A film on U.S. shuttle bombing operations 'Operation Titanic' over Germany from bases in Great Britain, Italy and Russia during World War II. Personnel of the U.S. 8th Air Force in Great Britain. The U.S. 15th Air Force personnel in Italy. The are briefed about the first shuttle bombing run to new Russian airfields. United States Army Air Force General Nathan Farragut Twining addresses the personnel and bids them farewell. United States Army Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses led by General Ira Clarence Eaker take off. USAAF B-24 Liberators take off from Great Britain. P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightning fighter airplanes escort the bombers on their way. The bombing forces bomb the targets in Germany. They return after their mission. Crew and officers look at the aircraft as they fly overhead. The officers look through binoculars. The crew waves towards the aircraft.
Film opens showing Adolf Hitler shaking hands with Benito Mussolini of Italy. Next Mussolini is seen addressing a large crowd from the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia in Rome, Italy announcing plans to invade Greece. Views of Greek troops marching during the Greco-Italian War between the kingdoms of Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. Animated map depicts Italian advances into Greece with subsequent withdrawal as the Greeks drive them back and then invade Albania. Closeup of Hitler enraged about this turn of events, delaying his military Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. Glimpse of Mussolini visiting his troops in the field. Newspaper headline reads: "Jugoslavia Gets Hitler Terms." A sub headline reads: "Nazi move in Greece Seen." Another view of Greek troops marching. A Junkers JU-87 Stuka dive bomber in flight, enters a steep dive to bomb a target. Bombs exploding in forest. Another Stuka diving and dropping bombs on a city building. Closeup glimpse of a Stuka speeding past the camera. View of a bombed out Yugoslavian building from German air attack on April 6, 1941. Animated map shows German and Italian forces attack paths from their bases in Italy, Hungary, Romania, and Hungary, vanquishing Yugoslavia. Map extends to Greece, where German forces overwhelm three defending Greek Divisions (aided by some British forces). Aerial view of a German Junkers Ju 52 transport plane flying over the Parthenon in Athens.
Map shows San Pietro, Mount Lungo, Mount Sammucro. Explosions in the valley. 36th Infantry Division troops carry dead soldier on litter. Officer speaks over phone. Troops advance uphill. Soldiers move forward taking cover behind trees. Dead soldiers on ground. Explosion on ground. Dead bodies of soldiers placed on litter. (World War II period).
Map shows San Pietro, M. Lungo, M. Sammucro. 36th Infantry Division troops fire machine gun. U.S. Army soldiers advance uphill. Large explosions. Dead soldiers on ground. P-38 Lighting escorts fly in formation. German plane falls. General Clark examines a map. Officer speaks over phone. Troops fire 155 mm Howitzer and tanks at German enemy. Soldiers check time on their watches. (World War II period).
Elements of the U.S. 36th Infantry Division engaging in the Battle of San Pietro, during World War 2. Opening scene shows U.S. infantrymen of the 141st Infantry Regiment synchronizing their watches on H-Hour, D-Day, the 15th of December, 1943. Next they move forward 400 yards from their positions and are immediately pinned down by heavy artillery fire from German defenders. Soldiers of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 143rd Infantry Regiment advance 100 yards and hunker down at barbed wire barrier close to German defense line. They also come under heavy German artillery fire. American Sherman tanks enter the Town of San Pietro to find and destroy the German artillery interfering with the American advances. Views of U.S. tanks on the move. Narrator states that 16 tanks were dispatched along the road to San Pietro. Three reached the outskirts. German gunfire destroys two of these. Smoke rising from a struck tank. Views of pieces of destroyed tanks. Destroyed and abandoned American tanks. American infantrymen carrying a wounded on a litter past a knocked out Sherman tank. View of one (of four) tanks returning to the Regimental Bivouac area. Parachute flares illuminate the battlefield at night, where small American units succeed in penetrating German defenses, but are forced to move back again due to flanking German artillery and machine gun fire. Closeups of several wounded American infantry being moved on stretchers.
Troops of Italian Co-Belligerent Army. The Italian First Motorized Group, the first Italian unit to fight alongside the Allies after the armistice of September, 1943, moves to the front in early December, 1943. Italian soldiers stand on roadway. They look at maps and talk. Two soldiers with dog. Italian officer speaks to the soldiers. Soldiers listen to officer, holding pen and papers. Soldiers unroll telephone wires. Soldiers load barracks bags on truck. Truck loaded with soldiers drives past. Men wave the soldiers. A convoy of trucks moves along road. Civilians with carts move in opposite direction. Trucks parked in Italian town. A soldier waves the flag. Soldiers talk with civilians. Soldiers stand on sidewalk. Trucks cross bridge. (World War II period).
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