Opening scene shows crowds of Parisians surrounding tanks of Free French General Philippe Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division and elements of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division enter Paris, on August 25, 1944, during World War 2. General Charles de Gaulle is seen with French officials in the crowd. A Free French soldier speaks to a tank driver and points to the source of some lingering German resistance gunfire. The crowds drop to the ground as gunfire erupts. A French tank fires its gun at a building harboring the German resistance elements. Some persons take shelter behind jeeps. People scramble for shelter in the courtyard of the Notre Dame cathedral. Smoke rising from targeted buildings. People lying down en masse on the ground as gunfire continues.
French 1st Army, C.C.1, under Colonel Gruss, moving west along highway D16 through the village of Schwoben. Infantry and armor entering Schwoben, past a sign reading "Tagsdorf" ( a village towards the west) in Alsace, during World War 2. A French soldier pauses by the body of a fallen German soldier. Local French people reentering the town of Sierentz,, some carrying belongings on horse-drawn wagon. The church of St. Martin in the background. Large number of French civilian men march loosely into the town, headed by one carrying the French flag.They wave and smile as they pass the camera. They march past an M10 tank destroyer and several French troops. View from jeep passing roadsign reading "Mulhausen,3.62." (This was located on highway D56 between Zimmersheim and Eschentzwiller.) View from parked jeep as jeeps and armored vehicles enter town. Local people fill the sidewalks to watch as French troops and tanks enter the town. French tricolor flags fly from windows of buildings.
August 1944: Civilians outside the Civil Affairs Committee building in Bayeux, Normandy. A large crowd waits outside the building. Men and women lined up. Radios confiscated by the Nazi German forces are returned to the civilians. Men and women walk out the building with their radio sets in boxes. Men and children on the street as military vehicles pass by.
U.S. troops advance towards Cherence Le Roussel. SOldiers fire at the enemy. A soldier scouts for enemy soldiers through binoculars. Smoke from artillery fire. Explosions across the terrain. Soldiers stand on a camouflaged tank. Barrel of a tank jutting out of the bushes. Soldiers load and fire artillery. Soldiers march on the road and through fields. A sign board for 'Cherence Le Roussel' amid ruins and destroyed buildings. (World War II period).
U.S. and French troops parade in liberated Cherbourg on Bastille Day. The troops and civilians gathered in a city square. Men, women and children watch. Soldiers and civilians hold flags. The US, French Navy and French Forces of the Interior (FFI) march alongside. The band plays. People watch from their homes. General Charles De Gaulle present at the celebration. 'Vive De Gaulle' on a banner. The square is renamed 'Place General De Gaulle.' Soldiers and policemen salute. Children hold flowers. People sing and dance in the square. Musicians play their instruments. (World War II period).
Allied troops soon after D-Day landings at Normandy in World War 2. View of Cherbourg town destroyed by the Germans. A soldier near a wall. The destroyed docks. A soldier on a destroyed inland bridge. French women and a man welcome the Allied troops with bouquets on a destroyed bridge. Hundreds of German officers and soldiers taken prisoners marched on the street. A wounded prisoner in a wheel barrow.
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