United States Atlantic submarine chaser Bainbridge saves 482 passengers and crew of hospital ship Vinh-Long near Marmora in Paros, Greece. Smoke comes out of the ship. USS Bainbridge (DD-246) approaches the burning ship Vinh-Long. Smoke on ship. Passengers on ship brought to Constantinople, Turkey. Passengers stand on the ship as they dock in Constantinople.
British General Douglas Haig reviews troops in Britain during First World War; French General Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Petain comes out of a building and stands with his fellow officer, Italian General Armando Diaz review troops. Troops march with rifles. King Albert I of Belgium comes out of a building and sits on car. World War I troops march on road, snow covered hillside in the background. President Wilson sits and reads a Washington newspaper in Washington DC, United States.
Opening scene shows U.S. and European soldiers waving their hats and celebrating the end of World War 1. The next scene shows some of them watching as a Russian soldier dances on a not-so-tight rope while accompanied by Russian soldiers playing musical instruments. The celebrants are also entertained by another Russian soldier, who demonstrates great skill performing traditional Russian dance while accompanied by the musicians.
The Spirit of St Louis with engine running at Le Bourget aerodrome (Paris-Le Bourget Airport, Rue de Prague, Zone Aviateurs, Le Bourget, F-93350) in Paris as American aviator Charles Lindbergh prepares to fly to Brussels. Aircraft takes off as people look on. Lindbergh lands at Evere Airfield or Haren Airport in Brussels and is greeted by 25,000 people. He drives away in a car with a huge bunch of flowers. Lindbergh at a reception ceremony after the first nonstop trans-Atlantic flight. Many people gathered outside the building.
American aviator Charles Lindbergh places a wreath at a memorial in Belgium at a ceremony. The Spirit of St Louis parked at Evere field, in Belgium, with a large number of people gathered around it. Charles Lindbergh, in leather flying coat and boots, walks by tail of aircraft, bids farewell to offiicials, and climbs aboard the Spirit of St. Louis. He starts the engine and taxis away rapidly. Nearly,100,000 gather in Croydon to welcome Lindbergh. Ambassador Houghton also present to greet Lindbergh after his successful non stop trans Atlantic flight. Lindbergh lands at Croydon, as another airplane follows him and passes overhead. He climbs a ladder up to a fenced porch, where he joins several men who greet him. One holds a large megaphone. . A smiling Lindbergh addresses the large gathering as he speaks into a megaphone.
Film opens with a glimpse of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in a forum. Next, Big Ben and the British Parliament building are seen in the background as soldiers (and some civlilans) gather around a British 3-inch antiaircraft gun. British civliians assembling sections of a prefabricated shelter made of corrugated metal. View of a crowded railroad platform where hundreds of British children board a train to evacuate them from London to safety in the countryside, as part of Operation Piper. Parents and loved ones stand back on the platform to see them off. Closeup of children, each tagged with their personal information, climbing aboard the train. Next, after they have boarded the train, parents and others move close to the train windows to wave goodbye to the children. Parents, at a different railroad station, waving goodbye to children on a train carrying them to safety. complete change of scene shows the U.S. freighter ship, SS City of Flint, with hundreds of passengers onboard, who were rescued from the liner SS Athenia, sunk in the first hours of World War II, by the German submarine, U-30, on September 3, 1940. (The City of Flint landed its passengers in Halifax, Nova scotia, and New York City.) A formation of British soldiers is seen marching through a village in the United Kingdom. Glimpse of an underground control room of a German Fort in the Siegfried line. German troops entering the fort, Werkgruppe Scharnhorst Panzerwerk 1238, to take up defensive positions there. Heavy guns firing from underground.