June 6, 1944 and the greatest armada in military history is assembled in England for an assault on Hitler's Fortress Europe. For this long awaited D-Day the Allies have assembled 12,000 planes to protect a surface force of 4,000 ships. Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower has nearly 3,000,000 men trained for the assault. Combat cameramen made a great pictorial record of this day - a day that changed the course of history. A myriad of soldiers that are on their way to a transport ship. MS - A line of military ambulances. MS - A row of army tanks. MS - An air field full of different types of fighting planes and bombers. MCUS - General Eisenhower and General Montgomery looking over battle plans. Armada of military battleships and transport ships. Aerial shot - British and American bombers bombing Germany. Aerial shot. Bombs exploding leaving a trail of smoke and fire. Looking up - A formation of military planes in the sky. MCUS - Paratroopers jumping out of a plane, US 101st and the British 6th, dropping out of the sky's over Normandy. Looking up - Sky filled with paratroopers and planes. MS - Battleship firing its cannon. MCUS - Military troops climbing rope ladders into a duck or transport boat that will take them to the shores of Normandy. MS - Battleship firing its canon at the German troops in Normandy. CUS - Troops huddled in one of the army ducts on their way to Normandy beach. MS - Troops landing on Normandy beach. CUS - Medics carrying a wounded soldier. CUS - A bare chested soldier standing at the bottom of a cliff on the beach. Aerial shot - The military ships and the ducts on Normandy beach. MCUS - General Eisenhower shaking hands with an German officer under surrender. MS - German soldiers with their hands up in the air surrendering. MS - Wounded soldiers transported by army jeep. MCUS - German troops under surrender.
Master 1495 - Tape 2 Map of Northern France, English Channel and Southern England with French cities of Calais, Dieppe, Le Havre, Cherbourg, and Brest marked. LS explosions in field. Rear view TLS U.S. APC (armored personnel carrier) driving through wide-open field. Rear view TLS U.S. APC and M4 Sherman tank driving through coastal village; great head-on TLS M4 Sherman tank driving through village. Panning TLS APC (looks amphibious) towing trailer. Sideview TLS U.S. Military Police (MP) Corporal directing armored battalion of light tanks. TLS military lorries driving along dock, passing cam. TLSs military truck backing onto T-453 landing craft; MS tires backing through shallow pool of water. TLSs APC and amphibious vehicles backing onto carrier craft. Rear view MS U.S. Army soldiers marching onto carrier. TLS/MSs U.S. soldiers boarding pontoon landing crafts (LC). High angle TLS LC loaded with soldiers sailing off. H/a TLS landing craft loaded with soldiers. H/a MSs soldiers on LC roped to naval ship. MSs soldiers using ropes to board ship from LC. MS U.S. Navy sailors helping U.S. soldiers board. Brief MSs soldiers playing craps (dice) on deck -- note the presence of at least two MPs. MS Army officer peering through deck sights. L/a TLS soldiers alighting boat to LC using ropes. H/a LC being lowered into water. LS/TLSs LCs sailing, embarking for shore. WLS/LS/TLSs naval salvo, providing cover barrage fire for landing soldiers; naval deck artillery fire. LSs LCs sailing for shore. LSs Allied soldiers storming beachhead. Great head-on TLS U.S. Army soldiers storming beach, running toward camera. Panning TLS soldiers running with M1 Garand rifles, hitting the dirt. Panning MS soldier running with Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR 1918A2) with bipod, falling into foxhole. Panning MS soldier running with light (short round) bazooka, hitting dirt. Nice MS ground explosion, dirt flying everywhere. TLSs LCs providing cover fire for landing troops. LS Allied troops landing on beach marked by steel barricades. MS soldiers carrying wounded on stretcher along rocky shore. MS U.S. soldiers sitting huddled on beach. RV TLS British or Canadian soldiers boarding LC. RV MS Brit or Canadian soldiers filing off LC during invasion. Great MS American soldiers with heads bowed solemnly. TLS/MSs 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagles) paratroopers marching past camera at base during pre-invasion preparations.
The D-Day Invasion. MCU bullets being loaded into curved automatic rifle clip. Quick MS British soldier inspecting pistol. MCU British Sten Gun submachine gun being locked & loaded. CU pineapple grenade being slipped into pouch. MCU knife being sharpened on wheel. TLS/MSs U.S. 101st Airborne Division paratroopers (Screaming Eagles) donning gear outside plane, then boarding it; TLS transport plane bearing D-Day markings taxiing; MS U.S. officer saluting plane. MS aboard pontoon boat wading in shallow waters along Normandy beachfront; door is opened and British (Canadian?) soldiers step off. Wide LS misty beachhead, soldiers storming.
Big Ben and Parliament; double-decker buses driving in FG. London street scenes; near empty streets. VS of D-Day invasion transports. VS of adult Caucasian male soldiers boarding invasion transports. MS U.S. General and Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lt. Gen. Carl Spaatz walking together and with other adult Caucasian male Army officers arriving at camp of 101st Airborne. VS of paratroopers marching in formation; parked airplane and barbed wire in FG. VS of Gen. Eisenhower speaking with paratroopers; camouflage on faces. Paratroopers marching in formation; some waving to camera. VS of paratroopers putting on gear.
VS of adult Caucasian male paratroopers gathered to hear U.S. General and Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower's message to them (audio of Order of the Day message). VS of paratroopers boarding C-47 airplanes. Writing on nose cone of airplane: "That s All, Brother!" C-47s taking off. POV from C-47 of other C-47s in flight intercut with paratroopers onboard, hooking in. VS of paratroopers leaping from C-47s. VS of paratroopers landing behind enemy lines. Soldier running with machine gun on shoulder. Soldiers running with their rifles. Airplanes flying overhead.
