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Smashing of the Reich, The

Public Domain Stock Footage Smashing of the Reich, The

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keywords: war, combat, world war two, wwII, strategic bombing, b-17 bomber, p-51 fighter, mortain, argentan, falaise

Synopsis: The German army ruled 400 million people by the summer of 1942. From the English Channel to Stalingrad Europe was under one government and one leader - Adolf Hitler...(read more)

  • Date: 1940's
  • Duration: 01:22:49
  • Sound: Yes
  • Color: Monochrome
  • Type: Public Domain
  • Language: English
  • Location: Europe

Smashing of the Reich, The

The Smashing Of The Reich

Nazi banners and flags are unfurled. Nazi German soldiers goose-step march as German civilians give the Nazi or Hitler salute while shouting Heil. Goose-step march, shows only legs and feet of German soldiers. Head shot of Hitler watching marching soldiers. Head shot only of Hitler as he returns the Hitler salute. German soldiers march into Paris, Arc de Triomphe in background.

American 8th Air Force ground crews prepare B-17 planes for bombing mission over Germany. Bombs are loaded into B-17 bomb bay. Plane crews climb into aircraft. 'Ladies Invited' painted on fuselage door of B-17 bomber. Nose art on one B-17 “Hell's Angels. Nose art on another plane 'Stinky'. Line of B-17 planes taxing into take-off position. B-17 Flying Fortress planes take-off from English airfield summer 1943 for unescorted daylight bombing mission over Germany. Air-to-air view of B-17 formation.

High altitude bomber stream is spotted by German patrol boat and reported to Central Control in Berlin. Central Control in Berlin plots course of bombers over Germany. Pilot alert is sounded at German fighter airbases. German pilots race to board fighter planes. German Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighter aircraft take-off to intercept American bombers. Close-up of B-17 bomber and top machine gun turret, view of B-17 belly machine gun turret. Interior view of B-17 machine gun locations. German fighter planes attack formation of B-17s. B-17 crew bail out of damaged aircraft, fire on left side of plane. B-17 goes into dive and disintegrates. B-17 shot down by German fighter plane. Point of view (pov) of German fighter pilot shooting down an American B-17 bomber. Air battle, aerial combat between American B-17 bombers and German Luftwaffe. Close-up of B-17 bombardier and Norden bomb sight. View of bombs leaving bomber, ground explosions from bombs.

Shows ground crew gathering at airfield in England waiting for bombers to return to base from bombing mission. B-17 pilot point of view (pov) landing B-17 after bombing mission. Shows damaged bombers returning to base, B-17 makes “wheels up” belly landing. B-17 makes belly landing with one landing gear extended. Wounded crew members are removed from B-17 bombers. Germans fight fires at oil facility damage by 8th Air Force bombing mission. Shows slave labors repairing damaged Ploiesti oil refineries. Low aerial view of complex of oil refineries facilities at Ploiesti Romania.

English air raid wardens search the night sky for German bombers. Germans on the other side of the English Channel also search the sky for British bombers. At the sound of an air raid siren German civilians enter air raid shelter. German pilots race to planes and take off to intercept British bombers. Shows German anti-aircraft gun firing at night. British bombers firebomb German city. Aerial view of firebombed German city. Shows aftermath of burned out German city in 1943. Shows war production in German plants. Excellent footage of the Messerschmitt Me-262, world's first operational jet aircraft, taking off and in flight. Close up of Me-262 in flight.

Shows U.S. 8th Air Force B-17 crews at a fogged-in English airfield in January 1944, living in tents, unable to fly. A new long range American fighter, P-51 Mustang, lands at airfield in England. New B-17s with 14-machine gun turrets land at airfield in England. Close-up of B-17 with new “nose chin” machine gun turret. Shows bomber escort fighter plane, the P-47 Thunderbolt with “belly tank”. Daylight bombing of German resumed in February 1944 with long range escort fighters flying cover for the new 14-gun turret B-17 bombers. Excellent view of Allied bomber escort fighter with wing mounted external fuel tanks.

Scene of Luftwaffe fighter planes waiting for bombers to approach and for Allied fighters to leave bombers. View of German pilot's hand on control stick of German plane. American fighters jettison external fuel tanks and engage Luftwaffe fighters. Aerial “dogfights” between the German Luftwaffe and Allied fighters. P-51 in dive, firing machine guns. German plane shot down. Shows several “confirmed kills” by American fighter pilots. Confirmed kill for Free French pilot. American bomber hit by anti-aircraft flack, loses wing, goes into spiral dive. B-17s Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers dropping bombs by the thousands of tons on German targets. Shows destruction and damage to German oil refineries.

