Repatriation of French war prisoners and civilians in Paris, France toward the end of World War Two. Three U.S. C-47aircraft in flight approaching the Le Bourget airport. A fleet of U.S.Army Air Forces C-47 aircraft parked on the ramp and some taxiing. Ambulances and vehicles are positioned on the ramp as repatriated French soldiers deplane. Soldiers with their belongings moving in loose formation along the ramp. A C-47 taxiing. Its tail number is 42-24174, belonging to the 34th Troop Carrier Squadron, 315th Troop Carrier Group, of the U.S. 9th Air Force. An Air France JU-52 passenger aircraft is parked on the ramp, and civilians deplane, including Marcel Bloch, a French aircraft builder,who had been imprisoned in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, until April 11, 1945. (He later changes his name to Dassault, which will also become the name of his aircraft company, after the war). Also among the passengers is Marcel Rene, director of the French paper 'Resistance.' Several views of the aircraft's pilot and the civilian passengers.
View of the flight line at Denain Airfield (A-83) in France in April 1945, just prior to the end of world War Two in Europe. Martin B-26 Marauders of the 323rd Bomb Group taxiing. Airmen standing, around Army Ambulance number 728234, in the foreground. A derrick in the foreground. One of the taxiing B-26s has tail number 43-34138. All the aircraft have broad white stripe on top of their vertical stabilizers. (The aircraft of the 323rd are called the White Tails.) B-26s in flight overhead. Crew chief covers turret guns on a B-26.
Operations of the U.S. Army Air Forces 394th Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter Group, at Juvincourt Airfield (Advanced Landing Ground A-68) in France, during Winter of 1944, World War 2. The entire field is covered in snow. Pilots ride to their P-38 aircraft on a train of sleds, pulled by a Carl Eliason Motor Toboggan (Made by Four Wheel Drive Auto Company of Clintonville, Wisconsin). Pilots playfully brush some snow toward the camera as they pass. They stop to let a pilot off at his P-38 (reportedly the pilot is Jack Hallett). Next, P-38 aircraft are seen taxiing for takeoff over the snow, and then, flying very low over the field. The sound of gunfire is heard in the background. An abandoned (crash-landed) RAF Avro Lancaster bomber is seen collapsed on its left wing and elevator, in the snow. (It has been suggested that this might be Lancaster serial no ME850 LS-D of XV squadron RAF that crash landed on January 1st, 1945 or Lancaster VN-G of 50 SQN that crashed there on the same day.)
German troops are seen in white winter uniforms, during World War 2, with some holding panzerfaust. Narrator mentions combat against Anglo-Canadian forces, and then speaks of preparation for the New Year's offensive. Heinrich Himmler, as commander of Army Group "Oberrhein" had ordered the launch of Operation Nordwind to recapture Strasbourg. Accordingly, On New Year's Eve, 1945,The Germans launch an offensive (Nordwind) into Alsace, attacking the Allied 6th Army Group at multiple points. On January 5, 1945, Army Group Oberrhein begins a support attack by General Otto von dem Bach's XIV SS Corps, the 553d Volksgrenadier Division, reinforced with armor and commando units. They are seen crossing the Rhine river in small boats at Gambsheim, just ten miles north of Strasbourg. Allied aircraft bomb German positions on the West bank of the Rhein (Rhine) River. The German troopers seize high ground West of the Rhein. German troops are seen firing recoilless anti-tank weapons in a field, Views of knocked out British and American tanks. Abandoned German Jagdpanzer IV faces a U.S. Tank Destroyer. German troops are seen advancing into town North of Strasbourg (Herrlisheim, Drusenheim, Offendorf ?). Scenes of destruction in town. Words: "Haus Bewohnt Civil" scrawled on homes to identify them as civilian occupied.
View of smiling American troops of 2nd Armored Division eligible for redeploy and discharge on April 21, 1945. They stand next to a captured Nazi German flag in Cherbourg, France. One soldier wraps the Nazi flag around himself. Soldiers at rail of a large troop transport ship at a pier. Soldiers take a wounded man aboard ship on a stretcher. Soldiers and officers at the American cemetery. Soldiers raise their guns to pay respect to the graves. They salute. Wreath on a grave with cross marked "unknown". Soldiers and a few nurses boarding transport ship at dock. (World War II period).
Cartoon representation of German rail yards and war factories, opens the film. Cities of : Anklam; Bremen; and Frankfurt are highlighted as critical factory and railroad junctions. Animated map shows Allied air strikes against French marshaling yards in Spring of 1944 in preparation for the invasion at Normandy. In February, 1945 Allied officers use large wall map to discuss and plan the destruction of all railroad operations in the Ruhr and surrounding areas. View of U.S. bombers in formation (with fighter cover overhead) on bombing missions in Operation Clarion, against all small and medium rail junctions in Germany. View from Allied bomber of Bombs falling and exploding at a rail junction. More aerial views of bombs exploding in numerous places during this operation. An American B-17 Flying Fortress bomber dropping bombs on a railroad marshaling yard. Aerial view of bombs exploding on targets in Essen. Views of wide destruction wrought at German railroad facilities. A US Army Air Forces P-51 fighter plane descending to strafe a target. Gun camera views of aircraft strafing lines of communication in Germany, including road and barge traffic. Closeup of runs firing from P-51 aircraft. Railroad trains being strafed and dramatic explosions at target rail sites.
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