Scene from 1927 feature film about World War 1. British tank crosses a battlefield under fire. It is a Mk V tank with dummy guns fitted to simulate a fighting tank. British troops sheltering in a shell-hole recognize it as friendly and follow it towards enemy lines, where it rides over the parapet of a German trench and crushes a machine-gun position. (The tank is an anachronism; the Mark V did not enter service until 1918.)
Reenactment of scenes from 1916 in World War 1, filmed in 1927 in Southwest England. Two British Mk V Tanks advance through shellfire. One has its gun mountings plated over and has dummy guns; the other has its gun mounts intact, though the guns might be dummies, and carries anti-grenade mesh on its roof. (These are by historical errors by the film makers, since this type of anti-grenade protection was not carried on Mark V [Mark 5] tanks, and the Mark V did not enter service until 1918.) The tank advances towards enemy trenches, followed by British soldiers who pursue German soldiers fleeing along the network of trenches. The tank, filmed from below, in the trench, as it moves over the trench. Note: (The film "The Somme" can be seen in full on the British Film Institute website.)
A man driving a 1917 Ford model T roadster along a severely rutted mud-filled street. A 1917 Ford Model T, one ton truck, trapped in mud. Frustrated driver gets out and kicks a rear tire. Road building crews at work with horse-drawn equipment. Road construction with large steam powered machinery. A 1917 model T roadster driving along a new smooth concrete road. Women making purchases at a sidewalk stand and placing them into their Ford Model T sedan. A doctor arrives at house of a patient, in a Ford Model T roadster. Americans driving Ford Model T cars in the National Parks circa 1920s. Cars driving past a giant redwood tree. Man in a Ford Model T stopped beside woods and feeding a bear in a National Park, as a Park Ranger stands nearby. Ford Model T driving through the tunnel cut in the "Wawona" giant sequoia tree, in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias at Yosemite National Park. A 1918 Ford Model T touring car parked at a picnic site, with family sitting at picnic table nearby. Families with Ford Model T cars, engaged in outdoor activities, picnicking, and gathering wild flowers. Two men making their Model T into a shelter for overnight camping. Family picnicking at a beach; their Model T parked on road above. A man in a 1920s era swim suit carries a basket for a picnic to others in his family seated near rocks. 1920s or 1930s boy and girl children playing on a beach; picking up seaweed; and wading in the surf, near large rocks.
Mix of scenes covering Henry Ford and his Model T cars, Model Ts travel through a stream and along rutted roads and through snow. Ford Model Ts equipped with special wheels travel on the rails along a railroad trestle. One drives slowly along a large pipeline. Views inside Ford auto factory of assembly line operations. Car hoods being pressed into shape. Car bodies on assembly line. Engine blocks moving on conveyer. Car bodies being placed on chassis. Henry Ford walking along garden path at his home, Fairlane, in Dearborn Michigan. Glimpse of Henry Ford joking with Scottish comedian, Harry Lauder, in 1914. Henry ford tinkering with an old steam engine, and later, driving one of his tractors. Ford in his office conferring with employees. Family gathering as Edsel Ford is about to embark on a transcontinental trip with Model T Ford cars, on May 5, 1924. The Fords doing country dances together. Henry Ford camping with Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs (later seen driving a 1918 Ford Model T). Views of the men (who called themselves the "Four Vagabonds," as they dine under a tent and use a large Lazy Susan table. Ford speaking directly into Edison's right ear (he was hard of hearing) while Firestone looks on, amused. Edsel Ford with his father outdoors, and in the Ford factory. Father and son sitting by the Quadricycle with a 1936 white Ford sedan behind them. Portrait of Henry Ford. Luxury limousine at a mansion. It has no right side door for the chauffeur, and a right hand steering wheel (British built?) Woman enters and luxurious interior is described. Chauffeur enters at left door and slides across seat to right-side steering wheel. Lincoln chauffeured limousine passes and parks in front of a Model T. May 1927, men assemble the body onto the 15 millionth Model T car, and it drives away with Henry Ford as passenger. Old Ford cars brought into plant where they are seen being crushed and scrapped, and their steel recycled into new cars.
U.S. 105th Field Artillery and 2nd Battalion Pioneers aboard USS America and USS Madawaska in Newport News, Virginia leave for Europe in 1918 during World War I. U.S. troops aboard USS America. The ship leaves from the Newport News. The troops of 2nd Battalion Pioneers and 105th Field Artillery aboard USS Madawaska. The troops on the deck wave.
German occupation of France during World War 2. The cathedral in Reims, France. Vehicles and a few men on a road in front of the church. Trees lining the road. The railway car in which an armistice agreement was signed by Germany and the Allies at end of World War 1. The Memorial Tablet symbolic of the 1918 armistice, the Alsace-Lorraine, and Ferdinand Foch's Memorial in Compiegne Forest. Ferdinand Foch's carriage in which the first armistice was signed. In 1940 : German troops cross River Marne in rafts. A signboard showing the distances to Paris and Soissons. Another signboard showing the distances to Grand Fitz James and Paris. Troops on tanks moving on roads. A signboard shows distances to Pontarme and Paris. A soldier with a gun on his back. Soldiers moving with carriages on a path between fields. Trees lining the path. German troops moving on tanks advancing deeper into France. The troops on the road in front of the castle in Versailles. The German flag hoisted on a flag pole over the Palace of Versailles and German soldiers occupy the Palace of Versailles.