Allies Drive Across Rhine To Victory (1945)
1945 · Newsreel · 7 min
Synopsis
(1) "The Capture of Cologne - Tank units of the onrushing U.S. 1st Army rumble into Cologne's suburbs, with all guns blazing at heavy pockets of Nazi resistance. Stalled street cars are hauled out of the way, and Yank foot soldiers fight their way into Cologne, block by block. Cologne lays in absolute ruin, after having been a 'saturation attack' target for allied bombers for three years. In sharp contrast, the Cathedral stands almost undamaged. Near the Cathedral, a Nazi tank is caught in U.S. gun sights, to be set afire with a direct hit. Nazi prisoners are rounded up, Cologne natives return, while in back of the whole scene, the giant Hohenzollern Rhine bridge lies, mangled and twisted. Cologne is truly a 'dead city.' The Ludendorff Bridge - After this majestic 1,300 ft. bridge at Remagen, Germany was seized by the U.S. 9th Armored Division. Yank troops and supplies raced across it to the Rhine east bank in ever increasing numbers. Nazi precision bombers are driven off by anti-aircraft fire, the Remagen bridge-head widens, and hordes of Nazi prisoners are bagged." scenes of the Cathedral city of Cologne, mostly in rubble, lies before Allied army, streetcars used as barriers, "fleeing Nazi car doesn't get far," direct hit on German tank and crew flees, great domed cathedral spared on bombing, bridge destroyed, inhabitants returning, south at Remagen the bridge was captured; (2) "Prior to the opening of the momentous United Nations Conference in San Francisco on April 25th,…
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- Running time
- 7 minutes
- Collection
- News & Public Affairs