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Allies Open Final Drive In Germany, 1945/03/15 (1945)

(1) "The Roer Offensive - The U..S. 1st Army and the U.S. 9th Army open their concerted attacks on the Roer River fortresses which guard the approach to the all important Cologne Plain. Intensive bombardments precede their fighting advances into Julich. Linnich, Neuss, Baal and Erklenz. Pontoon bridge approach to the various cities reveal them to be in ruins. Gen. Simpson, Commandant of the U.S. 9th Army, accompanies Gen. Eisenhower on a tour of inspection of ruined Julich and its famous citadel. Celebrant G.I.'s parade through the streets, Nazi prisoners and refugees march to the rear, and the foundation is laid for the advance on the Rhine." scenes of Allies crossed the Rohr river, then the Rhine river at Remagen, have taken more than one million prisoners, destroyed cities, Ike and Gen. Simpson of 9th Army, civilians rounded up, forced laborers freed, inmates prepare own meals in concentration camp liberated; (2) A City Dies - "In 20 minutes of saturation night bombing, the R.A.F. wipes out Pforzheim, medium-sized Nazi industrial city. Huge oxygen consuming bombs are the answer." scenes of RAF Lancasters bomb industrial center of city in Germany, "a city is being literally wiped out before your eyes." (3) Freed From A Living Death - "Bataan Prisoners in U.S. - San Francisco wildly welcomes the 274 U.S. Army heroes from Bataan. All of the heroes, freshly uniformed and in normal health, form a striking contrast to their lot when they were discovered in their Jap prison. The Horror of Bilibid - U.S. Naval men held prisoner in Bilibid, in the Philippines, are reduced to living skeletons. Some of their buddies starved to death on the daily ration of several ounces of grain. Yanks entering Duren free hundreds of Poles and Russians from a concentration camp. The smiles of the comely women prisoners are returned with compound interest by the doughboys." (4) Flirting With Danger - rodeo in California; (5) Vets Learn Peace Trades - "The Toronto Rehabilitation Training Center is devoted to fitting Canada's ex-servicement for profitable trades. It's all very interesting, especially barbering. Joe Blow, the customer, explodes right in the student's face, if he slices too deep." scenes of Canadian rehabilitation training centers. (complete newsreel)


This movie is part of the collection: Universal Newsreels

Production Company: Universal Studios
Audio/Visual: sound, b&w

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Christine Hennig - - September 18, 2005
Subject: From the Grisly to the Ridiculous
Newsreel from the last days of the European war showing the Allied advance into Germany. Also included are stories about an intense air raid on a German city and starving American POWs being liberated from a Japanese prison camp. This is pretty grisly stuff for a newsreel. On the lighter side, there are also stories about a southern California rodeo and a vocational rehabilitation program for Canadian veterans, including rather silly footage of would-be barbers shaving balloons. This is a great wartime newsreels and its better preserved than most of the others on this site from the war years.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *** (entirely for the shaving balloons footagethe POW and battle footage gets an N/A. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.