United Airlines DC-3 Mainliner aircraft lands and taxis to the airfield ramp,at Oakland, California. U.S. military and civilian officials, and newsmen gather around the airplane as its doors open. A crowd of spectators and well-wishers fill an area at the airfield terminal. Closeup of three Soviet flyers, standing and waving from the top of stairs at the plane's door. They are Pilot Valery Chkalov; Co-pilot Georgy Baydukov and Navigator Alexander Belyakov. They left Moscow, Russia, June 18, 1937 in a single-engine Soviet Tupolev ANT-25 aircraft on a flight over the North Pole and finally landed after 63 hours and 25 minutes, at. the U.S. Army Pearson Field in Fort Vancouver Barracks (Washington State, USA). Scene shifts to Pearson Field, where their airplane is being prepared for shipment back to Russia. U.S. Army soldiers package up recording instruments preserving evidence of the flight necessary to document their accomplishment. They remove and package loose articles, such as parachutes. View of the airplane being completely covered in protective tarp wrappings.
A map of Russia. View of Voronezh, Russia. Buildings in the street. Smoke rises up in the background. Dead bodies lay on the ground. Wrecked buildings and rubble all over the building. Cars near a street. A view of waterfront. Horses and German munitions carts. Soldiers sit near the horses. Planks lay across a stream. Troops on motorcycles and bicycles. Russian prisoners walk. Prisoners carry their belongings and walk across the fields. (World War II period).
A group of Russian children pose on a pier at Archangel Russia, during the Allied North Russia Intervention of World War 1. One holds a container of milk bottles. An American soldier (of the 339th Infantry Regiment) gives each child a coin. A Russian girl eating a cookie she received from a soldier. A Russian boy picks up something from the pier. Another boy holds container of milk bottles. U.S. soldiers peruse goods at an outdoor market, where some of the vendors use wooden shipping containers and packing cases to display their wares. Local people patronize a food vendor. An American soldier decides to purchase a pair of mittens. [Footage from the United States Army 85th Division, 339th Infantry, American Expeditionary Force North Russia, participating as part of the Triple Entente forces, in the so-called "Polar Bear Expedition." Two thirds of the soldiers were from Michigan.] (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
A trolley car passes through the town of Arkhangelsk, Russia (also known as Archangel). U.S. sailors and soldiers are hanging out partially from the front and rear doors of the streetcar. A group of local people watch the trolley as it passes. [Footage from the United States Army 85th Division, 339th Infantry, American Expeditionary Force North Russia, participating as part of the Allied North Russia Intervention of World War 1. Two thirds of the soldiers were from Michigan.] (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
German troops advance on fields in Voronezh, Russia. Tanks move across the streets. Buildings in the view. A man looks through binoculars. Trees and houses in view. Troops march in front of buildings. Artillery loaded and fired. Tank guns are fired. Enemy installations are bombed. Smoke and explosion. Camouflaged tanks and trucks move along a road. (World War II period).
Animated map starts the film, showing the Eastern (Russian) front in vicinity of the Dnieper River, during beginning of winter, 1943-44, as German forces battle against Soviet forces in World War 2. German troops are seen in deep trenches and lying prone behind rubble. Light snow covers the ground. Closeups of German tiger tanks moving along a muddy path beside a river. German Panzergrenadiers taking a smoking break during a lull in combat. German soldiers trudging through mud as snow falls. They pass by some German artillery field pieces firing at Soviet positions. Heavy German guns firing. German troops hurrying toward entrenched positions. Closeup of two soldiers conversing as one points toward Soviet positions. A soldier takes up his defensive spot at the mouth of a dugout at the end of a trench. Closeup of two German soldiers smoking cigarettes. A German soldier reports to an officer at the front, who pins a medal on him and shakes his hand. Another view of a soldier smoking a cigarette. German soldiers walk past some knocked out tanks. Closeups as they pass the camera. One soldier looks skyward. A large formation of German Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) dive bombers is seen overhead. View from a Stuka cockpit, as it dives emitting classic sound. Stuka aircraft diving and dropping bomb that are seen bursting on ground below. Good closeup of Stuka in a dive.
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