New York World's Fair held at Dupont Building in New York City, United States. A model sits on stairs under an artificial tree. She stands and pulls up her dress above her knees to display nylon stockings. The model displays jewels made of Lucite. Several articles made of Lucite on display.
The German attack on Poland, at Danzig (Gdansk) triggering World War 2. Views of German artillery firing at fort and buildings across a stretch of water. German artilleryman looking through periscopic binoculars. Smoke rising from the shelling. German troops firing machine guns. German battleship Schleswig-Holstein is seen bombarding Polish army defenses at Westerplatte. (The battleship had entered the harbor and anchored off Westerplatte, in August, under the false pretense of a friendly visit.) Columns of smoke rising from fires started by the shelling. German troops advancing toward Gdynia in armored cars and trucks. A German officer on horseback. A German soldier on a motorcycle. Two German Panzer II tanks moving down a muddy slope as invasion begins. Army vehicles on wet roads and infantry making their way across a shallow streams. Infantry marching along a road. Closeups of the German soldiers as they pass the camera. Officers in a staff car. View from a height of smoke rising from fires on the ground in distance, mixing with cumulus clouds above. (Note: some English narrative begins late in the film, around TC: 00:58)
Invading German infantry are seen advancing at a slow pace into Polish regions bordering Germany. They carry weapons and supplies on pack horses. Austrian troops and Mountaineers ascend hills and mountains on the Southern flank. Views of residents happily welcoming the invading troops in former German areas (West Prussia, Poznan, and Upper Silesia). Women and children throw flowers to German troops riding in a Sd.Kfz. 11 special motorized vehicle (Sonderkraftfahrzeug) towing an artillery piece. They throw flowers at German soldiers in a Sd.Kfz. 231 8-Rad armored personnel carrier. A group of mostly women and children wave enthusiastically from the front of what looks like a school building. Another group of welcoming residents includes several men in military uniforms. They wave as mounted German troops and horses pass. A local man tears down a Polish street sign. Crowds watch and cheer a passing German Panzer IV Ausf E with a short-barreled 75-millimeter gun. German officers riding in open staff cars are surrounded by cheering crowds as they make their way with difficulty through the throng. Crowds give Nazi salute and call out "Sieg Heil." German troops march with difficulty through the center of the crowds.
First scene shows a German sentry walking past Heinkel He-111 bombers parked on an airfield. German soldiers stripped to their waists leave their tents on sandy soil and carry bombs over their shoulders. Other soldiers grapple with a heavy wooden box of ammunition. Camera pans over a line of parked Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) dive bombers. Closeup of bomb mounted under a Ju-87. German airmen look over maps before departing on a bombing mission. Line of parked He-111 bombers in background. German airmen don flying gear and proceed to their aircraft. They enter through hatch in botton of the fuselage. Ground crewmen crank an engine on a bomber to start it. It then taxis out for takeoff. Several Stuka dive bombers take off in a loose formation. View from beneath as an He-111 bomber flies over the camera position. More Stuka dive bomber aircraft flying in formation above the airfield. Formation of He-111 bombers in formation overhead. View of pilot inside a bomber as it flies over a river. Large formation of bombers overhead. View from cockpit of aircraft engine and propeller during flight. View of bombardier inside a bomber, looking through his bomb sight. Downward view through his canopy. View through window in one bomber of another beside it in formation. Downward view from bottom canopy of land below a bomber. Some bombers in flight in mist. Smoke rising from bomb strike. More He-111s in flight. More smoke rising from bombings. Smoke beginning to obscure everything during attack and invasion of Poland.
Crowd greets German leader Adolf Hitler upon his return from Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he signed a declaration establishing the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The scene shows a swaying crowd at night, outside a hotel. Hitler and Hermann Goering appear on the hotel balcony, which is festooned with a garland of greens. Four candles appear in each window of their section of the hotel.
Army Day demonstrations at Langley Field outside Hampton Virginia: A long line of U.S. Army Air Corps P-36 aircraft of the 8th Pursuit Group with engines running. Those closest to the camera display the logo of the 36th Pursuit Squadron "Flying Fiends." View of Langley Airfield tower and terminal buildings in background. The P-36s taxi out, one-by-one, for takeoff. Tail number of the first one is: PH-80. Flight of three perform a formation takeoff. Brief instant view of foreign officers in white uniforms standing with American airmen at Langley Field main terminal. View of radial engine running on a Boeing 247 aircraft. Men in truck loading cargo and baggage through open nose hatch of Boeing 247 aircraft. Airman closes and secures the nose hatch. View inside control tower. Operator gives pilot of Boeing 247 clearance to takeoff when ready. Scene changes to new setting and terrain. A Boeing 247 on takeoff roll with snow on the ground. Formations of Boeing P-26 airplanes in flight. Explosions below them in desert as they fly overhead. Two P-26s dive and drop bombs, respectively. Smoke rises from bomb explosions.