On 4 June 1944, United States Navy’s USS Guadalcanal captured the German U-Boat U-505, the first time a US Navy vessel had captured an enemy at sea since 1815. This raw color footage shows what happened. The U 505 is presently a museum ship at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Codebooks and other secret documents were captured from the U-505 which assisted Allied codebreaking operations.
Captured German Film shows their side of The Battle of the Bulge. It was made to motivate US audiences to not get complacent. December 16, 1944 was a dark day for the American Army in Europe. This was the day the Germans launched a massive attack in the Ardennes Forest, catching Eisenhower’s troops by surprise and teaching the Americans a bitter lesson. Aided by one of the coldest, snowiest weather periods “in memory,” the Germans gave the American defenders bloody nose in the initial stages of the Battle of the Bulge. In one day, along a 45 mile front, the Germans threw the American divisions defending Belgium and Luxembourg into chaos. This film shows captured German footage of this daring Nazi attack that aimed at nothing less than creating a turning point in the war. This film shows the enemy is always dangerous and that the cost of the fighting was high — over 81,000 American casualties, including 23,554 captured and 19,000 killed. The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 — 25 January 1945) was the last major German offensive of the war and resulted in a German defeat. For the first ten days, however, it was a near run thing. The courage and tenacity of the American soldier was tested in this difficult battle and the American GI was not found wanting. The footage of this film, which is largely from captured German film, is dramatic and riveting. The narration is aimed at the audiences of American theaters in 1945. The intent is to keep them motivated by showing the sacrifice of their soldiers at the front. The combination of graphic images and the steel in the narrator’s voice as he talks about the men on the lines is worth experiencing. Remember the Ardennes’s Forest. COL(R) Antal
From Luftwaffe shootdowns in the Battle of Britain to tanks and munitions in the desert of Africa, a number of interesting film sequences from “behind enemy lines.”
OSS Film uses a German Newsreel of European fortifications to prepare and motivate Allied invaders for what they will face during D-Day.
This exceptional 1942 military newsreel gives a viewpoint of the war from the Japanese perspective in a variety of locations. With sound, but needs translation. NIPPON NEWS, NO.14 (1942) seized Japanese film. Rows of Japanese soldiers, men on horseback, Emperor Hirohito attends the Japanese Naval Academy graduation ceremonies and watches cadets march in review. Japanese fleet at sea, men standing on submarine. Japanese pilots, man briefs pilots, pilots salute, Japanese planes fly in formation, aerials of land, aerials of bombs exploding on ground below. Hirohito attends Japanese Naval Academy graduation, Hirohito reviews cadets, cadets salute. Japanese machine gunners advance into position on battle field, men fire guns, attack on Ichang. Chinese volunteers in the Japanese Navy are examined by a doctor, stepping on scale, medical examination, running, volunteers clean themselves, group performs calisthenics, men in row boats, drills. Japanese men standing on boat, sailors performing various duties, men rowing on boat, raising flags, German submarine, men with binoculars, view through submarine telescope, man looks thru telescope, freighter is torpedoed and sunk, planes fly in formation, pilots flying in cockpit, sunk ship. Crowd of pilots, planes take-off, pilots wave, planes in formation, bomber planes, aerial of bombs dropping and exploding.
Covers the occupation of France, U-Boat operations in the Atlantic
The German Focke-Wulf Condor is featured in this sub-titled film which documents an eight hour mission and a bombing attack on British ships in the North Atlantic.