Soon after the end of World War 2, Japanese children walk in a trench in Tokyo, Japan. Group of boys fishing above a dock. Fire gutted building in the background in war ravaged Japan. Wrecked buildings and houses from bombing. Citizens living in poverty. Men stand outside the shacks. A woman holds a cat in her arms outside a shack.
Shacks and simple temporary homes seen in Tokyo, Japan after the end of World War II. Wrecked building in the background. Men work outside the shack. Rubble near the shack. Trees in the background. Children stand outside the shacks during time of post war poverty. Soldier and a woman walk on the street.
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).
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