Medium shots of U.S. soldiers as they climb down rope nets from transport ship (AP) and board landing craft mechanized (LCM). Second shot from the LCM in the water shows a second and third, larger, landing craft, also full of soldiers. Scene changes and beach is in view. Soldiers disembark landing craft and wade to shore with backpacks on and rifles in hand. Groups of soldiers organize on the beach in the background during WW2 Allied Normandy invasion.
British Major General Richard N. Gale gives a final message to airborne troops at the headquarters of the British Sixth Airborne Division in Harwell, England a day before D-Day in World War II. The airborne troops raise their berets. A British pathfinder officer briefs his men. He points to a map. The soldiers huddle together to discuss plans. Airborne troops receive supplies and food rations in cans. The troops also receive their salaries in French Francs. A box labeled “Invasion Currency France” and French Francs on the table. A hand counts French Franc bills. A pair of hands hold French Francs currency. The soldiers inspect their French Francs. British soldiers paint white star identification bands on field equipment. A soldier tests a radio set. A group of soldiers inspect shrapnel mines, small alarms, and ammunition. A soldier inspects a Bren machine gun. Another soldier inspects a pistol. A soldier locks a submachine gun. Trooper sharpen a knife. Soldier puts bullets into his Ammunition pouch. Troops break camp and depart for glider and airborne carrier bases at dusk. They synchronize their wrist watches. The soldiers load their supplies on the back of trucks. Trucks with troops drive away.
Allied troops set off for the final drive of the Liberation of France and Belgium in World War II. La Havre: Intensive bombing by Allied bombers at the 2nd port of France. Allied planes in flight, drop bombs. Smoke from the explosions. German positions are covered by Allied target indicators. Soldiers and tanks advance through fields. Smoke and fire from destroyed vehicles and bombardment. The first Allied platoon enters the town. Destroyed buildings and ruins. The dock area, reduced to a complete rubble. Surrendered German soldiers are marched in the streets. Antwerp: Liberation of Antwerp. A convoy of tanks. Allied troops cross a Bailey bridge over the Albert Canal. British Second Army enters the city. Tanks and soldiers. Machine gun fire. The dock side railway head is captured. Civilians welcome the troops. Belgian Forces of Interior and civilians celebrate. Allied aircraft drop arms and supplies attached to parachutes for use by the Belgian Army. A low flying British Short Stirling bomber dropping supplies. Soldiers collect the supplies and load it into a cart. Brussels: Members of the Belgian Government lay wreaths at the Brussels war Memorial in tribute to the capital's liberation. Soldiers march. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery is given a grand reception. The Field Marshal in a convertible. He greets the people from a hotel balcony. Lyon: The U.S. Seventh Army liberates Lyon. German snipers in elevated position in the Hotel Dieu, beside the Rhone River, fire into crowded streets from the hospital. Soldiers fire back at them. Smoke and fire coming from the German firing position. Civilians crouch and take cover. Hospital patients removed to safety. Nurses tend to a wounded man. French and U.S. troops drive through the city. Civilians shake hands with the soldiers. Some men and mostly women collaborationists, accused of working with the Germans, are disgraced and paraded on the streets with their hands behind their heads. FrenchpPeople cheer and celebrate.
Allied troops in Cherbourg after the Normandy Landings on D-Day in World War 2 . The first official ceremony in France after the Invasion of France. Allied soldiers lined up. A statue in the background. Dignitaries outside a building. U.S. General Joseph Collins presents the French tricolor flag to the Mayor of Cherbourg. Soldiers of the 7th Corps in clean uniforms for the ceremony. French people on the street. Colonel of the Signal Corps with war correspondents including Scripps-Howard Newspapers' Ernie Pyle, Burt Brandt, Cecil Cons, and John Leglinsee
War ruins in Rouen, the capital city of Normandy in France, during World War II. A German General survey the city. Smoke from burning buildings. German soldiers fire guns and battle the enemy across the canal. Soldiers take cover behind sandbag barricades. Pillars of a damaged bridge. Soldiers use binoculars to survey the area. They load and fire artillery. Smoke from explosions on either side of a canal. Smoke from burning buildings. Jets of water put out fire in damaged Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen (Pl. de la Cathédrale, 76000 Rouen, France). Ruins and rubble on the streets. Soldiers clear debris from the streets. They use water hoses to put out the cathedral fire. The damaged structure of the cathedral. Bomb damaged buildings. French prisoners marched on the streets. Military vehicles enter a gate. A sign for Paris beside the gate. The smoke shrouded skyline.
Red Ball Express trucks carry military supplies from Cherbourg, France to the front lines in operation during World War II. Red Ball Express trucks disembark from ships on the beachheads of Normandy. War materiel gathered beside trucks. Jerry cans loaded by soldiers. A Military Police (MP) directs Red Ball trucks on the road of a village. Officers discuss plans. Animated map showing Red Ball Express truck round trip route from Cherbourg to the Western Front. Maintenance station signage such as “Check Tires” along the Red Ball Express Road. A man changes truck tire. Red Ball Express truck drivers, including many African American soldiers, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes on their breaks. Men refueling trucks using gasoline stores they carry with them. Allied truck convoy in France. Allied soldiers in French countryside. A brick wall with hole showing truck convoy in the background.
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