With the help of an animated wall-size map, an American Army Lieutenant Colonel intelligence officer explains details of the German successful breakthough to France during May, 1940, in World War 2. The map depicts the opposing German and Allied lines after the German advances through Belgium and the low countries, and the officer shows their surprise assault through the Ardennes, across the Meuse River and into France, where they shattered the French 9th Army. The map is animated and illustrates as the Officer narrates the events, which end with the successful advance across France to the port of Abbeville, on the Somme River. The subsequent German operations forced British and French forces into an untenable position backed to the English Channel at Dunkirk, France.
Highway sign reads M 16, Dunkerque. German Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers fly low and drop bombs. Offshore, a flotilla of warships and civilian ships and boats approaches. British spitfire fighters engage German warplanes. Gun camera footage of dogfights. Allied troops boarding boats while being bombed. Rescued French and British soldiers on decks of ships. View of destruction at the Dunkirk shore. Rescued troops disembarking in England. Prime Minister Winston Churchill reviews group of ordinary British citizens who participated in the evacuation and shakes hands with naval officers. Generals of the French High Command expressing dismay. Map shows battlefront. Parisians getting newspapers and French parents and families evacuate French children South for safety. Women are seen kissing their children goodbye as they load onto buses to be evacuated to safety. Anguished women wave as their children depart. Change of scene to sandbagged French defensive positions in Paris. American intelligence officer, using animated map,describes German sweep of France. Benito Mussolini with son-in-law, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Galeazzo Ciano. Italian motorcycle troops and infantry enter France. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt condemning the Italian action. Mussolini accompanied by Italian officers, struts along a street as Italian troops watch from sidewalk. He reviews a contingent of youth in uniforms that look like Alpini.
French Marshal Petain, now Premier, following Battle of France, walks to a car and seen later at conference table with Pierre Laval and other national leaders. View of Adolf Hitler, with close associates, expressing delight after signing of the second armistice at Compiegne,ending resistance by France, on June 22, 1940. German honor guard marching near Marshal Foch's railroad car where the 1918 armistice was signed. Monument of Marshal Foch. Hitler, Hermann Goering, and Admiral Raeder, head of the Kriegsmarine, review the honor guard. German stand at steps of the rail car. Raeder, and Goering, both carrying Marshal's batons, flank Hitler. French Army General Charles Huntziger, accompanied by General Jean Bergeret,Air Minister, Vice Admiral Le Luc, Commander of Maritime Forces, and Ambassador Leon Noel, are escorted by two German officers. They enter the railroad carriage. View inside, as Hitler, Goering and German representatives stand when they enter. Newspaper headline describes tax on France for German occupation. French prisoners of war in an outdoor yard and being moved to Germany. French prisoners in bucket brigade and carrying construction materials. French workers engaged in labor to support German war effort. Unhappy French children. Public funerals for persons executed by the Germans. German flag draped over the Foch statue. Hitler's touring motorcade passes Arc de Triomphe in Paris in early morning when streets are empty. Parisians gather on streets to hear German orders broadcast. Many express distress. In Southern France, Military units carry their colors as they depart for North Africa. General Charles de Gaulle is among the marchers. De Gaulle seen reviewing contingents of French military. Free French soldiers parading in London, England. Military officers salute as the ship carrying Regimental colors departs. French colors carried beside unit with American flag. General Charles de Gaulle and General Henri Giraud at 1943 Casablanca Conference (Roosevelt and Churchill seated).
Vice Admiral S.H. Ingersoll stands before speaker's stand and speaks to Vice Admiral W.M. Beakley who sits in his chair at the change of Command ceremony of United states 7th Naval fleet in Yokosuka,Japan. Ingersoll sits in a chair as Beakley speaks into a mike from the speaker's stand. The two officers salute as Marines salute in response on board United states ship Bon Homme Richard.
Vice Admiral S.H. Ingersoll and Vice Admiral W.M. Beakley arrive at speaker's stand on board United states Navy ship Bonn Homme Richard in Yokosuka,Japan for 7th Naval fleet's change of command ceremony. A Naval Captain and Ingersoll speak into the mike. Ingersoll and Beakley converse with each other on bridge of a ship.
U.S. ships of 7th Fleet seen during underway replenishment operations in the Western Pacific Ocean. Closeup (taken aboard) of the 7th Fleet Flagship, USS Saint Paul (CA-73) being refueled by the U.S. Navy Fleet Oiler, USS Hassayampa (AO-145) while underway. Two refueling hoses are seen between the ships. Camera pans toward the Oiler where the 6-inch fuel hoses can be clearly seen suspended from booms by saddles and associated rigging. (At this point, the camera records accidentally for a moment.) Next, the cruiser, USS Bremerton (CA-130) is seen silhouetted against the horizon. Scene shifts to view from stern of the Saint Paul, where two aircraft carriers and four other escort warships are seen following behind her.
CRITICALPAST.COM: About Us | Contact Us | FAQs - How to Order | License Agreement | My Account | My Lightboxes | Shopping Cart | Advanced Search | Featured Collections | Website Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy ©2026 CriticalPast LLC.
License Agreement |
Terms & Conditions |
Privacy Policy
©2026 CriticalPast LLC.