Attack on London at Christmas eve of 1940 during Battle of Britain in World War II. British men and women work on machines continuing to manufacture armament and weapons in the war effort, despite German blitzkrieg (blitz) air attacks. British workers work on aircraft. Close view of aircraft wheel rising into place during manufacture. British choir of boys sings Chrismas carol in cathedral. A young British girl seated by a fireplace races to greet her father in uniform as he enters. People celebrate Christmas. Crowded underground tube platforms and transit trains going by. A British boy and two girl children decorate a Christmas tree. Vendors sell goods to citizens taking cover in the underground. Night blitz air attacks by Germany on London. Buildings set on fire causing one of the greatest fires in history. London Fire Brigade fighters spray water from fire hoses on the burning buildings. They pump water from the Thames river. People of London sleep and relax underground in tube system. British attack the German aircraft with ground artillery and anti-aircraft weapons.
Film opens with aerial views of City of Suez and environs during the invasion of Egypt by Israel, Britain, and France, to seize control of the Suez Canal and overthrow Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, in 1956. At TC:00:24 is an aerial view of two ships scuttled by the Egyptians in Port Said at the entrance to the Suez Canal. Many ships are seen in Port Said, itself, including a large British landing craft (L9006). Glimpse of British sailors on the landing craft with Union Jack waving above them. Formations of British soldiers, wearing Balmoral bonnet headgear, marching inland from the port. Area of the port covered with artillery pieces and war materiel being loaded into trucks. Closeup of British soldiers loading shells and ammunition into trucks. Egyptian men mingling on the streets of Port Said. A British soldier and an officer are seen amongst them. Low altitude aerial view of the Suez Canal. View of ships at entrance of the Canal in Port Said (with the scuttled ship blockade behind them) . A British Dido Class light cruiser is seen with the ships.
A guard marches in the compound of a hotel. United Kingdom's Prime Minister Winston Churchill seated. French General Charles de Gaulle. General George Marshall with U.S. Air Force Chief, Lieutenant General Henry H. (Hap) Arnold. General Marshall with British General Brooke. Sir Dudley Pound, British Naval Chief, with American counterpart, Admiral William D. Leahy. Winston Churchill and President Franklin D Roosevelt seated and other British and American officials stand behind. American and British troops meet in Tunisia. Troops share cigarettes in the battlefield. General Eisenhower shakes hands with British General Montgomery. British troops advance in the battlefield. Aircraft of Allied Forces strafe German targets on the ground. American tanks advance. German prisoners marched off by French soldiers. German prisoners captured. Crowd cheers in a French city which was occupied by Germans earlier. French soldiers and crowd celebrate. (World War II period).
Generals of united Allies Armies prepare the final offensive against Kaiser Wilhelm II in Europe during World War 1. Marshal Ferdinand Foch, British Field Marshal Douglas Haig, French General Philippe Petain, United States Army General John Pershing and Italian Commander General Diaz gather in discussion. Closeup of Marshall Ferdinand Foch. Marshall Joseph Joffre talking to U.S. Army General Pershing. King Victor Emmanuel and General Diaz reviewing troops. Field Marshal Haig posing with a group of Generals. Marshal Ferdinand Foch and Marshal Philippe Pétain together. Georges Clemenceau greeting French officers. U.S. Secretary of War, Newton D. Baker, passes by a line of French soldiers and is seen using binoculars in the field. American General Bliss (Tasker Howard Bliss), U.S. representative on the Supreme War Council, speaking to a woman as other officers stand by. Closeup view of U.S. Army General Robert Bullard, Commander of the First American Army. General John Lejeune, Commander of U.S. Marines, speaking to a group. Kaiser Wilhelm II with his heir, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, in front of a building as the Kaiser speaks to a German officer. German Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg with General Erich Ludendorff. German military band leads large column of German soldiers marching on a road. Long line of German soldiers walking up a turning road. British soldiers improving roads and transporting supplies. British soldiers and cavalry riding on horseback. Long line of British soldiers marching through trench and through a bombed out building. British soldiers marching on road. Allies, British and French forces on the move. U.S. General Pershing addressing a huge crowd of soldiers in an open field area. Lines of American soldiers marching. Colonel Teddy Roosevelt watches as U.S. Army soldiers advance. Italian Army soldiers marching and ascending a hill. Huge artillery piece being towed on a road.
Film opens with a glimpse of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in a forum. Next, Big Ben and the British Parliament building are seen in the background as soldiers (and some civlilans) gather around a British 3-inch antiaircraft gun. British civilians assembling sections of a Anderson Shelter (a prefabricated shelter made of corrugated metal.) View of a crowded railroad platform where hundreds of British children board a train to evacuate them from London to safety in the countryside, as part of Operation Piper. Parents and loved ones stand back on the platform to see them off. Closeup of children, each tagged with their personal information, climbing aboard the train. Next, after they have boarded the train, parents and others move close to the train windows to wave goodbye to the children. Parents, at a different railroad station, waving goodbye to children on a train carrying them to safety. complete change of scene shows the U.S. freighter ship, SS City of Flint, with hundreds of passengers onboard, who were rescued from the liner SS Athenia, sunk in the first hours of World War II, by the German submarine, U-30, on September 3, 1940. (The City of Flint landed its passengers in Halifax, Nova scotia, and New York City.) A formation of British soldiers is seen marching through a village in the United Kingdom. Glimpse of an underground control room of a German Fort in the Siegfried line. German troops entering the fort, Werkgruppe Scharnhorst Panzerwerk 1238, to take up defensive positions there. Heavy guns firing from underground.
Second battle of El Alamein in Egypt between Allied Forces and German Forces in October, 1942. British Field Marshal Harold Alexander, British Naval Officer Henry Harwood and Royal Air Force officer Arthur Tedder confer. General Montgomery and Marshal Coningham confer in desert. General Montgomery discuss with other officers holding map. General Montgomery transmits the plan and preparations are made. British tanks and aircraft prepared for battle. Supplies loaded into aircraft and tanks are manned by British soldiers. Tents are set up. British soldiers at beach cook food in sand. British soldiers write letters and smoke. Soldier plays bagpipe. Other soldiers relax. Tanks advance in desert. (World War II period).
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