U.S. Army 155mm artillery guns hidden in bushes and firing in Italy. Camouflaged muzzle of guns seen firing. Smoke rises from the top of the hills and other targets. Seen are both M1917/M1918 155-mm Howitzer (Schneider) and M1/M2 Gun (Long Tom). (World War II period).
Battle of Salerno, in Italy. British Eighth Army soldiers fire rifles at the enemy. One soldier loads mortars while others fire mortar rounds on the targets. Explosions and smoke rises from the buildings and street. Smoke forming clouds over buildings in the streets. Burning vehicles parked in front of the buildings. (World War II period).
A U.S. Army nurse walks towards the lister bag and fills her mug with water at the camp in Italy. Two nurses sleep on the cots in the tents of 93rd Evacuation Hospital camp. One of the nurses writing on paper lying in the bed while another is sleeping and the sides of the tents are rolled. A nurse brushes her teeth and carries a water container in another hand. Nurses walking on the ground in background. A nurse cleaning the utensils near the lister bag while two other nurses preparing food. Army tanks and trucks moving in the background. Nurse serving food to another in eating utensil. Nurses eating and smiling, with a Raggedy Ann doll beside them in a basket, by a lantern.
Several United States Douglas C-47 Skytrain stand in a row on ground. U.S. troops 82nd Airborne Division loading jeep into C-47 aircraft. A man sits on the Jeep as it is being loaded at an airbase in Italy (World War II).
Nazi German paratroopers rescue Benito Mussolini from confinement in the Campo Imperatore Hotel at the Gran Sasso massif (Gran Sasso mountain, the highest peak in the Apennines range, Italy). Military trucks are seen driving up the mountain road toward the Gran Sasso mountain. German soldiers walk along the road. Lieutenant Georg Freiherr von Berlepsch, leader of the 1st Company, Fallschirmjäger (German Air Force paratroopers) briefs the troopers. Next the troopers are seen crossing a plateau as they head toward the Campo Imperatore buildings. Closeups of the buildings. Benito Mussolini in black overcoat and hat, seen leaving the hotel in the company of his German rescuers. Paratrooper reporting by radio. View of Alpine cable car system used to depart from the mountain. Major Otto-Harald Mors (sometimes incorrectly written as Harald-Otto Mors) commander of the Parachute Regiment salutes Lieutenant von Berlepsch, as his Company returns from the mountain. They shake hands. German Colonel Otto Skorzeny, operations commander, walks with group escorting Mussolini. The Mussolini and Colonel Skorzeny climb aboard a German Luftwaffe Fieseler Fi 156C-3/Trop Storch short takeoff and landing liaison aircraft. Troopers wave as the aircraft takes off from the mountainside. Complete change of scene shows a German Junkers, Ju-52 aircraft in flight overhead. Next, Adolf Hitler is seen rendering a traditional military hand salute as he stands, watching the airplane taxi and park at the airfield serving his Wolf's Lair headquarters near Rastenburg on the Eastern Front. Mussolini steps from the plane and is warmly greeted by Hitler. His son-in-law, Count Gian Galeazzo Ciano, embraces and kisses Mussolini, who then steps into a mercedes touring car displaying both Italian and Nazi symbols. Arriving at the Wolf's Lair, Mussolini is greeted by German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop. Hitler escorts Mussolini through the building. Next, the two are seen leaving the building and driving back to the airport, where Hitler and entourage bid farewell to Mussolini, who climbs aboard the Ju-52, again. Hitler waves as the plane taxis out.
Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. Aerial view of several American warships. United States Troop Carrier C-47 aircraft flying in formation over the Mediterranean Sea. An Allied warship underway.
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