Hitler and Hermann Goring in Berchtesgaden. Images of Von Rundstedt and Rommel. Von Rundstedt and Rommel reviewing the construction of the German Atlantic wall built along the western coast of Europe. Scenes of the defensive structures and German weapons of the Atlantic Wall. Image of Thor, a 600mm German mortar. Shows American invasion troops in England learning some French words and French money system. Excellent footage of American (U.S.) fighters strafing Normandy ground targets, bridges, transportation and communication systems. P-51 and P-38 fighters strafe canal barges, supply trucks, and railroad trains in France, huge explosions of ground targets. Brief image of three P-38 Lightning fighters in flight. American (U.S.) fighter plane (aircraft) does barrel roll.

June 6, 1944 D-Day Invasion of Normandy. Nighttime naval bombardment coast of Normandy. Allied ships firing big guns, Germans firing coastal guns. American troops load into landing crafts, close-up of U.S. soldiers in landing craft on way to Normandy beachhead. Close-up of British soldiers in landing craft on way to Normandy beachhead. Soldiers existing landing craft (hitting the beach) on Normandy beachhead. German machine guns firing. Allied soldiers on Omaha beachhead D-Day Normandy Invasion. Allied soldiers fight to establish beachhead and advance inland. Close-up of German machine gun firing, German soldier throwing hand grenade.

Animated map of the coast of France showing location of the British & Canadian Armies, U.S. 1st Army, and U.S. 3rd Army. Arrow indicates American Army will break through the German defenses at St. Lo. Formations of Allied bombers in flight to carpet bomb small area near Saint-Lo France. Allied bombers dropping bombs on German front lines near Saint-Lo, ground explosions (excellent scenes). Tanks and soldiers of the U.S. 3st army advance behind carpet bombing of German front line, German soldiers surrender as U.S. 3rd Army pours through the hole in the German lines. Tanks of Patton's 3rd Army move through French towns and villages.

Animated map shows the German plan to attack at Mortain and drive to the sea cutting off units of Patton's 3rd Army. The German attack fails. When the American Army flanks the German Army and takes Argentan and the British takes Falaise the German 7th Army tries to retreat. RAF Tiffy planes (Hawker Typhoon) are armed with rockets and bombs. RAF Typhoon, American P-38 Lightning and P-47D Thunderbolt aircraft attack elements of the retreating German 7th, 15th and 19th Armies. Shows destruction from air attacks of the tanks, half-tracks, trucks, and soldiers of German 7th Army in France. Shows surrender of remaining soldiers of the German 7th Army in France numbering some 50,000 soldiers.

August 17, 1944 German Commander Von Choltitz began pulling his troops out of Paris. FFI, French Forces of Interior attack German troops leaving Paris. Shows citizens of Paris building street barricades. French General Leclerc near Paris. Shows fighting in Paris between the FFI resistance fighters and German occupation army trying to leave Paris. Tanks and troops of French General Leclerc and American Forces enter the outskirts of Paris. August 25, 1944 French soldiers in American uniforms take-up fight in Paris. French civilians take cover behind walls and structures. Shows French people celebrating the liberation of Paris as General de Gaulle enters Paris and speaks to the French people. German soldiers retreat back inside Germany by any means possible as the Allied Armies halt their advance due to lack of supplies and fuel.

Germany November 1944. Shows the last of the German Army reserves and appearance of Hitler's secrete weapon, the V2 rocket. Shows the set-up and firing of a V-2 rocket. V2 rocket strikes London. Shows aftermath of V2 rocket attacks on London, removing the dead and injured from the rubble.

Animated map show the German front lines stabilized at the German border and the planned German attack through the Ardennes Forest (Battle of the Bulge). Under cover of fog the Germans attack with tanks and troops. German soldiers advance past burning American tanks and trucks. The weather clears and Allied planes attack the German lines. Shows American soldiers arming and firing rocket launcher, artillery firing, and American tanks advancing. The last major German offensive of WWII is stopped.

The Allied tanks and infantry breach the Siegfried and move into the flat Rhineland of Germany. Germans blow bridges and retreat behind the Rhine River. Shows capture of bridge at Remagen. Allied tanks and infantry cross the Bridge at Remagen also known as the Ludendorff Bridge. General Montgomery, General Eisenhower, and General Bradley looking at map. Decision is made that American and British armies would only advance to the River Elbe in Germany allowing the Russian Army to take Berlin.

Shows Russian tank and planes attacking Berlin. Street fighting between Russian soldiers and German soldiers in Berlin. Russian soldier pulls German soldier out of street manhole in Berlin. Russian soldiers capture Berlin after furious street by street battles.

April 25, 1945 soldiers of the 1st U.S. Army met the 1st Ukrainian army at the River Elbe. Shows Russian and American soldiers celebrating at the Elbe River. Sign on structure reads 'Our Greeting To The Heroes Army of The United States Of America'.

Low aerial views of the destroyed buildings and destruction of the cities of Nazi Germany in WWII. Germany lost its air power, lost its sea power, lost its transportation system, lost its industry and lost the war. Scenes of the liberation of German Prison and Concentration Camps, young children show number tattooed on their arm, prisoners at other camps. Scenes of soldiers returning home.