saint Tropez. Scenes of city and harbor of Toulon. Destroyed docks and ships of French fleet, scuttled in 1942, listing or partially sunk at harbor. Dead bodies. Large artillery guns on scuttled French warships.
Film opens showing a map of French and English coasts bordering the English Channel. Dieppe is the focus of attention. Narrator states that British, American, and Free French forces, totaling a Division strength, attempted a landing at Dieppe. Animated map illustrates hundreds of Allied landing craft off the coast, protected by Cruisers and Destroyers. A reserve of transport vessels is shown in the Channel and a strong supporting force of Allied bombers and fighter aircraft. Active scene shows German coastal guns firing from bunkers on the French coast and German soldiers deploying to defensive positions commanding the beaches They fire MG 42 machine guns and a 77mm field gun. Shells from British naval artillery explode near German soldiers at shoreline. Explosions at Dieppe harbor from British aircraft bombs. German anti-aircraft fire directed against them. View of Dieppe castle. German soldiers taking up defensive positions on a city street. More explosions from Allied bombers. German soldiers firing a 12.8 Cm Flak 40 anti aircraft gun and black Flak clouds seen in midst of attacking Allied aircraft. German soldiers firing a vehicle mounted 2 Cm Flak 38 gun and quad versions of the same. Allied aircraft struck and trailing white smoke as it falls toward the water offshore. Glimpse of German soldiers in center of town. Low flying Allied aircraft and explosions from their bombs. German Fw 190 fighter planes heading to engage the Allied aircraft. Contrails at altitude from dogfights between Allied and German fighter aircraft. An aircraft struck and falling. Closeup of a burning British aircraft on the ground. Camera pans across German soldiers and buildings damaged and destroyed by Allied bombing. British soldiers (mostly Canadian soldiers) being taken prisoner at the beachhead and later marched under guard in the town. A German General visits his troops at the beach front. Scenes of destruction after the battle. Dead bodies of Canadian and British Allied soldiers floating near the shore. Fire burning on a dock. Burning British Mark 8 Landing Craft Tank (LCT Mark VIII) with shell holes in it. More bodies of dead Canadian soldiers strewn on beach. Knocked out British Churchill tank displaying number 9. Several destroyed and damaged British LCT Mark 8s. Names: "Calgary" and "Beefy"on destroyed Canadian Churchill tanks of the 14th Canadian Tank Regiment. Destroyed British speed boat with sailor's body on it. Other destroyed invasion craft. Several crashed British aircraft at water edge. Closeup of bullet holes near British roundel on one. More destroyed British Churchill and other tanks. Beaches covered with fallen Allied soldiers. British soldier helmets caught in barbed wire.
Film opens showing a German soldier giving a canteen of water to an English soldier on a landing craft at Dieppe, after the ill-fated Allied raid there in World War 2. Numerous Allied prisoners (mostly Canadians) make their way across the sands of Dieppe. Some toss their helmets away. They carry a wounded on a litter. They proceed along a road with seaside Church of Notre-dame-de-bon-secours in the background. Some prisoners are barefoot. One is carried on a litter. Next a contingent of Canadian prisoners is seen marching in formation, three abreast, with arms raised. Destroyed and damaged buildings are behind them. Several carry wounded comrades, as they proceed into the center of town. Views of damage to buildings in Dieppe, from bombing and shelling. Canadian prisoners of war being escorted by German guards through town. View from high point overlooking Dieppe, showing the town, with smoke rising in places, and the beach with Allied boats and equipment strewn on it. German officers interview prisoners, including some wearing swim fins. Closeup of one with injured bloody face. Allied prisoners huddled together in a large group. Piles of weapons and equipment collected from the prisoners. Ambulatory prisoners being marched through Dieppe on their way to a prisoner of war camp. The prisoners marching on roads through rural areas. Closeups of some as they pass a camera. View of Dieppe harbor and environs from a high overlook. French residents walking on the streets of Dieppe, as life returns to normal. German soldiers manning a 2 Cm Flak 38 anti aircraft gun overlooking the beach, as a formation of German infantry marches past in the background. View of beach from bunker housing a German coastal gun. A formation of German Ju 88 bombers overhead, and viewed from one of the aircraft in the formation in flight. German gunboats racing through the water.
Opening scene shows French Nieuport biplanes in aerial combat with German airplanes in World War 1. Many are engaged in a massive dogfight. One aircraft is seen hit and falling toward the ground. Next, two French aircraft are seen returning to their base. They fly over a hangar where a crashed airplane sits with tail in the air. Near the hanger are several airplanes in various stages of maintenance. Mechanics are moving one. An airplane taxis in front of the hangar. Scene shifts to closeup of a Lafayette Escadrille Indian logo painted on a metal structure. Scene shifts to a formal award ceremony for some pilots and crews. Their squadron members are lined up behind them in front of a line of aircraft. The view is from behind a formation of French soldiers with rifles, rendering salutes. Next, French soldiers parade on the airdrome, led by a military band. At this point the scene phases out as a fireball is superimposed on a map of Europe, signifying World War 2. Adolf Hitler is seen in closeup near the Eiffel Tower, when he visits Paris, France following its occupation by German forces in 1940. Several views of German troops marching along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and through the Arc de Triomphe. Closeups of some German soldiers in the ranks. Scene shifts to North Africa, in 1942, as American troops make an unopposed amphibious landing on the coast, in Operation Torch. Several landing craft are seen and troops ashore. A Dodge 3/4 ton WC-51 army truck, with half of its hood open, makes its way through the surf as it leaves a landing craft.