U.S. Navy film entitled, "the Battle for the Beaches." Several Higgins boat landing craft arrive at a shore and U.S. soldiers leave them to run ashore. Scene is then overlayed by the title slate. View of the White Cliffs of Dover, England. British civilians preparing defenses during World War 2. Civil Youth loading sand bags and erecting sand bag parapets around buildings. Home guard troops march up a road carrying rifles. British defenders occupying fortified positions They stand along a coastline looking out at sea. Street scene in an English village. Guards walking up along a barbed wire fence erected on the outskirts of the village. Film shifts to the German coastal Atlantic Wall defenses. German troops march along sandy shores containing all manner of obstacles at the water's edge. German officers stand on an overlooking cliff, and peer through binoculars. German sentry and large coastal gun barrel under camouflage net are silhouetted against light sky. Three German officers confer over plans for coastal defenses. View from above of slave laborers working and shoveling sand as they build defenses. German soldiers dismantling wooden forms around completed concrete fortifications. Glimpse of a huge German coastal gun being raised by a crane with heavy steel cables, as it is steadied by dozens of workers with hands on its barrel. German troops manning a machine gun in coastal defense position where a twin mounted antiaircraft gun is also seen. Momentary view of two German soldiers walk past rotating barrel of a huge coastal defense gun under a camouflage net. Workers, with shovels, placing fresh concrete to build up a section of concrete barriers along the coast. Allied troops storming a sandy shore from landing craft, as shells explode near them; possibly related to 1944 D-Day. One contingent are British soldiers. American troops landing at a beach from landing craft. Dead allied soldiers lying in the surf. Film shifts abruptly to U.S. Lieutenant General Mark Clark with some officers in Italy. In another switch of war theaters, General Douglas MacArthur is seen congratulating crew of a B-25 named "Smiling Jack." U.S. troops, in a training exercise, storming ashore from Higgins boats directly and closeup at the camera. They take up defensive positions in the sand, and move a jeep towing a field artillery piece.
Jungle Rescue mission in Burma. U.S. soldiers examine the wreckage of U.S. C-47 in jungle. Soldiers wade through water. Smoke is emitted from flare on ground. Aircraft overhead. Smoke spreads through area. Soldier talks into radio. Stinson L-5 Sentinel drops supplies by parachute. A Stinson L-5B Sentinel serial number 44-16876 carrying a crash survivor, taxis after landing, followed by an Army ambulance and a C-47 aircraft. Injured soldier on stretcher is carried to ambulance from plane. Words written on side of plane read "Spirit of Lafayette School." "Lincoln Park, Michigan. Donated by Pupils to the Army, Mar 17th 1944."
German Navy officers and sailors (including Walter Gerhold, who won the Knight's Cross for his one man mini-submarine [Neger] attack on the Polish Cruiser Dragon in July 1944) arrive by train and are greeted by affiliated Hitler youth in Berlin, during World War 2. Accompanied by a contingent of Navy-related Hitler youth boys, they board a bus and are waved at by a group of Hitler youth girls, as they depart. View inside the bus of a young Kriegsmarine (Navy) officer sitting with admiring Hitler youth in Navy-style uniforms. Next they are seen meeting the National German Youth Leader (Reichsjugendleiter) Artur Axmann, in uniform. One of the boys is then fitted out in flotation gear,helmet, and breathing apparatus of a Marder human torpedo operator. The boys gather around a Marder, one-man submarine. Closeup of some boys shows "11/184 Kiel,"on their hats, indicating the Youth unit to which they belong. The boy dressed in operators gear, now sits in the cockpit of the Marder submarine. A sailor shows him how to aim it. Those gathered around, tap on the plexiglass cockpit of the submarine. An experienced sailor tells the boys about using such a weapon against English ships and amuses them with personal stories.
The college football Orange Bowl of 1944 between Louisiana State University and Texas A&M University Aggies in Miami, Florida, at the Miami Orange Bowl. The crowd in the stands of Orange Bowl Stadium. Band and flag corps march on the field carrying flags of various nations. A large float of a bald eagle with a crowned young woman rides atop the float. The game in progress. A cheering crowd in the stands. Highlights shown include two rushing touchdowns by LSU's Steve Van Buren and a passing touchdown by A&M. Louisiana State University beats Texas A&M University Aggies by a score of 19-14.
College football 1944 Rose Bowl game between the University of Southern California and the University of Washington, held in Pasadena, California. A crowd in the stands. The game in progress. USC Trojan's quarterback Jim Hardy throws three touchdown passes in the highlights. The USC Trojans win over the University of Washington Huskies by a score of 29-0.
Capture of Myitkyina airfield by Allied Forces during Burma Campaign of World War II. Animated map highlights Myitkyina airfield in North Burma which is captured by Allied ground forces on 17th of May, 1944. USAAF (United States Army Air Forces) Waco CG-4 gliders parked at Shingbwiyang airfield. USAAF officer inspects a map. Airbase engineering equipment are loaded aboard gliders. Tow rope of glider is hooked up with USAAF C-47 Skytrain transport plane. Airborne engineers board the glider. C-47 tows CG-4. CG-4 makes a landing at Myitkyina airfield under Japanese machine gun fire. Another glider makes a crash landing. Airborne engineers exit the gliders on field. A pilot and an engineer of crashed glider are given plasma and first aid. Wounded men are evacuated. Bulldozers level the airfield. Chinese soldiers search for hidden Japanese snipers in area.
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