The Regimental Insignia of the 1st Tank Company Regiment of Free France and the words “1 ere Compagnie” as part of a banner. The previous World War II campaigns of the First Tank Regiment- Narvik (Narvik, Norway), Bjervik (Bjervik, Norway), Ankenes (Ankenes, Norway), Lybie (Libya), Tripolitaine (Tripolitania, in present-day northwestern Libya), Tunisie (Tunisia)- are written on the banner. Reverse of the banner shows the Regimental Insignia of the 501st Combat Tank Regiment with words written “501RCC EN TUER” (“501 RCC in kill” in English). French 1st Company Tank soldiers assembled near the village of North Dalton, Yorkshire, England. French soldiers carrying oil barrels between tanks. A jeep drives past tanks. A French soldier cleans a tank bearing the insignia of the 2nd French Armored Division and the name "Narvik" on side of tank. French soldier wipes the side of a tank bearing the name “NARVIK”. French soldiers cleaning the “NARVIK” French M4 Sherman tank.
Film about Denmark after the Nazi German occupying force declared martial law and state of war with Denmark, in 1943-44 during World War 2. It was made by Danes and smuggled out of Denmark during that period. Opens with view of a church building and flocks of birds. Views of German army troops marching into Copenhagen, Denmark on April 9, 1940. SS troops dressed in black, marching. German soldiers carrying rifles with fixed bayonets, goosestepping. A fire burning at site sabotaged by Danish resistance elements in 1943. Derailed trains carrying goods to Germany. Fire at a German factory. Danish workers with bicycles staging a strike in protest German measures in response to resistance actions. Danes gathered in outdoor observance memorializing those killed by the Germans. A shop owned by German sympathizers (Quislings) destroyed by other Danes. People gathered on street on 29 August 1943, when the occupying German forces attacked the remaining Danish garrison and declared martial law. Announcement posted in Danish on a wall. View of Danish Naval vessels ordered scuttled by the Danish Admiralty, including the coastal defense ship,Peder-Skram, seen in front of a large building, the submarine, Havfruen (not seen) and others seen sunk at docks in Copenhagen harbor. Bullet hole through a glass window. A week later, on Sunday, 5 September, 1943, a German Panzer light tank is seen moving on a street, as pedestrians go about their business in Copenhagen. German soldiers patrolling on a motorcycle with sidecar. A man holding his hands up as he is hustled through a crowd under arrest by a German in black uniform (possibly Gestapo or SS). Motorcycle driving through pedestrians on the sidewalk. Spectators line a fence by an open field near a building labeled "Badstue Badminton." One, a woman, speaks through the fence to a Danish soldier interned there. View of the quarters of the Royal Guard at Rosenborg, occupied by German soldiers and with Nazi flag flying above it. Civilian relatives of interned men wait outside army headquarters for news about them. A courtyard, during a mass funeral, is filled with memorial flower wreaths covering the coffins of Danish soldiers and civilians killed by the Germans. Camera focuses on a wreath from King Christian of Denmark, among the many others. Two German soldiers march up a path at the Royal Residence Amalienborg, where King Christian is arrested. Views from moving camera as Danish flags are seen flying all over the city of Copenhagen, on 26 September, 1943, to celebrate the King's 73rd Birthday. The major exception is the Nazi Gestapo headquarters in the "Shellhus" (the prewar Shell Oil offices) shown in isolation. Views of people moving their belongings on hand carts after their homes were taken over by Germans. The slogan in English, "Do it well and do it now,"is seen left by Danish resistance fighters where they sabotaged a German military installation.
