U.S. 351st Bomb Group at RAF Station Polebrook, Northamptonshire, England during World War II. A display board of the U.S. 351st Bomb Group, at RAF Station Polebrook, England, shows 15 principal targets and the number of times they've been struck by B-17s of the Group. The most missions were flown against Schweinfurt, Germany (25 times) and second most, against Hanover, Germany (17 times). Another recent status board records missions against Amiens and Evreux,and Romilly, France; Stuttgart, Germany; and Brussels,Belgium.Swastikas indicate German aircraft shot down during these raids. A C-45 aircraft lands and parks at the field. Major General Ira C. Eaker,Commander 8th Air Force, steps from the plane for a visit with the 351st Bomb Group. He proceeds to the briefing room, in a Quonset hut. Four Officers of the Group pose. View of heavy bombs in the bomb dump. Views of bombs hung wing racks of a B-17 to increase its bomb load. Bombs being transported on motorized dollies. Airmen writing in chalk on a bomb. It reads: "From the boys K of C #92 Jim, MH." Fliers at nighttime in their Quonset hut quarters. One writes a letter. Others trying to sleep, as sounds of aircraft engines are heard. Officer opens door of quarters and wakes crew members, telling them breakfast is at 3AM and briefing at 4AM. Briefing officer asks fliers to guess what the target of the day will be. Several make suggestions. The briefing officer removes a cover from the mission map, revealing target deep in Germany. The fliers respond with good-natured boos. Commander gives final instructions.,
Flare is fired from control tower and B-17s of the U.S. 351st Bomb Group begin taking off from their base at RAF Station Polebrook, England, on a mission to Germany during World War 2. The B-17 aircraft fly off in formation. View inside one B-17, as crew goes on oxygen, as they climb through 10 thousand feet. Sky filled with formations of B-17s. U.S. P-47 fighter escort aircraft of the U.S. 487th Fighter Squadron (352nd Fighter Group) at RAF Station Bodney, take off to accompany the B-17s part way. Gunners inside a B-17 are alerted to German fighters at 3 O'clock low. They are identified as the American P-47 escorts. Squadron of U.S. P-47s seen in flight. B-17s and escorts pass over the enemy coastline. They being to encounter flak which can be seen as Black clouds.
Many sightseers stand around the wreckage of a German Heinkel He111H-2 bomber that crash landed in a field. A swastika painted on the tail of the bomber. The damaged cockpit. Several British Royal Air Force fliers examine it. (Note: This is German Heinkel He-111H-2 bomber,coded 1H+JA of Luftwaffe Stabskette/KG26. Known as the 'Humbie Heinkel,' it crash landed, on 28 October, 1939, at Humbie, East Lothian, Scotland, after being shot down by No.602 'City of Glasgow' Squadron of the British Royal Air Force, during an armed reconnaissance mission over the Firth of Forth, where Royal Navy warships were harbored, during World War 2.)
U.S. Army Air Service Douglas World Cruisers (DWC) in Scotland during their first around the world flight. The DWC in Scapa Flow, Scotland, before hopping off for Iceland. The Americans inspect Dreadnought Hindenberg sunk by the Germans. Several views of this ship. Two of the fliers on gun barrels. Crew of USS Richmond cheer for American aviators preparing to hop off to Iceland. Mixed personnel as they raise their hats and give three cheers. Crew members being escorted out to the airplanes. A world cruiser. The aircraft being refueled. Birds in the water. The world cruiser in flight. World Cruiser No. 3, piloted by Lieutenant Leigh Wade, afloat. World Cruiser No. 3 afloat near a ship. USS Richmond attempts to pull the world cruiser aboard. The world cruiser being towed in very rough waters. Italian flier Locatelli, also attempting a world flight, is forced down and is picked up by a U.S. cruiser. An Italian airplane afloat. The aircraft burning. Locatelli is taken aboard USS Richmond. Locatelli being greeted by the captain of the ship.
German narrator describes a map of the plan of an Allied aerial and land operation, pointing at locations in the Netherlands including Nijmegen and Arnhem and Eindhoven. British bomber aircraft parked on a British airfield. Still images of British gliders on airfield being loaded with equipment including tanks. Still image aerial view of British glider flying, attached to tow rope. A British airfield filled with parked gliders and a British soldier driving a jeep into the belly of a glider transport.
Group of U.S. World War 2 paratroopers being briefed by one of their officers (US Army Captain) who points, on a large scale relief map, to landing zones for practice maneuvers. The troopers wear early version of the Parachute Infantry patch on their overseas caps. Troopers wearing their parachutes are briefed by another officer. Groups of paratroopers file out to U.S. Army Air Forces C-47 transport airplanes and board them. Officer inspects individual troopers and their chutes, as they prepare to climb aboard an airplane. the C-47s taxi out and take off. The C-47s join up in a large formation and fly low over the field. View from copilot's window of the formation flying over English farmland and a village. Aerial view of C-47s in formation with their fuselage doors open. Several aerial views of the formations. Paratroopers seated inside a C-47. Several smoke cigarettes. The name: "Rouby" stenciled on paratrooper's helmet. One trooper smokes a cigar. A trooper walks along passing out cigarettes to others, and lighting them. The troopers all stand up and hook their rip cords to a static line. Aerial view of troopers parachuting from their airplanes, near smoke-marked fields.
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