Crusade in Europe

The surrender at Reims ended the major phase of the European Theater of WWII. The film dissolves from the surrender to Hitler in his early years of power, follows the rise of Nazism through the Munich Pact, the attack on Poland, the fall…

The draft law of 1940 is passed and American men are inducted into the Army. Large-scale maneuvers are held in 1941. Pearl Harbor is bombed and Franklin Roosevelt asks Congress for a declaration of war.

President Roosevelt lectures Americans on their conduct. Churchill visits the U.S. American troops are deployed in England, and Eisenhower gets command of the European Theater of Operations.

Americans arrive in Britain, try to get along with British civilians, and are made ready physically and mentally to fight the Germans. The Eighth Air Force begins its bombing offensive, and the decision is made to invade French North…

The troops of Operation Torch come from the U.S. and Britain. U.S. industry is shown going to full war production. Equipment is shown being loaded up for transport to North Africa, and the landings are made successfully.

Eisenhower has to deal with keeping the French in North Africa from causing trouble in the American rear, while at the same time advancing into Tunisia to destroy the Afrika Korps. The Casablanca Conference is shown.

Eisenhower describes how the Allies squeezed Rommel's forces in Tunisia. The Afrika Korps attacks to the Kasserine Pass but is pushed back thanks to Patton. Allied air power helps win the day, the U.S. and British 8th armies meet, and…

The decision is made at Casablanca to invade Sicily. Pantelleria is bombed and surrenders. The invasion convoys come after an airborne drop, and after a major storm. The landings are made and counterattacks weathered. Sicily is…

General Montgomery attacks Italy across the Strait of Messina. A landing is made at Salerno to coincide with Italy's surrender, after Italy's fleet surrenders at Malta. The Germans resist the Salerno landing strongly. After 7 days the…

On July 25th, 1943, Benito Mussolini is ousted from power. We then flashback to his rise to power, including the Fascist march on Rome in November, 1922. In 1936 Ethiopia is invaded. The Axis Pact is proclaimed in 1938, followed by the…

The Italian Campaign was termed by most G.I.'s as the toughest campaign in the European Theater. A G.I., now in a veteran's hospital, reminisces over scenes of the Italian Campaign. on the elements which made it such a tough fight.

Eisenhower tours the Italian Front in December, 1943. The terrain and weather make life difficult for Allied troops. Pontoon bridges collapse in the raging rivers. Eisenhower leaves for Tunisia to plan the Anzio campaign. The landing…

Eisenhower works with the Allied Joint Chiefs of Staff to plan the invasion of France and beyond. The Ruhr is featured because of coal and industry. German defenses are shown, including naval mines. Reinforcements come from the U.S.…

Paratroops are dropped into France in the early hours of June 6th. Forty-one hundred Allied ships bring the men and equipment across the Channel. Gliders bring more firepower to the paratroops. Allied warships duel with the German…

Eisenhower inspects the landing beaches and we see the "Mulberry" harbors put in place along the Normandy beaches. Airfields are built and supplies offloaded. V-1 rockets attack London. We see Germans build the V-2 rockets. Storms…

The German attack at Mortain is defeated with the help of Allied airpower. The Allies cut off large German forces at the Falaise pocket. One hundred thousand Germans are captured. The Brittany Peninsula is cleared of the enemy. Paris'…

Operation Anvil-Dragoon lands in Southern France on August 15, 1944. The troops land against light resistance which gets stronger as they move north. The role of the Maquis is highlighted. The Germans suffer heavy losses. On September…

The supply services strain to the utmost to supply the Allied advance. Equipment was offloaded at the "Mulberry" harbor as well as at Cherbourg. Black troops are featured as drivers for the "Red Ball Highways," which brought supplies to…

This film recounts the air offensive against Nazi Germany after the RAF had successfully repulsed the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. The first low-level bombing raid in Europe, the Ploesti raid of August, 1943, is shown in this…

The opening shows the American capture of Strasbourg from the Germans, followed by the leave facilities for American servicemen. Hitler is shown with General Jodl planning the Battle of the Bulge. The German attack is a surprise blow,…

The Allies cross the Rhine River into Germany in the early part of 1945. The Canadians cross in February, followed by the Americans and British, with the Americans taking Cologne and crossing the river at Remagen. Winston Churchill…

The Western Allies entrap a large part of the German Army in the Ruhr Pocket, and captures some 325,000 enemy soldiers. The Americans and Russians meet at Torgau on the Elbe River. The Russians take Berlin, and German forces surrender…

This installment talks about the lesson learned, military and diplomatic, about coalition warfare. It includes a reenactment of the Alamogordo atomic bomb test, as well as its use against Japan.

The post-war government of Germany is shown. The U.S. in Cologne puts things in order. The Potsdam Conference and Nuremberg War Crimes Trials are shown.

Russian and American attitudes about fighting war are compared. The Germans surrender to Zhukov, and Eisenhower goes to Moscow. The Berlin Blockade is mentioned, and the UN founding conference is shown.

This final installment is a review of the whole series. Highlights deal with the rise of Nazism, finishing with the Battle of Britain, FDR's speech asking for a declaration of war from Congress, the invasion of French North Africa,…