Launching of USS Santa Fe (CL-60) in Camden, New Jersey in World War 2. USS Santa Fe slides down the way. Shipyard workers at the launch of the ship. Tugs take over Santa Fe and tow her into a basin.
View from boat in the water as a U.S. F6F Hellcat aircraft takes off from Torokina fighter strip, Cape Torokina, Bougainville, during World War 2. The aircraft climbs out directly overhead. A small boat is seen at the beach and military vehicles move along the airfield roads. A P-39 aircraft taxis onto the runway and takes off in the opposite direction from the just-departed F6F. Military engineer equipment is seen working on the airstrip. A number of P-39s are parked beside the runway, close to surrounding trees. An F4U Corsair aircraft takes off towards the water (and camera), passing directly over a construction tractor working on the field. Another Corsair takes off over the heads of two armed sentries, and yet, another takes off immediately afterwards. View from the water, as an F4U flies low overhead toward the field for landing.
The Danish Royal Family appear on balconies of the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen. Danish Police and soldiers, in Copenhagen, Denmark, attempt to control a large crowd of people milling about on a downtown street in the vicinity of the Royal Palace. Several uniformed band members with instruments are seen trying to move through the throng. Scene shifts to the courtyard of the Amalienborg Palace (Amalienborg Slotsplads 5, 1257 København K, Denmark) where a military honor guard and band stand in formation. A little boy stands alone nearby, waving a small flag. A tall man steps in front of the camera and takes the boy's hand to lead him away. Two soldiers in a color guard march in slow ceremonial steps, carrying the colors to the formation as the band plays and people watch and photographers take pictures. The honor guard shoulder their arms. Honor guards are seen at order arms position as camera focuses on the palace balcony, where King Christian X is seen by the railing of the left balcony, with a military aide in uniform behind him in the doorway. On the right-hand balcony, Crown Prince Frederik (IX) and Crown Princess Ingrid are seen with their three daughters, 6-year old Princess Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid (later Queen Margrethe II); 2-year old Princess Benedikte Astrid Ingeborg Ingrid; and baby Princess Anne-Marie Dagmar Ingrid, in her father's arms. The king returns inside, and his balcony doors are closed. The Prince motions in that direction and converses with his wife, now holding their baby daughter. Change of scene shows a square in downtown Copenhagen jammed with pedestrians, some holding umbrellas. Camera pans over the crowd.
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.
Opening scene shows map of Greece, highlighting Athens, Samos and Leros. Views of wrecked boats and ships along a shore. Dead soldier lying near a gun position overlooking a town near shore below. German soldiers look at newspaper headline reading (in German) "British Sea base taken." German General Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, World War 2 Commander of the operation, mingles with and congratulates ordinary German soldiers. Soldier looking over the island of Samos from a mountain. German soldier looking at large barrels on a pier. Closeup of a bottle of Greek Samos wine. German officers and soldiers drinking the wine. Soldiers cutting bananas from a large bunch carried by a local man. A long line of captured British soldiers and sailors marching under guard along a mountain road. Closeups of them passing the camera. The prisoners descending from a pier into large barges. Glimpse of an Indian colonial soldier among them. Large numbers of prisoners being marched under guard along a road in town.
Displaced Persons (DP) and refugees travel in horse drawn carts on streets of Germany. German civilians on streets. German civilians ride bicycles. Pedestrians on pavement. German civilians loot a warehouse, taking bags of goods. People fill lorries from goods of warehouse, during time of food and supply scarcity near end of World War 2 in Europe.
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