Opening scene shows ambulatory wounded of the British Expeditionary Force being processed as they board a ship for evacuation from the port of Boulogne, during the Battle of France in World War 2. As ambulatory soldiers board, they are tagged. View of some boarding who are not necessarily wounded, including two women in uniform wearing steel helmets. Wounded on stretcher being carried along a gangplank. Closeup of some who are bandaged. Ambulances park beside the ship, and troops help carry wounded aboard. Soldiers wearing white armbands remove identification tags from wounded soldiers as they are carried or walk aboard.
Pope Pius XII meets Allied troops at Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy during World War 2. Members of the British 8th Army at side of open aisle in St Peter's Basilica (Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City). A procession led by Swiss Guards. Papal entourage walks down the aisle followed by Pope Pius XII on a gestatorial chair (sedia gestatoria). He blesses the troops as he goes. Pope descends the chair and walks to the throne. He seats himself and addresses the troops. The troops listen to the Pope. Pope Pius XII rises from the chair and bestows blessings on the soldiers.
Canadian De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito aircraft is shown to the public for the first time, in Canada, early in World War 2. Air Force officers stand near the aircraft. British test pilot Geoffrey Raoul de Havilland Jr., son of the famed British aviation pioneer and aircraft designer, pilots the airplane in a demonstration flight. The plane taxis for takeoff. De Havilland circles and buzzes the field several times to demonstrate its speed and maneuverability. At one point, he feathers the right engine and demonstrates its excellent single-engine flight characteristics. Complete change of scene, to Wayne, Michigan, in the United States and a snow-covered air field where a Stinson Model 76 observation aircraft (registered NX27772) demonstrates its extreme short takeoff and steep climb capability.. Aerial view of the airplane maneuvering aloft and then landing in the snow, whereupon, it spins about in a 180 degree turn and immediately takes off, again, in very short distance and a steep climb. (Note: NX27772 was the final prototype for the L-5 Sentinel airplane, as it was named, when delivered to the U.S. Army.)
Supplies are carried by trains and trucks in Alaska. Ships unload food and supplies at Skagway, Alaska. Smoke rises from smokestack of the ship. Men unload the supplies. Train of the Yukon railroad, under operation by the United States Army is loaded with food and supplies for troops guarding arctic outposts in World War II. A Yukon Railroad train moves along railroad tracks. A sign reads "Whitehorse, Yukon" at the Whitehorse stop in Yukon territory of Canada. Truck on the new Alaska Truck Highway passes by with freight it received at Whitehorse.
Opening scene shows crowds of Parisians surrounding tanks of Free French General Philippe Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division and elements of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division enter Paris, on August 25, 1944, during World War 2. General Charles de Gaulle is seen with French officials in the crowd during liberation of Paris. A Free French soldier speaks to a tank driver and points to the source of some lingering German resistance gunfire. The crowds drop to the ground as gunfire erupts. A French tank fires its gun at a building harboring the German resistance elements. Some persons take shelter behind jeeps. People scramble for shelter in the courtyard of the Notre Dame cathedral. Smoke rising from targeted buildings. People lying down en masse on the ground as gunfire continues.
A large cathedral dominates the opening scene. It seems relatively undamaged although their are destroyed buildings all around it from bombing during World War 2. People are seen carrying their belongings as they flee the area. They pass through narrow corridors between destroyed buildings. View of an orphanage named St. Catharina. View of infants in cribs inside the orphanage. Staff and nurses leading the children out of the building and then loading them aboard a bus. One attendant giving treats to very small infants. Staff waving goodbye to the children and caregivers on the bus, as it departs. Refugees using wagons pulled by cattle to transport them and their belongings. Livestock on the hoof being herded along a road.
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