 U.S. came into war on Dec – bombing of Pearl Harbor by Axis power Japan  Joins Allied Powers includes helping protect B________ from Nazi air attacks & potential invasion

 Following German defeat in North Africa, Allied Powers attack Europe’s “Soft Underbelly” (Italy)  Goal is to work way toward Southern Germany

 German _______ watch Allied forces  U.S. used messages/images  False invasion plans to attack at C_________ - closest point to Britain  Germans, then made this most heavily armed & defended

 Original invasion on June 5, but __________ forced delay – had to keep plan secret  Deployment onto beaches at ______________, France  __________ Allied troops - British, US, Canadian, Australian, French, etc…  Supreme Commander is ______________________

 Allied forces divided by 50 mile stretch along France’s north coast … along ____ sectors/beaches

 Westernmost landing  Primarily made up of __________ troops/arms  Force of 23,000 deployed

 Most heavily fortified  Primarily ___________ invasion force  Only ___ tanks survive  5,000 American's KIA

 Sector was assigned to the ____________  Beach overlook was heavily armed by ____________ nests  End of the day over _______ troops had successfully landed

 ___ days to secure beaches – allowing more troops & equipment (tanks)  __________ troops & more than 100,000 _______ of military equipment  ____ months later Allies reached Paris – liberating it from __________ control

 Marked 1st successful Allied invasion into West Europe – combining with Italian Campaign  Effort to liberate Europe from the hands of Fascist & Nazi Dictatorships  Major turning point in World War II - led to the German downfall & eventual surrender of one of the major Axis powers a year later

Starts with Invasion of Italy in 1943 & continues with 1944 D-Day invasion Creation of a Western Front (France)

Airborne operation using gliders to drop paratroopers behind German lines

Target German industrial factories, oil storage, transportation infrastructure … Prevented Luftwaffe from posing serious threat that it once had Now had ability to launch bomber raids from France & Britain into Germany

Soviets (Red Army) closing in toward Germany = taking much of Poland & other Eastern European territories These battles constituted the largest military confrontations in history Estimated 70 mil deaths in WWII over 30 mil on EF – includes many civilians

As Red Army progress toward Berlin, they came across – starting in Poland – concentration/extermination camps