German prisoners of war at work digging graves for fallen American soldiers, at the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944, shortly after the D-Day invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord). This is the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II, and located on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel, east of St. Laurent-sur-Mer and northwest of Bayeux in Colleville-sur-Mer. (It is now the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.) Vertical posts with dog tags attached, mark the gravesites of the fallen troops. American soldiers sit near covered dead bodies of the fallen and perform tasks of identification and grave assignment. Covered remains of one soldier are carried across the field on a stretcher. Barrage balloons are seen in the sky overhead.
Liberated French soldiers return to Paris. French honor band playing. Liberated French soldiers return. French officer shakes hands with liberated soldiers. Wounded U.S. soldier on a stretcher. French soldiers and civilians return after liberation. Liberated Frenchmen march off an airfield after having disembarked from U.S. Army Air Forces C-47 Skytrain transport plane. French band plays in honor of liberated men.
Film opens showing French sign pointing to Orly airport entrance. French Army trucks are seen arriving at the field, carrying young men in civilian clothes. A U.S.Air force C-47 transport plane is parked in the background. The men wave cheerfully from the open backs of the trucks. French tricolor and American flags are seen in the breeze. Near the entrance of the base, a French Army major is overseeing the arrival of the trucks. View of sign identifying the American area of Headquarters of the U.S. Air Force 7415th Air Base Group at at Orly Field. Occupants of the trucks jump down after their tailgates are lowered. They remove their duffel bags and footlockers from the trucks, and stand nearby. View of the paratroopers (in civilian clothes) standing in loose formation near their belongings. Close-ups of many. Some use their own cameras to take pictures. One clowns around with a toy stuffed monkey, eliciting smiles from the others. More close-ups of the men. View from behind the loosely assembled men. One carries a bugle in his personal gear. Close-up of the bugle. Wide view of the men killing time as they wait around. A French Foreign Legion officer in a leather jacket and kepi, alongside a paratrooper officer (in civilian clothes, but wearing a foulard) walks with group of the paratroopers. The entire group of men is seen assembling near a hangar building. Men hand out passports to individual men. Some are handed out by a French paratrooper, in uniform, with beret. U.S. Air Force and civilian photographers are in the background. Several paratroopers show their passports for the camera. The paratroopers break out some of their rations and eat. Some pose around a sign prohibiting public access due to construction. Paratroopers saying farewell to women (some tearful). Close-up of one saying goodbye to wife and child. A group all waving goodbye.
Several days after the liberation of Paris in World War II. Several M3 (M3A1) Stuart Light tanks parked at the side of road. Parisians stroll near the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral (Parvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul-II, Paris). Nurses and medics in white garb and U.S. soldiers in a Jeep in front of the cathedral. Armed French civilians drive German soldiers away in and open truck. A crowd of civilians milling about in front of the cathedral. A white Red Cross ambulance van passes through the crowd. American troops on military vehicle, in midst of crowd.
View from road overlooking French village of Arromanches-les-Bains, where the Allies established a logistics port during the Normandy invasion of World War 2. Barrage balloon is aloft over the water. Allied ships are visible in the distance. Camera turns in opposite direction, looking out over village rooftops. The barrage balloon is seen more clearly, and some ships are close to shore, where much war materiel is gathered on the beach. A group of U.S. soldiers walks down a sandy road toward the water. A group of French civilians watch the activies, from the hillside. A Landing Ship Tank (LST) is close to shore. Cranes and supplies and equipment line the beach. A variety of ships are in the water behind the LST.
British tanks knocked-out by German artillery, near Fontaine, Notre Dame, Cambrai, during World War 1. A large group of German infantry march around a knocked-out snow-covered British Mark IV heavy tank. Closer to a village, several German soldiers are seen on and aroung another British tank from which they appear to be removing arms and equipment. One German soldier, atop the tank, wields a hammer.
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