Aftermath of an accident on July 20, 1944, when two U.S. Army Air Forces P-51C Mustang fighter planes,flying low in close formation, struck a palm tree and collided over the 2800 and 2900 blocks of Post Street, in between Willow Branch and Cherry Streets. The crash caused a three-alarm fire involving twelve houses, three apartments, and three garage apartments. Both pilots, one a Lee High School Graduate, died in the crash. The only other fatality was a person killed by an airplane engine that crashed into his residence. (Reportedly, the aircraft were buzzing the home where parents of one of the pilots lived, in the 2700 block of Post Street.) Firefighters extinguishing the fire. Smoking houses. Debris lying in the area. People gathered around the houses. A damaged house. A wrecked car. (World War II period).
Film opens with slate showing date: 6 June 1944, in World War 2. German newspapers report that combined forces of Britain, and the Soviet Union finally decided to launch their invasion of Europe. Headlines say "Invasion launched at Moscow's orders." A map highlights cities along the coast of France. Formations of Allied warplanes shown in flight overhead. Light signals seen in the dark as German forces send information about the attacks. Closeups of German military men communicating by radio and telegraph. Defense forces are called to battle stations by alarms and announcements. Responding soldiers grab rifles from a rack and rush through tunnels in their fortifications. They climb to man weapons atop their bunkers. Artillery shells being raised by hoists to them from bunkers below. Searchlights scan the dark sky for Allied aircraft, and anti-aircraft guns fire in the night, including a 2 cm Flakvierling 38, four-barreled gun. German forces firing on Allied paratroopers. German sailors aboard destroyers and fast attack "E" boats fire at Allied warships. Daylight scenes of Allied ships and German shore batteries firing at them. U.S. Porter-Class, and Benham-class destroyers firing at land targets in France. German soldiers loading and firing Atlantic Wall coastal defense guns. An allied ship explodes off the coast. More views of German coastal guns firing and another Allied ship hit and exploding. More coastal gunfire.
German prisoners of war at work digging graves for fallen American soldiers, at the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944, shortly after the D-Day invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord). This is the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II, and located on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel, east of St. Laurent-sur-Mer and northwest of Bayeux in Colleville-sur-Mer. (It is now the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.) Vertical posts with dog tags attached, mark the gravesites of the fallen troops. American soldiers sit near covered dead bodies of the fallen and perform tasks of identification and grave assignment. Covered remains of one soldier are carried across the field on a stretcher. Barrage balloons are seen in the sky overhead.
U.S. Army Air Forces begin operations on Saipan after its capture from the Japanese during World War 2. Japanese Zero fighter planes parked in a jumble on Saipan, after its capture by American forces in 1944. American soldiers are seen walking about and U.S. Army engineers are repairing the field for use. The first American P-47 to arrive, after Saipan is secured, lands on the airfield. Its pilot, Major Henry E. McAfee, Commander of the 19th Fighter Squadron, 318th Fighter Group, poses by his P-47 named "Jeanie." At another area of Saipan, U.S. Marines administer medical aid, including blood plasma, to a wounded comrade. A P-61 of the 6th Night Fighter Squadron lands on the field. Aerial views of Saipan, showing destroyed structures and buildings.
U.S. Destroyer ship, USS Drayton (DD-366) in camouflage paint, underway off Okinawa in World War II. Crew members crowd her decks as she sends a man,by high line transfer in large enclosed canvas sling, to nearby heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City (CA-25). View of the transfer from the cruiser. The Drayton moves away. A Vought OS2U Kingfisher scout plane lands in the slick of USS Salt Lake City and bounces about in rough water. View from the Salt Lake City of Japanese shells, from shore battery on Marcus Island, falling into the sea. Momentary view of Lieutenant Commander, Eddie Peabody and his troupe, entertaining sailors aboard the Salt Lake City in port at Ulithi, on Nov. 11, 1944.
Montage of war scenes related to World War 2 Allied invasion of France. German sentry looking though binoculars. German coastal rail gun. Field Marshal Hermann Goering with Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of German High Command, inspecting Atlantic Wall coastal defenses on French coast. Allied D-day forces boarding ships in England. Troops loaded and waiting for orders to depart. Barrage balloons aloft. British and American troops, Coast Guard men, and sailors being briefed and studying aerial photographs and maps of the coast of France in the Normandy beach landing region. General James Gavin briefing American Airborne troops. American and British aircrews being briefed for missions. British King George VI visiting Royal Navy sailors aboard British warship. Sailors use light signals; ships weigh anchors,cast lines. Task force convoys underway. General Eisenhower visiting US Army paratroopers of 101st Airborne Division. U.S. paratroopers boarding C-47 airplanes the night of June 5, 1944. A C-47 named: "That's All Brother."C-47s with D-Day paint stripes taking off at nightfall.
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