Opens with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied forces conferring with his deputy for land forces, British Field Marshal Harold Alexander, his deputy for sea forces, British Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham, and his deputy for air operations, British air marshal Arthur William Tedder, during North African campaign in World War 2 . Map illustrates Allies military plans as analogous to internal combustion engine. General Eisenhower on an airfield consulting with his British Deputy commanders. B-17 bomber in background. Eisenhower salutes the British officers as he walks away. Lieutenant General Carl Spatz, Commander of the North West African Air Force, confers with British air marshal Tedder. Major General Jimmy Doolittle briefs airmen and smiles for camera. Strategic bombers with nose art names Pluto, Yankee Doodle, Jersey Jackass, Alice the Goon, and Fancy Pants. Picture of British Air Vice Marshal, Sir H.P. Lloyd, chief of Coastal air Force. A British Avro Anson aircraft flying air cover over a convoy of Allied ships. Diagram shows how all British and American fighter aircraft and attack bombers were placed under the command of British Air Marshal Cunningham, who is seen stepping from an airplane. British Field Marshal Harold Alexander in command of all ground forces is also seen stepping from an aircraft. Both are seen at a small camp trailer that they shared in the Tunisian mountains, where they work together, at a planning table. Marshal Cunningham is seen briefing air crews in mid March, 1943. B-24 Liberator bombers fly in formation and drop bombs on German Mareth fortifications in Tunis. German anti-aircraft guns create many black flak clouds among bomber formation. View from B-24 aircraft of the bombs exploding on the ground. British Field Marshal Harold Alexander is seen walking with a member of his staff across the sands. Diagram shows planned advance of the British 8th Army. Numerous British heavy guns fire nighttime barrages against the German positions, as British infantry advance during battle. They use scaling ladders and sappers detonate charges. Soldiers carry sticks to line trenches and set up defensive fortifications. Tanks advance. Heavy rain creates problems and some armor bogs down in mud. The next morning British troops are seen in their trenches as smoke drifts across the area. British soldiers moving cautiously under fire. German Field Marshal Rommel looks through binoculars. Additional German armored units entering the area. British gunners firing field artillery and mortars. Map illustrates how 2nd New Zealand Division under Lieutenant-General Bernard C. Freyberg, swings around behind the German line. Formation of British B-26 Marauder aircraft flying over desert. British Vickers Wellington bomber in flight. Bombardier in aircraft pressing a release button and close-up view of open bomb bay door with bombs away view as each bomb is released, followed by huge explosions on ground. British mosquito bomber flying low. Bomb explodes on ground and Mosquito aircraft pulls up and away. Another Mosquito aircraft flying low on a strafing run. Tanks of 2nd New Zealand Division welcomed into El-Hamma, Tunisia, in the Battle of the Mareth line. View of South African army engineers using caterpillar tractor to build roads for Allied forces. Glimpse from rear of three British warships underway in the Mediterranean sea. Front view of a British Queen Elizabeth Class battleship underway. The battleship firing her 15-inch guns. U.S. P-38 fighter planes in formation. Glimpse of pilot in cockpit wearing leather helmet and earphones. Formation of German Junkers Ju-52 aircraft flying low over sea, carrying German troops to reinforce those in Tunisia. View of German soldiers inside the cabin of a Ju-52. Closeup of three Ju-52 transports flying very low over water. Several U.S. P-38 fighter planes attacking the transports. Pilot in one, pressing button to fire his guns. Scenes of aerial dogfight combat between U.S. Army Air Force aircraft and German Luftwaffe aircraft. Gun camera images of P-38s shooting down German transport planes. Map shows American, British, and French forces pressing Eastward against Germans. Views of battle and U.S. Lieutenant General George Patton at the front as his forces move forward during Battle of Guettar. American patrols of light tanks meet up with British patrols from their 8th Army on April 7. Views of the U.S. and British soldiers happy to meet one another and sharing cigarettes. Map shows Allied forces pushing the Germans further. Allied infantry walking into town of Enfilaville. Local families returning to their homes with all their belongings, in carts pulled by donkeys and other animals. In the town, encouraged by British troops, a group of Jewish boys remove Jewish star of David emblems from their jackets that had been used by occupying Germans to identify them as Jewish. British army doctors tending to local women and children.
On Target ' a documentary on 8th Airforce of the United States. A B-52 air-launches an AGM-28 Hound Dog supersonic jet-powered cruise missile which is seen soaring under its own power. A formation of World War II B-24 Liberator bombers flying above clouds. A formation of B-17 bombers in flight.
Formation of U.S. Army Air Forces B-17s is seen in flight with clouds behind. Narrator speaks of salvaging them and similar older aircraft. . B-24 bombers landing at Davis- Monthan Airfield, to be placed in storage for preservation or salvaging. A sign reading, "Bone yard." B-24 taxiing into a Bone Yard filled with other aircraft. Among aircraft seen in the yard are those named: 'Double Trouble;' 'Gentle Annie;' and 'Boobie Trap.' Crews salvaging aircraft wheels and tires. Men removing an airplane wing, with a derrick. Aircraft being de-militarized. Plexi-Glass is replaced with aluminum skin. . Workers steam blast and paint aircraft that will be re-used for non-combat missions.
German soldier looks through binoculars at American aircraft flying overhead in Germany, during World War II. German Army soldiers receive call about incoming aircraft from within their underground bunker and run, quickly mobilizing out from their bunkers to man their artillery guns. German anti-aircraft long range artillery guns firing at planes of U.S. Army Air Force. Nazi Luftwaffe fighter planes take off and attack United States B-24 and B-17 bombers. Large number off incoming U.S. aircraft in formation. Aerial gun camera views of dogfights between German aircraft and U.S. Bomber aircraft from view of German aircraft, including close-range air combat. United States B-24 is shot by Germans, suffers explosions in mid-air and crashes to the ground.
