German airborne campaign against Crete in May 1941. German soldiers scan mountainous terrain through binoculars. German Junkers JU-52 transport aircraft in flight. Paratroopers descend. Supplies and equipment dropped from an aircraft. German soldiers open boxes. Junkers JU-52 parked on ground at Maleme airfield with soldiers in foreground. A German officer speaks to soldiers. Wounded German soldiers loaded aboard Junkers JU-52. (World War II period).
Speedway Classic in Indianapolis, Indiana. Fire fighters extinguish fire in what appears to be a garage facility. Next scene shows cars racing in the 1941 Indianpolis 500 race, driving on the track at great speed. Spectators watch the thrilling race. One of the drivers is severely hurt in an accident. Mauri Rose of Indianapolis teamed with Floyd Davis of Illinois win the Speedway Classic.
Presidential Palace in Havana. U.S. Secretary of State, Cordell Hull speaking at the Havana Conference. Flags of Nations attending. Franklin Roosevelt, on May 16, 1940, telling congress to mobilize for national defense. Airplane and engine factories and manufacturing plants. Navy ships being built. U.S. sailors and marines on parade. U.S. soldiers training with mock weapons. Flour bag "bombs" hitting a U.S. Army tank M2. Army trucks labeled "tanks." U.S. Army tanks M3. Empty "Adelphi" brand beer cans used for training. National Guard units Nationalized. President Roosevelt reading first draft numbers under the Selective Service Act. New recruits getting draft notices and physical exams. New soldiers in boot camp. German Ju 87 and Dornier 17 bombers taking off. Animated map showing German air attacks against Britain. View of radio broadcaster Edward R. Murrow in studio as he is describing the "Blitz" from London. German He 111 bomber aircraft in flight during blitz bombing of London, England, United Kingdom. British antiaircraft guns firing. London citizens in underground bomb shelter. British Fire brigades directing water hoses on burning buildings. British warships at sea. U.S. Destroyers transferred to Britain. British Prime Minister Churchill assigning military base rights to the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Berle. Brandenburg Gate and German, Italian, and Japanese flags flying in Berlin on September 27, 1940 Hitler greeting Italian Galleazzo Ciano, and Japanese representative Saburo Kurusu. Signing of Berlin Pact. London civilian citizens resting in underground air raid shelters, while the relentless bombing goes on. American Charles Lindbergh talks to an audience and says Britain is losing the war. Next scene shows Wendell Wilkie saying "England will not only survive, England will win!" British people cleaning up after a German blitz bombing run during the Battle of Britain. Fire fighter moving a mannequin from a store among rubble; a large commuter bus on its side and resting against a building in rubble; a British man with a hard hat clearing rubble finds a small British flag and mounts it in a wall. Polls showing increased American support for Britain based on polling between 1936 and 1941.
Invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece 6 April 1941 Yugoslavia and Greece being invaded. Animated map of region as names of Yugoslavian areas appear. Dragon's teeth and other antitank fortifications are bypassed by advancing German forces. Damaged railroad tracks in Croatia. German soldiers confer. They march past houses along road, cross stream and drag artillery over wooden bridge. An animated map shows entry into Greece at Salonika and Xanthi. The smoke rises in valley after German artillery hits. German guns fire and recoil. The view of a valley. A German soldier sketches. Germans in foxhole gesture. German Stuka dive bombers in flight and dropping bombs. German tank rolls down a street in Salonika, many civilian onlookers, as well as German officers salute as tanks pass. View of Aegean harbor. A town in the background and a column of smoke rises.
Historic scenes of early aircraft carrier development. Biplanes taking off and landing on the USS langley (CV-1). The launching of the USS Lexington (CV-2). View on flight deck of the Lexington. The carrier underway. Antiaircraft guns on the ship. View, from a ship, of the USS Lexington and a battleship in the distance. Closeup of the USS Langley (CV-1). Crew boarding the USS Hornet prior to her commissioning just before World War 2. View from Hornet's forward elevator as it rises from hangar deck up to flight deck. Entire ship's company, officers, sailors, and marine detachment, on deck in dress uniforms on flight deck during Hornet's commissioning ceremony in October, 1941. Sailors on shore wave as the USS Hornet leaves the harbor. Brief view of American carriers Lexington, Ranger, Yorktown, and Enterprise in line ahead in 1940, followed by view of Lexington.
Women chorus line or chorus girl dancers perform as part of a stage production in Berlin, Germany, 1941, during World War 2. Scene shifts to a concert hall, where a German General and other officers are in front row seats applauding the conductor who is treated as a maestro. He speaks to them from the orchestra pit. Closeup of the maestro as he begins conducting the orchestra, presumably accompanying actors/singers on stage (unseen). Glimpse of audience reveals many German military officers and civilian men and women. After the performance, the maestro escorts a woman and a man onto the stage, which is set for the just concluded performance. The maestro bows slightly. The next scene is still onstage and a civilian man joins the two performers just seen along with a young military officer in a white uniform (possibly a Kriegsmarine officer). Another woman joins them. She also greets the maestro. A large basket of flowers sits in their midst. Finally the young Kriegsmarine officer shakes hands with the maestro..