German aircraft of WW 2. A German Heinkel 100 prototype fighter takes off, with rocket assist. (The smoke is visible only as it passes dark trees in background.) The aircraft retracts landing gear and makes high speed pass over the Airfield. Two Messerschmitt Me 109s fly low over the Airfield. Focke-Wulf Fw 190 parked on grass with engine running. Pair of FW-190s make formation takeoff. Me-109s, Ju-87's and FW-190s in various formations and maneuvers. A Junkers 188 with Technician working on it, then making a high speed pass and climb. A Focke Wulf 200 Condor Taxis by through puddles.
German slates refer to the dream of "Northern" people to fly, fulfilled by aircraft development. Scenes from Paris airshow in 1908, when it was a feature of the automobile show that year. Hangars bear names of aircraft companies: Bleriot; Vetze and others, with historic vintage airplanes of the period parked on the grass in front of each. A man plays with a dog in the grass. Spectators are seated in stands set up in the background. Scene shifts to 1935, where a long row of German aircraft are shown parked with engines running. Then it shifts to 1943, during World War 2, with a long line of German Messerschmitt aircraft parked with engines running. An animated map shows air lines of communication emanating from center of Germany and extending throughout Europe. Huge formations of German warplanes are seen in flight.
German Professor Eugen Sänger conceived of a rocket-propelled airplane in 1934. View of his sketches and notes.View of a workshop, close to his home, where Sänger developed his ideas. It is a nondescript building with wooden exterior and "Deutsche Raketenflug-Werft, Vien1934" (German Rocketflight shipyard, Vienna,1934) scrawled on its door. Professor Sänger and an assistant are seen in doorway of the workshop. Interior views of machinery. Blueprint cross-section of Sängers first Rocket motor (the S.R.1) from 1932. Drawing of test facility arrangement from 1932. Drawing of the S.R.2 rocket motor from 1933, with high pressure liquid oxygen cooling. Drawing of testing apparatus and arrangement from 1933, including Bosch fuel injection pump.
Destroyed remains of Berlin, Germany as seen right after World War 2. Aerial view from airplane flying over remains of the city heavily damaged by Allied bombing. Buildings and statues of the city. People walk on roads. Debris at entrance to a subway station with Brandenburg Gate in background. Street sign identifies Wilhelm Strasse.
Film begins showing Brigadier General James M. Gavin, Commander of the Force A (parachute) contingent of the 82nd Airborne Division, standing on the hood of a jeep, at an airfield, to brief his paratroopers as they prepare for the D-Day invasion, during World War 2. A C-47 transport plane taxis behind the assembled group of troopers. Barbed wire is strung in the foreground. Paratroopers are issued French currency before departure. Some gamble with it using dice. Troops are seen playing volleyball on a field surrounded by trees. On an airfield, one trooper hits ground balls with a soft ball and several others field it. Some other troopers sit in grass next to the ramp, assembling wooden containers for airdrop. Two Army Air Forces mechanics fasten a tow bar on the nose wheel of a British-built Horsa Mk.II glider. They then tow it with a tug. View from above of Horsa gliders and C-47 tow airplanes, all in D-Day paint stripes, lined up on an airfield ramp. Paratrooper tent camp is viewed from above. Then, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and other senior officers are seen visiting paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division, at the camp, on June 5, 1944, as they prepare to board their aircraft. Famous closeup of General Eisenhower speaking to a tall paratrooper who has his face camouflaged with grease paint.View looking down, as Eisenhower circulates among the troopers. Closeup of him conversing with another one directly.
U.S. Paratroopers boarding C-47 aircraft, on June 5th, 1944 during World War 2. Huge naval task force underway in the English Channel. C-47s loaded with paratroopers taking off, the evening of June 5th. C-47s taking off towing gliders. Formations of C-47s and gliders passing over the Naval task force in the English Channel. Three pet dogs with troops on one of the ships.
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