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Germany invades Poland
Germany bombarded Warsaw, Poland with air stikes and shellings under Hitler's orders to regain ground lost territory and concur Poland. The plan was to cut off all communications Poland had to other countries and criple them as fast as possible. Polish forces tried to attack head on but were severely under equipped. Poland was helpless to the German onslaught. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
In retaliation to the invasion of Poland, Britain and France declare war on Germany. On the 10th hour, the first casualties of WWII were 112 of the 1,100 inhabitants; crew and passengers on board British ocean liner S.S. Athenia. A civilian ship en route to Canada from Ireland until being struck by German U-30 submarine. Nazi propaganda stated that Britain sunk Athenia in attempts to have America join WWII. Although 28 American civilians perished but president Roosevelt vowed to remain neutral. -
Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain
After loosing the support of the Labour Party, Prime Minister Chamberlain resigns from his position, paving the way for Winston Churchill to accend to the position and simultaniously taking the position of defense minister. On the same day, Hitler ordered troops to invade Holland and Belgium under the radio code word: "Danzig". he ordered a 2,500 strong airstrike on both countries as well as France and Luxemburg. Over 16,000 German troops were parachuted into battle throughout Europe -
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Evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo)
Operation Dynamo (AKA the Miracle of Dunkirk) was the tacticle decision that turned an otherwise complete defeat into a moral victory. The German presense in France was overpowering and the French army was struggling to hold them back. Britsh commander General Viscount Gort had been ordered to move his troops to the south to aid the French fighters. Gort realised the futility of the defense and on the 23rd, orders his commanders to retreat to the port of Dunkirk, saving many allied forces. -
Italy enters war on side of Axis powers
After previously withholding allegiance with either side, Benito Mussolini declares war on France and Britain, choosing to side with Hitler and his Nazi regemes. This sudden change of heart is believed to be credited to German's occupation of Paris. Italy lacked a lot of raw materials and this lack of resources had previously deterred the Italians from attacking. However, when France began to fall, Mussolini jumped at the oppertunity to procure the spoils that came with downfall of France. -
France signs armistice with Germany
The exact date of this event is debated over -
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Battle of Britain
Germany and Britain engaged in air warfare over the skies of Britain in what is known as the largest sustained bombing campaign in history. When France fell to the German forces, Britain stood alone against Germany. Britain had an impressive array of air defense systems and Germany had bee left with almost no naval forces after it took Norway. The odds were in Britain's favour and after the Nazis failed to gain air superiority, the Germans were forced to evacuate. -
Tripartite Pact Signed
A formal pact was signed in Berlin by the Axis (Germany, Italy and Japan) that stated that if one country was attacked, all three of them would go to war to protect each other.This pact was meant to deter the other power houses from attacking the Axis however, it was directed towards neutural nations such as America. The idea was to create an overpowering display of force to make America think twice before joining the Allies. Hungary was also later pulled into the pact in November by Germany -
Operation Sealion
Planned for the late 1940s, the plan never actually took place. Operation Sealion was Hitler's plan to invade Britain and take complete control over it by encircling London. Hitler would deploy 13 different divisions to attack Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and Dorset by sea in the ultimate goal of taking complete control of the English Channel. They would also need to take the skies in order to make sure the British RAF couldn't stop them from taking the channel. It became to difficult to carry out. -
Siege of Tobruk
The Siege of Tobruk was the first defeat of the Nazis in WWII. 14,000 Australians went up against Italian tactian Edwin Rommel (The Dersert Fox). the Australians were posted at the port of Tobruk in Syria, close to the boarder of Egypt. completely surrounded, they relied on supply ships for resources. They faced harsh desert conditions and constant bombardment by the Italians and later, the Germans. They captured prisoners and withstanded attacks that brought down nations. -
Operation Barbarossa
