Description
Object description
Into Germany.
Full description
I. 'INTO GERMANY.' Royal Air Force (RAF) Short Stirling Mk IV glider tugs tow Airspeed Horsa glider aircraft to dropping zones on the East bank of the Rhine near Wesel. British troops load a 6-pounder anti-tank gun and a motorcycle into the cargo hold of a Horsa glider. A Willys Jeep and limber are driven up a loading ramp into the hold of a Horsa glider. The fuselage of a Horsa glider bears the legend "Arnhem Avenger." At Antwerp Docks, LCM (Landing Craft Mechanised) landing craft are loaded by hoist onto Diamond T tank transporters for their long road journey to the Rhine River. Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, General Dwight D Eisenhower, General Alan F Brooke and Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill watch British (or Canadian) troops crossing the Rhine, using the balcony of a house as a vantage point. British infantry walk along the banks of the Rhine River carrying Lee-Enfield No.IV .303-inch rifles. North American B-25 Mitchell bombers (2nd Tactical Air Force) drop bombs on railway targets. Operational footage shows the RAF Bomber Command night attack on Würzburg in Bavaria. British LVT-2 (Landing Vehicle Tracked) amphibian load carriers wade the Rhine River. A Churchill recovery tank is transported across the Rhine using a large raft. Stock shot footage shows RAF 2nd TAF Hawker Typhoon Mk IB aircraft peeling off to attack German ground positions with 60-lb rocket projectiles. British infantry manning a 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun give the "thumbs up" sign to overflying Allied Douglas C-47 Skytrain/Dakota aircraft. Aerial footage shows sticks of paratroopers exiting their aircraft over Wesel. Hundreds of Allied paratroopers float to earth (British 6th Airborne Division and US 17th Airborne Division). A United States Army Air Force (USAF) C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft trails smoke and loses altitude having been hit by German light flak, the aircraft impacts and explodes in a ball of flame with no crew parachutes being seen. Aerial footage shows RAF Stirling Mk IV glider tugs towing Horsa gliders during the Rhine Crossing operations. Horsa gliders slip their tow lines and make hazardous landings on the East side of the Rhine. A Horsa glider loses a wing on landing. British paratroopers carrying Sten 9mm sub-machine guns deploy from landed Horsa gliders. An M22 Locust air-landing tank of the British 6th Airborne Division drives past Horsa gliders. Churchill and Montgomery are shown posing for photographs.
Physical description
35mm
