Shows an electric power plant set up in France to supply electricity using the country's water resources, during build-out of post-war industry in France. Trams running on the streets in French city. A train on railway tracks. French men work on assembly line of Renault 4CV cars at a Renault automobile production plant. View of various sater falls, rivers, streams and lakes in France. A map shows the 58 proposed dams, which have been planned to be built all over France.
Film notes 35th anniversary of Wright Brothers' first flight and reviews history of transportation and advances in transportation brought about by railroad and aircraft. An animated map of the United states before the advent of mechanized transport methods. It illustrates the difficult and long overland journey to travel from the East Coast to the West Coast. Travel by horse and wagon over the Santa Fe Trail in 1849 is recreated in a brief film clip. Next, a locomotive is shown pulling a passenger train at high speed along a railroad at the base of a mountain. Animated map charts fairly direct path from Coast to Coast, taking only 4 days by railroad. Next a nearly straight course is traced across the map illustrating the path of an airplane taking only seven and a half hours for the journey. Change of scene shows aerial view of Howard Hughes' Lockheed 14 Super Electra Special, Model 14-N2 ( NX18973), christened "New York World's Fair 1939," in flight over New York harbor with the skyline of Manhattan, New York City in the background. Camera follows the plane as it passes over lower Manhattan. The Empire State building is seen prominently with other skyscrapers below the aircraft. This was filmed, on July 14, 1938, as Hughes and his crew were returning from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Floyd Bennett Field, on Long Island, at the conclusion of their around-the-world flight (circling the Northern Hemisphere) from July 10 - July 14, 1938.
Historic U.S. Navy capture of German submarine (U-505) during World War 2. Crew assembles on flight deck of the USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60). Its Captain, Daniel V. Gallery, looks out from deck above. A Task Group of the Atlantic Fleet, consisting of the Guadalcanal, and five Destroyer escorts: the Pillsbury, Chatelain, Pope, Flaherty and Jenks, proceeds to operate against German submarines West of the Cape Verde Islands. Aboard the Guadalcanal, men train to capture a submarine, intact, if possible. The boarding team includes: Chief Photographer's Mate, Clifford Werler; Chief Pharmacist, Raymond Jackson; LTJG Mylo Keck; Ensign Fred Mittaugh; and Electrician First Class, William Stein; Ensign James Griffin; Machinist Mate 2nd Class, Walter Waller and Commander Earl Torcino. On June 4, 1944, the USS Chatelein makes sound contact with a submarine. The Task Group attacks it and forces it to surface under heavy gunfire. The German crew is rescued. Task Force boarding party successfully occupies and prevents the U-505 from sinking.
Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division training in England under General Clarence R Huebner, in preparation for the D-Day Normandy invasion in World War II. U.S. Navy ships underway at sea. Heavy naval guns bombard the coast of France on D-Day. U.S. Army soldiers seen during assault on Omaha beach with heavy losses on D-Day. U.S. soldiers and tanks encounter heavy German resistance in the "hedge rows." American soldiers digging trenches with shovels and picks and treating wounded comrade. Dead German soldier lying in street as Americans enter the town of Caumont (Caumont l'Eventé). Frenchman civilian pours wine for American soldier after they liberated Caumont l'Eventé from the entrenched German forces. An American helps a French civilian woman to reach a safe place crossing rubble. Damaged French houses along the sides of street. During rest, a soldier gives another a haircut, and another writes a letter. U.S. Air Force B-17s fly overhead and bomb near St. Lo, France on July 25, 1944. Other U.S. Army artillery units, the 4th and 9th Divisions, and General Patton's tanks provided support so the 1st Infantry (First Infantry or Big Red One) could occupy the area. Army combat engineers dig up mines and use construction equipment to clear debris. Wrecked houses and rubble. U.S. soldiers keep advancing through towns and eat and rest as they can. Road sign reads: "Coutances." First Infantry goes through Mortain, Etampes, Meaux, Soissons and across the Belgian border. German prisoners of war walk with their hands raised. German soldier digging out of fox hole. Siegfried Line and dragons teeth. Strong German resistance encountered at Aachen. Tanks fire in the field. House to house fighting in Aachen. Surrender of Aachen. A German flag laying in the street is run over by a U.S. military vehicle. German resistance is heavy during battle scenes in Battle of Hürtgen Forest. German and American artillery are seen in Hurtgen Forest. U.S. wounded treated. The 1st Division is pulled out for rest at the rear, in Belgium.
German World War 2 training film about the Messerschmitt Me-262 jet airplane. German ground crewman cleans engine nacelle marked "B4" on left wing of an Me-262 jet airplane, while another stands on the wing looking into the cockpit. The number "10" and "JL" are displayed on the fuselage. Two Luftwaffe pilots converse while standing near the aircraft. A ground crewman gives Nazi salute and appears to report the aircraft ready. The two pilots walk past the front of the airplane. Covers are in place over the engine intakes. While the pilots converse, a ground crewman removes the covers. The pilots walk to the engine, and the senior (presumably instructor) pilot removes a cap from its top and climbs up on the engine, as a ground crewman installs a screen in the engine intake (presumably to minimize foreign object damage from ground operation). The student pilot sits in the cockpit as the instructor pilot explains the aircraft displays and controls. Closeup of labels over the switches in the cockpit. Closeup of individual levers marked E5, E6, and E7, with on and off positions. Engine throttles (power levers) with pilot's gloved hand on them. Closeup of the instructor and student discussing aircraft controls. Schematic diagram showing throttle controls and metering of fuel to their respective engines.
Development of aviation in the United States during 1940s. Transport and bomber aircraft under construction in factories staffed by World War II war production workers. P-38 lightning fighters under construction in a factory, in 1944. A train carries raw materials on railroad in arid area. A woman taps rubber trees in tropical area. Formation of C-47 aircraft with individual planes "peeling off" for landing. American C-47 transport aircraft being loaded. Soldiers load a jeep on one. Soldiers load an artillery gun on another. C-47 taxis for takeoff. Flight of 4 twin-engine bombers head-on view. The roof of a building reads 'radio range'. Interior cockpit view of aircraft instrument landing system (ILS) localizer and glide path needles moving toward center. A pilot in cockpit of a plane. A radio navigation transmitting tower. A ship in the ocean with a PBY Catalina flying over it. Flight engineer at his station in multi-engine aircraft. (World War II period).
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