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Germany's Invasion of Poland
In a matter of hours, the Germans destroyed the polish air force using the strategy called Blitzkrieg or lightning warfare. From this day on the 2nd world war was inevitable. After a month 60 thousand polish killed 200,000 wounded and ¾ of a million in prison. The German government has taken a huge gamble because the allies protected Poland. The gamble did not pay off as the Allies declared the 2nd world war. -
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Attacks on Australia 1
During the second world war, many attacks were conducted on Australian soil and waters. Darwin being a constant air-raid target was hit 64 times, 9 times on Horn Island, 4 being in Broome, 3 in Exmouth Gulf and 3 in Townsville, the death count for these attacks was mainly low. However, Japanese and Geran submarines also operated in Australian waters mostly off the coast of Sydney. -
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Attacks on Australia 2
On the 31st of May 1942 Sydney Harbour was attacked by a trio of Japanese Midget Submarines, 2 of which were destroyed before they could bring harm but the 3rd shot off one torpedo hitting the HMAS Kuttabul, an Australian Auxiliary ship converted from a Ferry, this attack killed 22 Australians and sank the boat. -
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Fall of France
The Germans used the strategy called Blitzkrieg translating to lightning warfare, meaning they would attack hard and fast. This tactic quickly overtook Belgium, Holland, and France, but was quickly met by equal force and were quickly defeated. -
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Dunkirk Evacuation 1
By the 14 and 15 of May, the Germans have moved to the river mews near the English channel. During a visit to france, Winston Churchhill found out that the french had no strategic actions for evacuation so he started planning an evac point called Dynamo, the evacuation of the British forces by sea. German tanks push the allies forward into a trap. Towards the beach of Dunkirk the only point available to get troops out. On the 22 of May, a halt order was directed by Adolf Hitler. -
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Dunkirk Evacuation 2
This action gave the Allies a good opportunity to carry out the operation. Evacuation began on the 29 of may by the royal navy and civilian ships, called Dunkirk Spirits. By the 4th of June, 338,000 soldiers have been evacuated. They lost 68,000 and had to leave all many caught as prisoners of war, 6 British and 3 french destroyers and 200 small boats were destroyed. The campaign was a massive success and gave the British the confidence to go on. -
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Battle of Britain
On September 15, 1940, Germany launched a large bombing attack on the city of London. They felt that they were closing in on victory. The BRAF took to the sky and scattered the German bombers. They shot down a number of German planes.
Although the German bombings continued, the British did not stop fighting back. Hitler began to get frustrated at how long it was taking to defeat Great Britain. He soon switched tactics and started bombing large cities including London. -
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Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa, original name Operation Fritz, during World War II, code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which was launched on June 22, 1941. The failure of German troops to defeat Soviet forces in the campaign signaled a crucial turning point in the war. -
Pearl Harbour Attack 1
Japan launched an aerial and naval surprise attack on the American naval base in Oahu, Hawaii on December 7th, 1941, This event had approximately 2,400 casualties with most of them coming from the explosion of the battleship USS Arizona as a bomb dropped landed directly in a hole which led to the interior of the ship. -
Pearl Harbour Attack 2
This event is extremely significant as it drew America into the second world war. Japan committed this deceitful act in order to remove resistance to continue conquering South East Asia such as Malaysia & Indonesia. Instead, Japan simply started a war they couldn't win with an economically and industrially more powerful opponent. -
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Fall of Singapore
The fall of British occupied Singapore from February 8-15 in 1942 is the largest British surrender in history. Regard by Winston Churchill to be the biggest capitulation ever Japan engulfed Singapore cutting off supply line and bombing the city and it's one million residents several times a day. It didn't take long before there was no food and the allied forces surrendered. The surrender of 130,000 allied troops then led to them being held in concentration camps for the rest of the war, -
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Battle of Stalingrad 1
The battle of Stalingrad was the largest battle of WW2, it lasted from August 1942 until February 1943. Stalingrad now called Volgograd was named after their leader and was told to be defended at all costs. During this battle, the USSR went to extreme measures to protect the city, such as the employment of women and children to dig holes and be snipers and taking new vehicles straight from factories to the battle even without paint jobs and gun sights often -
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Battle of Stalingrad 2
Ultimately the Soviet Union won as a result of the winter, as the Nazis were not equipped to handle such conditions, as well as the fact that they had run out of food and all relief forces were dealt with swiftly, lowering the morale of German troops until surrender. -
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Battle of Midway 1
The Battle of Midway spanning from the 4th to the 7th of June in 1942 was a naval battle fought almost entirely in the air in the Midway Atoll about 1500km NorthWest of Hawaii. The Battle of Midway showcased the strength of the US army and how enraged they were after the Pearl Harbour attack. -
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Battle of Midway 2
Japan Attacked the Midway Atoll and they were fought off by the stronger Navy and Airforce. Japan thought after their Pearl Harbour attack that they would hold Naval superiority over America and this battle showed this was not the case. In just 3 days America destroyed Japan's front line of carriers and eliminated most of their best-trained pilots with their air force strength. -
D-Day 1
The D-Day landings saw one of the highest death tallies of any battle and perhaps one of the bloodiest battles ever witnessed by the likes of mankind. Allied troops were slaughtered and massacred relentlessly as they stormed the beaches of Normandy in order to capture the land held hostage by the Germans. This battle was perhaps the beginning of the end of WW2 and the largest sea-born invasion that the world has ever seen. -
D-Day 2
156,000 allied troops landed on Normandy alone. Bullets rained like hell on the allied troops but the mission ended up being successful, death and decay however lingered on in all the soldiers hearts as an astonishing 10,000 soldiers were casualties of this battle and over 4000 soldiers confirmed dead. It is widely regarded as one of the biggest and most devastating battles of WWII and furthermore history itself. -
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Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II and took place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in eastern Belgium, northeast France, and Luxembourg, towards the end of the war in Europe. -
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Battle of Iwo Jima
The battle of Okinawa started on February 19th, 1945 and ended on march 26th 1945 when the final Japenese soldiers were captured or killed. It was a large and fierce battle and fighting the likes of which had never been seen before on Japanese homeland. -
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Battle of Okinawa
Similarly, the battle of Okinawa took place on another Japenese island, it started in April 1945 and ended June 21st 1945. It was another major conflict which saw the allies claim the lives of many Japanese soldiers, with more than 100,000 perishing in -
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Battle of Berlin
The battle for Berlin was one of the final conflicts in the European theatre and is commonly known as the ‘fall of berlin’. Spanning from the 16th of April to the 2nd of May, 1945, it saw soviet soldiers march into Berlin and overpowering what was left of the Nazi army and Hitler and other Nazi officials unofficially surrendering by committing suicide in their bunker. -
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Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
This marked a day of death and mass devastation as atomic bombs killed over 146,000 people and the lingering radiation still continues to be a detriment to people to this very day.