A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber takes off from the airfield during 15th Air Force Operation Reunion (Operation Gunn,) to rescue Allied prisoners of war in Romania during World War II. . Men carry an injured airman on a stretcher to a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. The men go under the bomber. Men raise the stretcher up the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber’s bomb bay door. Injured POWs on stretchers are taken inside the evacuation aircraft through the bomb bay door. Prisoners of war assist each other in boarding the aircraft. POWs form a line as they board the aircraft one by one. Some prisoners of war board the aircraft through the belly. A POW (who lost a leg) board the bomber. A prisoner of war smiling before he boards the evacuation bomber. Bomber starts engines. B-17 Flying Fortress bomber taking off from Popesti Airfield.
15th Air Force Operation Reunion (Operation Gunn) to rescue Allied prisoners of war in Romania during World War II. B-17 takes off from Romania. An injured prisoner of war (with head covered in bandages) takes a seat inside plane. A POW smiles while holding a newspaper. Another POW waving goodbye from a window. Groups of bombers in flight. A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber lands in San Giovanni Airfield. Allied prisoners of war disembark from the bomber after landing. United States troops greet their comrades after their evacuation from Romania. A happy reunion for prisoners of war and their comrades in Italy. Former prisoners of war smiling outside the bombers. Chief of Staff Colonel Taylor speaks to the former prisoners of war after their arrival in Italy. Officer gathered, including Colonel Taylor, General Nathan F. Twining, General Bourne.
World War II propaganda on the necessity for an Italo-German alliance. Map of Italy and Europe depicting the growth of the Roman Empire. Classical statues of famous emperors and figures from the Roman Empire. Roman era stone carving depicts sailors on a boat. Map depicts the line between the Roman Empire and barbarians. Bas relief depicts Roman soldiers engaging in battle with barbarians and barbarians looting items during a siege. Ruins of Roman architecture in present day Cologne, Germany. Stone carving of the Capitoline wolf nursing Romulus and Remus. Animated map shows Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Christian cross shines over the Roman Colosseum. Stone carving of barbarians taking over the former Roman empire. The Mausoleum of Theodoric (Mausoleo di Teodorico, Via delle Industrie, 14, 48122 Ravenna RA, Italy) in Ravenna, Italy. Mosaic art found at the Basilica of San Vitale (Via San Vitale, 17, 48121 Ravenna RA, Italy). A scroll from the Early Middle Ages.
“RENOVATIO IMPERII ROMANORUM” ("renewal of the empire of the Romans") coin from the Early Middle Ages. The tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II at the Vatican Grottoes below St. Peter’s Basilica (Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City). Tombs of Holy Roman Emperors Frederick II and Henry VII inside the Cathedral of Palermo (Via Vittorio Emanuele, 90134 Palermo PA, Italy) and Pisa Cathedral (Piazza del Duomo, 56126 Pisa PI, Italy) respectively. Romanesque and Gothic churches in Germany and Italy such as the Speyer Cathedral, Orvieto Cathedral, Milan Cathedral/Duomo di Milano, Siena Cathedral. Intricate carving of a fleur-de-lis in Italy. The Last Supper painting, Mona Lisa, and a self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci. Sistine Chapel and a sculpture of Moses by Michelangelo. Paintings by Albrecht Dürer. Italian-inspired palaces in Germany. The Sistine Madonna by Raphael Sanzio. Niccolo Machiavelli and his work “Rapporto delle cose della Magna”. Portrait of military commander Prince Eugene of Savoy (Principe Eugenio di Savoia) during the Austro-Turkish War by Jacob van Schuppen. European musicians such as George Frideric Handel, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner during the Early Modern period. Portrait of German literary figure Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Rome called “Goethe in the Roman Campagna” by J. H. W. Tischbeine. Paper with Italian words written “Goethe Le elegie romane” (“Goethe The Roman elegies” in English). Page flips to words by Goethe. The page reads "Alto sole tu stai e guardi la tua roma. Di piu grande mai vedesti e niente mai di piu grande vedrai come il tuo sacerdote Orazio nell estasi vaticino…".
The growth of Nationalism in Prussia and the Kingdom of Italy as shown in Italian WWII propaganda film. An animated map depicting the division of Italian city states on the Italian peninsula during the early Modern Era. The animated map also shows the unification of Italy (also known as Risorgimento) by 1870. Another animated map depicts Prussia. Portraits of Royal House of Savoy, Prussian kings and prominent figures of Italian and German national movements such as Frederick II the Great (Friedrich II.), the Count of Cavour (Camillo Benso). Prussian-Italian alliance written in Italian. Portrait of Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian politician and activist. Scroll written with “1861”. Portrait of Otto von Bismarck. Animated map of Italy after the Risorgimento, the foundation of the Prussian Empire, and the annexation of Austria and Czechia. A drawing depicts the Treaty of Versailles. Chains surround Italy and Central Europe in a map. Benito Mussolini performs the Roman Salute from his balcony at the Palazzo Venezia (Piazza di S. Marco, 49, 00186 Roma RM, Italy) in Rome, Italy. Fascist supporters hold signs reading “DUCE”. Adolf Hitler gives a Nazi Salute to crowds during an outdoor rally in Germany. Nazi flags decorate the stage and venue. A weighing scale with coins and two swords. The scale tipping down. Close-up view of Mussolini, with googles on his head, working in what appears to be a farm field around straw bales. Adolf Hitler raising his hand in a Nazi Salute. Crowds perform a Nazi Salute. Large columns of Italian soldiers marching in formation, followed by a scene of German soldiers marching in formation with rifles over their shoulders.
The Royal Italian Army fight in battle during World War II. Italian tanks (likely the Carro Armato M13/40) charging in a battlefield. A tank driving up a cliff. Italian troops fire machine gun (Breda M1937) at enemy position. Italian soldiers assume prone position while firing. Explosion from artillery fire in the battlefield. Closer view of a focused soldier firing a machine gun. Soldiers move their machine guns away to fire in another spot. German HE-111 bomber in flight dropping bombs. Italian soldiers load mortars and fire artillery. Italian soldiers load shells and fire artillery in the desert. Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and German Chancellor Adolf Hitler walking together outside.
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