Film opens with date: 10 May 1940 (date of the German invasion of Luxembourg, Holland, and Belgium, in World War 2). Huge precise formation of German soldiers is shown. Alternating closeups of individual soldiers and camera pans across the formation. Animated map shows Germany, Belgium, France and Holland, plus Rein River, City of Lille, and Paris. It shows positions of English and French armies, ostensibly attacking from France, across Belgium and Holland, toward the German Ruhr region (but actually moving to repulse the German offensive). Belgian troops advancing on motorcycles past sandbagged buildings. The French border being opened followed by many French military vehicles, including trucks, trailers, artillery pieces, and some French Lorraine 37 tracked vehicles. A steam locomotive pulls a boxcar troop train. French and British Expeditionary Forces seen on the train. Many of the Allied soldiers sit in its doorways with their legs dangling. A French Char B1 heavy tank rumbles along a road. French light tanks. More views of Allied troops, including French Colonials, marching through towns and villages. Closeup of the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, General the Viscount Lord Gort, with another British Commander. British troops in armored personnel carriers. British troops participating in Battle of France seen marching as someone is heard singing in background, about "washing day on the Siegfried line." Several British self-propelled heavy guns in motion. German army engineers detonating a charge followed by large explosions.
Franklin D Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of Navy during World War 1. United States soldiers aboard a transport ship leave for Europe (France) during World War I. View of young Franklin D. Roosevelt speaking. United States Army troops disembarking in France. Shipbuilding operations underway in the United States. Views of partially completed warship hulls in a line at a shipyard. World War 1 trench fighting scenes. Soldiers fire guns and throw hand grenades. Views of American and German troops engaging in battle. Explosions and dirt flying. Soldiers taking cover in protection of trench. Germans fire machine gun. Many short views of First World War combat. A biplane aircraft falls after being shot down and crashes into the earth. Battle scenes with body of soldier falling back into a trench and a Renault FT tank approaching a trench line. Narrator indicates Roosevelt keeps track of the United States forces and went to France to meet General Foch. U.S. Navy 12 inch gun mounted on rail platform fires.
War correspondents gathered in England, awaiting D-Day and preparing to enter France after the upcoming D-Day invasion in World War 2. War correspondents and soldiers at a camp on the South Coast of England. Jeeps, tents and men near baggage. Various correspondents meet up with each other. A correspondent walks amidst rows of tents with an officer. An officer gives a correspondent a shovel to defend himself. Correspondent Larry LeSueur smokes a cigarette. Various correspondents including Jack Thompson of the Chicago Tribune, Scripps-Howard Newspapers' Ernie Pyle, Associated Press' Larry O'Riley and Wharton Becker. They bid farewell to each other. A correspondent wearing a leather jacket with "War Correpondent" labeled epaulets on the shoulders. Clark Lee of INS and Chicago Daily News' William Stoneman next to a trailer attached to a military jeep. The war correspondents climb into a military truck. The truck passes through small British towns. People shop for vegetables in a crowded market place or a British town. Destroyed buildings in the town of Plymouth seen as the correspondents exit the rear of the Army vehicles.
Allied fleet advances during the Invasion of France in World War II. A Destroyer Escort (DE) underway. A Landing Ship Transport (LST) Several transports. Enlisted man in foul weather gear, life jacket, and helmet. He speaks through a loud speaker. Starboard beam view of a Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) underway.
U.S. 7th Machine Gun Battalion in La Chapelle-sur-Chezy, France during World War I. Military band plays different instruments. They are followed by the U.S. 7th Machine Gun Battalion troops. The troops march on the street. A soldier holds the flag of United States. Cars follow U.S. troops.
The German invasion of France and the Low Countries during World War II. German troops march past a gate. A sign on the wall reads 'Jeanne D'Arc'. The soldiers walk past a statue. Soldiers with war equipment in horse carriages. German officers on horses. Soldiers on motorbikes and on foot. French civilians cheer and salute the Germans. Cologne: French POWs (prisoners of war) marched by the Germans. The prisoners at a camp. French African prisoners play cards, smoke, rest. They receive food from their German captors. The soldiers smile and perform a native dance. German troops and horse carts advance through ruins in a town. German engineers supervise the repair of railway tracks in Amsterdam and other parts of the Low Countries. The soldiers build bridges, railroads, tracks and tunnels. A train with a Nazi flag on the engine crosses over a rebuilt railway bridge.
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