Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer. 1860 - 1985. Orientation Films. 1942 - 1949. Divide and Conquer

DigitalArchivalResource

Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer. 1860 - 1985. Orientation Films. 1942 - 1949. Divide and Conquer

1943

This motion picture film focuses on the German military offensive, 1939-1940. In Reel 1, Adolf Hitler, in the Reichstag, pledges peace on Oct. 6, 1939; Panzer units roll across Denmark; armored, naval, and air power strikes Norway and Germans parade in Oslo. In Reel 2, British troops land in Norway, German planes attack ships evacuating the British, Ferdinand Foch inspects French troops in 1917 and Paris is defended by the "taxicab" army. In Reel 3, French troops man the Maginot Line in 1940, there is an analysis of the weakness of French morale and a dramatization of German propaganda. Footage also shows the French defensive strategy, Nazi airborne troops landing at Rotterdam, and armored columns racing across Holland. Reel 4 chronicles the Dutch surrender, but Rotterdam is reduced to ruins by bombing. Footage shows Panzer units invading Belgium and taking an Albert Canal fort, and advancing Allied columns are impeded by fleeing refugees. Reel 5 shows Panzer units, preceded by engineers, breaking through the Ardennes Forest, crossing the Meuse River, and taking the Sedan. Also included in an analysis of the operation. In Reel 6, Allied troops are evacuated at Dunkirk, Winston Churchill inspects the survivors, Italian troops invade France, President Franklin Roosevelt deplores the action, and Benito Mussolini speaks. General Henri Philippe Petain, Pierre Laval, Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goring are shown as the French surrender is signed. Hitler tours Paris and Generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud inspect free French units in North Africa.

1 motion picture film on 6 film reels

eng, Latn

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6444684

National Archives at College Park

Related Entities

There are 2 Entities related to this resource.

Tiomkin, Dimitri, 1894-1979

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65145sm (person)

Capra, Frank Russell, 1897-1991

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64j0qsk (person)

Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Italy and raised in Los Angeles from the age of five, his rags-to-riches story has led film historians such as Ian Freer to consider him the "American Dream personified." Capra became one of America's most influential directors during the 1930s, ...