Close-up views of several different ships launching on firth of Clyde in Scotland. Closeup view of dirt or coal smeared faces of boys wearing hats and watching expectantly and with excitement as a ship readies for launch. British flag decorated on the deck of a ship. Dignitaries on grandstand including a woman (the sponsor) who smashes a bottle of champagne against the ship, christening it as it launches. Close views of the ship sliding down skids stern-first into the water. Change to view of a ship named "Rinovia" being launched from dry dock to water by tipping it to the side off dry dock. It slides off skids into the water and quickly rights itself. View of a medical ship named "Herdubreid " being launched. White cross symbol seen on the bow and the flag of Iceland waving on the bow, with sailors gathered around it. Clip includes several close up views of ship hulls and skids, anchors, propellers and areas of the lower stern of ships being launched.
Film begins showing Brigadier General James M. Gavin, Commander of the Force A (parachute) contingent of the 82nd Airborne Division, standing on the hood of a jeep, at an airfield, to brief his paratroopers as they prepare for the D-Day invasion, during World War 2. A C-47 transport plane taxis behind the assembled group of troopers. Barbed wire is strung in the foreground. Paratroopers are issued French currency before departure. Some gamble with it using dice. Troops are seen playing volleyball on a field surrounded by trees. On an airfield, one trooper hits ground balls with a soft ball and several others field it. Some other troopers sit in grass next to the ramp, assembling wooden containers for airdrop. Two Army Air Forces mechanics fasten a tow bar on the nose wheel of a British-built Horsa Mk.II glider. They then tow it with a tug. View from above of Horsa gliders and C-47 tow airplanes, all in D-Day paint stripes, lined up on an airfield ramp. Paratrooper tent camp is viewed from above. Then, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and other senior officers are seen visiting paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division, at the camp, on June 5, 1944, as they prepare to board their aircraft. Famous closeup of General Eisenhower speaking to a tall paratrooper who has his face camouflaged with grease paint.View looking down, as Eisenhower circulates among the troopers. Closeup of him conversing with another one directly.
In the first exchange of Allied and Axis wounded prisoners of war, the British Hospital Ship, Atlantis, with number 33 painted on her side, steams into port, at Leith, Scotland, (and then on to Liverpool, England) during World War 2. She is returning Allied wounded from Germany, by way of Goeteborg, Sweden. British soldiers are carried off ship on stretchers. Several ambulatory American soldiers leave ship on foot. Railroad train seen right at the port.
Russian air-cadets being trained at the Royal Flying Corps' No 1 School of Military Aeronautics, at Coley Park Aerodrome, Reading, Berkshire, England, during World War 1. Cadets march with their officer to a tarpaulin covered hangar. Next they are seen inside the hangar, removing a double wing from a bi-wing aircraft. . They sit, wearing earphones, at a table outdoors, learning wireless telegraphy. They examine the parts of a Clerget 9B nine-cylinder rotary aircraft engine, and sit for a lecture about inline engines. The instructor holds up a bearing and connecting rods from the inline engine. They look at an aeronautical chart and take notes. Cadets climb aboard a canvas-covered army truck and stand in it. They wave as it drives away.
Allenbury patent protects British soldiers from Asphyxiating Gases. Soldiers hide behind wood logs lying on a field. Soldiers wear the Allenbury gas masks. Gas cloud covers the area. After it passes, they rise up and perform a (mock) attack. View of a soldier modeling the mask in England during World War 1
British women at work in an airplane factory during World War 1. They are seen working with the framework of wings and other flying surfaces. Young Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) in military uniform, examines parts in the factory during a visit with officials. He speaks briefly with a woman at her machine. The next scene shows women making adjustments on a Sopwith Camel aircraft. One tightens bracing on a left wing. Others rotate a propeller showing the movement of the airplane's rotary engine as its cylinders move with the propeller. Several women hold down the tail, as propwash from the running engine blows over them. Various tent-like structures are seen in the background. The number 6003 is seen on the aircraft vertical stabilizer. (WWI; WW1)
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