Known as the largest military operation in history, Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union in search of "Lebensraum" (living space) for the Germany master race. The Operation involved more than 3 million axis soldiers. After a year of planning, to Stalin's disbelief, Gemany invaded with the goal of taking resource land such as Ukraine and the Capital - Moscow. 250,000 were lost but managed to drive the Nazis out using tanks after October. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes dropped bombs on the Hawaiian Naval base known as Pearl Habor. The attack killed 2,500 American troops on the base. It also destoyed 9 ships and beached 12 more. Those including the complete destruction of the battle ships U.S.S Arizona and sinking of U.S.S Oklahoma. This attack forced the hand of the neutral nation and the next day, Roosevelt declared war on Japan. -
Britain and US declare war on Japan
In the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor bombings, unable to maintain their pacifist stance the United States declared war on Japan. President Roosevelt made a 10 minute speech adressing the entire country and within the hour, and with only 1 opposing vote to the idea, the Americans declared war. As America was helping Britain by shipping supplies to them, Britain followed the U.S in their pursuit of Japan. An order went nation wide for the round up and confidement of all Japanese nationals. -
Japan take Singapore
many Singaporean islands were colonised by the British. On the eve of Pearl Harbor, 24,000 Japanese were transported to Singapore. British and Japanese forces wages a bloody battle that included air strikes, claiming the lives of many civilians in the process. On the 8th, 5,000 more Japanese troops were deployed and the British forces, both outmaned and outgunned were forced to abandon and evacuate form their positions. Britain lost it's foot hole in the East when Japan took control. -
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Battle of Midway
Credited to major advances in code breaking, America was able to gain knowledge of a Japanese ambush plan to attack the U.S' remaining aircraft carriers. This allowed America to inflict permanent damage on the Japanese Naval forces, allowing the allies to finally move into the offensive position. The plan was to draw out the aircraft carriers by attacking a location near Pearl Harbor and attacking the fleet. The Americans cracked the fleet codes which allowed them to prepare. -
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First Battle of Alamein
By the end of June, the Allies had lost Tobruk and had been forced back into Egypt. The Australian 9th division from Tobruk lead by Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead had a major hand in 2 of the 3 battle of Alamein. With the threat of the Nazis taking Cairo, all hopes were on a defensive position where the battlefield narrowed. The 9th Division gained the high ground on the 10th and spent the next few days defending off attacks with the help of Allied artillery before halting on both sides. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
Regarded as the best battle in the entire conflict of the entirety of WWII, the Battle of Stalingrad was the successful defense of the German invasion by the U.S.S.R and the turning point of the war in favour of the Allies. The death toll alone stood at nearly 2 million troops and civilians. Both Hitler and Stalin knew the importance of capturing the city that bore the Soviet leader's name. The dead covered the streets surrounded by collapsed buildings. Hitler's orders had the Axis surrounded. -
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Second Battle of El Alamein
The Allies used the lull in fighting to regroup and rebuild their forces until the end of October. The Axis supply lines were all but severed by the Allies, crippling their forces. On the 23rd of October, the Allies launched a massive artillery barrage and managed to capture most of their targets. The 9th Division was sent northwest though heavily defended enemy territory. Rommel again tried to defend from the Australians, leaving the South weakened. British tanks broke though on the 2nd. -
D-Day Landings
The battle of Normandy, Operation Overlord began on the 6th of June when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. Hitler tasked the Desert Fox (Erwin Rommel) with defense of the French Northern coast and finishing the Atlantic wall. The wall was an almost 4,000km stretch of bunkers surrounded by landmines and other obstacles both on land and water. The Allies had the Nazis believe that Pas-De-Calais was their landing point. 156,000 landed successfully and 4,000 perished by day's end. -
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Battle of Bulge
