German women Red Cross workers in Germany. They pack Christmas gifts for the German soldiers for Christmas 1944. The gifts on a table. Scene on front lines as German soldiers receive mail from home. A German soldier reads a letter and looks at a photograph. Separately, clips ends with views of the Allied invasion forces landing in France and German efforts at repulsing them. (World War II period).
Activities of Allied troops during invasion of Rome and invasion of France in Europe during World War 2. An animated map of Italy illustrates belligerents and battle lines. U.S. troops entering Rome. Buildings and streets in Rome. U.S. Army General Mark Clark shown. Russian troops proceeding from the East. Lines of Soviet Army troops marching. Russian Marshal Zhukov at a desk, reviewing battle maps. Views of Joseph Stalin smiling. Allied landing craft approaching the Cherbourg Penninsula during D-Day invasion of June 1944. American B-26 aircraft of the 9th Air Force flying over battle field and drop areas. Formation of B-26s painted in D-Day white stripes. Gun camera footage from Allied aircraft strafing German aircraft on the ground and in the air in lead-up to invasion. U.S. paratroopers dropping from C-47 aircraft. Close-up views of paratroopers jumping out of aircraft. On the ground, U.S. soldiers crawling in fields, taking up positions, and advancing while receiving and returning fire from enemy Germans. Some American troops firing a mortar on the ground. Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, together with British Field marshal Bernard Law Montgomery and British Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Teddar, at a conference table with key staff.
U.S. Airborne forces in World War 2. U.S. Army Air Forces C-47 aircraft, painted in invasion stripes, take off as darkness falls, on June 5, 1944 (night before D-Day) and assemble in large formation headed toward France. Airborne troops seated inside cabin of a C-47. Some smoke cigarettes. One has "Rocky" stenciled on his helmet. One smokes a cigar. An officer stands in doorway of plane and then jumps, followed by his "stick" of troopers. View from ground of parachutes filling the sky overhead. Momentary view of troopers on the ground in Normandy. German troops, taken prisoners of war, marching in a town under guard, with their hands on their heads. Scene changes to post war training of U.S. Army airborne troops. They are seen practicing how to hit the ground. They practice use of static lines in wooden mockups of aircraft; and jump from towers, and engage in actual airborne exercises, at Fort Benning, Georgia. View of war materiel being airdropped from rear of an aircraft. Special parachutes being used to drop jeeps and artillery pieces.
Activities of the United States Army in the United States during World War II. A U.S. Army band from the 407th Engineer Battalion playing musical instruments and marching. U.S. Army soldiers board railroad trains at a railroad station for transportation toward the war front. A railway steam locomotive pulling train cars. M4 Sherman tanks are seen on them as well as M2A4 (Mae West) tanks sitting partially turned with their guns out of sight away from the direction of travel.Browning M1919 .30 caliber machine guns are seen in their extra turrets. Army trucks and other military vehicles are also aboard the supply trains. The supply train moves through American countryside. Two women seated under hair dryers converse about the war in a beauty shop or beauty parlor. U.S. troops on troop transport railroad trains at night. Interior of a train car. American soldiers read books, sleep, and some play dice. An African American porter watches the game. A chaplain speaks to the soldiers. Civilians buy newspapers at a news stand. Headline on newspaper reads "London Expects Invasion of Europe at Any Hour" (before the upcoming Normandy Invasion of France in June 1944.)
Plans underway in the United States in 1944 for participation in the invasion of France during World War 2 by Allied forces. A U.S. Army sentry of the Army Service Forces (ASF) patrols a rail line, where military men and equpment are being transported abroad., during World War 2. ASF soldiers drive DUKWs (amphibious vehicles) up a ramp for loading into railroad box cars. A long line of DUKWs being driven for loading. Many men load 55 gallon drums of petroleum products into rail cars. An M3 Stuart light tank being driven on an open rail car. Soldiers loading motorcycles on a train. An Army M3 Half-track Amored Personnel Carrier (APC) driving onto a railroad train. (Narrator notes that it requires 75 trains to transport a single Armored Division by rail.) Men loading a 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 (Called Priest, by the British) onto a flat rail car and securing it in place with wooden supports. Army personnel that would participate in an invasion are shown. Paratroopers with their packs. Women's Army Corps (WACs) fill their duffel bags with clothing and other items, and are then seen climbing aboard an open stake truck. An Army band plays and marches giving troops a sendoff at a train station. U.S. soldiers board passenger railroad trains, carrying their field packs and weapons. A steam locomotive pulling a troop train. A train load of Sherman M4 medium tanks and other equipment, including a caterpillar tractor, is seen underway. Unidentified tanks being fastened to rail flat car. Many Army trucks and heavy equipment on train passing a town train station. Military equipment moving on trains over bridges. Two ladies under hair dryers at a salon, discussing boys in service going overseas. United States Army troops bound for the war front are seen boarding railroad trains and also changing trains, monitored by Army military police (MPs) at night. Soldiers inside a moving train car occupy themselves by playing cards; shooting craps; An African American porter watches a game. An Army chaplain talking with some of the soldiers. A soldier reading a magazine. His seat partner keeps falling asleep against him. American civilians at a newsstand. Newspaper headline reads: "London expects invasion of Europe at any hour."
General Eisenhower talks with General Walton Harris Walker and General George Smith Patton. General Eisenhower pins Major General Star on Brigadier General Raymond Stallings McLain. General Eisenhower, General Omar Nelson Bradley and General Patton have lunch.
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