July 16, 1945, with President Truman and his party enroute to Berlin Germany, prior to the "Big Three" conference at Potsdam. President Harry S. Truman is seated in right rear of open car. Secretary of State, James F. Byrnes sits next to him in the center, and Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, Personal Chief of Staff to the President, is in the left rear seat. U.S. Army Brigadier. An Army Major General stands beside the car speaking to the occupants. Brigadier General Harry H. Vaughan (wearing sun glasses), long time friend and aide to the President, steps close to the car. Scene shifts to the President and his party, standing in a moving vehicle, as they review troops of the 2nd Armored Division, standing in front of their tanks, M10 Tank Destroyers, and other armored vehicles. The President and Secretary Byrnes remove their hats and hold them over their hearts,while military officers render hand salutes as they pass the colors. Views from vehicle passing the formation.View from ground of Presidential party at attention with flag of the 17th Battalion displayed. A Lieutenant from the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion reads a citation and Brigadier General John Howell Collier, Commander, 2nd Armored Division, unfurls unit citation ribbon, that President Truman then ties to the Guidon of Company E, 17th Armored Engineer Battalion. As President Truman reportedly described the event in his diary: "We reviewed the Second Armored Division and tied a citation on the guidon of Company E, 17th Armored Engineer Battalion. General Collier, who seemed to know his stuff, put us in a reconnaissance car built with side seats and no top, just like a hoodlum wagon minus the top on a fire truck, with seats and no hose, and we drove slowly down a mile and a half of good soldiers and some millions of dollars' worth of equipment -- which had amply paid its way to Berlin." (World War II period).
Setting: North Field, Tinian Island in Mariana Islands, South Pacific, almost a week after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima Japan, August 8, 1945, during World War II. Public Relations Officer, Major John F. Moynahan (not seen) is interviewing members of the Crew of the B-29, Enola Gay, from which the bomb was dropped. Here he interviews Captain William Sterling "Deke" Parsons of the U.S. Navy who was weaponeer aboard the Enola Gay, during the mission. and who now serves as Scientific Head of the Atomic Bomb Project in the Pacific Theater. Captain Parsons describes the events of the mission from their early morning departure through the actual bombing. He notes that the actual bombing went smoother than earlier practice missions.
A newsreel titled '2,000,000th G. I, head for home' shows soldiers of United States Army 591st Engineering Corp head for home after 22 months from European theater of war. Charles Hudgins being presented a plaque by an officer as other soldiers look on, as Hudgins is the 2,000,000th soldier to return. American soldiers say goodbye to dear ones before embarking a ship at a European port. Second half of clip shifts subject matter, showing exterior views of the landscape and grounds of the Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland, then owned by the Kennedy family, who donated it in 1945 to the National Trust for Scotland, with the stipulation that the top floor apartment of the Castle would be offered to General Eisenhower for his use for the rest of his life (it was later nicknamed the "Scottish White House" by then President Eisenhower). Views of the castle grounds, walls, gates, defense cannons.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill gets a defeat in the 1945 United Kingdom General Elections. Past events show Prime Minister of UK Winston Churchill, U.S. President Harry S. Truman and other delegates attending the Potsdam Conference in Germany.
March and April, 1945. Near the end of World War 2, P-47s of the U.S. 9th and 8th Air Forces attacking ground targets in Germany. They strafe various ground targets virtually at will. One chases a German Me-109. Rapid succession of identifying slates and fragments of gun camera footage. The first involves P-47 of the 100th Fighter Wing, 362nd Fighter Group, 378th Fighter Squadron, operating out of Frankfurt, Rhein Main Airbase (Y-73) Germany. Others involve the 8th Air Force, P-51s of the 338th Fighter Squadron and possibly other units.
German civilians in a city on the Elbe River, gather around a poster containing Law Number 5, issued by the Military Government-Germany (American Occupation forces). It announces the dissolution of the Nazi party. Next, a German Army medic talks to an American, near a huge pile of German military uniforms, military equipment, and accessories. Civilians including former German soldiers throng a town square, adding items to the pile. A woman pulls uniform items from her wash basket. An American soldier talks with a German woman as bystanders watch and listen. A man and boy look at a small rifle before the boy throws it on the pile. View from above of the square with people crowded around the pile of castoffs in its center. Women placing officers' swords on the pile. Complete change of scene shows a U.S. soldier from the 3rd Army, in a salt mine, in Merkers, Germany, on April 15, 1945. He is perusing Nazi seized and stolen jewelry, cutlery, and precious metal trinkets in a case. Another soldier looks at a bar of gold and displays it for the camera. Many wrapped gold bars are behind him. German currency bank notes are seen in the hands of a soldier. Numerous packages of currency sit in the background. American soldiers show some of the stolen art works also hidden in the salt mine. Among the seized paintings seen is "Wintergarden," by French impressionist painter Edouard Manet.
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