Hitler attempted to split the Allied forces in Belgium in the last Nazi offensive of WWII. The Germans were trying to cut off the Allies from their supplies.Hitler convinced himself that the Allies alliance would crumple with the right offensive. The attack is known as the Ardennes Offensive but because the attack from Nazis caused a bulge in the Allies defense line, it gave the battle it's name. Hitler believed he'd be able to surround Canda's army. It only strengthened the Allies bond -
Mussolini captured and executed
Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci were captured by the Italian Partisans when they were trying to be flee to Switzerland. The defeat of the Axis was imminent and the partisans were closing in on them. Their only option was to flee into a neutral country. They made it to Swiss boarder only to discover that the guards stationed there had been partisans themselves. Mussolini disguised himself as a German solider but was discovered, both were shot and hung upside-down in Milan. -
Hitler commits suicide
In an attempt to avoid the collapse of his "1,000 year old" Reich and paranoid about being captured by the Russians, Hitler started systematically planning his own demise. Even going as far as to consult his doctor on the best way to do so. On the 29th, Hitler married Ava Brown. The next day, he and Ava said their final goodbyes before locking themselves in a bunker and shooting themselves in the head. Hitler's dead however is still debated over as to whether he truly died in that bunker. -
German forces surrender
German high command personnel General Alfred Jodl signed an unconditional surrender of all German troops on all fronts. If the Germans didn't comply, the Allies would seal off the western front, leaving German troops in the hands of the Soviet Union. Jodl radioed Hitler's successor Grand Admiral Karl Donitz and was ordered to sign. Russian General Ivan Susloparov was one of the signing as witnesses to the surrender but as he had no permission from Stalin, he was ushered away by secret service. -
V.E. day
V.E stands for Victory in Europe. It was the day that both the U.S and Britain celebrated the end of the war. Cities previously controlled by the Nazis flew flags and banner to celebrate their defeat. German soldiers in Oslo, Copenhagen, Prague and many more laid down their arms and released their POWs. More than 13,000 British soldiers were released back to Great Britain. Approximately 2 million Germans were captured by the Russians after trying to avoid capture. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
At exactly 8:16 am Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber by the name of Enola Gay dropped the world's first atom bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" that killed 80,000 instantly and a further 60,000 by the year's end. The Americans were upset with Japan's refusal to unconditional surrender like the Germans had done and were afraid that the Japanese would attack again. Knocking down more than 65,000 buildings, the "Little Boy" had the equivalent of 12,500 tons of TNT. -
Soviet Union declares war on Japan
Two days after the 1st atomic bomb was dropped, the Soviet Union finally declared war on Japan and invaded the Japanese occupied Manchuria, northeast China. The atomic bomb did not have the desired effect hoped for by the other nations and died deter their 700,000 strong forces in Manchuria. The Japanese council refused to surrender until they were insured by the Allies about their future. Emperor Hirohito pleaded with the war council to reconsider but they ignored him. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
The day after the Soviets declared war on Japan, at 11:02 am, the Americans dropped the second atomic bomb on Japan in Nagasaki. Nicknamed the "Fat Man", it had the equivalent blast of 22,000 tons of TNT. This atomic bomb was also delivered by a B-29 named "Bock's Car" after it's usual commander Frederick Bock. The death toll was anywhere between 60,000 and 80,000. the exact figures are impossible to calculate as the remains of those closest were disinterested on impact. This caused a surrender. -
Japanese surrender - End of WWII
Upon the USS Missouri, docked in Tokyo Bay, Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the documents declaring the unconditional surrender of Japan. Shigemitsu's aides began crying as he signed. Japan's military was all but lost in all three branches and many of the cities were destroyed by bombings. The sunrise of that morning marked the the end of the second World War -
United Nations is born
The United Nations was formed in order to better govern and resolve conflict amongst the nations in the hopes that such a bloody event would never take place again. The act had already been signed by 26 nations in January 1942 as an act to oppose the Axis. The Charter was constructed in April 25th 1945 by President Roosevelt and Stalin along with 50 other countries. The charter was also directed at the protection of smaller nations in danger of being consumed by big communist countries.
