World War Two

European

Theatre

How it Began

1. Invasion of Poland - 1939

September 1, 1939 – WWII began with German invasion of Poland

NAZIs used the “blitzkrieg” (“lightning warfare”) method

Airplanes led attack to knock out key enemy positions

Immediately followed by tank & motorized infantry attacks

Attacking forces swept past enemy, then close in behind, thereby trapping them

NAZIs swept through Poland, encountering little resistance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUjrnlMAtQ4

2. Declarations of War1) France & Britain

immediately declared war on Germany

2) Canada declared war one week later (September 10th) Parliament voted and decided

to join war NOT automatic like in WWI Leaders in Quebec supported

Canada’s entry into war based on PM King’s promise that conscription (compulsory military service) would never be required

Western Front 1939-1943

3. The “Phony War”October 1939 – April

1940 Bad weather and

indecision prevented Germany from attacking Western Europe after invasion of Poland

Called “Phony War” even though war was in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Finland

?

4. Continental Europe Falls May 1940-June, 1940

Germany took over Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and Holland

Then German troops marched into France France surrendered June, 1940

German Occupation of France

German Domination of Europe

5. Evacuation of Dunkirk - 1940

British & French troops retreated to the French beaches of Dunkirk on the English Channel after fall of Belgium = became trapped

5. Evacuation of Dunkirk – cont’

Approx. 900 ships sailed from England and rescued 340,000 soldiers from Dunkirk

Evacuation significant because it: represented a moral

victory for the Allies Saved the best British

forces to fight later in the war

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKB-ZkWelb0

Battle of Britain

6. Battle of Britain - 1940 Hitler used air attacks on Britain to prepare for

an amphibious invasion (operating on land and water)

Aims: destroy Royal Navy that patrolled English Channel

and protected UK Destroy British fighter

planes and factories Destroy morale of

British people

6. Battle of Britain – cont’ British Royal Air Force (RAF) and German

Luftwaffe (air force) fought in airspace over Britain

Individual Canadians served in the RAF

German aircraft over London - 1940

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVBO61qg-kc&feature=related

6. Battle of Britain – cont’ Even though British outnumbered 1:3, had superior

fighter planes and large advantage through use of radar Using radio waves,

British could detect German bomber and fighter squadrons while they crossed the English Channel

Also: Enigma – German cipher Machine could decode German messages

6. Battle of Britain – cont’

anti-aircraft night fire above several fighter planes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SPxbjV4inw

6. Battle of Britain – cont’ – “The Blitz”

August 1940 – German bomber squadron got lost and accidentally bombed civilians in London

In retaliation – British PM Churchill bombed German capital city of Berlin

As a result – Hitler abandoned assault on RAF airfields and ordered daylight bombing raids on London – known as “the Blitz”

This shift cost Hitler the Battle of Britain – allowed RAF chance to train new pilots and rebuild

6. Battle of Britain – cont’ – “The Blitz”

6. Battle of Britain – cont’ –

August – September, 1940 – RAF able to re-group & win Battle of Britain

Significance: 1st time Hitler denied

conquest Protection of Britain

provided Allies with springboard from which to launch invasion of Europe later in war

Allied Reaction – Forming of “Bomber

Command” Many Canadian pilots part

of Royal Air Force (RAF) “Bomber Command”

Mission: it was to set up an important force ready for strategic bombing against Germany

15 Canadian squadrons (from RCAF) were formed within Bomber Command in Great Britain, with British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) graduates

the first one was No 405 Squadron in April 1941

European Theatre of Warhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsKDGM5KTBY

7. Battle of the Atlantic

1. Longest campaign of WWII

Fought for control of shipping lanes between North America and Britain

Germany’s goal: cut off all Allied supplies to Britain in hopes of starving Britain into submission

8. Battle of the Atlantic – cont’

2. German U-Boats British, Canadian, and

later, American navies committed to stopping German submarine terror

“wolfpacks” – German groups of submarines operating out of ports of occupied countries

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtUw_JnmYQ0

Even active in Canadian waters – sank 21 ships in St Lawrence River

8. Battle of the Atlantic – cont’

3. Convoy System Allied merchant supply ships sailed surrounded

by destroyers for protection against U-Boats Royal Canadian Navy provided much of the

protection with small warships called corvettes

Corvette destroyer

8. Battle of the Atlantic – cont’

3. Convoy System – cont’ Eventually – Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

provided with long-range bombers that could cover convoys until their reached British airspace

