American troops invasion force group in large numbers in tent area. General Dwight D. Eisenhower walks and talks among the paratroopers and soldiers on the evening before the D-Day invasion of France in World War 2. Allied Invasion troops march onto landing craft. LST (Landing Ship Tank) loaded with soldiers. Normandy beaches: fires are burning and smoke is seen along coastline. Troops walk down gangplank into water of Normandy beaches on D-Day. Formation of USAF Boeing B-17s Flying Fortress in flight. Top turret of B-17, large formation of B-17s in the background. German Me 262 aircraft in flight, plane descends toward earth. B-17 bomber going down, engines on fire.
British troops evacuating from Dunkirk and arriving in Dover. British home guard civlians march and train. British troops in defensive positions on the cliffs of Dover. Winston Churchill sitting outdoors with Lord Louis Mountbatten . British civilians preparing air raid shelters. British farmers working their fields in August, 1940. They look up at the sound of approaching German bombers. RAF fighter planes intercept German bombers. One seen crashed on the ground. A fallen German aviator. Views of British countryside. Cemetery with crosses marking graves of downed German airmen. Closeup of graves of fliers, Leutnant R.Zehre and Unteroffizier Scheidt, German Air Force, downed on September 27, 1940. Blossoms on fruit trees. Artillery gun firing. Squad of British soldiers runs for cover as explosions occur around them. German Dornier Do 217 bomber in flames overhead. British paratroopers in training drop. Parachutes open. British soldiers charge out of trench as explosion occurs right in front of them in a live fire exercise. British troops firing automatic weapons from cover in brush. British sailors manning landing craft (invasion barges) carrying troops during beach landing exercises. The troops charge ashore as the boats hit the beach. British Able Seaman Fletcher in a landing craft, says in former raids on enemy territory, he had to put the "pungos"(sp?) (soldiers) ashore in a rowing boat. Navy Lieutenant John Lewis mentions several French coastal locations where the landing craft were used. He speaks of taking soldiers on raids and waiting to take them back home again. More scenes of British troops in live fire exercises.
Staff officers aboard USS Estes off the shore Okinawa, Japan during World War II. Interior of a plotting room aboard USS Estes (AGC-12) as staff officers plot the progress of operations in Okinawa using charts and operation plans. A teletype screen on a bulkhead in the background. The shoreline of Okinawa shows shells bursting and smoke columns near the beach. The message "Suicide boats hidden in inaccessible caves along beaches" appears on the teletype screen. A New York Class battleship from starboard quarter as signal hoist is raised on halyards. An officer reads a letter and turns pages. Pictures of suicide boats in caves are enclosed.
Allied Invasion of Southern France during Operation Dragoon of World War II on 15 and 16 August 1944. Invasion begins. Warships fire heavy naval guns and barrages of rockets. Landing craft carrying men and equipment, race toward the beach. Troops descend on nets from transport vessels. Boats being lowered at sea. Allied aircraft in flight drop bombs. Destroyer and PT boats escort some landing craft . American and French troops encounter no German resistance, except some rear guard sniping, as they advance on shore. 100 foot floating causeways are dropped into the water. Men and supplies landed. Mine detectors clear the roads. German prisoners were herded on beach for removal to ships. Animated map depicts the advancement in the Operation in its first 48 hours.
Landmarks and monuments in the city of Rome, Italy in the late 1930s. Exteriors of the Colosseum of Rome. Car traffic on street outside Colosseum. Views of the Monument of Victor Emmanuel II. White statues in the Foro Mussolini, Stadio dei Marmi. Some unidentifed buildings along a street. Scenes from a beach, presumably on the east coast of Italy not far from Rome. People walking on sand, and a group of beach cabana tents is seen. Next scene shows various ruins in the Roman Forum. That is followed by the gateway to the Vatican, and then a view of St. Peter's Basilica. (Amateur home movie.)
U.S. marines departing Guadalcanal as they are relieved by U.S. Army troops of the 23rd Infantry Division. They board landing craft, vehicle, personnel (LCVP), aka Higgins boats, of the USS Neville (AP-16). Two of the marines scrambles aboard one of the boats as its ramp is almost closed. View of marines packed aboard the LCVP as it gets underway. Two transport ships are anchored in the background. The most distant one is the USS Neville (AP-16). Scene shifts to beach crowded with departing marines and Higgins boats. Closeup of a marine holding a cigarette while eating a sandwich, and another with a bandage on his forehead. Numerous views of the beach crowded with marine; palm trees overhead; higgins boats departing to the USS Neville, and two transport ships anchored in the background. Closeups of marines on shore waiting for more Higgins boats to transport them. Scene changes to U.S. Marine Corps Brigadier General William Rupertus, Assistant Commander, 1st Marine Division; U.S. Army Major General Alexander Patch, Commander, 23rd Infantry Division (Americal Division) and U.S. Army Brigadier General Edmund Sebree, his Assistant Commander, posing for the camera as they ostensibly discuss a map. They shake hands with each other. General Sebree exchanges salutes with General Rupertus, and they all walk away. Next, the three generals pose for closeups. Film ends showing columns of marines moving along the sides of a road cut through a forest of palm trees.
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