World War II The Battles to the Bomb

Battle of Moscow June 22, April 20, 1942 Casualties- Germany- 250,000 Soviet Union- 750,000 Soviet Union- 750,000 Germans attack and push in Soviet Union. Germans move through and get close to Moscow. Air Raids began on City. Stalin refuses to leave. Zuhkov handles counter attack. Winter is the Winner.

German offensive into Soviet Union

Siege of Leningrad Germany vs Soviet Union Casualities- Soviet Union: 300,000 military, 16,740 civillians from bombings, and an estimated 1 million from starvation. This as part of the Battle of Moscow was a push to end the Soviet Union. Bombings and battles lasted for years.

Battle of Stalingrad August 24, 1942-February 2, 1943 Considered Bloodiest in human history. 850,000+ casualties for Germans and Axis Allies 750,000+ and 40,000+Civillian Soviet Casualties

Stalingrad Paulus’ Surrender- Feb. 3, 1943 Germans retreat Soviet Victory Hero City 1955

Operation Torch November 8, 1942 Gen Eisenhower leads allies on the beaches of N. Africa. 479+dead for Allies 720 wounded 1346+dead for Axis 1997 wounded Not much of a fight. By afternoon it was over.

Battle of Midway June 4-7, 1942 US- 1 Carrier and 1 Destoyer sunk, 307 killed. Japan- 4 carriers and 1 cruiser sunk, 3,057 killed Japan attacked Midway, things looked bad. Japan found US ships in waters. What to do?

Sinking of the Hiryu

USS Yorktown

Aftermath  Having scored a clear victory, American forces retired. Japan's loss of four fleet carriers (Kaga, Akagi, Soryu, and Hiryu) — leaving only Zuikaku and Shokaku — stopped the expansion of the Japanese Empire in the Pacific. Kaga AkagiSoryuHiryuKaga AkagiSoryuHiryu  With the US Navy now having clawed its way back to a rough parity of fleet carriers, the Americans could contemplate taking to the offensive for the first time in the war. Shortly thereafter, the Americans would invade Guadalcanal, initiating the attritional struggle in the Solomon Islands that would permanently wreck the Japanese Navy and its elite naval air groups GuadalcanalSolomon Islands GuadalcanalSolomon Islands

Battle of Normandy June 6, August 25, 1944 Actually ended July 24/25 midnight Operation Cobra began and ended 8/25/44 D-Day as some refer is also known as code name- “Overlord” Largest water based assault in History

Normandy Plan

Normandy Beach

Approaching Omaha

Battle of the Bulge Dec. 16, 1944 – Jan. 25, 1945 German offensive, to counter the losses of the war thus far. Allies moving closer to Germany, after Normandy Push fell far short of objective and eventually pushed back

Capture of Mussolini April 27 th captured and ordered to take care of him, not to shoot even if he tried to escape. Word got out to Liberation Committee and ordered him killed. Valerio carried out the order.

Battle of Berlin April 16, 1945 – May 8, 1945 April 20, 1945 (Hitler’s birthday) encircled and bombed until the city surrendered. April 30, 1945 Hitler sees the end marries Eva Braun, takes Cyanide and shoots himself. May 2, 1945 Berlin was surrendered.

Final Offensive

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Aug 6, 1945 – “Little Boy” dropped Aug 9, 1945 – “Fat Man” dropped Hiroshima was chosen, due to large size and significant Army depot. Nagasaki was secondary target, behind Kokura. Made 3 passes, running low on fuel. Cloudy

What don’t you know? Gen. MacArthur, the commander of the Pacific command, was not consulted and later said bombing was not necessary. Soviet entered in war against Japan, Aug. 8, Kokura was scheduled for Aug. 11, Japan says they surrendered because Soviet involvement. Surrender Aug. 15, 1945

Hiroshima

Nagasaki