WORLD WAR II BATTLESA look at the most influential battles of the war

EUROPEAN THEATRE

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: THE FINEST HOURJULY, 1940 A Battle in the Skies

Hitler wanted to use his Luftwaffe to destroy the Royal Air Force Believed that it would force Britain to Surrender

Initial Attack British convoys and ports fell under attack Later, radar stations and aircraft factories came under attack

A Turning Point German Aircraft were at their maximum range Germans lost 600 aircraft, the RAF lost 260 Luftwaffe’s defeat marked a turning point in the war Prevented Hitler’s planned invasion of Britiain

AXIS FORCES IN NORTH AFRICAAUGUST, 1940 – APRIL, 1941 Italy saw the lands gained by Russia and Germany

Saw opportunity in North Africa Mussolini made his move in August, pushing into Somaliland Next was an attack on Egypt, targeting the Suez Canal

Counterattack Allies push Italian forces out of Egypt by the end of 1940 Italians were being pushed out of Africa entirely

Rommel’s Offensive and the Afrika Korps The Italians asked Germany to support them in Africa Hitler sent down Rommel, who pushed the front lines back to Egypt’s border.

The Suez Canal A canal that allowed for transport between Europe and Asia without going around

Africa

EL ALAMEIN: THE PATH TO THE SUEZ CANALJANUARY – NOVEMBER, 1942 The Push

Rommel pushed the front lines from Libya to Egypt, hoping to capture the Canal Capturing the British-held canal would mean that Allied supply lines would be

crippled, as well as lower the morale of the Allies Rommel got within 150 miles of Cairo, at El Alamein

Allied Counter Attack – General Bernard Montgomery Equipped with 300 Shermans and 200,000+ troops Began the counter-attack on October 23rd, by attacking the Germans with over 800

artillery guns

A German Defeat Rommel retreated October 23rd, with losses at over 30,000 men. British forces drove Rommel out of Egypt and back into Librya Germany driven completely out of Africa by May1943

THE BATTLE OF STALINGRADAUGUST, 1942 – FEBRUARY, 1943

A bloody Battle Considered the bloodiest battle in human history, with over 2 million deaths

A Valuable City Access to Caucasus region- a region rich in oil. Access of Ukraine- a major area for food production Access to the Volga River- a major waterway Humiliation- Capturing Stalingrad would be a huge embarrassment for the Russians.

Initial Movements Germans reached Volga by late August. Nazi General Friedrich Paulus and the Sixth Army began sieging Stalingrad with

bombings, artillery, and tanks. In September, over 250,000 German troops stormed Stalingrad with support from the

Luftwaffe.

THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD (CONT.)AUGUST, 1942 – FEBRUARY, 1943 The Russian Defense

Soviet General Gregory Zhukov was to direct the defense of Stalingrad Germans had raised their flag in the center of the city, but hadn’t yet captured it yet Fierce hand-to-hand combat ensued, with the Luftwaffe flying support

Operation Uranus; the Russian Counterattack Zhukov planned to weaken the Germans, then launch a counterattack The Russians began to move tons of supplies in order to prepare

About 1mil troops, 13,000 guns, 894 tanks, 1000+ aircraft Zhukov aimed his attack at the inexperienced Romanian soldiers

Attack was a success.

Defeat of the German Sixth army Zhukov surrounded the Germans, and cut off their supplies through the Russian Winter Only 35,000 men were able to retreat from Russia. Half were dead, the rest POW’s

BATTLE OF KURSKJULY - AUGUST, 1943

Fought in Western Russia

Largest tank battle in history- over 6000 tanks involved

Russian spy networks uncovered German plans to attack Information allowed the Russian to create defensive structures

German advance halted Soviet counter-attack pushes Germany out of Russia

Germany lost the ability to attack the Eastern Front

D-DAY: INVASION OF NORMADYJUNE, 1944

Operation Overlord Largest amphibious assault in history

Day of the Allie’s attack on Germany German Field Marsha Erwin Rommel was absent at

the startLandings

US Forces at Utah and Omaha beachesUS created makeshift harbors to help France

British forces at Gold and Sword bases

BATTLE OF THE BULGE DECEMBER, 1944 – JANUARY, 1945

Germany’s last major assault

Germany was to attack a gap in the Allie’s defensive lines Attack through the Ardennes Forest and capture Antwerp, Belgium, a port city.

Poor weather meant that Allied aircraft were grounded, benefiting the Germans

German soldiers also attempted to infiltrate allied lines

Allied-held Bastonge fell under siege. At request of surrender, General McAuliffe replied “Nuts!” General Patton eventually lifted the siege.

OTHER NOTABLE BATTLES

Battle of France

Siege of Leningrad

Battle of Moscow

Battle of Anzio

Battle of Monte Casino

Operation Market Garden

Battle of Berlin

PACIFIC THEATRE

DAY OF INFAMYDECEMBER 7TH, 1941

Japanese carrier-based aircraft bomb Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Sinks 4 ships, most notably, the USS Arizona

Hawaii wasn’t the only pacific island to fall Guam, Wake Island, the Philippines, and Singapore all fell to the Japanese

Most important targets were not hit Fuel storage Aircraft Carriers

BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEAMAY, 1942

No actual ship-to-ship combat First naval battle in history where this has happened

Both sides suffered large losses American carrier Lexington Sunk American carrier Yorktown damaged Japanese light carrier Shoho sunk Japanese large carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku damaged

Aftermath Invasion of Port Moresby cancelled Japanese loss of carriers gave the US and edge at midway

BATTLE OF MIDWAYJUNE, 1942

The turning point of the Pacific Theatre Japanese lost 4 carriers

Kaga, Akagi, Hiru, Soryu Never fully recovered from the loss

Admiral Isoroku set a trap US broke the IJN code, and launched an aerial assault

BATTLE OF LEYTE COASTOCTOBER, 1944

The largest naval battle in history

Sho-go plan meant to stop the re-conquest of the Philippines Nearly worked when Admiral Halsey was baited into moving the main force

A separate Japanese force attempted to pass through the Surigao Straight The Seventh fleet intercepted, and Crossed their ‘T’, destroying them

BATTLE OFF SAMAR – TAFFY 3 A small force of Destroyers and Escort Carriers held off Japan’s largest attack force

Japanese attack force consisted of 4 battleships Included Yamato, and her sister ship, the Musashi, the largest battleships ever built Besides the battleships, there were a number of heavy cruisers and destroyers

Taffy 3 consisted of very little 6 Escort Carriers 3 Destroyers 4 Destroyer Escorts

Taffy 3 fought fiercely So much so, that the Japanese admiral though we was facing the main fleet, and retreated

Losses American

2 ESC 2 DD

-Japanese 3 HC

BATTLE OF IWO JIMAFEBRUARY – MARCH, 1945

In between the Mariana islands and Japan Would act as an airbase for US aircraft

Japanese defenders burrowed deep into the island Miles of trenches and tunnels were dug on the island

Famous picture of 6 Americans hoisting the flag taken here Taken by Joe Rosenthal's Was retaken after the battle ended

BATTLE OF OKINAWAAPRIL – JUNE, 1945

Largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theatre

Japanese launched over 1500 Kamikazes The Japanese also large amounts of their force surrender

Very unusual, was mostly people forced into fighting

US Major Losses War Correspondent Ernie Pyle Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.

Commander-in-chief for the ground forces

OTHER NOTABLE BATTLES

Bataan Death March

Battle of Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands Campaign)

Battle of the Philippine Sea

The Nuclear Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki