From the film, "Struggle for a Border. Canada and the American Revolution 1763-1783." Features commentary and narration of J. Frank Willis. Shows struggle for borders and territory between French-Canadians, British, Indians under Pontiac, and American colonists surrounding timeframe of American Revolution. Sketches of famous Indian Pontiac with French officers and with British soldiers. Sketches of battle scenes between the Indians and British troops. Diagram shows the borderline between United States and Canada with the five great lakes which are occupied by Native American Indian Territory. Sketches of British battalions battling native indians led by Pontiac. Sketches of occupation of various former French-Canadian cities under leadership of British General James Murray.
Opening slate at start of film reads: "1942--1943 The Turn of the Tide." A column of British armor enters Bengazi, Libya, led by several troops in tankettes. Next seen are a Lee Medium Tank, M3 followed by an infantry tank, a jeep, another infantry tank and another Lee M3 Medium tank. Closeup of local people greeting the troops with upraised hands giving the "V" for victory sign. Another Lee M3 tank passes close by the camera. Black smoke is rising in the background. Scene changes to a half sunken ship near another burning in the harbor. Another view of this from further away above port buildings. Closeup of three smiling British soldiers leaning over a cartoon on a tank, of Winston Churchill (As a bulldog smoking a cigar and wearing a cap with the word "Victory" written on it). A crumpled captured flag with swastika on it. British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery stands atop a vehicle (unseen) and looks through binoculars. Below, a column of British supply vehicles is making its way along a path in the desert. Two tanks coming toward the camera through sand. Animated map shows Nazi territory being threatened by the Allies from the Mediterranean, the USSR, and the English Channel. Views of Soviet infantry advancing against German forces in the snow of winter on the eastern front. Soviet troops firing updated 76-mm divisional gun model 1902 hidden in woods. Shells exploding in snow-covered field as Soviet BT series tanks advance. Various Soviet artillery firing from fixed gun batteries and from woods. A shell striking in distance. Fallen German soldiers lying on snowy field. Makeshift battlefield crosses marking graves of fallen German soldiers. German steel helmets lined up in the snow. A sign, posted on a birch tree, lists the names and birth dates of 16 German soldiers from the 3rd Panzer Division (3Pz-Pi-BH.39) buried at this site on November 28, 1941. Scene shifts to Joseph Stalin addressing Soviet troops in Red Square, Moscow, Russia. All the soldiers in formation seem to be singing (unheard). Film switches to animated map again. This time delineating the Eastern front being pressed by the USSR, and showing area of the 2nd Soviet winter offensive in 1943. Change of scene from Europe to the War in Asia, against Japan, shows General Douglas MacArthur after arriving by a B-17 bomber at a Pacific island American base. He ascends a steep hill in a jungle area, accompanied by other officers. Closeup of MacArthur. American infantry moving in single file in New Guinea, as a field piece fires a round in the direction they are headed. U.S. artillerymen load shells into a 105mm howitzer gun. A fire burns as mop-up operations begin on New Guinea. An Australian soldier is seen firing a Bren gun in jungles. Other Australian soldiers fire a mortar that explodes, raising earth and dust. More views of shells exploding near Allied soldier advancing. A soldier with fixed bayonet makes a fake charge toward the camera. Views of Japanese prisoners of war guarded in an outdoor compound. Japanese dead soldiers on Guadalcanal. An animated map shows new battle lines in the Pacific, closing in on Japan, with pressure from China, the USSR, and the Pacific islands being captured by the U.S. Arrows are added showing new pressure from American naval fleets and from British and American bombers out of Australia and captured islands.
View of Victoria, British Hong Kong, as the population awaits possible challenge from Chinese Communist forces only several miles away. Victoria Peak is seen in the background. A Chinese man purchases copy of the Hong Kong Standard newspaper from vendor holding sign that reads: "Reds Offer Diplomatic Relations." British troops march with their packs, as they prepare for possible defense of the Crown Colony. Hong Kong police check persons entering at the border. British troops prepare artillery positions. British Comet Cruiser tanks maneuver. British Mk XVI Supermarine Spitfire aircraft with engines running on airfield. A flight of four Spitfires in formation over the city.