Development of sonar also helped Allies

• Sonar – works much like radar works in air, but uses sound waves instead of radio waves. Sound bounces off subs, alerting Allies to their presence

Sonar box on ship’s deck

8. Battle of the Atlantic – cont’

By 1943, wolfpacks less effective as they suffered heavy damages from depth charges dropped by escort ships and bombs from Allied planes

Depth Charges (explosives)

U-Boat attacked from the air

• helped Allies win Battle of the Atlantic

8. Battle of the Atlantic – cont’

Canadian Navy Initially – RCN consisted of 13

ships & 3,000 soldiers By end of WWII – 370 ships &

100,000 personnel Over 2,000 members of RCN

died in Battle of Atlantic Canadian Citizens –

Merchant Marines Also played large role by

manning freighters that transported materials to Europe

Faced great danger as their ships were only lightly armed and were easy prey for German U-Boats

Canadian Naval ship “Haida”

8. Dieppe - 1942 In early 1942 – war not going well for Allies Although time not right for full-scale Allied invasion on

Western Front, small-scale invasion planned to serve as rehearsal for real invasion of Europe

August, 1942 – 5,000 Canadian soldiers landed at Dieppe on coast of France

8. Dieppe – cont’ Objective – to take

the beach and town of Dieppe back from Germans

Upon arrival – soldiers mowed down on beach by German fire

8. Dieppe – cont’ By early

afternoon: 900 Canadians

dead or dying 1,000 wounded 1,900 taken prisoner More Canadian

troops died in these few hours than on any other day of the Second World War

Canadian Prisoners of War from Dieppehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcNI92b6E98&feature=related

8. Dieppe – cont’ Why Dieppe Went Wrong

1. Lost Element of Surprise Secrecy required for effective attack – but part

of the Allied flotilla of landing craft encountered an enemy convoy on the way and a noisy fight ensued - Germans were therefore prepared for attack

8. Dieppe – What went Wrong - cont’

2.No Aerial Bombardment At last minute, British decided to forgo a planned

aerial bombardment of the Dieppe fortifications, which would have weakened the Germans for the attack

8. Dieppe – cont’ Why Canadian

Troops at Dieppe? PM King looking for

a diversion from the Conscription Crisis of 1942

Canadian Troops considered to be expendable by other Allied powers

8. Dieppe – cont’

Taught Allies that heavy air and sea support would be required for any future invasions of France

Many believe lessons learned helped save lives on beaches of Normandy during D-Day invasion

Lessons Learned from Dieppe

North Africa

9. North Africa 1940 - 1942

Mussolini attacked Egypt Sept 1940 British forces resisted, led by General

Montgomery German forces – led by General Rommel –

supported Italians

Battle of El Alamein – October, 1942

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyoZQP5C-Q4

9. North Africa 1940 – 1942 – cont’

1st time Allies had defeated the forces of the fascist countries Prevented the Germans

from seizing the Suez Canal Denied Hitler important oil

resources of Middle East Soon after – USA joined war

– forced Germans into retreat & eventually defeated

Battle of El Alamein - Turning point

Eastern Front 1939-1945

10. Invasion of Soviet Union - 1941

Motives for invading the USSR:1) Lebensraum (living space) Part of Hitler’s racial program

that stated “inferior” races should be conquered and enslaved so that the “superior” Germans had more living space

Main target of this – Soviet Union because of its vast resources that Germany needed

2) Ideology Hitler wanted to destroy his

ideological rival - communism

10. Invasion of Soviet Union – cont’

1) Hitler broke the NAZI-Soviet Pact to invade USSR 3 million German troops

smashed into the USSR, catching them by surprise Moscow (capital city)

Operation Barbarossa - June 1941

10. Invasion of Soviet Union – cont’

As the Red Army (Soviets) retreated, they destroyed everything – livestock, supplies, and machinery – so NAZIs would have nothing to use

3) By Christmas, 1941 – Germans stopped outside Stalingrad

2) Stalin’s response: “scorched earth policy”

