Liberation of Paris after four years of Nazi occupation (June to August 1944)

our need for thoughts was vital as our bread all our plans turned upon sherburg all our strategy waited upon its empty docks and peers Saudi Americans sent Holocaust Normandy to the coast swung toward the north impatient for the pot the German you are lack and swiftly drew his forces into tight defensive groups so to contest the issue Yanks Advance on shabbort from 30 to 50 000 Nazis were trapped by General Omar Bradley's first United States Army closing in on Sherborn bitter street fighting marks the last stage of the push [Music] as our troops Drive doggedly toward the harbor with the defenses reduced to Rubble General von schleben military commander of cherborg's fortresses surrenders [Music] with him is Admiral henneke who received Hitler's Iron Cross for destroying cherborg's Port facilities [Music] and this is the beginning of the end cherborg's Grim Defenders surrender as the Allied liberation of France rolls forward thousands of Hitler's hordes fall into our hand [Music] is of the Norman campaign the Germans suffered 75 000 casualties our own men show the scars of battle too [Music] I've covered them with a gun down at the clearing stations thousands in all kinds of the tough one smile throws stiff on their faces by shell fire and the plain Joes have had too much and ready to tell you that and then poker faced officers and never lost the poker face look the SS the parachute troops the old Soldiers off the Russian front I've seen them all the Hitler Youth babies looking like they walked out of Lincoln high expert Killers kids at New Hall machine gun worked and nothing else all through when talking too much I'm ready to swear he hated Hitler all the time smart alec with that talk of rights under the Geneva Convention and asking when do we go to America [Music] is a town through which the easy on ripples its slow way to the waiting sea capital of Normandy this was no sherburg Advance a knife thrust through the fields but rather was the grinding of a drill inch by inch forward [Music] Panther [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] operation cobra by the end of the month United States forces stood at the base of the peninsula at the gates of the province of Britain the reaching of our Branch signified the culmination of the Breakthrough and the point at which our forces split for the Westwood and Eastwood drives in the breakouts trapped the Allies closed at argentong and Palace [Applause] destroyed to German s for the weary American troops it was a welcome respite a time to relax foreign here we see Edward G Robinson is one of one of the many actors and actresses that came to Normandy to entertain our troops they held a show right in this Normandy Bond after washing out of a helmet for many weeks decided to use this beautiful Lake for a bath they were committed to do so because they were fighting the enemy at an area called same Malo and mentioned earlier Germans held out at Saint Marlo for many months on July 20th a dramatic event electrified the world and revealed that there was no relaxation inside the enemy camp Hitler himself announced that a cabal of high-ranking army officers had tried to assassinate him with a bomb in order to seize political power he looks fresher of pledge liquor here 's life [Music] after four years the Allies have secured themselves on the soil of France as the American war secretary said we are here to stay until France is liberated and Germany defeated into the Normandy Countryside the troops of Freedom loving Nations March against the forces of tyranny the faces of liberated freshmen tell their own Stories the Allied troops are received as long-awaited friends peasants show them the way warn them where to expect minds and give all possible help [Music] the Allies have found firm resistance and are prepared for even stronger content says Umbra island in the harbor of samalo where resisting Nazis blocked Allied use of samuelo's Port first of Brittany's Harbors isolated after the Breakthrough from Normandy refusing to surrender the Nazi Garrison is once more attacked this time from a hill near dinar where Americans used captured Nazi self-propelled 155 millimeter howitzers capitulation came only after a Siege of more than three weeks be under flat 100 000 people of rain are free once again [Music] big record of resistance to the Nazi as these pictures were made Ren was the largest French city yet taken to the Americans who captured Ren these scenes of enthusiasm are becoming almost a daily site as the Germans were meeting disaster in Northwestern France the United States seventh Army Combat hardened Veterans of the fighting in Italy hit the beaches in Southern France on the morning of August 15th Convoy gets underway heading toward beaches between too long and Camp Landings begin at 800 hours supported by covering fire from battleships Cruisers and destroyers three divisions accompanied by French troops made the original assault the Beach's reinforcements and Equipment are ready to be left Landing heavy equipment as the original beachhead expands east and west by d-plus one the Invaders held a coastal strip 40 miles long 20 miles deep films of the southern France Invasion indicating the extensive preparations for the opening of the fourth front in the grand strategy to smash the Nazi European Fortress at San Tropez a tribute to the French forces of the interior for cooperation during the first days of the attack Patriots are now reported to control 14 departments in southern France totaling 50 000 square miles they've not only been active in sabotaging the enemy's lines of communications but have tied down substantial German forces after four years of underground activity the ffi meets an ally on liberated French soil when the Allies landed he fought in the open War but the price we paid for it was fried food in the village of orador alone the Germans slaughtered 1100 out of the 1200 population place was pretty bad Maki recruits are instructed in the use of firearms these are patriots of the French underground movement men who resisted Nazi domination for four years [Music] French Patriots their job is to remove Nazi strong points clearing the way for Allied columns the street fighting begins underground Fighters shadowed German snipers Who Remain behind sometimes the Unseen snipers fire at their own countrymen to discourage surrender Patriots round up collaborationists foreign from initial Landings 15th August near San Tropez and San Maxine Advanced elements pushed along the coast and Inland against light opposition thrilling music of the Messiahs takes on new meaning [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Deliverance has come so suddenly to these people they are slow to realize the nightmare of occupation is over this has been a foretaste of things to come as the Allies move forward foreign [Applause] [Music] the first Army flanking the Third Valley and Allied Forces press forward to block Escape Routes numerous French towns are liberated on route these children whose entire lives have known nothing but Nazi rule meet a new kind of warrior yet the Normandy people had not felt German oppression at its worst it was here the Germans rested their troops after their mauling in Russia in the South as well as in the north staggering losses pile up for Hitler's divisions wherever the Allies managed to outmaneuver the retreating Nazis [Music] don't know Retreat for Nazi forces caught on the wrong side of the line was cut off we rounded up our share of prisoners the desperate plight of Hitler's armies became more apparent as the bewildered Legions of a once Mighty destructive force found themselves defeated by an army they had been repeatedly told would never last on the soil of the Third Reich longer than nine hours [Music] foreign [Music] ERS dream to the beaches bewildered hopelessly depressed men this is the March upon Britain version 1944. these men are evidence that the Allies are chewing deeper and deeper into the Atlantic Wall won't say Michelle was on a river that separated Normandy from Brittany and here we met some of the other correspondents this is Bob Capper of Time Magazine [Music] this is Charles Collingwood and Helen Kirkpatrick of the Chicago Daily News and Joe liebling of New Yorker magazine the ball headed Chap and wooden Becker on the extreme left Ernest Hemingway Hemingway was covering Kylie's magazine here he is seen talking with Bill Walton and these were just moments that we could take a little time out to rest the man in the center in this picture is Bill Stringer and he was killed trying to get into Paris one of the things that correspondents tried to do was to get into Paris before anyone else

Channel: CHRONOS-MEDIA History

Views: 141,798

Keywords: Paris

Id: RKIds1ZHPYs

Length: 16min 22sec (982 seconds)

Published: Fri May 26 2023