Blitzkrieg attack on London by Germany during World War II beginning in September 1940. Scenes of London city. Soldiers help civilians to move to safety underground in air raid shelters. A building is evacuated. A man talks over a telephone reporting incoming German aircraft. Officers watch through binoculars. German planes over the city. British pilots in aircraft defend the city. British people at a station platform. A train arrives. German planes drop bombs. Aerial bombs away views of bombs falling from German bombers, and views of German pilots in cockpit, and from point of view of German pilots. View of damaged buildings in London, rubble, and devastation. Men around the remains of the damaged buildings. Exterior and interior views of damaged and destroyed shops, homes, hospitals, and churches. A view of Big Ben in the distance and rubble from bombing in the foreground. British people climbing on piles of rubble and beginning to clear the damage. A man carrying an unexploded bomb or delayed action bomb on his shoulder to remove it from an area. A man drives a car. British people in a market using ration stamps for food. British people work in a factory continuing the war manufacturing effort. People inside underground rail system at Picadilly Circus station, serving as an air raid shelter. A man plays a harmonica to entertain civilians in the crowded air raid shelter. Doctors operate on a casualty. Soldiers rescue people from ruins of blitz damaged buildings. Fire fighters spray fire hoses on a building. Men take a break from clearing rubble and drink beer from glasses at the base of a ladder. A girl sits outside a damaged house and pets a cat. Civilians gather as King George VI and the Queen of England visit citizens amidst the rubble.
An animated map showing Dieppe, France. Illustrates unsuccessful landing strategy of British and Canadian Army Forces. Views of Dieppe, German artillery and guns in fortifications firing at incoming Allied soldiers. German soldiers run from underground fortification to reach trench firing positions where they fire at incoming British forces. German officer watches with binoculars. A British ship in ocean, several airplanes flying over and bombs dropped over the town. German anti-aircraft guns firing at British aircraft. German soldiers in place on streets of Dieppe remain at the ready. Views of explosion on roads of town and German forces attacking British forces that have come ashore on a landing craft.
Allied tank and tank destroyer firing and Allied infantry in Germany during World War 2. British, American, and Soviet troops escorting German Prisoners of war at the end of the War. Animated map shows line where U.S. and Russian troops met and zones of occupation in Germany and Berlin. It depicts routs of access into the Soviet zone of Berlin View from a vehicle driving through utterly destroyed part of Germany in 1945 with rubble and ruin of many buildings seen. Desperate German citizens facing shortages of food and necessities after the war, cooking on outdoor fire in a city street, and trying to clear some debris of destroyed buildings by hand and using buckets in a "bucket brigade." Bus service being restored and German citizens boarding. Vehicle traffic moving with a German police officer directing. Doctors perform physical examination of a German boy as a group of German boys wait in queue for examination. Soviet Leader, Joseph Stalin, with U.S. President, Harry Truman, British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, at the Potsdam Conference. Children receiving soup at a school in Berlin. Animated map shows routes through the Soviet occupation zone, used by Western Allies, to supply essential food and supplies through the Soviet zone of occupation to sustain West Berlin residents. It then depicts Soviet action blockading the road and rail routes to isolate West Berlin. Views of empty roads, rails, and canals. A DC-3 (US Air Force C-47) transport aircraft taking off. Men loading supplies on aircraft for delivery to West Berlin. A C-54 transport airplane taking off. A British Short S.25 Sunderland flying boat carrying cargo in the Berlin Airlift. Troops carrying supplies for airlift. A British Avro York transport aircraft taking off. A warehouse filled with barrels for Berlin. View from overflying airplane. Trucks resuming travel to Berlin after the Soviets finally lift the 9-month blockade. Normal supplies of food seen again, in West Berlin shops. Vehicle stopped at a checkpoint. Sign warning that: "You are leaving the American Sector." and similar ones at the French and British sector borders. Old road sign pointing to Potsdam, beside another sign warning of entering the Russian zone. Traffic moving between East and West Berlin.