Hitler Youth work on Polish annexed fields a year after the German invasion of Poland during World War 2. Houses with German flag in front. Young German boys ride horse carts on dirt road. They work on field digging with spades. Two tractors plow fields. Two young boys on the wheel of the second tractor, a Lanz Bulldog.
Hitler Youth playing games after a day's work on annexed Polish farm land. They run towards water at a beach. World War 2 era Hitler Youth enjoy splashing water at each other. They play various games on beach including tossing one another along a line of interlinked arms, another game where a standing boy is spun around in a circle by seated boys, and a human wheelbarrow race across the sand toward three apples lying on the sand.
United States civilian war production workers at gun cotton factory (making flammable guncotton, or Nitrocellulose or Pyrocellulose) in United States during World War 2. Men and women enter the building. Board at the entrance reads 'Absence'. Women are searched to be sure they are bringing nothing in to the factory that can spark or start a fire. Women wear badges and special shoes. A number of women wearing uniforms work inside the gun cotton factory. Men and women workers manufacture gun cotton at the plant. They demonstrate emergency slides for exiting the factory quickly in the event of a fire or emergency.
Opening scene shows British artillerymen bombarding the Italian town of Ortona, on the Adriatic coast of Italy, which is held by paratroops of the German 1st Parachute Division in World War 2. Closeups of British soldier operating 155mm gun. British officers planning the barrage. Battery of guns firing. View of shells striking Ortona, along the coastline. Heavy guns firing from under camouflage netting. Smoke rising from artillery strikes. Scene shifts to Allied occupied airfield in Foggia, on the coast, South of Ortona, where P-40 aircraft of the 99th Pursuit Squadron are preparing to fly in support of the Ortona offensive. (This U.S Army Air Forces unit is comprised entirely of African American pilots and support personnel including Tuskegee Airmen.) Closeups of airmen fueling and arming the aircraft, and of pilots gathered in a mission briefing. 99th Squadron aircraft taking off and departing overhead in formations. View from the British artillery position of numerous bombs bursting on Ortona. Film shifts to the Central Front in Italy where U.S. forces are engaged in the Battle of San Pietro. Views of American artillery bombarding German positions in San Pietro. Closeups of numerous U.S. guns being fired. An ejected shell flies through the air from a U.S. Sherman tank during the bombardment. Views of U.S. troops passing a Sherman tank as they enter San Pietro and begin searching for booby traps in the wreckage of the town. Closeup of a soldier dismantling a booby trap. German aircraft sweep overhead and bomb the town. American soldiers dig out a buddy who was buried by a bomb burst, but rescued unhurt. He smiles for the camera. Casualties of the fighting, including many civilians are carried on stretchers and assisted. Local residents are seen grieving over fallen relatives and friends. Groups of townspeople stand along a hillside and watch as Italian soldiers join with the Allies in the fighting. Jeeps are seen navigating the muddy mountain trails as far as possible. Then further movement requires the use of mules. Troops are seen with mule trains. Soldiers shoulder heavy ammunition crates and slog uphill with them over a muddy mountain trail.
U.S. infantry and M4 Sherman tanks move against heavily fortified Japanese positions on Okinawa during World War 2. American soldiers use flame throwers to dislodge Japanese defenders. Two soldiers run as an explosion occurs behind them. U.S. artillery firing from under camouflage netting. Glimpse of soldier walking past a burning building. Okinawan women and children seek refuge behind the U.S.Tenth Army lines. A soldier carries a naked baby to safety. View of Okinawan refugees (Ryukyuan people), mostly women and children and some old people, seated together where they are to be cared for by the Army's Civil Affairs Command. Wounded American soldiers being placed aboard a U.S. Air Transport Command C-47 aircraft number 42-72383. Change of scene to the battlefield where a U.S. Army soldiers throw a hand grenades that explode on a Japanese caves. A Japanese soldier is shot as he stumbles out of his cave. Another Japanese soldier is take prisoner. U.S. soldier fires his rifle and a Japanese soldier falls to the ground. Scenes shift to the sea off of Okinawa, where a Benson-Livermore class destroyer is seen under a sky full of black flak clouds. Closeup of the destroyer. A Japanese aircraft is shot down as it flies toward a U.S. New Orleans class heavy cruiser. It crashes into the sea near another U.S. capital ship. An attacking Japanese plane is shot down by anti-aircraft fire and crashes into the sea. More flak filled skies and bombs exploding along with machine gun fire raking the waters. Anti-aircraft tracer bullets firing from ships. A Japanese plane hit, is burning, and then explodes in the air. A Douglas dauntless aircraft lands on an aircraft carrier. Another aircraft doesn't make it to the carrier, and ditches in the water nearby. The pilot is seen standing on the plane's right wing, awaiting pick up. A Navy F4U Corsair plane approaches its carrier to land but loses control and crashes into the carrier's island. Firefighters direct streams of water on it's burning wreckage.
Mop up operation by British Allied forces in Florence, Italy, during World War 2. South African and New Zealand troops advance on tanks. Soldier looks through binoculars. Views of city of Florence including Florence Cathedral (Duomo). View of Ponte Vecchio bridge in the city, the only one spared by the German forces who destroyed all other bridges over the Arno River at Florence. Soldier fires from the hidden area. Explosions in the city. Soldiers patrol on streets of Florence. Civilians on streets, including some partisan civilian soldiers aiding in the elimination of German sniper positions.
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