THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE
THE BIG PICTURE Presents the story of The Battle of the Bulge. Presented in a way to remind soldiers that they aren't the first ones to become homesick. According to Wikipedia, the Ardennes Offensive (16 December 1944 -- 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive on the Western Front and was launched towards the end of World War II. It was also Hitler's last offensive in the war. This offensive was called Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein (Operation The Guard on the Rhine) by the German armed forces (Wehrmacht).
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The Story of the 82nd Airborne Division
The famed 82d Airborne Division is one of the premier airborne fighting units of all time and always in the forefront of battle. Nicknamed the "All American" Division, the 82d has a long and valorous history.
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Color WWII Film From Pre D-Day London to Paris Narrated Years Later by a Combat Cameraman
Covers shots from London to D-Day. Fascinating recount of WWII color footage narrated by a Combat Cameraman as he presented images before a live audience decades after the war. There is a 10 second lag between images and the narration that gets old. Part 2 shows 3rd army coming ashore after WWII, more shots of France. Part 3 shows Paris, collection of German weapons and planes on display.
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WWII - SALUTE TO FRANCE (1945) US Propaganda Film
Guess who the bad guys are. Log: Scientist talks to assistants, man teaches in American classroom. Hitler speaks from podium area, shots of Pierre Laval, Oswald Mosely, Fritz Kuhn, Hirohito, Rudolph Hess, Julius Streicher, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, and Mussolini. Soldiers marching, crowds listening to speakers. Devastated city, newspaper headlines, WWI - German Kaiser reviews troops, French posting of mobilization orders, soldiers march thru crowd, soldiers charge across battlefield. French taxi cab army, cannons fire, explosions, battles at Verdun and Chemin des Dames. Lloyd George conferring with Clemenceau, factory workers, destroyed buildings, explosion in field, troops climb hill, Lloyd George battles at Paaschendale, Ypres, Somme. Parade of soldiers, President Wilson, Gen. Pershing, battle scene at Chateau Thierry, marines battle at Belleau Wood, Argonne. Hitler makes speech, German troops marching. Eiffel tower, German officers saluting, German occupy Paris, German officers walk towards Eiffel tower, Paris aerial including Arc de Triumph, French soldiers with Allies. Aerial of paratrooper jumping from plane, aerial of plane falling to ground. Clipped at the end, but you get the idea.
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WWII - Top Secret "Smart Bomb" Technology Developed During the War (1947 film)
Film opens with as US Paratroopers file into cargo planes, the C-47s taxi on runway, and the men eventually jump from plane. Paratrooper lands in the horizon, pulls out "Eureka", and sets it up. This is a radio beacon to guide planes (carrying "Rebecca" sensors) to a landing areas. Films shows how this technology led to the development of the first US television controlled bomb test. Ending is pretty funny with a look into the "future" of smart bomb technology where an operator can simply send off an atomic bomb from the comfort of his Star Trek-looking console!
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SILENT WWII B&W film, USS BIRMINGHAM TAKES ON AMMUNITION; JAPANESE.AIR ATTACK; BOMBARDMENT OF TINIAN (1944)
Part 1. USS Alhena approaches, comes along side. Winch raises ammo from ship, loading ammo onto ship, men pass ammo, men carry ammo powder cans on deck. Fleet at sea, planes fly overhead, planes lands of aircraft carrier. Men attend funeral on deck of ship, preacher speaks. Fleet at sea, planes fly overhead, ships fire at planes-Japanese plane hit and crashes, Japanese plane formation approaches carrier. Transfer of wounded at sea form DD alongside, wounded man shuttled between ships, GV Carrier and DD refueling from AO simultaneously at sea. Group of sailors attend burial at sea, preacher speaks to men on deck, body dropped into sea, shots of men attending burial at sea. Tinian Island under bombardment, fleet fires on island. Sailors load ammo, men carry powder guns. Part 2. Fleet at sea, ships in transport area, sailors observe fleet, men transfer ammo from one turret to another. Men handle lines, rope turnsGV loading ammo from USS Alhena alongside SV, load of ammo lifted from ship, ammo on deck of ship, men unload ammo, men chain-pass and carry ammo cases. Men throw ammo cans on deck, various ships from fleet, view from deck, battleships. Planes land on carrier, planes take off from carrier, ships fire at planes in air, planes fly in formation over ships. Men wash clothes on deck, men sleep on deck, men serve cable with canvas, man reads on deck, carrier in distance signals. Burial at sea, preacher speaks, body dropped into sea, men pay respects. Anchor detail at work, paying out anchor chain. Tinian town under bombardment. MM guns bombard Tinian, guns fire from deck of ship, men load guns and fire.
