Film opens showing German Colonel General Heinz Wilhelm Guderian, who was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army, by Adolf Hitler, on 21 July 1944, in World War 2. He is being feted as the New Army Chief. He reviews a large Honor Guard of German troops who line both sides of a street, in Germany. Local people cheer him from the sidewalks, and he is greeted by several German Youth girls. He steps into a building where other officers greet him and present him with a scale model of what appears to be a Panther Ausf. G tank. He looks closely as another officer points out the model's features. He then writes his name in the city's book of distinguished visitors. Complete change of scene shows General Guderian visiting members of his family, who greet him with kisses at the entrance to their house in Goslar, Germany. Inside their home Guderian shares coffee and cake with them at their dining room table. He and family members then look together through albums of photographs and memorabilia, of his career in the military, including one photograph of General Guderian with Adolf Hitler.
German forces smash into the U.S. First Army positions along a 45-mile front and advance deep into Luxemburg and Belgium, in Battle of the Bulge during World War II. Animated maps show Germany, France, and Belgium. German Tiger tanks, troops, and artillery in action against Americans. Vehicles of United States convoy wrecked and burning along road, as German troops advance past the burning vehicles. Fire and smoke rise from U.S. tanks, Jeeps, and trucks. Germans firing and bombing. U.S. soldiers captured. Frozen dead bodies of U.S. soldiers, victims of the Malmedy massacre, some with hands and feet tied, being placed army truck. Dead bodies of Belgian civilians being placed in large common grave. View of German officer ordering a firing squad to shoot. German troops smoke American cigarettes taken from dead U.S. troops. American troops in retreat and burning and destroying war materiel that could not be brought with them. American defenders firing artillery, including antiaircraft guns fired level, as antitank weapons. Skies streaked with contrails and dog fights between American and German airplanes. American aircraft bombing German positions after weather clears. American troops patrol in snow covered wooded areas. General Eisenhower talks with soldiers. German soldiers advancing. Newspaper headline reads: "Russians Smash Last Nazi Line." Another newspaper headline reads: "40 Jap Ships Sunk." Another reads: "3rd Army Deep in Germany." Narrator cautions against complacency, reminding of 78 thousand American soldiers lost during the Christmas holiday, in 1944. Views of dead American soldiers. Narrator offers closing public service war propaganda message: "If you have a War Job, Stick to it" and " If you Haven't, Get one!"
Slate indicates the area shown is occupied by the U.S. 3rd Army, 95th Infantry Division. Bombed out buildings are seen with rubble piled at side of road, in Saarlautern (Saarlouis) Germany, the day after Christmas, 1944, during World War 2. View of apartment buildings and shops across from a park. Another street of shops. No people or vehicles are seen. An American soldier carrying a large camera, walks past an antique French 155mm gun, circa 1877, on display in a public Square. A view of the seemingly undamaged Catholic Church of St. Ludwig (Katholische Kirche St. Ludwig) on Kavalleriestrasse. A jeep drives past it. A U.S. soldier rides a bicycle past destroyed buildings
German civilian raises Nazi flag on a building in Germany. German civilians on streets carry Nazi flags. Civilians and Military officers parade in Berlin along Unter den Linden in honor of Adolf Hitler's 55th birthday, on April 20, 1944. A band leads the marching parade, passing through the Brandenburg Gate and along the streets of Berlin. People place Nazi German flags on buildings and on rubble and buildings destroyed by allied aerial aircraft bombing campaigns. Nazi flags atop rubble. A woman stands near a sign. German men, women, and children sign a book with well wishes for Hitler on his birthday View of wrecked buildings. A sign reads in German "Our walls collapsed, but not our hearts."
U.S. paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division are seen silhoutted against sky as they board C-47 transport aircraft in Operation Market Garden mission to Grave and Nijmegen, Holland, in September, 1944, during World War 2. C-47 starts engines. C-47s take off towing gliders. Change of subject to Allied operations crossing the Rhine River into Germany in 1945. U.S. Army troops in a long boat powered by an outboard motor. U.S. troops board U.S. Navy amphibious assault boats on shore of the Rhine (Rhein) River. View from above of assault boats undergoing fire from German defenders during the crossing. U.S. troops moving quickly out of the assault boats on German soil. Scene shifts to airborne operations. View in cockpit of U.S. transport aircraft carrying U.S. paratroopers of the 17th Airborne Division, on joint British-American Operation Varsity, to drop paratroopers on the German side of the Rhine River. A C-46 transport aircraft, in flight, bearing Tail Code "H.". View from cargo compartment as 17th Airborne Division paratroopers exit very efficiently, by jumping from both doors of the C-46. Sky filled with parachutes. Scene shifts to ground operations. U.S. Army troops stand shoulder to shoulder on a section of pontoon bridge, as it is pushed across a river by Army engineers in two small power boats. U.S. tanks and vehicles crossing pontoon bridges. Supreme Allied Commander, Five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower, stands with Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson, commander of the U.S. Ninth Army, as they observe Allied operations. American soldiers taking German prisoners of war. German POWs being escorted under guard and large numbers of them in an open field under U.S. guard.
U.S. 9th Infantry Division troops use mine detectors in the Hurtgen Forest of Germany during World War 2. A soldier sweeps for mines on a snow covered road. He detects something and marks the spot with a warning. U.S. troops setting up camp in the forest. They use trenching tools to dig foxholes. Medics assist a wounded soldier through the forest. (WW 2; World War 2)
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