Scenes from 1920s American movie about World War 1. De Havilland DH-4 attacks and destroys balloon, which goes down in flames. American M1917 tanks (representing French Renault FTs) break through barbed wire as several De Havilland DH-4 biplanes fly low overhead. Infantry advancing behind the tanks. German troops firing machine gun. Plane overhead drops bombs. Explosions raise smoke. (Note: these scenes are probably outtakes from the movie "Wings" shot at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas between 1926 and 1927.)
This material, although spectacular, does not show actual combat. It is reconstructed, as part of the 1927 movie "Wings." Flight of four aircraft in flight over clouds are attacked by enemy airplane unseen until right after it fires on and hits one of the four. The stricken aircraft emits smoke while flying through the clouds and then spirals down burning. At TC:00:54 film runs in reverse and burning aircraft goes backwards through TC: 01:01. A similar event is seen in TC:01:04 through TC:01:06. Closeup of Spad biplane with machine guns mounted and pilot wearing goggles visible clearly in cockpit. It is headed directly at the camera and firing all the time. Airplane trailing smoke after being hit by gunfire from another one behind it. View from rear seat of two-seater airplane, as pilot fires at burning airplane ahead of him. Pursuing aircraft continues to fire on burning craft as it spirals down through the clouds. German airplane struck by gunfire burns as it falls. German airplane burning in level flight and then begins to spiral down through clouds. Two aircraft in dogfight. One is hit and burns, falling in a tight spiral. Backseat view from airplane shooting at burning airplane in front of it.
Reenactment of WWI aerial combat action from a 1927 film with Richard Arlen. Aircraft engage in dogfight. Smoking German plane dives and crashes. In another scene, American airplane chases German plane causing it to crash land at German Aerodrome. View through tail as American airplane pulls up and Germans rush to aid of their pilot. Pilot of American airplane (movie actor, Richard Arlen) laughs as he looks over his shoulder from the cockpit of his airplane. Wounded German pilot falls out of his cockpit.
American cavalry and horse-drawn wagons carrying artillery shells. French troops crossing a partially destroyed bridge. French cavalry and infantry moving through a war-torn village. Australian troops digging trenches and field "dug-outs." (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
American soldiers watch as an Australian instructor demonstrates how the Lewis machine gun is light enough to be held and fired by one person. A soldier on the ground firing the gun in prone position. Two Australian soldiers climb a platform erected above a trench, where a Lewis gun is set up on a tripod. They fire the gun. (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
German high explosive shells burst on advancing American soldiers. Explosions raise smoke. American soldiers advance on a field in Langueval, France. .
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