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WWII - Operations in Northern France
German munitions dump explodes. Tank flame thrower is demonstrated. Shoots over 400 feet. France celebrates the day Paris is liberated. Snipers interrupt the festvities. Eisenhower comes out with the people in Paris.
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WWII - The Invasion of Angaur in the Pacific
US Pacific fleet bombards the island of Angaur before the invasion. Terrific combat camera sequences. Machine guns and mortars are used in close action. Few prisoners taken, only two. 173 are killed. Vital phosphate mines are captured.
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WWII - Battle of the Netherlands, Capture of Antwerp
Armoured elements of the British Second army advance in the Netherlands. The Germans are in retreat, bridges are blown as they leave. Assault boats are put into use. Towns are liberated. Flooding as a result of RAF raids on dykes is shown. Antwerp is liberated. British armada and RAF attacks. Landing of men secures a foothold. British Commandoes come ashore
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WWII - Testing German 155 mm Artillery Shells
Captured German 155 mm shells are tested and refurbished for Allied use. German shells can be used in Allied artillery. Other story shows how local lumbar mills in Europe are used for supplies for the Allies.
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Ingenious Artillery Plan to Supply a Trapped Battalion
Medical supplies and food are loaded into artillery projectile containers and blasted over to a trapped US 7th Army battalion in Northern France. Times fuses will open the shells over their targets. The men are rescued later and their faces show the scars of battle.
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US Ninth and First Armies cross into Germany, Capture Key Towns
November 1944. US Forces head into Northern France, up to the German border. US Ninth and First Armies, along with French Units, encounter German fortifications and trenches. House to house fighting all the way. Mulhausen, Saarburg and Zabern are captured. Germans were using captured russian weapons which are shown. Masses of German prisoners are taken, along with German female pilots and nurses.
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Modifications to the M-4 Sherman Tank
New versions of the M-4 Sherman Tank appear on the western front. The 76mm gun is shown in tests before delivery to the Fourth Armored Division. The tank's maneuverability is demonstrated.
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Improvised Allied Infantry Weapons on the Western Front
During the Battle of the Bulge and beyond, Allied forces had to improvise to make adequate uniforms. They utilized captured weapons to fight in the freezing weather. They also made improvized weapons out of bazookas and grenades. The military snow vehicle, the Weasel, proved very helpful for certain tasks during combat.
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The US M-24 Light Tank
An improvement on the M-5 light tank. Front line reports on the 75mm gun, the shells and comparisons to a similar German light tank.
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The Ledo-Burma Road
The Ledo Road was built during World War II so that the Western Allies could supply the Chinese as an alternative to the Burma Road which had been cut by the Japanese in 1942. It was renamed the Stilwell Road (named after US General Stilwell in early 1945 at the suggestion of Chiang Kai-shek. After Rangoon was captured by the Japanese and before the Ledo Road was finished, the majority of supplies to the Chinese were delivered via airlift over the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains. The road stretched from Ledo, Assam, India to Kunming, China.
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WWII Experimental Tests - US's Own Buzz Bomb, the JB-2, Special Airborne Oxygen Tanks
"Cutting edge for WWII. Shows a segmented shatterproof airborne oxygen tank that doesn't explode when shot by bullet rounds. Next segmetn shows the JB-2 which the US borrowed from the German design to create their own ""V-1 Buss Bomb."" The JB-2, built by Republic Aviation (airframe) and Ford Motor Company (pulsejet engine), was reverse-engineered by inspecting V-1 wreckage found in England and was first flight-tested less than four months after the first V-1 attack.
