View from a 4-engine airplane in flight over altocumulus clouds. Setting sun creates pink colors. Scene changes abruptly to views, inland from Omaha Beach, at Colleville-sur-Mer, France, of the temporary military battlefield cemetery established by the U.S. First Army, on June 8, 1944, right after the Allied invasion of Normandy, in World War 2. Simple wooden crosses mark the graves of the fallen Americans, each identified by one of their dog tags fastened to the marker.
The occupation and liberation of Paris during World War II. Germany occupies Paris in June 1940. A Nazi flag on the Eiffel Tower. Adolf Hitler with Nazi officers. Germans unfurl the Nazi flag on the Alsace-Lorraine Memorial. Hitler and his officers driven through the Place de la Concorde and past the Arc de Triomphe. Parisians close their shops. A man removes a Vichy poster and scribbles on a wall. Parisians listen to U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower's broadcast from London on June 6, 1944: The Allied task forces advance towards France on D-Day. Naval guns shell Normandy. Allied troops land on the beachhead and advance inland. Some fall to German gunfire. Headquarters of the Paris Underground. Members of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) discuss, plan, document, prepare grenades, check guns, and wear badges of freedom with the FFI symbol. The French underground barricade streets. Men, women and children build barricades using various material. They inspect their guns and take their positions behind sand bag barricades on sidewalks. FFI soldiers honored. Burning vehicles on the roads. Street fighting between the FFI and the Germans. Corpses on the street. FFI men holding flags. Medics carry a wounded on stretcher. German tanks roam the streets. Wrecked vehicles and war equipment. FFI soldiers fire at German tanks. German snipers fire while French forces equipped by the U.S. are liberating the city. Explosions on the street. Civilians take cover. FFI fighters inspect a German soldier's corpse. They take German prisoners. French troops and military vehicles close in on Paris. Civilians watch and cheer as they enter the city. Barriers built by the FFI are pulled aside to let the troops pass. French forces in American tanks pass the Eiffel Tower. Explosions and machine gun fire during the street fighting. French soldiers fire at Germans hiding in buildings. Several German prisoners. German officers and soldiers surrender. Parisians watch as they are herded to prisons. Prisoners clean street.
Slate indicates the area shown is occupied by the U.S. 3rd Army, 95th Infantry Division. Bombed out buildings are seen with rubble piled at side of road, in Saarlautern (Saarlouis) Germany, the day after Christmas, 1944, during World War 2. View of apartment buildings and shops across from a park. Another street of shops. No people or vehicles are seen. An American soldier carrying a large camera, walks past an antique French 155mm gun, circa 1877, on display in a public Square. A view of the seemingly undamaged Catholic Church of St. Ludwig (Katholische Kirche St. Ludwig) on Kavalleriestrasse. A jeep drives past it. A U.S. soldier rides a bicycle past destroyed buildings
Documentation of crash landings,of Gruman Wildcat (F4F) airplanes,on the USS Makassar Strait (CVE-91) during a training cruise, off Hawaii, in 1944. One almost veers off the deck completely, and one the involves a nose-over. In one instance, the pilot comes in too hot, on one wheel, and prudently executes a "go around" for another try.
Scenes of three Navy Grumman wildcat (F4F) airplanes crash landing on the USS Makassar Strait (CVE-91) during a training cruise off Hawaii, in 1944. One lands long and hot and falls off the end of the flight deck, into the water. Another catches left wing on edge of flight deck. And, still, another noses over and its turning propeller chews up the flight deck. ( A following airplane breaks off its approach at this time.)
A Navy Grumman F4F airplane crashes on the deck of the USS Makassar Strait (CVE-91) during training cruise off Hawaii, in November, 1944. The aircraft noses over upon landing and then flips over on its back. Ship's crew quickly go to aid of the pilot and extract him on a stretcher, from the cockpit.
CRITICALPAST.COM: About Us | Contact Us | FAQs - How to Order | License Agreement | My Account | My Lightboxes | Shopping Cart | Advanced Search | Featured Collections | Website Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy ©2026 CriticalPast LLC.
License Agreement |
Terms & Conditions |
Privacy Policy
©2026 CriticalPast LLC.