Major Battles of WWII

Things to remember… The Pacific & European Theaters were going on at the SAME time Fighting was going on BEFORE the United States joined the war

Battle of Britain August-October 1940 -Germany sent thousands of aircraft to attack British targets Hitler’s plan = destroy Royal Air Force (RAF) to make it possible to invade -Germans failed British had new technology -radar British air defenses = more effective than other countries’

-German planes began bombing British ports & cities, including London London Blitz September 1940 -German planes began bombing British ports & cities, including London -Hitler attacked civilians = tried to break the will to fight; demoralize -fires often worse than bombs 57 straight nights people took shelter in the Underground (subway) children evacuated to countryside/north bombing continued, but British refused to give in early 1941 -Hitler called off his plans to invade Britain

Battle of Stalingrad On April 5, 1942, Hitler ordered his Armies to Stalingrad, Soviet forces would be completely cut off from their own oil supply. Operation Uranus: The Red Army secretly began to mobilize one million troops, 14,000 heavy guns, 979 tanks, and 1,350 aircraft to attack the Germans

The German Blitzkrieg stalled in Stalingrad German troops were prepared for Summer fighting, not the harsh Russian winters The Germans lost 147,000 men and 91,000 were taken prisoner. The Red Army lost 500,000 men in the battle. Stalingrad was the first battle where the German Army surrendered (Feb., 1943)

Battle of Midway June 1942 Most important navel battle of the Pacific Turning Point in the War: Major Victory for US American Intelligence broke Japanese military codes, planned sneak attack against Japanese battle plan of Midway Atoll. First Allied Victory

Battle of Guadalcanal August 1942 – February 1943 1st Offensive Victory of the Allies 1st territory taken from the Japanese part of the Allied strategic plan to protect the convoy routes between the US, Australia, and New Zealand Allies move from being defensive to being offensive in taking islands from Japan

D-Day D-Day does not stand for Doomsday, it was a code word for the specific operation June 6, 1944: 5,000 ships and landing-crafts carried 5 Allied divisions to the French coast The landings took place along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. At the first 48 hours, over 160,000 men landed Airborne & amphibious assault Decoy operations to distract German Forces

Battle of the Bulge December, 1944: Was the last major offensive by the German Army. Battle was primarily Ground infantry, Armored vehicles and planes. Goal was to split British & American lines in half Allies caught by surprise Allies won with reinforcements & air attacks

Over a million men: 500,000 Germans, 600,000 Americans and 55,000 British. 100,000 German casualties, killed, wounded or captured. 81,000 American casualties, including 23,554 captured and 19,000 killed. 1,400 British casualties 200 killed. 800 tanks lost on each side, 1,000 German aircraft. Largest & bloodiest battle for most of the soldiers in WWII

Battle of Iwo Jima February 1945 – March 1945 Great tactical importance - two airfields on the island ‘softened up’ by bombing raids for more than two months before the actual amphibious assault (actually hurt the allies in the long run) The bulk of the amphibious attack was done by Marines (2,400 casualties on the 1st day) Very difficult to take control of because Japanese would not surrender & jungle fighting Finally ended after one month of fighting

Battle of Okinawa April – June 1945 Largest amphibious assault in Pacific Plan was to use Okinawa as base of operations when invading Japanese mainland Kamikaze suicide attacks Highest number of casualties of any WWII engagement Many civilians killed, wounded or committed suicide Allied victory

The Pacific Theater

European Theater