Synopsis
(1) "When the entire Rhine front explodes into action the First Allied Airborne Army takes flight for the Westphalian plains. From an observation post Gen. Eisenhower and Prime Minister Churchill watch the sky trains roar by overhead. The drop area reached, thousands of chutes float to the ground from twin side-door C-46 carriers, while giant C-47 tow planes release their gliders. Despite damaging resistance the gliders land with their jeeps and other materiel. Flail Tanks - The Canadian First Army uses huge tanks with heavy rotating chain beaters in front of them which explode any and all buried Nazi road mines." scenes of 1500 planes and gliders join in major invasion across Rhine in north, Churchill and Ike observe, parachutes from C-46 filling the sky with billowing parachutes, gliders land, plane crashes, artillery, 4000 prisoners taken. (2) Coblenz Key to Saar Captured - "With tanks leading the way, units of Gen. Patton's U.S. 3rd Army advance on Coblenz, the thousand-year-old transportation center. Repeated air bombings and heavy artillery fire have reduced the city to ruins, from which the Nazis offer scattered resistance. Tom Priestley, Universal cameraman, covers the entire action. Soldier dead litter the ground. A loud speaker is used to demand and direct surrender and several thousand Nazi prisoners are collared. White flags flutter from the few remaining ancient homes. Ancient Ehrenbrightstein Castle, used by the Germans as a fortress, is a battered pile of…
Uploader's description on archive.org
Details
- Running time
- 6 minutes
- Collection
- News & Public Affairs
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★★ · News from the Final Days of WWII · Christine Hennig · 2005-05-28
Newsreel clip from World War II documenting several stories from the last days of the European war, including paratroops invading Germany, the capture of Coblenz, the development of a new French plane under the noses of the Nazis, and the 101st Airborne Division being decorated for bravery in the Battle of the Bulge. This has a lot of historical interest, especially the part about Universals cameraman in the story about the capture of Coblenz. I know I often wonder about the cameraman when watching such battle footage, and its great to see his bravery credited for once. Ratings…