Germany defending against Soviet offensives along the Oder River in in Silesia, during World War 2. German infantry slogging through mud, past sign pointing back 6 Km to Ratibor,Germany, (present-day Racibórz, Poland) during World War 2. They are proceeding to reinforce defenses at Breslau. They carry many panzerfaust antitank weapons. Scene shifts to German officers conversing with General Hermann Niehoff, Commander of Breslau defenses. German gunners firing a Heavy 21 cm Mörser 18 gun at near-zero elevation. (General Niehoff holds his ears as it fires.) Shell explodes with large fireball in distance. Niehoff speaks with a smiling German officer and pats him on the shoulder, at an informal award ceremony on a street in outlying area of Breslau. German soldiers riding atop an Auto Union Kätzchen (armored personnel carrier) .It is towing a conveyance in which two soldiers ride.
Opening slate at start of film reads: "1942--1943 The Turn of the Tide." A column of British armor enters Bengazi, Libya, led by several troops in tankettes. Next seen are a Lee Medium Tank, M3 followed by an infantry tank, a jeep, another infantry tank and another Lee M3 Medium tank. Closeup of local people greeting the troops with upraised hands giving the "V" for victory sign. Another Lee M3 tank passes close by the camera. Black smoke is rising in the background. Scene changes to a half sunken ship near another burning in the harbor. Another view of this from further away above port buildings. Closeup of three smiling British soldiers leaning over a cartoon on a tank, of Winston Churchill (As a bulldog smoking a cigar and wearing a cap with the word "Victory" written on it). A crumpled captured flag with swastika on it. British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery stands atop a vehicle (unseen) and looks through binoculars. Below, a column of British supply vehicles is making its way along a path in the desert. Two tanks coming toward the camera through sand. Animated map shows Nazi territory being threatened by the Allies from the Mediterranean, the USSR, and the English Channel. Views of Soviet infantry advancing against German forces in the snow of winter on the eastern front. Soviet troops firing updated 76-mm divisional gun model 1902 hidden in woods. Shells exploding in snow-covered field as Soviet BT series tanks advance. Various Soviet artillery firing from fixed gun batteries and from woods. A shell striking in distance. Fallen German soldiers lying on snowy field. Makeshift battlefield crosses marking graves of fallen German soldiers. German steel helmets lined up in the snow. A sign, posted on a birch tree, lists the names and birth dates of 16 German soldiers from the 3rd Panzer Division (3Pz-Pi-BH.39) buried at this site on November 28, 1941. Scene shifts to Joseph Stalin addressing Soviet troops in Red Square, Moscow, Russia. All the soldiers in formation seem to be singing (unheard). Film switches to animated map again. This time delineating the Eastern front being pressed by the USSR, and showing area of the 2nd Soviet winter offensive in 1943. Change of scene from Europe to the War in Asia, against Japan, shows General Douglas MacArthur after arriving by a B-17 bomber at a Pacific island American base. He ascends a steep hill in a jungle area, accompanied by other officers. Closeup of MacArthur. American infantry moving in single file in New Guinea, as a field piece fires a round in the direction they are headed. U.S. artillerymen load shells into a 105mm howitzer gun. A fire burns as mop-up operations begin on New Guinea. An Australian soldier is seen firing a Bren gun in jungles. Other Australian soldiers fire a mortar that explodes, raising earth and dust. More views of shells exploding near Allied soldier advancing. A soldier with fixed bayonet makes a fake charge toward the camera. Views of Japanese prisoners of war guarded in an outdoor compound. Japanese dead soldiers on Guadalcanal. An animated map shows new battle lines in the Pacific, closing in on Japan, with pressure from China, the USSR, and the Pacific islands being captured by the U.S. Arrows are added showing new pressure from American naval fleets and from British and American bombers out of Australia and captured islands.
USS Campbell tying up to a supply ship in the United Kingdom, during World War 2. Views of the USCGC (US Coast Guard Cutter) Campbell, tying up to an anchored British supply vessel in the UK, during World War 2. A British Flower Class Corvette, in camouflage paint, seen briefly passing behind the two ships. Hills in the near background. Crew members on both ships raising hawser out of the water.
