WWI / WWII Video Footage (Documentaries)
These video documentaries come from a variety of sources. We thank everyone who has contributed to this collection.
Over a week-long period in September 1944, Lieutenant General George S. Patton's Third Army attempted to cross an assault force at several points across the Moselle River to establish a bridgehead and then encircle three German Army divisions in the city of Nancy, France. With a plan that closely followed U.S. river crossing doctrine, Third Army's XII Corps executed a wet gap crossing south of the town of Nancy with the 35th Infantry Division as the bridgehead force and 4th Armored Division as the breakout force.
As planned, the successful wet-gap crossing opened the southern route to Nancy and allowed the 80th Infantry Division to initiate a similar crossing north of the city. The establishment of multiple bridgeheads enabled Patton's Third Army to return to what had made it successful during its advance across France--mobility. At 52 minutes, this film is full of historical footage and photographs, digitally-enhanced maps, and current wet gap crossing doctrine.
This World War II documentary film focuses on XII Corps' crossing of the Moselle River as part of the Lorraine Campaign in September 1944. It includes lessons from current U.S. Army doctrine, specifically encirclement operations and tactics as well as passage of lines.
At daylight on 13 September, Combat Command A of the 4th Armored Division passed through the 80th Infantry Division's bridgehead near Dieulouard initiating the encirclement at Nancy. The film begins with a discussion of the disposition of American and German forces in the Lorraine region of France in early September 1944.
It also offers an in-depth analysis of the region's terrain and topography and how it limited the avenues of approach utilized by XII Corps during the campaign. The film then covers CCA's and CCB's actions on 13 and 14 September, the fight for Luneville, and the German Fifth Panzer Army's counterattack near Arracourt.
At 48 minutes in length, this film is full of historical footage and photographs, virtual terrain, animated maps, and digitally-created doctrine graphics.