Brief opening scenes show ships being engulfed in flames and smoke from Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 in World War 2. Focus is primarily on the USS Arizona. Scene shifts to Japanese troops assembling on a pier and boarding troop transport ships bound for Manchuria and China, following the Mukden Incident of September, 1931. Japanese troops are then seen marching into Manchuria on September 18, 1931. A formation of Japanese soldiers presents arms. In another formation, they shoulder swords. Closeup of a Japanese soldier in a steel helmet with chin strap in place. A steam locomotive pulls a train into the Chin Hsien station on the South Manchurian Railway. A Japanese train on that line had been dynamited, triggering a Japanese push into Mukden. View from behind a train leaving Chin Hsien on the South Manchurian Railway. Japanese battalions place bundles of straw across a stream to facilitate troop crossing. A column of Japanese troops is seen crossing the water on the makeshift straw crossing. Japanese troops advancing along with supplies carried by pack animals. Troops traverse a sandy berm past an abandoned two-wheel cart. A formation of 12 Japanese G3M bombers flies overhead in a "V" formation en route to bomb Mukden. View of Chinese population running for shelter from the bombing. Chinese walk past some civilian casualties lying in a street. The League of Nations headquarters in Palais Wilson, Geneva, Switzerland. A memorial to Woodrow Wilson at the Palais Wilson reads: "A La Memoire De Woodrow Wilson President des Etats-Vnis,Fondatevr DL La Societe Des Nations, La Ville de Geneve." A car driving away from the entrance of the League Headquarters. Closeup of doorway with sign identifying it as the entrance for delegates and members of the Press. League delegates are seen inside its meeting hall. Japanese warships are seen next, attacking 15 miles from Shanghai with naval gunfire.Three Mitsubishi 2MR4 (Type 10)Reconnaissance biplanes are seen in flight above the barrel of a large naval gun. Japanese troops marching into Shanghai, as people on the roadside wave Japanese flags. Next, they are seen marching out of Shanghai at the insistence of the League of Nations. After signing a truce with China, on May 4, 1932, Japanese troops are seen entering Mongolia, in September, 1932, which they reconstituted as the Puppet State of Manchuko. A Japanese soldier standing atop a building waving a Japanese flag. Japanese statesmen resigning and leaving the League of Nations in protest after it labeled Japan an aggressor. Japanese forces fire a long barrel Type 89 cannon (150mm) as they push into China proper. Group of Japanese artillerymen use range finders, Periscopic viewers and binoculars to guide the gunners. Shell explodes raising large amount of earth. More views of artillery firing and infantry advancing. Infantry crossing a bridge and raising siege ladders to scale a fortress. Engines running on Japanese Ki 30 Type 97 airplanes, as pilots get final briefing and orders. They salute, board their aircraft, and are seen in formation aloft, dropping bombs. View from the air of bombs striking below. View from a bomber of its bombs dropping from the aircraft (bombs away view) and exploding on the ground. A column of Chinese soldiers moves along a section of the Great Wall of China heading into the interior of China. Civilians moving all manner of equipment and machinery into the interior.
Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering walk together up the steps of Hitler's Berghof residence in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany. Inside the two walk about and converse. Views of them in several different rooms of the building. Hitler and Goering silhouetted against the large windows in one room, containing a long table and a world globe. Change of scene showing Nazi foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, being greeted by Soviet Union Minister of Foreign affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, in Moscow, Russia, where they negotiated a Nazi–Soviet non-aggression pact (also called the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) in August 1939. Von Ribbentrop is seen seated with Soviet negotiators. Various newspapers reflect mixed world wide views. Some question whether war or peace is ahead. Another notes that the Reichstag supports the diplomatic initiative. Another suggests that England and France must decide. One headline says Chamberlain will want war. Next, Polish forces are seen on parade being reviewed by General Władysław Bortnowski. Among forces parading are mounted cavalry, marching infantry, a formation of PZL P.11 fighter planes, Tk-3 tankettes (Tankietka), 120 mm wz. field guns, CP7 Ursus artillery tractors pulling wagons, antiaircraft guns mounted on trucks, and army trucks carrying soldiers. Scene shifts to German airmen loading bombs on aircraft; arming machine guns; refueling; and testing functionality of aircraft elements, such as turrets. Pilot in cockpit as engines start on a Dornier Do 17 bomber. Ground crew pull chocks and aircraft taxis out. A Heinkel He 111 bomber taxiing. Two of them take off. A Do 17 takes off, followed by more He 111s. Closeup of one flying low over the camera on takeoff. A mixed formation of German aircraft aloft, including several fighters flying top cover; nine Dornier Do 17s; and other bombers. Aerial closeup of a Do 17 seen from adjacent wingman. Closeup of several He 111s in formation. Closeup of gunner in turret. View from above of three camouflaged Do 17s flying far below. Closeup of pilot in cockpit of He 111 with wingman off to left side. More views of Do 17s flying over patchwork of farmlands. Gunner preparing in his turret. Clouds from antiaircraft fire seen from plane cockpit. Bombs falling and exploding on city below. Succession of bomb craters in a line across a flat area of land. View from aircraft of damaged Polish aircraft on an airfield. Scenes of devastation on the ground including destroyed buildings and Polish aircraft. Waves of German Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) dive bombers taking off; in formation; and peeling off to dive on targets. View from cockpit of one, through rotating propeller, as it dives to bomb a railroad marshaling yard, and view back as it pulls out, showing clouds of smoke rising in its wake. Several German officers peruse damage at rail site. Destroyed Bridge and shipyard. The German battleship, Schleswig-Holstein bombarding the Polish base at Danzig's Westerplatte on September 1st, 1939. German artillery firing in Poland. Formation of Do 17 bombers overhead. Damaged and abandoned wooden wagons at side of road traveled by Polish civilians evacuating in a horse-drawn wagon and herding their cattle to safety. Destroyed Polish artillery and equipment and horses during German invasion. Men dig graves and bury dead Polish soldiers. Vies from air of bombed out part of Warsaw. Polish citizens gathered in places seeking assistance. German forces on parade in Warsaw, including German soldiers goosestepping. Closeups of Adolf Hitler reviewing them.
In South Bend, Indiana, views of a "Giant Car" Studebaker roadster built by a group of 60 craftsmen working under Studebaker's Paul Auman. This giant scale version 1931 model 80 Studebaker Four Season Roadster was used in the film "Wild Flowers." The Giant Car is 41 feet long with a wheel base of 325 inches. It is 13 1/2 feet high, 15 feet wide, and weighed 5 1/2 tons. Men drive up beside the giant President roadster in a normal vehicle. Some use a rope ladder to climb up into the giant car and others climb up the wheel fender and then onto the hood. A boy is shown trying unsuccessfully to climb up a giant wheel of the car (each wire wheel was 6 feet 8 inches in diameter and weighed 600 pounds). The boy's small pedal car is seen beside the Giant Car tire. A police officer in a motorcycle rides up beside the giant car. He places a board-style 'Police Ticket' on the running board and then climbs up onto the running board to present the ticket to a woman who is behind the wheel of the giant roadster.
Chemical warfare activities of the AEF (American Expeditionary Force) in France during World War I. A member of the American Expeditionary Force disarms a German 105 mm gas shell. A U.S. soldier places gas cylinders into long pipes on the ground. A number of pipes facing upwards.
A United States Army training film about defense against chemical warfare during World War I. The "Collective Protector" enables a general and the staff to work on their maps and orders without gas masks at the Division Headquarters. Two soldiers outside the headquarters wearing gas masks. They guard a low entrance doorway and enclosed tunnel with a heavy, flexible door designed to keep out gas. A soldier lifts the flap of the door and enters. Officers converse with each other while looking at a map on a wall. Soldier stands by rotating a handle on a device continuously. It has a long wide pipe connected to it, perhaps managing fresh air intake or air exchange. U.S. soldiers wearing gas masks load ammunition onto trucks. "Enemy" aircraft flies overhead throwing a cloud of poisonous gas that quickly envelops the area. A soldier wearing a gas mask fires his rifle into the air at the aircraft, through the heavy smoke screen. Gas sentries neutralize the gas around a dump. They dig in the ground with pick axes and mattocks, and then spread a white powder over the area. They then cover the area with a thin layer of the dirt they had dug up.
Scenes of German Kaiser Wilhelm II with German troops in a forest area of Europe. The Kaiser stands with a number of officers and talks to them. He is seen smiling and laughing while talking to one officer. He reviews long lines of troops as they march with rifles in hands. He salutes. Officers standing next to the Kaiser salute, as battalions march past them.