Film starts showing silhouettes of British tanks on the move, including one with a bulldozer blade. View from Allied warplane as bombs explode on the ground below. In November, 1944, infantry of the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units fire Bren guns as they advance in Belgium and secure the Scheldt Estuary, to open a shipping route to Antwerp for the Allies. They traverse a river and cross rail lines while advancing. View of destroyed steel bridge across the Maas (Meuse) river with several British troops wading in water nearby. Silhouettes of German prisoners of war marching single file. View from rear of German prisoners walking under guard with hands resting on their heads. British troops running beside the Scheldt river at Antwerp on September 4, 1944, as huge explosions occur in the river behind them. A column of British troops, marching on tree-lined road, enters outskirts of Antwerp, as local people cheer them. Views of the troops being greeted in the city itself. Columns of Belgian refugees are seen returning to their homes. One,injured, is carried by friends in a wooden cart. A contingent of British troops marching in the city. Glimpses of derricks in the Antwerp port and a ship under construction in a shipyard. An animated map shows German counter offensive through Belgium and Luxemburg on September 4, 1944. Refugees leaving again, ahead of the returning German forces. View of a road sign reading: "Bastogne." American military police checking credentials of some refugees as they leave. American soldiers jammed together atop a Sherman tank parked at a checkpoint. After delaying further German advance, through the Ardennes, on September 16th, American troops are forced back and seen leaving , in trucks and Sherman tanks, from Bastogne, past a road leading to Martelange. As weather cleared on September 22nd, a formation of British Hawker Typhoon ground attack aircraft are seen in flight and diving to attack lines of communication with machine gun fire and rockets. Several different views of the aircraft firing and smoke rising from the ground. Animated map of German advance depicts the so-called "Bulge" extending 60 miles into Allied territory. Captured German films show German troops,one carrying a rifle and another a Sig 44 machine gun, as they pass columns of burning Allied trucks, other vehicles and armor. Closeup of German soldier waving to others to follow him, as he runs ahead past burning Allied equipment. Several German soldiers hunker under a knocked out Allied tank, as a German Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer light tank destroyer passes their position. Closeup of German soldier smoking captured American cigarette. German infantry, walk past barrel of destroyed Allied tank. Several gather and smoke American cigarettes. One of them, with a belt of ammunition around his neck, is Hans Tragarsky aka Walter Armbrusch, of German Kampfgruppe Hansen, a battle group formed during the Battle of the Bulge from SS-Panzergrenadierdivision Regiment 2, an infantry regiment of SS Pz Rgt 2 "Das Reich". (This image is well known but his identity is subject to debate.) Glimpse of German officer walking with a soldier at the front, with background engulfed in flames.. Scene shifts to a formation of U.S. Army Air Forces C-47 transport planes seen, in flight, dropping food and ammunition to beleaguered American troops caught in the Battle of the Bulge. Change of scene to German Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer moving; Panzer IV tanks firing 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24 guns; and troops riding on a Tiger tank ( Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B). German soldiers riding in a streamlined Volkswagen Kübelwagen. German soldier in an open single seat courier car spattered with mud. Close-ups of him smoking a cigar. German soldiers looking at formation of American C-47 aircraft overhead. A U.S. Army Air Corps B-25 bomber in flight. View from Allied bomber dropping bombs that strike ground with many explosions. View from above of a B-24 Liberator bomber in flight. View on ground of shells and bombs exploding in wooded area and low level black flak clouds. Captured 88mm gun being fired by Allied forces. British soldiers in a Landing Vehicle Tracked, cross a stream and climb up a steep bank. View from British "Wasp" flame-throwing Bren-gun carrier, as it fires and resulting inferno of fires. Views from a long distance of other flame-throwers firing across the stream. Closeup view of one firing with fires burning on the opposite shore.
As film begins, organ music is heard. Camera pans across tops of tents showing sky above. Scene shifts to a Chaplain conducting Sunday services in the open. A soldier plays a field organ as soldiers and airmen participate in the service. Closeup of the Chaplain kneeling before a makeshift altar where objects are placed to facilitate communion in a mass or service. Complete change of scene shows airmen arranging bombs for loading aboard an open truck that then backs up to an airplane, into which they are loaded. Narrator notes that these are all purpose bombs weighing 250, 500, and 1000 lbs, respectively. Closeup of a 1000 lb bomb in foreground marked "GP 1000 lb AN-M44." Airmen arnorers install fins and fuses before loading the bombs aboard the aircraft. An airman loads belts of machine gun ammunition at a gun turret of the airplane. others load guns elsewhere on the aircraft. Closeup of pilots being given final briefing about the mission, before departure. Narrator notes that the mission will involve two flights of B-24s and one of B-17s. Planned altitudes and routes of the bombers are drawn on a map in colors. They are to attack a Japanese installation on Kiska Island. Fighter support is described. A Flight crew assembles near their B-24 Liberator bomber. Closeups of individual crew members waiting on the airfield ramp. Scene shifts to fighter pilots who will be accompanying the bombers. They converse in front of a row of fighter aircraft. They are wearing flotation gear over their flight suits. The area is paved with Marsden matting (pierced steel planking). Closeups of men in the group, including: Lieutenant George I. Rudell, Lieutenant Holy P. Mail, Lieutenant Lial A. Bean, Major Willson Aston, Lieutenant Henry J. Strencops and Colonel Jackson.