A film on the development of air power. A French observation balloon in flight at Souain in Marne, France on October 2, 1918 during World War I. Anti-aircraft bursts near the observation balloon. Wreckage of a bombed village in the background.
U.S. Navy Fleet Review on Christmas Day, 1918, in New York City harbor. View from stern of a ship flying large American flag. Behind it are several other vessels, including a small ship flying the American flag. The wind is strong causing the flags to stand out sharply. Barrage balloons are seen in the sky overhead. The battleship USS Nevada (BB-36) passes nearby, with the ship's company lining her deck in formation around her railings. Sailors loading a deck gun to fire salutes from the camera ship, as a ferry boat passes in the background. A transport ship in camouflage is in far background. Army and Navy officers aboard the camera ship salute colors on passing ship (unseen). A Florida class battleship passing nearby with her company assembled on deck. A New York class battleship passing in review. Sailor firing deck gun in salute from camera ship. Another New York Class battleship passing in review. U.S. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, and Secretary of War, Newton Baker, both in top hats, standing on deck of camera ship. The Statue of Liberty on Bedloes Island, in New York Harbor. The USS Texas (BB-35) passing in review, with a Camel Sopwith airplane on a launch platform installed atop her gun turret number 2. More battleships making way in trail formation. Aerial view from low altitude of the USS Arizona (BB-39).
Scenes from British feature film "The Somme" made in 1927, about the Battle of the Somme in World War 1. Part of it depicts events involving the South African Brigade in the battle. The extract opens with shells bursting all along No Man's Land among fragments of trees. Explosions and smoke everywhere. On July 18, 1916, Nine German Battalions deploy to drive the South African Brigade from the Delville Wood. Several soldiers of the Brigade seen entrenched in a sand-bagged position as a German shell explodes only yards from them. German soldiers advance through the broken trees and brush, while under fire by British gunners using Vickers machine guns. Some German soldiers falling and others seeking cover in abandoned trench. A line of South African troops firing their rifles from a trench, as several German soldiers reach them and are shot dead just feet away. A British soldier is shot while climbing out of a trench containing several fallen comrades. Other British (or South African) troops scrambling to find a safer place. One crawling across the ground. A British gunner firing a Lewis gun. German troops starting to go over-the-top, from their trench. British soldiers advancing. German gunner firing Maxim gun from fortified position, as shells burst in the distant background. A horizontal line of British troops advancing toward the German position. Some are cut down by the machine gun fire. German gunner firing a captured British Vickers machine gun. British soldiers hunkered down in a deep shell hole behind a ridge. They use their trenching tools to dig in deeper. Several German shells burst in the air. Two British soldiers watch as a tank approaches through the smoke. Large numbers of British troops attack downhill through smoke and haze. German soldiers preparing to defend an occupied structure, as more British troops charge forward. Post-battle view of the area, with fallen soldiers marked by rifles stuck in the ground with helmets on them. (Note: The tanks shown in this film are models Mark V which did not enter service until 1918.)
Opening scene shows a British Siege battery of several 9.2 inch howitzers. View from a protected position, of a huge shell exploding. A formation of French Spad airplanes in flight. A French Renault F-17 light tank traversing rough terrain near a forest. Bombs being dropped by hand from an open cockpit airplane. Three bombs exploding on the ground. German troops running past the camera. Glimpse of others in a trench in the background, who appear to be wearing Pickelhauben. Explosions with dense white smoke. A fallen soldier on a litter, on the ground. Nighttime view of artillery flashes. Troops silhouetted against fires burning in the background as they move at night. Smoke blowing across the scene, as artillery fires. A railroad gun firing. A battery of two French 320 mm railway guns. A shell exploding in a field. French 320mm gun firing. Two French 370mm railway guns. One is firing. A soldier sheltering in a deep shell hole and smoke rising all over No-Man's Land. Wounded soldiers recuperating in a hospital. Patients and medical staff posing for photographs in a ward. Signing of the Kellogg-Briand (Pact of Paris) outlawing war, on Aug. 27, 1928, at the Palais D'Orsay, in Paris, France.
French General reviewing troops passing in review on a rough field in France, at outset of World War 1. Infantry parade with shouldered rifles and fixed bayonets. Officers riding on horseback salute with sabers. Several Officers mounted on white horses review the troops from opposite side of the field,
Political scenario in Europe prior to World War I. Kaiser Wilhelm II reviews troops in Germany. The Kaiser on horseback followed by officers also on horseback. Emperor Franz Joseph I in Austria. He is accompanied by a royal party. A dignitary in a horse driven carriage. German General Von Hindenberg reviews a parade in Berlin. Soldiers march. Cavalry units move in review.
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