Aerial view from high altitude, shows convoy of American warships underway in the Pacific War in 1943 (World War II). Nearest ship seen is an aircraft carrier. Illustrated globe and animated map show a Naval Task Force headed through the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. Three U.S. Navy Douglas Dauntless dive bombers seen flying in formation with an aircraft carrier steaming in the background. Glimpse of more aircraft carriers. Sailors in the powder handling room of the Cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29) carrying cylinders of powder for her 8-inch guns. Sailors, stripped to the waist, in one of her gun turrets, load an 8-inch shell and powder charges into the breech of one of Chicago's guns. Interesting view from below, as they close the breech and step back as the gun fires. Glimpse of Naval guns firing from a U.S. warship. Another view of sailors loading an 8-inch gun on the USS Chicago. (Note: The USS Chicago was lost between Rennel Island and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands on 30 January 1943.) A Baltimore Class Cruiser firing its guns. Flashes from naval guns firing from several American warships in close succession. Fire directed at the shore of a Japanese held island. Gun camera footage from a U.S. warplane strafing Japanese aircraft on the ground at an enemy air base. More gun camera footage of strafing and bombing. Closeup of a U.S. Army Air Forces B-26 Liberator bomber in flight, with others in the background. Views from U.S. Aircraft as their bombs strike Japanese targets on the ground below. A U.S. Navy TBF Avenger aircraft flying overhead as viewed from a landing craft. View from inside a landing craft full of U.S. troops heading toward an amphibious landing. Closeup glimpse of Coxswain in landing craft and troops aboard behind him. Amphibious landings being made under fierce friendly and enemy fire. U.S. troops leaving their landing craft under enemy fire. Marines firing small arms, machine guns, and using hand grenades, in Tarawa, Kiribati. Views of fallen Japanese defenders on Tarawa. Closeup of Marine smoking a cigarette. Another is binding shoulder wound of a buddy. American flag raised on one of the few still standing palm trees. American Marines saluting the flag. Bodies of fallen American marines floating at the shore and on the sands of Tarawa. Marines departing Tarawa. Scene shifts to Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, seated with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Cairo, Egypt on 25 November 1943. Leading Allied military leaders sit at a table to hammer out details of postwar plans. American officers present include U.S. Army Chief of Staff George Marshall and Chief of the Army Air Forces, General Henry H. ("Hap") Arnold.
July 10, 1943, U.S. invades Sicily in Italy. Fleet of warships underway. Navy bombardment of Sicily. Coast Guardsman observes through binoculars. Coast Guardsmen carry troops and supplies in LCVPs (Higgins Boats). LST-356 approaching Blue Beach 2, in the "Cent" area on July 10, 1943, loaded with tanks and other vehicles. A beach master signals with semaphore flags. Troops landing from assault boats. Concentrated enemy air attacks destroy U.S. boats and ships. Enemy aircraft in flight. U.S. troops firing. A map shows Italy. September 9, 1943, amphibious assault on Anzio, Italy. Naval bombardment, followed by troop assault on the beaches.
1943: An animated map depicts the strategic Japanese air and shipping base at Nubia in Papua New Guinea, during World War Two. 25 August 1943, Nubia: USAAF 5th Air Force B-24 Liberator bombers drop 1000 lb demolition bombs, from 16,000 feet, over Nubia. They target bivouac and supply areas. That afternoon, U.S. B-25s, flying low to the ground, make strafing attacks against the Japanese airfield at Nubia. United States soldiers unload jeeps, bulldozers, scrapers and other construction equipment in an abandoned Japanese airfield at Nadzab. U.S. 5th AAF constructing their air base. USAAF C-47s bring Australian infantrymen to the new base.
Battle scenes outside the snow covered city of Stalingrad, Russia, Soviet Union, as Soviet forces attack German forces that had encircled the city. Aerial view of Soviet Sukhoi Su-2 light bomber aircraft as it releases bombs on Nazi German positions. Soviet soldiers on the ground using flame throwers against German positions. Three Soviet RF-8 (GAZ-98) Aerosled (aircraft engine powered ice sled) are seen racing by camera position over snow covered terrain. Large batteries of Katyusha rocket launchers fire rockets toward German positions. Soviet soldiers advancing across open fields. Map depicting how Axis power was squeezed in early 1943 and defeated by the Soviet forces that had encircled it during Operation Uranus in late November 1942. Scenes of ruined city of Stalingrad from bombing in World War 2. A soviet soldier covers an artillery gun barrel after it fires a last shot in February 1943. Powerful sceneshowing bombed out Stalingrad buildings and one large building on fire, with a lifesize outdoor art sculpture of happy Soviet children playing in a circle in the foreground. Soviet civilians greet and embrace the defending Soviet soldiers and fly a Soviet flag. Group of German soldiers waving a white flag emerge from a blockhouse and surrender as prisoners of war to Soviet soldiers. Contingent of senior German generals and officers under Friedrich Paulus are seen during surrender, including General Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach. General Arthur Schmidt, General Maximilian von Daniels, and General Edler von Daniel.