Adult Caucasian male soldiers on deck of ship transporting them from England. Overview of bow of ship travelling on the water. Soldier on boats wearing life jackets. Ship being buffeted by waves. Man at the helm, steering. POV from stern of a ship showing armada of ships following; American flag waving, intercut briefly by man, wearing knit cap, staring out in the distance.
Airplane parked on airfield, Soldier loading a motorcycle onto airplane. Soldier getting a boost from another soldier, placing a hook onto glider. Soldier walking with a line and hook; airplanes in BG. Soldier hooking up a glider. U.S. Major General Hoyt Vandenberg stands with two other male U.S. officers. VS of propeller airplane and gliders taking off. Aerial views of tree tops, fields, and the English Channel; airplane shadow. Airplanes in flight, leaving English coast. Low angle view from ship of airplanes flying in formation.
Sicily campaign. Adult Caucasian male soldiers standing on beach; U.S. Navy ships docked off Sicilian shore. Lieutenant General George S. Patton coming down from front of a landing craft; four adult Caucasian male U.S. Army soldiers around him, one helping him down. General Patton talking to adult Caucasian male U.S. Army soldiers. Soldiers walking on sandy beach road. Silhouette of soldier giving "fire" signal. VS of artillery guns firing. Landscape with puffs of explosion fire. Backs of adult Caucasian male soldiers gathered together in the field. General Patton talking to officers; couple of shirtless adult Italian males riding horseback in BG. Soldiers walking alongside trucks and jeeps driving through the Sicilian streets. Soldiers cheering. General Patton with two other adult Caucasian male soldiers looking out from balcony. Adult Italian males and females cheering, waving handkerchiefs. U.S. Army soldiers riding on tanks and armored vehicles through town.
Troops and supplies moving into Europe. Ike in the field with US soldiers; inspects the men, their training, their equipment just before initiation of Operation Overlord; MS of Ike smoking a cigarette, soldiers standing around him. D-Day montage: naval armada's big guns firing on the beaches, followed by the ground storming; ends with the successful move inward, happy French villagers.
Wide LS pan of Allied battleships and carriers sailing in the Channel just prior to the offensive.
D-Day invasion, June 6, 1944: Communications officers calling to fire; TLS/MSs Atlantic Wall heavy artillery firing, unit soldiers reloading; LS/TLSs Allied naval salvo returning fire, providing landing coverage; TLS/LSs Allied soldiers landing on beach; MS artillery firing from German bunker; MS German soldier firing mortar; MSs German soldiers firing belt-loading MG34 heavy machine guns.
D-Day invasion, June 6, 1944: LS/TLS U.S. soldiers landing, storming beach.
D-Day invasion, June 6, 1944: TLS car pulling into German officer's base; panning MS Rommel pacing grounds, hands behind back. Nice TLS view through break in trees, U.S. Army Sherman tank driving along village road. TLSs U.S. soldiers advancing through French coastal town; sideview MS U.S. soldier firing Thompson M1A1 submachine gun; TLSs US tanks in village, speeding along rural road. TLS German Army POWs marching to cam w/ hands held high; TLSs German prisoners of war.
LS horde of military aircraft in the sky. LSs of Allied battleships and carriers sailing in the Channel just prior to the offensive. MS's of the navy's big guns hammering the French coast.
Cuts between LSs of troop boats cruising & MSs men on the boats. LS/MS of Allied forces storming the beaches of Normandy.
MSs of Allied soldiers walking on land, well into the coast. MS of tanks rolling along a dismal and barren French country road. Cut to a CU of a map of the French countryside and immediate bodies of water.
From the British Ministry of Information. This is a film about an engineering feat put about by the British army: before and during the Normandy Invasion of June 6, 1944, Allied forces built a series of floating causeways and bridges in the English Channel, creating a man-made harbor (code named 'mulberry'). MS of Winston Churchill seated and working at a desk. CU of a special memo on his desk written in 1942 expressing need to build harbor. LSs Harbor being built along coastline, nice shot w/blimp hovering is seen. Establishing view of Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, Quebec. MS of Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt talking at Conference.
Cut to good shots of British military installations on English coast securing & defending ports; big artillery guns and the platoons who love them. LS/MS troops on dock securing boats & equipment while rough waters surround them.
Montage of battle ships firing guns. Boats moving across water. U.S. troops on transport boat. Allied boats arriving on beaches. Gun in brush firing. German troops firing machine guns. Allied troops advancing toward shore/beach under heavy fire.
WWII: Several LS/GV/MCU General Eisenhower inspecting & talking to paratroopers prior to D-Day invasion. D-Day invasion: Several GVs of battleships firing guns. GV troop boats on the water. LSs troops in landing crafts, explosions happening in water around them. TLS from troop ship as soldiers file off boat & wade onto shore.
D-Day Invasion, June 1944: landings at Normandy, some combat footage (including flamethrower).
Crowds on London street. CU newspapers talk of the invasion, D-Day. Winston Churchill in black suit, bowler's hat, with cane, watch on chain walking out of building.
Winston Churchill on naval boat, getting off, smoking cigar. Amphibious vehicle landing on beach. Churchill surveying beach at Normandy (D-Day).
Amphibious vehicles on the beach. Churchill on boat smoking cigar. Normandy (D-Day).
