The War in Europe

The Axis and the “Phony War” The alliance of Germany, Italy (1939) and Japan (1940) became known as the Axis. September 1, 1939: The Nazis invade Poland and WWII begins –Once war was declared (Sept. 3), the Allies (France, Poland, Britain, British Commonwealth of Nations) raced to get organized and prepared for battle. The Allies did not go to the aid of Poland, and German Nazi armies crushed Poland in less than a month by using dive bombers and tanks in a Blitzkrieg (lightning war) Allies were quickly stationed along the France/Germany border waiting for Germany to make the next move. –Nothing happened for seven months. This period was known as the “Phony War.”

Blitzkrieg (“Lightning War”) The blitzkrieg was a powerful and successful war tactic: surprise attacks with lightning speed, German tanks would crash through enemy lines, while war planes would roar through the skies, bombing the enemy below. After Poland and the “phony war” Blitzkrieg turned into high gear. The Germans captured Denmark and Norway (April 1940), Belgium and the Netherlands (May) and France (June).

Blitzkrieg

Axis & Allies The Axis powers: –Germany –Italy –Japan The Allied powers: –Britain –France –Canada –USSR –America –Other Commonwealth Countries

World Map with the participants in World War II. –The Allies depicted in green (those in light green entered after the Attack on Pearl Harbour), –The Axis Powers in orange –Neutral countries in grey.

Evacuation at Dunkirk, 1940 The Germans pushed through Belgium and on to France, and surrounded the Allied (mostly British) forces in the French port of Dunkirk. Britain was in danger of having to surrender hundreds of thousands of troops, so the Allies tried an evacuation by sea (English Channel), on May 26 th, –Two days later, the German air force bombed the port of Dunkirk, making the evacuation even more difficult. Miraculously the British government was able to evacuate over 340,000 soldiers to Britain on 900 ships in only a week. –Moral victory: saved well-trained British forces Unfortunately for the Allies, France was easily taken as a result of the pull out, and on June 22, 1940, France surrendered to Germany.

The Battle of Britain ( ) By 1940 almost all of Europe was in the hands of Germany and Italy. Hitler’s next goal was Operation Sea Lion: the invasion of Britain. In an attempt to force the British to surrender, Hitler begins the Battle of Britain. Hitler’s air force (Luftwaffe) attacks the island of England, bombing both civilian and military targets German planes bombed London and other cities, killing civilians and destroying buildings and streets. These raids became known as “The Blitz.”

Fighting Back The British Royal Air Force (RAF), along with many Canadian pilots, fought back until the German air raids ceased. –British planes outnumbered 3:1 but had advantage due to radar: radio waves used to detect squadrons This battle lasted 8 months and cost the lives of men, women and children. It failed in its purpose to demoralize the British people and had the opposite effect instead the allies became even more devoted to the concept of “Total War”

Defending Britain The sophisticated British radar system gave them early warnings of German air raids. They used Spitfires and Hurricanes: fighter planes that were extremely effective defence planes. In May 1941, Hitler gave up his plans to invade Britain. –The first time Hitler was denied a conquest –The failure of Germany to dominate this battle is known as one of the biggest mistakes in the war which enabled support to arrive and the British to gain morale.

The Hurricane Fighter Plane

Britain’s New Prime minster provided much needed Leadership During the BLITZ

The War Spreads Shortly after Germany’s defeat in the Battle of Britain, Hitler launched “Operation Barbarossa” (“red beard”), the invasion of the USSR (June 22, 1941). Even though Germany and the Soviet Union had agreed (in 1939) not to invade each other: –Hitler needed to conquer the USSR to fulfill his plans of a German Empire. –He needed to destroy his ideological rival: communism

Operation Barbarossa, 1941 The Soviets were surprised and unprepared for the attack by 3 million German troops At first, the Germans were able to push the Soviet army deeper and deeper into the Soviet Union. –The German troops were unprepared for the long and cold Soviet winter, and soon lost their advantage. –Stalin used the “Scorched Earth” policy: they retreated and destroyed everything so the NAZIS would have nothing to use In 1942, the German troops launched another offensive in the USSR, and they got as far as Stalingrad. They were once again stopped by the severe winter. In early 1943, the German army surrendered, the Soviet army went on the offensive, and took back much of the land that they had lost.

Invasion of USSR

The Dieppe Raid, August 1942 By 1942, the Allies were making plans to retake Europe To accomplish this, the Allies launched a series of raids across the English Channel One of these raids was against the French town of Dieppe which was in enemy hands Canadian troops’ objective: Capture the town at night under the cover of air bombings and tank landings.

