Film opens with map showing lower France and Mediterranean areas. However, it shows images covering primarily the French Riviera (or Côte d'Azur) under German occupation during World War II, in 1943 or 1944. German infantry march along a road. A flight of German FW-190 Fighter airplanes flies inland from the Mediterranean Sea and crosses low above a harbor. Change of scene shows a single fighter plane buzzing the Marseille Port. (It looks like a P-47 with invasion stripes. But It does not draw any anti-aircraft fire.) Camera tracks it from vantage point at the Marseille Basilica, high above the harbor. Brief view of the Basilica as the aircraft passes. A glimpse of the Marseille Port below from the Basilica. View of the Marseille Transporter Bridge designed by Ferdinand Arnodin and built in 1905. (It was destroyed after these films were made, in 1944.) A German soldier peering through binoculars in front of a 2 cm Flak 30/38/Flakvierling, quad anti-aircraft gun position. Another one is seen in the background. Several more views of German anti-aircraft and other gun emplacements protecting the Marseille Port, including 88mm guns, heavy machine guns, and Atlantic Wall coastal defense guns. Scene shifts to German soldiers marching near the French Riviera beach and palm trees. Italian cavalry are seen riding in formation, ostensibly from Nice. Italian soldiers in trucks are being transported along the Riviera waterfront. A road sign points toward Toulon at 6.3 kilometers away. (So this location is probably near Sanary-sur-Mer.) View of the Toulon harbor, where the French battleship Provence, scuttled in 1942, is seen settled low in the water at a pier.
Allied campaign against the Axis in 1944 during World War II. Exteriors of Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC. Representatives of the United Nations at a meeting inside the mansion. A railroad train arrives and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gets off the train in Quebec, Canada for the Quebec Conference. Churchill confers with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt about Allied plans during the war. French FFI or Maquis groups in France. President Roosevelt acknowledges a large crowd in the U.S. after being reelected President for a third term. People celebrate his victory and hold signs cheering. American Civilians (mostly women war production workers) work in war production plants to produce aircraft, tanks and other equipment in the United States. Rows of aircraft engines, cockpits, and gun turrets being produced. On December 16, 1944, German forces launch a major-counter attack through the Ardennes forests, resulting in the "Battle of the Bulge" in Belgium. View of German soldiers and a German Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer rolling by. German soldiers advance past destroyed Allied tanks and trucks.
British Embassy bombing in Rome, Italy. A newsreel titled ' British embassy dynamited' shows the wrecked front portion of British embassy in Rome, Italy after it was bombed. The British Embassy (Via XX Settembre 80/a, 00187 Rome, Italy) with a gaping entranceway and its residential section damaged. The internal façade of the Porta Pia, a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, can be seen in the background. People look at the bomb wreckage. Roman Carabinieri on the scene. A Carabinieri searches for evidence in the rubble. Trinitrotoluene planted in suitcases caused the explosion.
July 10, 1943, U.S. invades Sicily in Italy. Fleet of warships underway. Navy bombardment of Sicily. Coast Guardsman observes through binoculars. Coast Guardsmen carry troops and supplies in LCVPs (Higgins Boats). LST-356 approaching Blue Beach 2, in the "Cent" area on July 10, 1943, loaded with tanks and other vehicles. A beach master signals with semaphore flags. Troops landing from assault boats. Concentrated enemy air attacks destroy U.S. boats and ships. Enemy aircraft in flight. U.S. troops firing. A map shows Italy. September 9, 1943, amphibious assault on Anzio, Italy. Naval bombardment, followed by troop assault on the beaches.
Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret visit Rome, Italy. They visit the archaeological site of Ostia Antica (Viale dei Romagnoli, 717, 00119 Roma RM, Italy) in Rome. They are followed by few officials and a crowd. The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret then visit Villa Borghese (Piazzale Napoleone I, 00197 Roma RM, Italy). They descend the steps of Villa Borghese. A fountain in Villa Borghese gardens. Queen Elizabeth (the mother of Queen Elizabeth II) poses with a man.
The fountain of Neptune (Fontana del Nettuno) in Messina (Via G. Garibaldi, 98122 Messina ME, Italy) shows damage after the Allied Invasion of Sicily during World War 2. Messina’s waterfront, the Via Vittorio Emanuele II, with damaged structures and rubble strewn all over. The Comune di Messina-Palazzo Zanco at Via S. Camillo, 110, 98122 Messina ME with the word “Vincere” (“win” in Italian) on the side of the building, with the war memorial Monumento ai Caduti (Via Consolato del Mare, 25, 98122 Messina ME, Italy) seen on the left. View from the intersection of Via Antonio Laudamo and Via G. Garibaldi shows Via Antonio Laudamo strewn with rubble, with The Church of Christ the King (Viale Principe Umberto, 93, 98122 Messina ME, Italy ) in the background with a sign “DUCE” (title of Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini). Closer view of The Church of Christ the King and the sign “DUCE”. A street in Messina with wrecked vehicles. View of the Strait of Messina, with smoke in the horizon.
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