Joint military maneuvers in Romania during World War II. German and Romanian troops during Autumn maneuvers. Romanian Marshal Ion Antonescu greets some of the many Romanian officers present to observe the maneuvers. Soldiers fire guns. The officers watch a Romanian Tacam T60 tank destroyer on maneuvers. A cadre of high-ranking German officers is seen. Explosions occur as billows of smoke rise up. Aircraft in flight. An officer speaks over a field phone. The soldiers crawl on the field during the maneuver.
Romanian Air Minister, General Gheorghe I. Jienescu observes and talks to Romanian pilots in Romania during World War II. General Jienescu observes Romanian pilots departing on Nazi German missions. He greets them on their return and discusses their exploits.
U.S. Army Air Forces Generals Ira Clarence Eaker and Nathan Farragut Twining visit Ploiesti or Ploesti oil fields in Romania during World War II. U.S. Army Air Forces Generals Ira Clarence Eaker and Nathan Farragut Twining get off from an aircraft at an airfield. The Generals greeted by Romanian Army Air Force officers. General Eaker and General Twining, escorted by the Romanian officers, visit the Ploiesti oil storage tanks after being bombed by the U.S. Army Air Forces. The wreckage at the oil fields. The bombed tanks. The Generals talk. A view of the bombed Ploesti oil fields.
15th Air Force Operation Reunion (Operation Gunn) to rescue Allied prisoners of war in Romania during World War II. The Romanian Ministry of National Economy in Bucharest (now demolished). Sign reads “Ministerul Economiei Nationale Comisariatul General Preturilor”. United States OSS (Office of Strategic Services) Evacuation Party leaders convene outside the Romanian Ministry of National Economy. Captured Allied prisoners of war at a camp near Bucharest. Allied prisoners of war play a card game. Romanian troops raise the Romanian flag on a flagpole. Crowds of Allied prisoners of war waving and cheering. Colonel Krager gives out evacuation instructions to Allied prisoners of war. Some Allied prisoners of war are seen wearing German Stalhelm helmets. A young British prisoner of war looks at the camera. Prisoners of war waiting patiently for their evacuation to Popesti Airfield.
A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber takes off from the airfield during 15th Air Force Operation Reunion (Operation Gunn,) to rescue Allied prisoners of war in Romania during World War II. . Men carry an injured airman on a stretcher to a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. The men go under the bomber. Men raise the stretcher up the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber’s bomb bay door. Injured POWs on stretchers are taken inside the evacuation aircraft through the bomb bay door. Prisoners of war assist each other in boarding the aircraft. POWs form a line as they board the aircraft one by one. Some prisoners of war board the aircraft through the belly. A POW (who lost a leg) board the bomber. A prisoner of war smiling before he boards the evacuation bomber. Bomber starts engines. B-17 Flying Fortress bomber taking off from Popesti Airfield.
Vintage slate states that the scenes are from San Juan, Puerto Rico. However, it opens with pre-hurricane views not of San Juan, but of Havana, Cuba, as seen from its harbor. Buildings of Havana Cuba seen, including El Capitolio, the National Capitol Building in Havana. Seen shifts to a covered market area filled with people (possibly still Havana, or possibly now in Puerto Rico. Aerial view of homes and buildings in the city of San Juan in 1932. Scene changes to view of hurricane winds blowing palm trees at 120 mile speed during San Ciprian hurricane. Palm trees on shore blown by wind. Sea water floods city. View after storm of wreckage of houses. People combing through the ruins. Cloth spread on ruins. Women and children walk among ruins. View again of storm in progress with water flooding the area and hurricane force winds.