A graduation ceremony for West Point Military Academy Cadets. 514 cadets graduate into the American Army. General Henry H Arnold, Chief of the Air Force, presents "wings" to one of the future Army Air Force officers. The graduate salutes back. The Cadet Corps parade in front of the commanding officers and pass in review.
Gunder Hagg, a Swedish athlete, seeks new records in U.S. A plane lands and Gunder Hagg emerges. He is welcomed by an officer. Hagg waves to the officer. He runs on a race track.
Opening scene shows British Avro Manchester bombers lined up on a field in England during World War 2. British air crew board a bomber that taxis out for takeoff. View from inside the aircraft as it lifts off on takeoff and then towards its tail on climb out. Gunner seen manning machine guns as his turret rotates during flight. Formation of Manchester bombers en route to Axis military targets in German occupied France. View from bombardiers position of ground below. The bombardier seen and bombs dropping, as viewed from another bomber in the formation. View from a bomber of railroad yard and an airport with bombs exploding on the ground. Manchester bombers on return flight home over the English Channel. They pass below formation of U.S. B-17 flying Fortresses heading toward France. Close aerial view, from below, of the formation of B-17s overhead. Scene shifts to North Africa, where American Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, famous aviator of World War I, talks pilots of Major General Jimmie Doolittle's Bomber Command. Closeup of General Doolittle smiling outside a tent. A B-17 takes off. An Army cameraman seen inside at a window of the B-17. He is to record an attack on the Sicilian port of Marsala. View from a bomber of bombs exploding along the Port's coast, and of bombs passing the camera as they fall to earth. View from below of a B-17 with battle damage to its left elevator. View from a returning B-17 as it lands at its base in North Africa. Airmen walk around a B-17 that crash landed. One airman walks under part of a bomber tail destroyed by Axis gunfire. Scene shifts to the South Pacific and Allied air attacks against Japanese targets. A formation of B-24 Liberator bombers headed toward the Japanese held island of Nauru. Views of bombs striking the island. Scene shifts again, this time to Attu in the Aleutian Islands. A U.S. Navy PBY Catalina flying boat seen in flight. A task force of U.S. Navy warships in Aleutian waters. American amphibious landing on Attu. Arms and supplies piled up on a beachhead. American forces firing artillery. Infantry search for Japanese soldiers in hiding. Bodies of dead Japanese soldiers. American wounded carried on litters. A formation of B-24 bombers headed toward the Aleutian island of Kiska. Closeups of crew members in a B-24. View of glaciers and volcanic mountains below. A bombardier releasing bombs on a Japanese submarine base and airdrome. view of bombs falling. Formation of B-24s releasing their bombs. A gunner in a B-24 firing at attacking Japanese planes and then firing in a low level strafing attack. A U.S. fighter plane lands back at its base on a water-covered runway, raising waves of water that cover cover it.
War between the Allied Forces and the Axis troops in the South Pacific during World War II. New Guinea Papuan natives carry arms, ammunition and supplies for the Allies in a boat. An overnight camp of the Papuan people. The natives carry the supplies across mountains and makeshift bridges. The Australians inspect a Japanese submarine in Sydney Harbor, Australia. They remove the firing mechanism of the torpedo and the instrument which helps a torpedo to find its way once fired from a submarine. U.S. and Australian naval forces move towards a Japanese held island and bombard it. The sailors load and fire artillery. Smoke rises in distance as the shells hit the targets. U.S. Marines survey the damage. Dead Japanese soldiers. A lone U.S. Marine with captured Japanese prisoners.
The Allied Forces fight the Axis troops during World War II. Joint Allied War Council in session in Washington DC. U.S. Army Chief of Staff, General Marshall; U.S. Chief of Air Forces, General Arnold; U.S. Admiral Leahy and U.S. Admiral King and other British and United Nations warheads at the meeting. A map of Europe and North Africa. In North Africa British and American bombers drop bombs on the German supply lines. The allied soldiers advance in pursuit of the retreating enemy. German and Italian prisoners are taken. U.S. General Eisenhower points at a map. General Doolittle shown. From the White House U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the people of France in French over the radio. An American ship at a French port. French children welcome the ship. A man distributes free milk and food to the French children.
The Allied Forces fight the Axis troops in North Africa during World War II. A map of North Africa and Europe. Allied Forces in Gibraltar. An Allied convoy moves towards North Africa. U.S. troops in boats land on the shore. Tanks roll ashore. An Allied plane in flight over the Algiers. The troops including the Free French troops, the Arabs and the natives on the move. French General de Gaulle addresses the troops.