Official trial of the Wright airplane at Fort Myer in Virginia, United States demonstrating compliance with specifications in the presence of the Aeronautical Board, U.S. Signal Corps. Orville Wright prepares to board the airplane with U.S. Army Lieutenant Frank Purdy Lahm. A crowd around the launching tower. U.S. soldiers pull a weight up in the tower. The airplane is launched and it flies over barracks and administration buildings. A crowd attends the event. The airplane lands. The airplane being readied for a flight. Orville Wright stands near the cockpit of the aircraft.
Aerial views of Washington DC monuments and the surrounding area in the United States. Aerial views of the Fort Lesley J McNair. The Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.
Aerial views of Washington DC monuments and the surrounding area in the United States. Aerial views of the Fort Lesley J McNair. The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. Buildings along the sides of the Potomac River. Capitol building in the far background.
United States Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps Director Oveta Culp Hobby speaking to first WAAC officers to graduate from Officers Candidate School in Fort Des Moines, Iowa during World War II. The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps salute before taking their seats. Audience clapping before Director Hobby congratulates the graduates of the six-week WAAC program. “In the days and years to come, this saga will become of increasing strength to the nation. Shortly you will go on active duty, your graduation today is, in a real sense, a commencement of service” Hobby continued. “I can assure you, that you will be serving the purpose you had in mind when you volunteered as officer candidates for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. I can assure you that it is a path of duty and devotion. You will serve as incorruptible witnesses for freedom. You have formed the soul of this corp. We will flourish and inspire and guide those who will follow you” Hobby concludes her speech before introducing Representative Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers to the graduates.
Wide views of the German training ship SMS Schleswig-Holstein as it sails into the Polish port city of Danzig (Gdansk), beginning the German invasion of Poland in World War II. The Deutschland class battleship had been stationed close to the harbor since August 25th under the pretenses of a ceremonial visit, but 225 German soldiers were hiding belowdecks. In the morning of September 1st, the battleship fires on the fortified Polish munitions depot on the Westerplatte Peninsula, the first shots of World War II. Views onboard the Schleswig-Holstein of German sailors firing guns and Captain Gustav Kleikamp looking on through binoculars. After the bombardment, a white Polish surrender flag is visible flying from a building onshore. A "Westerplatte" peninsula sign and the ruined walls of the Westerplatte fort are shown from onboard a boat in the port of Danzig. German and Polish officers discuss surrender terms. German soldiers distribute cigarettes to battle-weary Polish Navy prisoners of war.
Shows four soldiers from U.S. 4th Engineers division ferry a Bantam Car or 'The jeep' across river stream..Driver carefully reverses jeep onto a tarpaulin sheet. Soldiers wrap up jeep and tie it up. Waterproofed Jeep is successfully ferried across river by troops. July 1941. (World War II period).