Sand table animation shows plan of attack on Liege. Point of application for initial thrusts is Fort Eben Emael on border of Belgium and Netherlands. Map illustrates bombardment fron the air by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). River Meuse and the Albert canal in the city. Bridge on the river. First line-the Ijssel position, second line-the Grebbe position, third line-the the Meuse position, fourth line- the Peel position. Fifth line-the Willem canal fortification and sixth line-the Albert canal fortification. Soldiers move in trucks on the street. German assault and shock troops use rubber boats with ladders to cross river Meuse under fire. Mechanized German infantry and bicycle contingents cross river Meuse over bridges not destroyed. Houses and buildings alongside the street. Soldiers fire guns in field. Smoke arises due to the firing. Soldiers at a boat in the waterway. Destruction of Werk 4 bunker fortification at Fort Eben-Emael. Wreckage from bombardment. Heavy smoke arises from firing and bombardment. Captured Dutch and Belgian Prisoner of War soldiers walk on the street under guard of German soldiers during German occupation. (World War II period).
Film opens with animated map showing Fort Eben-Emael in Northeastern Belgium, during World War 2. It higlights the Albert and the Willem Canals nearby. German troops are shown hunkered down near a path by a canal. Their commander orders one squad to advance. They cross the path and go down the canal embankment. A destroyed bridge seen in background. Next, the squad of four is seen in a small boat, passing the destroyed bridge as gunfire sounds.They reach the other shore and scramble up the embankment. A Panzer IV tank firing point blank to the rear, at a building. View from German held bank of a Canal as German shells strike the opposite shore. A Panzer IV tank moving past the camera and onto a bridge crossing a canal.(Narrator notes that the The 18th Army under Generalfeldmarschall Georg von Küchler and the 6th Army under General Walther von Reichenau, are participating in this campaign.) High ranking German officers riding in an open staff car carrying a gunner with a machine gun. German troops marching alongside a road as others in trucks drive past. German towed artillery moving along a road past local refugees carrying their belongings in horse-drawn wagons. Map highlights waterways and Dutch city of Moerdijk, which it reflects as German territory, along with other places as illustrates areas falling under control of the German armies advancing toward Rotterdam in "Fortress Holland." German soldiers fighting in urban Holland. Two hunkered down by a gas station. The sky illuminated by fires raging from German bombardment. German Commanders consulting with their officers. German soldiers climbing over house roofs and entering therefrom. Army trucks and armor advancing into a city. Two Dutch defenders surrendering. A Dutch officer accompanied by a soldier with a white flag, being escorted by a German officer. A Dutch vehicle with a white flag, leading several past a windmill. Dutch Commander,Colonel Pieter Wilhelmus Scharroo, enters a building with several staff, and sits at a table opposite Generalleutnant Rudolf Schmidt and other high ranking officers, to negotiate terms of surrender. The German officers are seen reviewing maps of the area. Numerous Dutch prisoners of war are seen marching along a road.
Film starts showing diagrams of German army artillery firing plan supporting Battle of France during World War 2. German army officers are seen viewing maps and going over plans. Animated map shows British and French forces in the West and German break-through army poised to the East of the Maginot Line. The animated German break-through forces advance behind artillery. View of a German gun crew firing a 21cm heavy howitzer, and its shells exploding in the distance. Various views of German gun crews loading and firing heavy artillery and the shells striking with large explosions. German infantry soldiers seen moving through area filled with obstacle defenses. A line of German Panzer I tanks moving along a road between the obstacles. More views of German artillery firing. Machine gun firing and fires breaking out at night, and German tanks moving over fires burning on the ground. Machine fun tracer rounds seen in the dark. Many buildings being consumed by flames. Surrendered French soldiers being searched by German soldiers. A large open air compound containing many French prisoners of war taken by the German forces. Various views of the prisoners in the compound.
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