Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges of the United States Army at Master Tac headquarters area in Belgium, late in World War II. Lieutenant General Hodges bids farewell to Archbishop Francis J. Spellman. Archbishop sits in his car while talking to Hodges. The car drives away.
Animated map depicts German Westward military thrusts into Holland and Belgium and toward France in World War 2. German armor units passing dragons teeth defenses, from behind. German troops riding atop tanks and trucks towing artillery. German Stuka dive bomber aircraft. Map showing Albert Canal, Meuse River, and details of Fort Eben Emael. German Paratroopers dropping from Ju-52 aircraft. Closeup of Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber. German troops using flame thrower. German armed engineer troops cross a road near a bridge and cross Meuse River in inflated boats, as Stukas drop bombs. German troops advance behind battery of flame throwers. German soldier places demolition charge. Huge explosion as it destroys the Fort blockhouse. Allied troops cross French-Belgian border to confront German forces. French Lorraine 37L armored vehicles. Roads filled by Belgian civilian refugees with their belongings. Animated cartoon of German planes bombing Belgian villages, strafing refugees, so they would clog roads and block Allied advance. Views of clogged roads and German bombings. He-111 dropping bombs. Me-109s strafing refugees who take cover in ditches. views from inside German bombers. Montage of destruction by German planes. Wounded child cries out, traumatized, in a hospital bed. Another wounded and bandaged child is seen in a hospital bed. A nun nurse sits by the bed of a wounded child. Montage of refugee children leaving war zones atop piles of belongings in trucks, and children in prams and carts, and in strollers and horse carts evacuating battle areas. Map shows German plan to attack through Ardennes Forest. German engineers sliding down steep hills, fording rivers, and laying wire for demolitions. German troops setting up machine gun and artillery placements and firing at opposing troops. German tanks and troops going through the Ardennes to the Meuse River, where Stukas dive bomb French positions. German artillery barrage across the Meuse. German troops cross the river with inflated boats. German engineers building pontoon bridges. Shelling by Allies causing explosions beside German troops building bridges. German Armor crossing the bridges and entering France in Battle of France.
Reverend George Pire wins Nobel peace prize of $41 000 in Belgium. Dignitaries seated in room. The Reverend George Pire, a Dominican priest seated at desk goes through books and papers. The priest continues work of rehabilitation of refugees and displaced persons.
Film begins showing formation of German bombers in flight. Next, British and French troops are seen retreating under fire across a river using inflatable rafts. British artillery fires guns from sparse tree line. German troops crossing a river, in small inflatable boats, under heavy Allied artillery fire. German soldiers launch boats next to a destroyed bridge over a river. British artillery firing from tree line. Shells striking near the German forces by the river. German soldiers in Einheits-Pkw field cars ford a shallow river. German troops unroll a spool of communications wire upon the ground using a rolling dispenser. Sd.Kfz.11 German half-track pulling a 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18 (heavy field howitzer) up a muddy hill. Soldiers moving in a river aboard a Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf. A armored car. A Panzer tank being offloaded from a barge. Various German artillery firing, including a siege mortar, with their shells exploding on targets. German soldier holds his ears as heavy gun is fired. German troops, with shells bursting near them in water, carry timber to repair bridge. Line of Panzer tanks advancing. German heavy gun firing. Silhouette of tank treads moving through fire. A rocket sails through the air and strikes ground. Many rounds of machine gun tracer bullets seen in night. Fires consuming numerous buildings in Louvain (Leuven), Belgium. A dead horse on the street. Inhabitants fleeing the city on foot, bicycles, and in cars. View from distance of heavy black smoke over the city. Closeups of burning buildings. Police help an injured woman lying in grass beside a path. Glimpse of another woman lying on a stretcher. More scenes of fires. In Louvain, the tower of St. Peter's Church crashes in flames. More views of refugees in countryside, continuing to walk away from the city. One is a young girl with a wooden leg prosthetic using a cane. German troops entering the city. German troops, without helmets, manually moving an artillery piece along a path. A soldier seated, sleeping, at side of path. Two soldiers asleep on a motorcycle and sidecar. Many views of German soldiers sleeping beside the path. Another soldier asleep in the sidecar of a BMW motorcycle. Scene shifts to black smoke billowing from burning oil storage facility at Antwerp, torched by Allied forces in retreat. Aerial views from German Henschel He 126A-1 reconnaissance airplane, of Brussels, which was spared from destruction. German forces seen moving in the city. Shadow of reconnaissance airplane seen on ground as it flies over the city. Street level view of German forces in various vehicles driving on city street and others in countryside. Some troops on horseback and on bicycles. White smoke rising from industrial facility. A sign identifies the city of Sedan, Ardennes, France. A building smoking after being shelled. huge fires burning in Sedan. View from Meuse River of fires burning in Sedan. (Allied forces retreated to Dunkirk, from where many were safely evacuated to Britain.)
Civilians in bread line in Malmedy sector, Belgium. Civilians outside the bread store. Civilians in bread line leave store with loaves of bread.
Roadblock consists of 50 caliber machine guns and 90 mm AA gun in Malmedy sector, Belgium. Jeep passes by. Soldiers observe the 50 caliber machine guns and 90 mm AA gun at roadblock in forest. Soldiers talk near 90 mm AA gun. (World War II period).
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