Distributed by the Office of War Information. Other credits: Script: Eric Maschwitz; Arthur MacRae; Jenny Nicholson; Gerard Kersh; Guy Trosper; Editor: Robert Verrell; Music: William Alwyn Received an Academy Award in 1946 for the Best Documentary (feature length). Received National Board of Review Award in 1945 for Best Picture (English language).
Miscellaneous excerpts: 05:09:18 Parts of Reel 1, with an introduction, scenes of Nazis in power, and a map. German officers inspecting coastal defenses in France. 05:11:22 Parts of Reel 9, showing thousands of Nazis as they surrender. US prisoners are liberated. Belsen prison camp is occupied, shows scenes of Nazi atrocities, corpses, etc. Voiceover of British soldier:"We'd taken the Belsen Concentration Camp. Uh...I'm not squeamish. I've seen amputations, operations, deaths, long before I went into the Army in 1941. I was a warden. I lost count of all the arms and legs I pulled out of the wreckage down in Croydon...Got quite used to it. But this was different...very different. I, I don't know any words big enough to make you understand what we all felt. All I can say...and I'm proud of this is...I had to fall out and be quite sick in the courtyard. As I say I'm...I'm not squeamish...but well I'm human and thank God for it" US and Russian troops meet at the Elbe. Brief scenes at conference tables as German leaders surrender. 05:20:53 Parts of Reel 8. Infantry units at Arnhem and Bastogne are cut off and blasted by German artillery. Allied artillery and rocket fire effects a breakthrough and armor moves forward from"The Bulge" Pres. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Yalta. Armored units enter Cologne. Assault boats are moved by truck across Belgium to the Rhine. The 9th Armored Division crosses a bridge at Remagen. Troops cross in an amphibious operation. Paratroops drop on the east bank. 05:28:06 Parts of Reel 2 Gens. Arnold, Montgomery, and Marshall meet in SHAEF headquarters. Landing craft for"Operation Mulberry" tanks, munitions, and gasoline supplies are assembled on English coasts. Pres. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin pose at Teheran, Dec. 1943. Gens. Eisenhower, Bradley, and Montgomery pose at SHAEF headquarters. Goring, et al. inspect Normandy defenses. B-17s bomb marshalling yards. Invasion convoys assemble at Southampton; ships are loaded and rest in the harbor. 05:33:49 Parts of Reel 3 or Reel 4?
Allied invasion and conquest of W. Europe; Belsen at liberation