This silent black and white military film “Battle for France” was produced by Castle Films in the 1940s as part of “The News Parade” documentary series. The film displays segment cards. Fighting out of Nazi trap in Flanders, Allied troops reach the last channel port…Dunkerque [Dunkirk]. A nurse wipes the forehead of a soldier (:53-1:02). Sandbags are piled against a building as a soldier smokes a pipe. (1:03-1:22). Under terrific fire, British sea craft rush to the rescue! A sailor uses a signal lamp. The anti-aircraft guns fire at Luftwaffe German planes who are dropping bombs over the warships (1:23-2:29). 300,000 miraculously saved from capture! Sailors wade to shore (2:30-2:49). Sirens scream air-raid warnings over Paris. A soldier on bicycle races past and the air raid horns on building tops are shown. People run as a soldier provides direction. A German aircraft appears in the sky (2:50-3:16). Parisians find shelter as Germans bomb the Capital. Women move down a narrow tunnel with pipes and sit. Planes bomb buildings, and flames are seen (3:17-4:09). A body in the street has been wrapped in a blanket. Soldiers carry a stretcher (4:10-4:12). Whole sections of cities and towns laid waste before the invader’s advance. The wreckage to buildings is massive. Covered bodies lie in the street outside the Hospice Douillet (4:13-4:42). Cut off from Allied help, France’s big guns bark defiance. Shown may be a French obusier cannon, followed by Canon de 155mm Grande Puissance Filloux GPF guns. A soldier watches through binoculars (4:43-5:06). Germany advances under terrific bombardment! (5:07-5:40). While her main armies retreat southward. Large numbers of outfitted soldiers march while others ride on horseback past dead cattle (5:41-6:20). Refugees hide from dive bombers. A family with a baby hide in an open ditch (6:21-6:36). Defenseless women and children thrust into a blank future. Carts and baby buggies hold children, dogs, and suitcases. A woman sobs against a house. Another has a head wound (6:37-7:04). German planes dive and drop bombs. Explosions of debris occur and houses burn while people and pigs run in the streets (7:05-7:50). Everything inside Germany’s pincer claws, on three sides of Paris, is destroyed. Fires burn buildings and houses. (7:51-8:30). France’s aces slow down Nazi advance with direct hits. A pilot pulls levers and multiple bombs drop, their effects on the ground below are shown from the air (8:31-9:20). Soldiers walk through a slit trench. An officer works at a table in a foxhole bunker (9:21-9:52). And artillery blasts at the swift-marching hordes. (9:53-10:15). French infantry counter-attacks in protective rear-guard action. Soldiers climb over embankments (10:16-10:45). While French tank meets German tank. Men load artillery inside tanks and machine guns fire. (10:46-11:28). Flanked from the rear, the great Maginot Line is abandoned. Soldiers ride through stations. (11:29-12:10). The new Premier Petain sues for peace…accepts the Axis powers’ terms. Marshal Petain is shown (12:11-12:32). Her treasures saved from destruction, Paris faces an unknown future. A split screen shows French landmarks and marching German soldiers 12:33-13:12).

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com