Opening scene shows German LVG biwing airplane with gunner in rear cockpit, receiving bombs from ground crewmen and storing them in his cockpit during World War 1. The pilot is inspecting the front cockpit. Next is a view of the battlefield, from the air. White smoke drifts in places and troops on the ground scurry to new positions as if escaping gas. View from wing of German airplane, showing pilot and gunner in forward and rear cockpits, respectively. Gunner raises a bomb from his cockpit and drops it overboard. Explosion is seen on the ground. Several other explosions and white smoke are seen. Scene shifts to a dogfight taking place in the air, between Allied and German aircraft. View from inside the German airplane shows the gunner firing his machine gun. Glimpse of gunner and pilot seen in the airplane, from the rear. Airplanes maneuvering in flight. View from rear of pilot in cockpit of the German airplane. An allied airplane attacks a German blimp, setting it on fire. It plummets to the ground in flames., trailing heavy black smoke. Next French Niewport airplanes are seen in formation and then engaging in a large dogfight with German aircraft. .
Opening slate reads: "Leaving as friends the land they entered as foes." A large contingent of German soldiers is seen assembled for departure by a building, in a French city, along the Belgian and Luxembourg border, that Germany had occupied during World War 1 Next, a German army brass band parades along a street of the city, through a crowd of French inhabitants, many of whom walk along the sides of the street keeping up with the band. The last moment of the clip displays a slate reading: "Auf Wiedersehen."
Map shows French coast, English Channel and principal cities of interest, during the Allied invasion in World War 2. German Messerschitt Bf 109 aircraft on a flight line are starting up. Pilots getting buckled into cockpits and ME 109s taxiing for takeoff. Switch to German Focke-Wulf FW 190 aircraft taking off in formation from forward airfield. Contrails seen from high flying aircraft. Formations of American aircraft overhead, are fired at by German antiaircraft gun from hidden position. German antiaircraft batteries in operation. Wreckage of downed Allied aircraft, showing two left engines of a B-17; an A-20 or B-26, in D-day white stripes, with tail number 30148; and a crash-landed B-17 of the USAAF 96th Bombardment Group, 339th Bomb Squadron, with left horizontal stabilizer and elevator shot to pieces. Three surviving crew members stand behind the aircraft as they are approached by two German soldiers who check them for weapons.
Map of the French coast and English Channel, highlighting major cities. German armored half-track and SP Flak on a Maultier half-track, camouflaged with foliage. German troops driving livestock along a dirt road. German army trucks barely visible under camoflage of tree branches and foliage. Allied fighter bombers attacking German positions and smoke rising from bombing. French civilians salvaging belongings and some leaving their war-torn village. View of destroyed and damaged buildings in the village and citizens working to clear debris. An injured person being carried on a stretcher by white-helmeted voluteers. A family leaving with their belongins piled into a horse-drawn wagon. Boys pulling a wagon with their belongings. Women pushing baby carriages as they leave their homes. A small group of French Colonial troops taken prisoner, being escorted under guard, along a dirt road. Large numbers of Allied prisoners of war (POWs), being marched through a French city, as local French people watch from sidewalks.
U.S. Martin B-26 Marauder aircraft of the 323rd Bombardment Group (9th Air Force, 98th Bomb Wing) taxiing and taking off (in pairs) at Denain Airfield (A-83) in final days of World War II. They display the White Tails that distinguish the 323rd Bomb Group.
German air defense forces scramble to intercept British aircraft during World War II. German anti aircraft gunners are alerted and run to man their battery of 8.8cm FLAK 36 guns. Fw-190A-3 fighters take off to engage British aircraft. Glimpse of German pilot in his cockpit. An Me-410 heavy fighter, with cross on its fuselage, seen ahead through his cockpit window. Aerial view of aircraft maneuvering in dogfights at high altitude, generating condensation trails. Another glimpse of a German pilot in his cockpit. Aircraft falling in pieces. An aircraft falls trailing smoke. German gun crew cheering. More fighter aircraft leaving contrails. German gun crew watching the skies. A German Me-109 in flight. Partial view through German aircraft cockpit window of another aircraft in flight, ahead. Scene shifts to flaming wreckage of a British warplane on the ground. A German officer speaking to a British RAF pilot, near the wreckage. He gives the pilot a document. German soldiers surround a parachute billowing on the ground. Scene shifts back to the RAF pilot looking through the aircraft wreckage. He wears sun glasses and a bandage can be seen on his left eye. An armed German soldier guard now stands with him.
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