German forces smash into the U.S. First Army positions along a 45-mile front and advance deep into Luxemburg and Belgium, in Battle of the Bulge during World War II. Animated maps show Germany, France, and Belgium. German Panzer V "Panther" tank with several German soldiers riding on it approaches on road behind a large tree. German tanks, tank destroyers, troops, and artillery in transport on roads and then seen in action against American Army positions. Vehicles of a United States convoy wrecked and burning along road, as German troops advance past the burning vehicles. Fire and smoke rise from U.S. tanks, Jeeps, and trucks. U.S. soldiers captured as prisoner of war are marched on a town road. Frozen dead bodies of U.S. soldiers, victims of the Malmedy massacre, some with hands and feet tied, being placed army truck. Dead bodies of Belgian civilians being placed in large common grave. View of German officer ordering a firing squad to shoot. German troops smoke American cigarettes taken from dead U.S. troops. American troops in retreat and burning and destroying war materiel that could not be brought with them. American defenders firing artillery, including antiaircraft guns fired level, as antitank weapons. Skies streaked with contrails and dogfights between American and German airplanes. American aircraft bombing German positions after weather clears. American troops patrol in snow covered wooded areas. General Eisenhower talks with soldiers. German soldiers advancing. Newspaper headline reads: "Russians Smash Last Nazi Line." Another newspaper headline reads: "40 Jap Ships Sunk." Another reads: "3rd Army Deep in Germany." Narrator cautions against complacency, reminding of 78 thousand American soldiers lost during the Christmas holiday, in 1944. Views of dead U.S. Army soldiers following battles with Germans. Narrator offers closing public service war propaganda message: "If you have a War Job, Stick to it" and " If you Haven't, Get one!"
A German Zeppelin airship during World War 1. It has the word "Schwaben" written on it. (Presumably from Schwaben, Germany). It is seen taking off from the ground in Germany, soaring above a German city and out over the sea. Narration indicates it is on a London bombing run, scheduled to arrive over London around midnight. Next scene shows the Zeppelin in flames and crashing into the North Sea the next day.
People celebrate as war ends in Europe. Huge crowd gathered on street for Victory in Europe day (or V-E Day). People enter an American Church. Clergy leading worship service inside a church. American citizens in pews participate in prayer and worship. United States President Harry Truman speaks, announcing that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations. View of U.S. Army and Soviet Army forces meeting at River Elbe near end of World War 2. German Army representative signs surrender document at the Allied Mediterranean Headquarters in Italy. U.S. Army General W.D. Morgan signs on behalf of General Alexander for the Allies. The American flag hoisted in front of a large Nazi Swastika symbol on top of the Nazi Party rally grounds in Nuremberg Germany (Zeppelinfeld). A dead German soldier seen on the ground nearby just before the flag is shown being raised. American forces than detonate an explosion to destroy the Nazi swastika emblem.
Japanese troops parade for Emperor Hirohito, mounted upon a white horse. Italian troops goosestep and German troops goosestep on parade. View of an Austrian town with snow-covered Alps mountains in background as German troops enter Austria on March 13, 1938 during the Anschluss. Local citizens welcome them, displaying swastika flags and giving Nazi straight arm salutes. Troops, military vehicles, tanks, motorcycles, and horse-drawn artillery comprise the German invading force. Shifts to Spain, where war torn buildings reflect effects of German and Italian intervention during the Spanish Civil War. A donkey standing near field artillery piece. Artillery being fired from an urban park in Spain. Artilleryman using a range finder. German gun crew with heavy artillery piece. Soldiers wearing Adrian steel helmets, firing a two-wheeled water-cooled machine gun. Spanish carrying wounded on stretcher. Spanish civilians inadvertently slain during civil war conflict. Starving dog walking in street. Huge poster of Francisco Franco and view of him on reviewing stand saluting marching Nationalist troops. Repeat of Hirohito reviewing troops and Italian and German troops goosestep. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini stand together in open car heading to Fuhrerbau in Munich, Germany, for signing of Agreement between Germany, Italy, Britain, and France in 1938. Neville Chamberlain, and Edouard Daladier riding in car to Fuhrerbau. Views of the principals signing the accords. First is Adolf Hitler, followed by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini, and Edouard Daladier. After the signing, the principals, plus Hermann Goering, mingle and converse. Change of scene to nighttime in Rome, Italy, where Benito Mussolini addresses a huge throng gathered near the Victor Emmanuel Memorial to cheer him after his return from Munich. Next, German troops are seen entering Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) greeted by joyous ethnic German inhabitants. Banners are stretched across a street. One gives thanks to the Fuhrer. Several scenes of cheering population. A woman strews flowers in a roadway. Hitler arrives, standing in an open car, and is met with cheers of adulation. A military brass band plays from the open beds of two moving army trucks. Signpost points to Prag (Prague), Eger (Cheb), Joachimstal (Jáchymov), and Komotau (Chomutov) after German annexation. Scene shifts to Prague, where German troops are seen occupying the city. High ranking German officers in a car are seen coming through the gateway from the Court d´honneur of the Prague Castle into the Hradčany Square. The next sequence shows an Italian Freccia-Class destroyer in the Albanian Port of Durrës. An Italian L3/35 Tankette is driven off a large cargo ship. Italian troops on bicycles ride in a city street. A German 88mm antiaircraft (flak) gun is shown, mounted at a fort overlooking a river and city. Final scene shows Adolf Hitler addressing a meeting of the Bundestag in the Kroll Opera House (alternate meeting place after burning of the Reichstag). He reads, contemptuously from an April 14, 1939 letter sent to him by U.S. President Roosevelt, asking him to give "assurance that your armed forces will not attack or invade the territory or possessions of the following independent nations: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain and Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Iraq, the Arabias, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Iran." As Hitler reads through the litany of nations, the Bundestag erupts in laughter.
Battle of Monte Casino between Germany and Allied troops in Monte Cassino, Italy. German troops are supported by heavy artillery and rockets. The troops fire artillery and rockets. Explosions and smoke rises over targets. A battle with mortars and small arms. Allied prisoners (both British and American) are taken by German forces. Allied POWs marched on road under German guard. Cannons are fired. A soldier watches a plane through binoculars. Rockets are fired. Planes in flight. Ruins of Cassino. A German antiaircraft downs an enemy bomber. Explosions and smoke rises. A flag of Nazi Germany in the ruins. (World War II period).
Americans celebrate the news of victory over Germany and prepare for continued war against Japan in World War II. Happy Boeing employees celebrate news of victory over Germany in Seattle, Washington. Hundreds of Boeing workers wheel out a giant B-29 bomber from an aircraft production hangar with a large sign "On To Tokyo" draped on its side. The Boeing workers stand in a group and wave and cheer. One worker is even seated atop the highest gun turret on the aircraft during the celebration. The shining dome of the U.S. Capitol building is once again lit up for the first time following a period of darkness during nightly brownout procedures in Washington DC. Also the neon lights in Times Square in New York City are turned on again with the lifting of night darkness regulations, many signs of theaters, shops and businesses are seen lit up again. New York residents and some uniformed US Navy sailors are seen celebrating in the streets of New York on V-E day (Victory in Europe). A US Navy sailor with a pretend Hitler mustache is hoisted in the air. The torch and full structure of the Statue of Liberty is lighted again in New York for the first time, following a long period of darkness.