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THESE ARE THE MEN : An Anti-German Propaganda Film 1943
Made in the middle of WWII, this propaganda film sought to galvanize the American people against the key leaders of the Nazi Party in Germany. This 1943 film was written and narrated by poet Dylan Thomas. The film used images from German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl's film "Triumph of the Will" to discredit the Nazi leadership.
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First Images from Hiroshima
Newsreel also shows American POWs releaed inside Japan, President Truman at his first basball game, General Wainwright, hero of Bataan, returns home, to parade and hero's welcome in Washington DC.
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Site Promo Clip - All American Escape Harness
In WWII the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA, was looking for innovative ways to retrieve secret agents who needed to make a quick escape. This was one method.
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Report on JET PROPULSION
The story of the first jet-propelled airplane in the United States, the P-59 Airacomet. The potential for the jet engine was seen as so extraordinary then - the narrator can barely hide his enthusiasm.
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The American 1st Army - From Aachen to the Roer River
This storytelling gem puts us right on the front line alongside the US 1st Army. The maps are terrific. All you need to know about the "1st" is on this film, made in 1946 after the filmmakers had time to sift through all the combat camera footage.
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Color WWII - Raw Footage, Capture of German U-Boat U-505
On 4 June 1944, United States Navy's USS Guadalcanal captured the German U-Boat U-505, the first time a US Navy vessel had captured an enemy at sea since 1815. This raw color footage shows what happened. The U 505 is presently a museum ship at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Codebooks and other secret documents were captured from the U-505 which assisted Allied codebreaking operations.
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THE WAR 1941 - 1944
Review of significant combat camera and news footage from the war, up until 1944.
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Stalin Hit by a Stroke
Silent film footage of Stalin. News of a stroke hitting him apparently once played on this film.
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Post WWII - Petain Tried by the French for Treason
Silent film coverage. Philippe Petain was the Marshal of France and later the Chief of State of Vichy France during German occupation. In 1945 Pétain was tried for collaboration (or treason), convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad. Charles de Gaulle, who was briefly Prime Minister at the end of the war, commuted the sentence to life imprisonment on the grounds of his age and his Great War contributions. In prison on Île d'Yeu, an island off the Atlantic coast, he soon became entirely senile and incontinent, and required constant nursing care. He died in prison in 1951, at the age of 95.
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USA Hails V-E Day
B-29 plant stays open on V-E day to symbolize the fact that the war is not over yet. The country celebrates elsewhere. Capital building and the Statue of Liberty are lit again at night.
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RAF Says Goodbye to the Lockheed Hudson
Short tribute film. In 1938 the British RAF warbird, the Lockheed Hudson, came into service. After four years of war it was retired. The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter.
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Raw D-Day
Close up and personal - one combat cameraman's view.
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"Men, Before You Invade, Please Watch: THE GATES OF ITALY"
Before the Allies invaded Italy, this Canadian film was made to remind servicemen of the Italian people's heritage and their contributions to the US and Canada. Likely made to encourage soldiers to appreciate (and thus protect), the architecture and cultural treasures of Italy. This image-rich film covers all aspects of Italian life and society before and under Benito Mussolini.
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ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION - The Controversial 1946 Mission to Antarctica
Larger than the United States and Europe combined, the Antarctic continent held many mysteries and promises after WWII. In 1946 and 1947 the US Navy launched Operation Highjump, an ambitious expedition to Antarctica. Taskforce 68 was comprised of 13 ships and 4,00 men. Shows footage of Richard E. Byrd's pioneering crew.in 1939 then covers Operation Highjump. The film doesn't cover the controversy surrounding the move, which was seen by many countries as a land grab by the US. More information on this operation can be found at www.south-pole.com/p0000150.htm.
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WWII US Propaganda Film - Know Your Enemy - Japan
An American propaganda film produced on behalf of the U.S. War Department in 1945 as a training film for American soldiers preparing to fight in the Pacific during World War II. Directed by Frank Capra, the hour-long film sought to educate American soldiers about their adversary's history and society, particularly the course up to the Pacific War, and the totalitarian nature of the Japanese state. Today, it's used to show the influence of images and sound over narration, and the portrayal of the Japanese people during World War II. Shows the Bataan Death March in brutal detail.
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