Shows the Battle off Samar which was the central action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island near the island of Leyte in the Philippines on 25 October 1944. Animated map shows battle between Allied naval-air forces and Japanese naval-air forces. Japanese kamikaze suicidal dive bomber strike on Allied fleet and inflict heavy damage to a few Allied ships. (World War II period).
Shows the Battle off Samar which was the central action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island near the island of Leyte in the Philippines on October 25th 1944. U.S. air forces launch a counterattack on the enemy's ground forces. Animated map shows heavy battle between Allied naval-air forces and Japanese naval-air forces. Allied AA guns fire at Japanese kamikaze suicide dive bombers. One of the dive bombers strikes USS St Lo (CVE-63). View of U.S. Navy aircraft on carrier deck in flames. Narrator indicates the St. Lo was sunk. Views from some miles away of smoke pouring from U.S. aircraft carrier. The results of the battle shows heavy damage inflicted to the Allied naval fleet.
A U.S. Army training film titled 'Teamwork' from 1946. Several actors portraying Nazi officers. Nazi officer briefs his officer on their 'Divide and Conquer Policy' for the Americans in a German Headquarters looking building. Actual World War 2 footage is seen at start of film showing the building of the German Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in Germany. After that, actual combat footage begins at TC:02:34,with views of the German defenses on the Western Wall, at the coast of France. German soldiers man an anti-aircraft gun in a hill, as others march loosely along the shoreline. Several Allied warships are seen in formation headed toward the camera, during the D-Day invasion, June 6, 1944. Next, numerous warships fire their guns, bombarding the Normandy coast. Numerous landing craft (Higgins boats) swarm toward the coast. View from bridge of a LCI(M) (landing craft, infantry - mortar) as it fires its mortars approaching the beachhead. Explosions from the mortar fire. Rockets being launched from Landing Crafts Tank (Rocket). Higgins boats reaching the shore and troops leaving them for the beach. American troops running from the shore after landing, and taking up positions firing small arms. A soldier placing a demolition charge at a German bunker and running from it as it explodes. Famous footage of American troops being shot as they advance on D-Day. Medics tending to wounded on the shore. Medic caring for a wounded African American soldier as they shelter under chalk cliffs at Normandy beachhead. U.S. troops moving inland from their beachhead.
Opening scene shows U.S. soldiers firing rifles as they advance in the hedge rows (Bocage) of Normandy after the D-Day invasion in World War 2. Lightning is seen as a storm begins. Various invasion ships and boats are seen being pummeled by wind and waves. Some ships are seen tilted against the shore and damage to beachhead installations is evident all across the shore the wake of the storm. Landing craft of various sizes are left where they had been driven by the storm onto the shore. Twisted steel and damaged boats are seen everywhere. Views of U.S. infantry advancing into the interior of Normandy, under fire. A Sherman tank camouflaged with foliage, moves past demolished building. Troops marching single file along the sides of a rural road. At TC: 00: 57, the film continues with enactments of German officers in conference. At TC: 01:06, the actual Normandy beachhead is seen again with troops and war materiel being delivered without port facilities. Amphibious 2 and a half ton trucks (DUKWs) are seen making their way from transport ships to the shore. View of cargoes being lowered from a transport ship to a DUKW. Views of crew on the ship's deck, including an African American operating the cargo hoist. Closeup of cargo net with supplies dropping into a DUKW. Closeup two soldiers (one an African American) riding in a DUKW. Trucks and cranes on the beach. A soldier operates a crane placing ammunition into a truck. Crew member on a transport ship passes Jerry cans of fuel to a soldier in a DUKW. An M36 tank destroyer (90 mm Gun Motor Carriage, M36) filled with soldier, drives from ashore from an LST. Numerous trucks gathered on the beachhead. Closeups of two soldiers at the front. Closeup of M36 tank destroyer moving toward the camera. Aerial overview of a beachhead. Soldiers with shovels fill holes in a roadway as trucks pass. A destroyed railroad yard. A destroyed airfield. A destroyed harbor. Destroyed rail line and communications lines at Valognes, in Normandy, France. African American soldiers using special equipment to string communications lines onto telephone poles. Closeups of them in vehicles designed for that purpose. Closeups of wires being unspooled. American soldiers connecting wires atop a pole. A group of African American soldiers working on telephone lines. Others are seen using mine detectors. An African American soldier operating a mobile crane. African American soldiers installing pierced steel plank (Marsden matting) on an airfield. A team of African American soldiers placing rails in place for a railroad. Others working on pipeline. One uses an acetylene torch to weld a pipe. Fuel gushing from a hose refueling an armored vehicle. The destroyed port of Cherbourg occupied by American troops. View a week later of the harbor in full operation. Cranes unloading a locomotive at the port. View of port operations on July 4, 1944. A German aircraft overhead and bombs exploding. More views of work being done on the port. Stockpiles of supplies at the port. A Sherman tank moving with infantry. Troops moving along sides of a road. An M36 tank destroyer is welcomed by local civilians as it moves through their town. A 75 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8 moves through a town 25 miles from Paris. American infantry marching through a town. Heavy army trucks carry supplies. Sign posted for the "Red Ball Express." Columns of trucks carrying supplies from the port of Cherbourg to the front. Mines exploding nearby as the trucks move at night. Closeup of an African American soldier driving one of the trucks.
World War 2. Damage control party board an American U.S. Navy aircraft carrier off the Japanese coast, fights fire caused by a Kamikaze (suicide dive bomber). Kamikaze aircraft on October 30, 1944 dives toward USS Franklin (CV-13) passing just overhead and crashing into the ship with explosion and flames. Heavy fire and smoke on the deck. Wounded aided on the deck.
A dramatized film entitled "Beachhead to Berlin" describes preparations for the Allied invasion of France and the drive toward Berlin. Film combines actors and actual footage. Harbor in Greenway England in July, 1944. U.S. Coast Guard Barracks. Coast Guard men playing cards. One on a bunk contemplating. Chaplain's office: Chaplain typing and smoking a pipe. Audio narration of his letter being read, describing how things transpired at the Normandy beaches during the Invasion of France. Then actual footage of wounded being transported on ships after D-Day Normandy invasion. In England, footage of LCIs, LCVPs, Coast Guard cutters, including the Flying Angel Rescue Cutter. All of these ships participating in "dry run" practices for the actual Normandy landing. Coast Guard crews on decks of ships. Infantry loading landing crafts in England for dry runs. Landing craft arriving on English beaches during dry runs. A jeep drives off a landing craft and gets stuck on metal mesh on the beach. A tank is driven off a landing craft. Men maintaining ships. Scraping rust from the deck, painting identifications on ships, repairing rope ladders, and welding. (World War II period).
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