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.
American paratroopers depart England for the invasion of Normandy, France (D-Day), during World War 2. U.S. paratroopers of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, help each other with their gear, as they stand beside a C-47 aircraft, on RAF Greenham airfield, England. A crew chief cleans the window of the C-47. Two paratroopers, with camouflage painted faces, converse. Three air crewmen, two in leather jackets, pose by the airplane. One, a Lieutenant,holds an oxygen mask and carries a 45 automatic in a shoulder holster. View from inside the cabin, as paratroopers climb aboard the C-47. Lieutenant General Louis H. Brereton, Commander, 9th Air Force, smiles as he offers something to a paratrooper who reaches out from the airplane for it. Brereton laughs and reaches out to shake the paratrooper's hand. The General salutes as the aircraft taxis away and joins a long line of C-47s preparing to take off. Ground crewmen wave to the departing aircraft. The aircraft begin taking off at dusk with their wingtip lights illuminated, bound for the coast of Normandy, France.
U.S. Navy officers and sailors aboard a landing craft still at port in England, pose with chart of their destination in Normandy, France, during World War 2. They all raise their caps for the cameraman. U.S. troops fill deck of a large landing craft infantry (film reversed). Views of other landing craft underway. U.S. troops standing aft on a ship. View of a destroyer escort ship. Landing craft underway in moonlight. Barrage balloon visible overhead. A camouflaged Benham class destroyer passing abeam the camera ship. More views of landing craft and barrage balloons. Officer aboard ship using a telescope. A Destroyer escort and another view of the Benham class destroyer. (These color sequences are reversed) Black and White sequence 02:36 to 03:39 shows members of the Canadian North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment approaching and landing on D-day, at La Rive Plage,Bernieres-sur-Mer, France. Scenes are interposed with some of U.S. troops wading ashore at Omaha Beach. At time code 03:40, Troops of the U.S. Army First Division, the "Big Red One," are seen wading ashore on Omaha beach, from Higgins boats of the transport ship, USS Samuel Chase. (APA-26). U.S. soldiers reaching the beach from the surf, as two fall to German gunfire.
German civilians read newspaper headlines about Allied invasion in Normandy, France, during World War 2. The German newspapers also contain stories about German military operations in Russia. German radio operators wearing headphones in communication centers, being warned of Allied bombers during D-Day operations and relaying information by radio and morse code. German soldiers rush from underground bunkers, grabbing helmets and rifles, to man battle positions in Atlantic Wall defenses. German soldiers running in underground tunnels. Anti aircraft guns being fired at Allied aircraft. Guns aboard German ships being fired at Allied vessels and aircraft at night. Explosions occur causing fiery flashes.
German coastal guns along the Atlantic Wall are loaded and fired at ships in Normandy, France during D-Day Invasion of France in World War II. British ships in formation return the fire. German infantry man machine guns and flamethrowers on the beach. A soldier looks through binoculars at enemy position. Heavy firing takes place. German bunkers and reinforced concrete fortifications. Coastal guns.
U.S. troops carrying a wounded soldier, of 16th Infantry Regiment, on a litter along narrow stretch of beach in the shelter of chalk cliffs on Omaha beach during D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, during World War 2. U.S. medics treating wounded under the cliffs. Two landing craft beached amidst the steel obstacles on shore. A German soldier receiving first aid from an American soldier. U.S. medic looks at ID information tied to a wounded soldier. Several German soldier prisoners of war, sitting on the shore. A destroyer escort offshore, firing a gun.