German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, enters a wooden building near Stalingrad where he surrenders the German 6th Army. He, and Arthur Schmidt, General-lieutenant, Chief of the 6th Army Staff; take seats,surrounded by Soviet Army officers. Scene shifts to the twenty two Divisions (300 thousand men) of the 6th Army trudging through the snow as they surrender. Most of them are seen in open fields near Stalingrad, Russia. Closeups of some make their way along a street in the city. Many wear makeshift shoes and other contrived clothing. They are clearly suffering from their lack of any cold weather equipment. Aerial view of a long line of surrendering German soldiers making their way on snow-covered street in Leningrad. Closeups of some of the German soldiers. One soldier walking slowly, alone, across a stretch of snow. He wears woven homemade coverings over his feet.He heads, alone, toward an open stretch of barren snowy land. Camera focuses on ice strewn Volga River. A dead German soldier lies on its bank. View of Russian countryside, the following Spring. An animated map depicts the extent of the Soviet advance in the previous winter with the occupation of 185 thousand square miles of territory (more than previously occupied by the German forces). Film shows weapons captured during the 6th Army surrender, including German aircraft, tanks, heavy artillery guns, light machine guns, rifles, artillery shells and small arms ammunition. Glimpse of dead German soldiers in the snow. Aerial view of rail cars containing captured German military supplies. Lines of surrendering German soldiers making their way in the snow. Numerous dead German soldiers in body bags, in the snow. Animated film reviews the German operation Barbarossa and subsequent events in the German invasion of Soviet Russian in 1941, 1942, and 1943. Glimpses of Russian troops dressed in white and British troops advancing. Film concludes with artistic representation of United Nations flags and troops marching to victory.
Winter, 1943, testing at German Air Force Test Center, Peenemunde-West, Germany. Acceleration test of Argus engine for V-1. Test vehicle with Argus jet engine is readied on launch rail and men stand behind it. Snow is falling. A man stands on snow covered ground and directs. The Argus jet engine ignites and vehicle accelerates, leaving track to crash into ice and snow covered water. Views of the Rheinmetal-Borsig solid propellant rocket sled catapult, for V-1, on a rail.
Several Ford Motor Company GPA amphibious jeeps driven by U.S. Army soldiers, cause big splashes as they drive into a river during a demonstration and test.in World War 2. They are a sample of so-called "Seeps" or "Sea Jeeps," assembled at the company's River Rouge complex, near Detroit, Michigan, from 1942-1943. View from behind a soldier driving one of them. Various views of the Sea Jeeps navigating singly and in groups and formations in the water. The soldiers in them are dressed in battle gear with weapons and steel helmets. One by one, the Sea Jeeps are seen driving out of the river up onto the river bank. Scene shifts to an area with military trucks and other vehicles parked. Three Army soldiers on motorcycles lead a long line of Sea Jeeps filled with soldiers through that area and along a highway
A USAAF B-17F is seen where it crash-landed in the desert near Biggs Army Air Field, El Paso, Texas, on February 18, 1943, in World War 2. The film was shot some time later when salvage operations are underway including removal of engines. As the camera pans around the plane, a bent propeller is seen in the sand. The tail number 25326 is seen, identifying it as Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress, 42-5326, of the 351st Bombardment Group, 511th Bomb Squadron, with home base at Biggs Field. The camera focuses on the plane's empennage.
Major General James Doolittle and Lt. General Carl Spaatz of the United States Twelfth Air Force, Colonel Willis, as well as French Major-General Bergeret and other American and French officers attend ceremonies at the presentation of Curtiss P-40 Warhawk planes by the U.S. Army Air Forces to the French Lafayette Escadrille in Morocco during World War II. American troops parade before a hangar. Officers stand in front of P-40 planes lined up near the hangar. The band plays in the parade. French Moroccan horsemen. Officers salute the American and French flags. Opening cameraman slate indicates January 9, 1942, but this is an error as the event took place on January 9, 1943.
Pictures taken by military and news cameramen during World War II. North African Campaign: The British Eighth Army enters Tripoli in Libya. Allied soldiers on tanks. Civilians and children watch as the troops move into the city. A British flag. British Army Field Marshal Harold Alexander (1st Earl Alexander of Tunis) stands in a car and greets the troops and civilians as it moves along. Allied invasion of Sicily, 1943: Field Marshal Alexander's British Dominion and U.S. forces advance. The task force underway off the Sicily coast. Soldiers get off landing ships and crafts. They wade through shallow water and advance inward on the beach. Germany: Allied aircraft in flight. The airplanes bomb Nazi industries. The aircraft bay doors open, bombs away as bombs are released, and they descend towards the target area. Smoke due to the explosions.