On 12 December, 1944, at an airport in Naples, Italy, British General Sir Henry Nathan Wilson inspects an honor guard of American Military Policemen in formation. (Narrator states he is en route to replace the late Field Marshal Sir John Dill, in Washington, DC, USA) A contingent of British troops is also present as part of the honor guard, on the wet airport tarmac. (Narrator states that Wilson will head the British Joint Staff Mission and be personal military representative for Prime Minister Winston Churchill.) He approaches a line of U.S. military officers who salute him. Closeup of General Wilson With U.S. Army Air Forces Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker, next to U.S. Vice Admiral Kent Hewitt. Also with them (back to camera) is British Admiral Sir John Henry Dacres Cunningham, Commander-in-Chief for the Mediterranean Fleet. Next, General Wilson and his party are seen boarding a British Avro York four-engine Heavy Transport aircraft. View from the ground, of the aircraft cockpit and the engines running as it taxis out for takeoff. Change of scene shows troops gathered in open air battlefield environment. General Mark Clark, now Commander-in-Chief of the Allied 15th Army Group, decorates some members of the 5th Army, as General Lucian King Truscott Jr. (new 5th Army Commander) stands by his side. General Clark says farewell to members of the 5th Army and shakes hands with many of them. (World War II; WW II; World War 2; World War Two)
Trucks carrying U.S. troops of the 30th Infantry Division arrive in snow-covered woods, where they begin preparing 50 caliber machine gun ammunition and setting up defenses. A 90mm gun manned by the 143rd Antiaircraft gun Battalion in position to command a road. U.S. jeep moves along a muddy road past other positions where such guns are set up. Scene shifts to the town of Malmedy, where U.S. Army engineers mine bridges with 800 pound TNT charges. View of American soldiers standing on a bridge next to the explosives. Some civilian women run past several U.S. soldiers. A German Army corporal is seen who was wearing an American uniform, insignia, identification and dogtags, when captured. He is driven away in a jeep by U.S. Military Police.
Opening scene shows people fleeing a German advance toward Bastogne during World War II. American Military Police check the identifications of all persons leaving Bastogne on Highway 15. One Belgian refugee is delayed by an MP Sergeant because he has shaved the moustache that appears in his identification papers. American forces in trucks moving through at a major road intersection. U.S. troops of the 318th Regiment, 80th Infantry Division entering Bastogne in trucks, to relieve defenders there. Some 8th Regiment soldiers are seen patrolling a street where an American flag is displayed on a building with a sign on front reading: "Civil Affairs," and posting office hours. View of U.S. troops moving along sidewalks on both sides of a street in the town.
Activities in the wake of death of civil rights leader Martin Luther King. United States soldiers after the Baltimore Riots in Baltimore, Maryland. Sign of 'Laurens St.' and another sign. Soldiers check a map on a jeep hood. A soldier stands guard. Police cars pass through a street. Troops in formation walk. A sign reads :'Pipe Rack Clothes'. A soldier and an officer stand near the building of Pipe Rack Clothes. Workers board up a store front. Wooden boards in a car. Soldiers in formation walk through a street behind cars.
Various signs for regulating traffic in Washington, DC, the United States. Signs read: 'Pedestrians Prohibited', 'Pedestrians Use East Crosswalk', 'No Right Turn', 'Keep To Left', 'No Left Turn' and 'No Standing At Any Time.' They are all posted by the Police Department.
Parisians on bicycles in Paris, France. Two girls ride bicycles on Paris street. Group of Parisians on bicycles. Parisians ride bicycles on busy streets. Woman travels on bicycle. U.S. soldier at the back. Two women on a bicycle. Woman travels on a bicycle with a dog at the back. Man rides a bicycle carrying a musical instrument. Mass of bicyclists wait for the vehicles to move and then pass. Man on a bicycle with girl seated behind him. Two men on a bike. Mass of bicyclists coming down a street. Policemen in the foreground. Bicyclists and U.S. soldier on velo taxi. Bicyclists on a street. Crowd in front of a building. Sign in back: 'Monde Libre'. Mass of parked bicycles. Parking space for bicycles.
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