11. Eastern Front 1942-1945

Harsh winter of USSR – took its toll on German forces

Germans suffered huge losses

Soviets launched attack to prove could fight through winter

Spring – conflict continued along a 2,000 mile front

11. Eastern Front 1942-1945 – cont’

Sept. 1942-Jan 1943 Hitler’s goal – to attack

it because of its name & to get to the Caucasus oil fields

Soviets captured or killed entire German army in area

Huge boost to Allied morale

After – Germans suffered defeat after defeat on eastern front

Soviet forces moved closer to Berlin

Battle of Stalingrad - 2nd Turning Point

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEh9jlNG0nQ&feature=related

The Big Three: The Communist, the Democrat and the Imperialist

Tehran Conference, Dec. 1943

Main Outcomes:• Opening of a Second Front

• Churchill: Southern Europe• Stalin & FDR: W. Europe

• Establishment of Polish borders • Stalin agrees to fight Japanese• Germany’s unconditional surrender

Key: The conference establishes real, if tenuous, diplomatic relations between the West and Communist Russia. Stalin remained skeptical of the West, though he

received Lend-Lease aid from the USA, for he suspected the Allies were content to let the Nazis and Soviets struggle to the death in the East. FDR and Churchill were

unhappy about doing business with Stalin, but he was the lesser of two evils.

Italian Campaign

Italian Campaign

By mid-1943 – Germans had been defeated in North Africa and were in retreat on Eastern Front

Allied plan: to take island of Sicily, then Italy itself

Crucial step in liberation of Europe

Italian Campaign – cont’

Designed to: take pressure off Soviet

Allies and divert Germans from North-

west Europe where attack on Normandy (re-invasion of Europe) was planned

Canadians among Allied forces who used amphibious attack

Captured Sicily in one month

1. Landing on Sicily – July, 1943

Italian Campaign – cont’

Sicily Invasion – cont’

Italian Campaign – cont’

Allied troops invaded peninsula of Italy

Canadian forces stopped by Germans at Ortona – vicious fighting occurred throughout December, 1943

Fought & won street by street, house by house

2) Taking Italy – Ortona - 1943

Italian Campaign – cont’

Ortona – cont’

Italian Campaign – cont’

Ortona – cont’

Italian Campaign – cont’

Ortona – cont’

Italian Campaign – cont’

Canadian troops succeeded in breaking through last line of German defences before Rome

Continued to free northern Italy in fall of 1944

Germans finally driven back by French-Canadian unit – the Vandoos

Italian Campaign – cont’

Italy – some of toughest fighting in war

April 1945 – Mussolini captured by Italian civilians

Mussolini and mistress were hung and “displayed” for several days in the streets of Milan

Normandy Landing & End of War

“Operation Overlord” (D-Day)

Allied invasion of German-held Europe

Planned to use naval and aerial bombardment to knock out German defences

Over 1 year of preparation – most complex operation ever attempted

Learned from mistakes at Dieppe

1) Normandy Landing – June 6, 1944

Normandy Landing cont’

100 ships 36 bomber squadrons

from Royal Canadian Air Force

Canadians assigned 1 of 5 beachfront targets

code- named JUNO – 8km of coastline

Largest Canadian military operation of WWII

14,000 Canadian soldiers

Normandy Landing cont’ Within 1 week – over 300,000 Allied

soldiers on shores of Normandy After 1 month – 1 million soldiers &

200,000 Allied military vehicles

Created foothold in Europe from which Allies could push back the Germans

Normandy Landing cont’ 5,000 Canadians

killed at Normandy 200,000 Allied

casualties German losses:

200,000 killed, wounded or missing

200,000 taken prisoner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZgKo46X8CI

2. Liberation of Holland - 1945

Canadian troops distinguished themselves in a year of long, hard fighting with other Allies, pushing the Germans out of France & Western Europe

May 5th, 1945 – Canadians drove NAZIS out of Holland

Allowed Allies to continue towards Germany

2. Liberation of Holland – cont’

End of European War

American & Soviet forces met in Germany, south of Berlin

Soviets – wanted to demolish the city

4. April 30, 1945 – Hitler committed suicide

5. May 8th, 1945 – V-E Day (Victory in Europe) – German troops surrendered

3. Berlin – April 1945

V-E Day - 1945