View from above, of the surrounding walls and courtyard of a prison in Rheinbach, Germany. Ground view inside the prison yard, where German civilian Matthias Gierens is being escorted to the gallows by U.S. military police, and accompanied by a German Catholic priest, on June 29, 1945. They ascend the gallows and final charges and sentence are read to Gierens. Next scene shows bodies stacked up at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp operated by Nazi Germany. Scene returns to the gallows, and a hood is placed over Gierens' head. View of Allied army officer witnesses, in formation, at parade rest. Noose is placed over Gierens' hood. View of a a bird flying overhead, trapdoor opens, Gierens drops, and noose tightens. Next is an unrelated scene of several German soldiers being executed. They are seen hanging from four gallows in a line in a public square while a large crowd, possibly Soviet citizens, looks on. (Notes: Regarding the execution of Gierens in the opening scene: German civilian Matthias Gierens was a 37 year old railroad worker. He was executed for the August 15, 1944, murder near Priest, Germany, of a downed American airman, who was later identified as U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lieutenant Lester E. Reuss. Gierens and three other German civilians, Peter Kohn, Peter Back, and Matthias Krein, were convicted on June 2, 1945 in Ahrweiler, Germany, of the murder. Their trial was the first Allied trial in Germany of civilians charged with a war crime.)
Film opens showing people in an American city (possibly Chicago) celebrating the Allied victory over Japan on VJ Day, August 15th, 1945. Scene shifts abruptly to Chicago, Illinois, where French General Charles de Gaulle is seen saluting in a reviewing stand at Victory Plaza near Lasalle Street entrance to City Hall. (On August 24th, he had accepted an invitation from Mayor Edward Kelly to stop in Chicago on August 27-28, 1945, during his visit to the U.S. and Canada.) Next, general de Gaulle and Mayor Kelly are seen in an open car in a motorcade amidst crowds of well-wishers. Enthusiastic spectators run along side their car. Glimpse of a dense crowd of people, including a contingent of sailors in dress whites. Final scene shows General de Gaulle speaking with reporters and photographers near a sign reading "W-G-N." (A Chicago radio station). (World War II period).
January, 1945, on the Western front during World War 2. Troops of the U.S. 8th Infantry Division test new white camouflage coveralls for use in snow. They patrol in snow covered forest areas on the Western Front. A sergeant makes outdoor field adjustments to the coveralls using a knife and captured German sewing machine. He helps a soldier who tries on his new coverall. The material used is from old mattress covers. Several soldiers are seen putting on the camouflage coveralls. Scene shifts to U.S. troops with a jeep towing a 20mm Italian dual purpose gun for use in Germany. On January 2, 1945, they set up and fire the gun at targets a half mile away. In Belgium, U.S. Army engineers of Company B, 238th Engineer Battalion, improvise remote controlled bazooka shells as road blocks. They set them up on fence posts and fire them by ordinary flashlight batteries. U.S. soldiers from a Signal Company of the 99th Infantry Division are seen using a Weasel vehicle (officially designated an M29C light cargo carrier) to lay communication cables through snow in the 1st Army Sector, Belgium. Views of the wire spool on back of the weasel, and soldiers pulling wire from it.
Clouds and lightening seen in the sky. A photograph of Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering on the ground, soaking in the rain. Ruins and rubble seen in Germany in the year 1945. High rise buildings seen later. Tall buildings and streets with automobiles and pedestrians seen. A small stream is seen.
Celebration of the 38th anniversary of the U.S. Army Air Forces, dating back to establishment of the Aeronautical Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, in 1907. Airmen of the Army Air Forces march in formation on the flight line at Wright Field in Dayton,Ohio. Aviation pioneer, Orville Wright, is seen in the reviewing stand. A color guard marches past the the reviewing stand. A 4-engine German Junkers JU-290 transport aircraft is seen parked on the field. (It arrived on July 31, 1945, after being flown to Wright Field from Europe, by U.S. Air Forces Colonel Harold E. Watson and co-pilot Captain Fred McIntosh,who were delivering it to Air Technical Intelligence Headquarters.) The crew of the JU-290 (named "Alles Kaputt") pose in front of it. Colonel Watson, is seen holding a Dachshund dog. The JU-290 takes off on a demonstration flight. A new U.S. P-80 "Shooting Star" jet airplane (serial number 44-84995) is rolled out for all to see. It takes off in a demonstration flight.
A review of the events that occurred in the year 1945. The Battle of Bulge between Germans and Allied military. Allied military tanks and soldiers after victory in the battle. Soldiers smoke cigarettes. Destroyed and burnt U.S. Army tank and jeeps. British Army troops advance in trucks, towards Normandy. Infantrymen walk across farms towards the enemy. Fleet of bombers airplanes of the Allies fly on a mission. The tank units advance across farmlands. Soviet forces greet American officers.
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