This is one of those videos that shows the incredible size and scope of what WWII was by the time it reached its peak at the end of the first half of the 1940s. The film you are going to see was restricted at the time, which we’re guessing means that it was only intended to be shown to military audiences and not run as a newsreel for the public.
The first thing shown is the sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz. The sinking is incredible for the amount of damage the thing sustains from aerial bombardment but the fact that it took three attempts to even hit the ship is the wildest part. Thousands of smoke pots were used to create a smoke screen so thick that it basically made the fjord the ship was hiding in completely socked in.
From the sinking of the Tirpitz we head to France and see a massive steel plant that has been built and is being operated by the allies. Hearing the advantages of manufacturing rather than shipping over is both wild and totally sensible. What did they need all the steel for? Rebuilding the place. When the footage is shown of the rail depots in Belgium which were destroyed to limit the German military’s mobility and ability to move troops to the front lines.
Finally we see flooding in France, Ike with the soldiers, and more. And this was just ONE theater of the war. The fighting in the Pacific was still hardcore and going like hell as this was being made. Incredible.
