Opening slate at start of film reads: "1942--1943 The Turn of the Tide." A column of British armor enters Bengazi, Libya, led by several troops in tankettes. Next seen are a Lee Medium Tank, M3 followed by an infantry tank, a jeep, another infantry tank and another Lee M3 Medium tank. Closeup of local people greeting the troops with upraised hands giving the "V" for victory sign. Another Lee M3 tank passes close by the camera. Black smoke is rising in the background. Scene changes to a half sunken ship near another burning in the harbor. Another view of this from further away above port buildings. Closeup of three smiling British soldiers leaning over a cartoon on a tank, of Winston Churchill (As a bulldog smoking a cigar and wearing a cap with the word "Victory" written on it). A crumpled captured flag with swastika on it. British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery stands atop a vehicle (unseen) and looks through binoculars. Below, a column of British supply vehicles is making its way along a path in the desert. Two tanks coming toward the camera through sand. Animated map shows Nazi territory being threatened by the Allies from the Mediterranean, the USSR, and the English Channel. Views of Soviet infantry advancing against German forces in the snow of winter on the eastern front. Soviet troops firing updated 76-mm divisional gun model 1902 hidden in woods. Shells exploding in snow-covered field as Soviet BT series tanks advance. Various Soviet artillery firing from fixed gun batteries and from woods. A shell striking in distance. Fallen German soldiers lying on snowy field. Makeshift battlefield crosses marking graves of fallen German soldiers. German steel helmets lined up in the snow. A sign, posted on a birch tree, lists the names and birth dates of 16 German soldiers from the 3rd Panzer Division (3Pz-Pi-BH.39) buried at this site on November 28, 1941. Scene shifts to Joseph Stalin addressing Soviet troops in Red Square, Moscow, Russia. All the soldiers in formation seem to be singing (unheard). Film switches to animated map again. This time delineating the Eastern front being pressed by the USSR, and showing area of the 2nd Soviet winter offensive in 1943. Change of scene from Europe to the War in Asia, against Japan, shows General Douglas MacArthur after arriving by a B-17 bomber at a Pacific island American base. He ascends a steep hill in a jungle area, accompanied by other officers. Closeup of MacArthur. American infantry moving in single file in New Guinea, as a field piece fires a round in the direction they are headed. U.S. artillerymen load shells into a 105mm howitzer gun. A fire burns as mop-up operations begin on New Guinea. An Australian soldier is seen firing a Bren gun in jungles. Other Australian soldiers fire a mortar that explodes, raising earth and dust. More views of shells exploding near Allied soldier advancing. A soldier with fixed bayonet makes a fake charge toward the camera. Views of Japanese prisoners of war guarded in an outdoor compound. Japanese dead soldiers on Guadalcanal. An animated map shows new battle lines in the Pacific, closing in on Japan, with pressure from China, the USSR, and the Pacific islands being captured by the U.S. Arrows are added showing new pressure from American naval fleets and from British and American bombers out of Australia and captured islands.
Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the mother of Queen Elizabeth II, arrives back in England after an official tour to Australia and New Zealand. People gather in the Guildhall (71 Basinghall St, London EC2V 7HH, United Kingdom) to greet her. Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother’s younger daughter, stands with a flower bouquet to greet her. Queen Elizabeth seated on a chair and people greet her and applaud.
Shows an air raid by German Messerschmitt bf 109 and Junkers 88 bombers on Bone in Algeria, North Africa, during World War 2. Allied forces counterattack and fire tracer bullets. Air raid sirens sound and people in streets flee for cover. Anti aircraft (AA) gun crew fires at German planes. British Supermarine Spitfire takes off from an Allied airfield in Bone. U.S. P-38s in the skies. RAF Spitfires and USAAF P-38s engage German Me-109 and Junkers 88. Burning wreckage of a downed Messerschmitt. Scenes of air battle at night. Several burning wreckages of downed Nazi planes. Parachute flares dropped from a German plane are hit by tracer bullets. Junkers 88 burns at night. Bombed buildings in Bone and people on the streets with their belongings. Local people signal ' V ' for their victory over the Germans. Wreckage of downed German planes such as Messerschmitts, Dornier DO-17s and Heinkel 111s scattered across a countryside field. Tail section of Messerschmitt with swastika symbol. (November 1942-December 1942)
U.S. Army Air Forces 80th Fighter Squadron (two engines) operating in the Pacific Theater during World War 2. Views from inside cockpit of P-38 as it dives low to strafe Japanese positions. P-38s taxiing out for takeoff. Dramatic cloud formations in background. Dimly seen formations of P-38s flying overhead. large V formation of P-38s in flight. P-38s in aerial maneuvers. One executes a series of rolls. Another performs a loop.
At beginning of the film, a German officer instructor pilot and his Technical sergeant student approach a German ME-262 jet airplane set up on maintenance jacks in a snow covered airfield. A mechanic stands as they approach. The landing gear of the plane are in the process of extending, which the instructor pilot discusses and they are moving. Closeup of the landing gear fully extended. The instructor pilot signals to a mechanic in the cockpit and the landing gear are then retracted. Closeup of the gear retracting into the fuselage of the plane. The mechanics leave the instructor pilot and student who then climb up to the airplane cockpit. The instructor points to two hydraulic valve handles for the landing gear in the cockpit. They then both jump down from the plane and continue talking about its controls as they walk. Suddenly, the officer instructor points to an ME-262 taking off from the field. Closeup of the jet on takeoff roll. It has "V 167" stenciled on its fuselage. Next, an ME-262 jet is seen being towed along a ramp past a line of parked ME-262s. (World War II; WW II; World War 2; World War Two)
'Battle of Britain' from the "Why we Fight" series of propaganda films during World War 2. Adolf Hitler stands with other officers in Paris following Battle of France and views the Eiffel Tower. Elevated view from Eiffel Tower of German troops marching in streets of Paris and under Arc de Triomphe. Damaged buildings in Dunkirk after German invasion. Hitler and staff ride in car through street barely passable with rubble and destroyed buildings on either side. In Calais, view of bombed port area and German soldiers keeping watch from a bunker. Hitler looks through V-shaped rangefinder or sighting binoculars across the English Channel toward Britain. Scenes in Berlin Germany of Reich Chancellery exteriors and interiors where Hitler meets with German officers and plans with other officers for invading England. German soldiers guarding the building exterior; Hitler's staff shown examining maps. Pictorial, animated representation of the first phase of the plan showing attack of England from air by Luftwaffe. Phase two shows attack on coastal areas. Phase three shows the actual attack and the course the German army would take to invade Britain.
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