Animated maps show the conquest of low counties and France. German bombers and Stukas in flight. The German Luftwaffe aircraft blast Dunkirk. Enemy bombers shot down. German Air Force Strafe at the harbor and enemy warships. German pilots seated at the controls in the cockpit. German antiaircraft batteries fire at British ships of Dunkirk. (World War II period).
Adolf Hitler reviews troops at Dunkirk and Ypres near end of Battle of France in World War 2. He drives in a car through the ruins in a jeep to visit his soldiers. Wreckage and rubble in Dunkirk and Ypres, Belgium. He passes by Cathedral of St. Martin in Ypres. Adolf Hitler confers with officers. He eats with German soldiers in a field kitchen. Hitler then visits a World War I German cemetery.
United States heavy tank M26 Pershing fighting in World War II during advance of Allies through France and into German cities. Wrecked buildings and rubble on the roads of French and German cities. Allied forces crossing the Rhine River. M26 Pershing in action in Cologne Germany. Cologne Cathedral spires seen in background during street battles. Germans surrender. Several sign boards on the roads. U.S. tanks, mostly M4 Shermans, roll through the streets of Paris. U.S. soldiers sit on tanks. The tanks roll on square 'Place de la Concorde'. French people celebrate on the streets.
French fashion preview in Paris, France. Fashion show models display 1953's "New Look" in winter and evening fashions. Fashion models wear winter dresses and coats designed by leading French postwar haute couture designers such as Jacques Fath and Jacques Griffe. A model poses near a canal, wearing a minimalistic “New Look” dress inspired from the Medieval Ages by French designer Jacques Griffe. A model showing off a fur coat. Models in elegant white evening dresses. Models pose at various Paris locations, including at the Arc de Triomphe.
Zelli’s Royal Box night club in Paris, owned by Joe Zelli and located at 16 bis rue Fontaine. Several tables set in the club. People seated at the tables. The room is decorated. Bottles of alcoholic beverages are evident everywhere. An African American dancer performs in the center of the dance floor. Audience cheers and claps. An African American ensemble plays jazz and patrons dance. The trumpet player is Crickett Smith, and the drummer is USA Army Corporal Eugene Bullard. Patrons are seen on the dance floor under a chandelier with streamers. A balcony is seen above, where so-called "Royal Boxes"were arranged allowing patrons to watch festivities below. (Note: Bullard lived a storied life. Among other things, he served in World War 1 as one of 200 U.S. servicemen who flew for France. He was the first African American combat pilot and the first to shoot down enemy aircraft, and was decorated multiple times for valor. He was living in the Montmartre section of Paris after World War 1, which was known as a center for American Jazz music. He learned to play drums from the pioneer jazz musician Louis Mitchell and played in the house band at Zellis nightclub before taking over the management of a nightclub called Le Grand Duc, in 1924. The 2006 movie "Flyboys" portrayed members of the Lafayette Flying Corps and included a character based on Bullard.)
Celebrations in Paris marking the signing of Armistice ending conflict in World War I, November 11, 1918. Open bus is packed to capacity with celebrants. Jubilant crowds are jammed together, waving flags, and shouting for joy. Man erects huge banner reading: "LArmistice est signe, La Guerre est gegnee, Vive La France, Vivent Les Allies!" Huge American flag is waved from center of crowd. Flags of the Allies are waved by people on balcony of building with lettering identifying it as "Mme Georgette".French sailors, in crowd, sing and wave flags. French Boy Scouts, in uniforms, run down the street towards the camera, followed by people of every age, size, and sort, all celebrating the end of war. Several French officers stand by as an impromptu parade begins.
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