Dieppe: The Problems On the morning of August 19 th, 1942, one of the ships carrying Canadian soldiers to Dieppe unexpectedly met a small German convoy. They engaged in a brief sea battle, and the noise alerted German troops on shore. Delays caused the ships to land on the beach during daylight, and Canadian soldiers were easily machine-gunned by the waiting German soldiers.

Dieppe: The Problems Commanders in the boats could not see what was happening, and communication was poor, so they continued to send reinforcements onto the beach, who were unable to retreat. Of 4,963 Canadians who landed, 2,853 were killed or captured More Canadian soldiers died in those few hours at Dieppe than in any other day of the war

Battle of the Atlantic By 1941, the Battle of the Atlantic was in full force. Britain was almost completely dependent on Canada’s and the US’s food and military supplies, but the Allied ships bound for England were being sunk by German U-boats in “wolf packs” patrolling the Atlantic. To protect these ships, Allies sailed in convoys where warships escorted and protected vessels carrying supplies. –The Royal Canadian Navy provided much protection with their corvettes: small warships

Battle of the Atlantic Initially, things weren’t looking good for the Allies in the Battle of the Atlantic, German submarines were sinking Allied convoys at a rapid pace. But, by May 1942, the British had cracked the German naval code, and the Allies could now track German submarines with sonar (sound waves bounced off enemy submarines to alert). The Allies were now creating ships faster than they were getting destroyed. –Beginning of WWII: RCN = 13 ships, sailors –End of WWII: RCN = 370 ships, sailors

Canadians in the Air The Royal Canadian Air Force grew quickly after the war began, and played many important roles. Canadian Air crews participated in bombing raids in Britain, North Africa, Italy, Northwest Europe, Southeast Asia and did night bombings over Germany.

Lieutenant George Flater

The Tide Turns In 1942, the Allies gained strength with the US declaring war on Japan. They began to win the Battle of the Atlantic and made important advances in the Pacific. The Allies had cleared the Axis forces out of North Africa and now wanted to focus on Europe.

The Invasion of Italy British PM Winston Churchill felt that the best way to attack Europe was through Italy and Sicily. –Amphibious attack –“Soft Underbelly” In 1943, the Allies invaded Sicily, and were successful after two weeks of fierce fighting.

The Invasion of Italy  The advances were slow, fighting was often house by house and it could take weeks to take a city.  Perhaps the most important Canadian- Axis conflict was Ortona, where Canadians fought for a month, and lost 1372 soldiers before the Germans withdrew.

The Invasion of Italy The Allies advance through Italy was difficult, but eventually they took Rome on June 4 th, The fighting continued in Italy until the spring of –April 1945: Mussolini hung and displayed in the streets of Milan Over 75,000 Canadians were active in Italy during the campaign. Significance: required many German troops making them unavailable for the attack on Normandy

April 1945: Mussolini hung and displayed in the streets of Milan

Normandy Landing (D-Day) D-Day was June 6 th, “Operation Overlord” was launched on D-Day, and was the biggest Allied invasion of the war: an attack on Europe across the English Channel. The Allies had learnt from their mistakes made at Dieppe, and this invasion involved almost one million soldiers. –Had been planned for over a year British, American, and Canadian troops stormed ashore along the entire coast of the French province of Normandy. –Largest Canadian military operation of WWII: soldiers, 100 ships, 36 bomber squadrons

Operation Overlord There were five landing points along an 80 km stretch of beach: Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah. Juno Beach was the Canadian Objective

Juno Beach and Beyond Within 1 week there were over allied soldiers on the shores of Normandy –Although the Germans had anticipated an attack, they did not expect the Allies to attempt in such bad weather. Canadian troops struck at first light, pouring out of their landing craft and advancing across the sand up into the town of Caen The Allies had taken back part of the French soil: – D-day marked the beginning of the end for Germany Canadians continued to fight for months in order to also take back all the French ports along the English Channel –5 000 Canadians killed and allied casualties – German soldiers killed, wounded or missing

Liberating the Netherlands One of the most important moments in the history of World War II for Canadian Soldiers. Canadian troops had been fighting in France, Italy, Belgium, and in Germany since the D-Day landing. –These troops were moved to the Netherlands to push the German troops occupying the northeast back to the sea and to drive German troops in the west back into Germany. May 5, 1945: Canadian forces drove the NAZIS to retreat from Holland and surrender Important results due to the Canadians’ efforts: –The Dutch people were freed. –Allied troops could continue forward toward Germany

The Final Stages of the War in Europe: Germany Surrenders Germany surrendered on May 7 th, –More details on this next lesson