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Declaration of war
On this day Germany declared war alogside Italy and Japan who later joined them in 1940. They became known as the Axis. After they declared war, Britain, France, Canada, Australia and etc. rushed to prepare their troops and to put them on France's border with Germany where they waited for what Germany would do next. -
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World War 2
A devastating war in which Hitler of Germany, allied with Italy and Japan called the Axis declared war against the world. There were vast amounts of deaths for them and mainly for the allies going against them, which were France, Britain, and the commonwealth. Hitler was oppressing anybody who was not deemed perfect in his eyes, and that was mainly the Jews in addition with other races and beliefs. -
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The "Phony War"
When the Allies troops were staitioned on France's border they had to wait there for 7 months for what Hitler would do next.People started to call this time the "Phony War" because they thought there might not be war. -
Blitzkrieg
After the 7 months of waiting, Hitler re-entered the war by attacking Denmark and Norway by blitzkrieg (Lightning war).Blitzkrieg was very succesful because it used surprise, speed, and great power to take the enemy. They would take out vital enemy positions and supply lines with planes and drive through their troops with tanks and then paratroopers would come down and take their communications. This left them very confused easily surrounded by the Germans. -
Evacuation of Dunkirk
After Germany took Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium they went for France through Belgium and surrounded the allies with tanks coming from the English Channel at Dunkirk. The allies had to escape before they were overrun by Germans.Britain rounded up any able boats to go to Dunkirk and evacuate any allied soldiers from France of which there were 340,000. -
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North-African Campaign
Germany wanted North Africa for valuable resources and strategic positions.Italy wanted the Suez canal in Egypt. By December of 1940 the allies had just about destroyed the Italian army, so Hitler sent some German troops to help them and keep North-Africa. They battled for three years without advance and then the allies won in May of 1943. -
France taken
The troops of France evacuated from Dunkirk to Britain. The remaining army of France stood no chance against Germany's army and they surrendered on June 22nd. Now only Britain and the commonwealth were left to go against Germany. -
"Operation Sea-lion"
This was Hitlers plan to invade Britain. For it to succeed he needed to take out Britains air force so that his troops could cross the English Channel and land safely. In July the Germans started bombing harbours and shipping facilities. -
The Bitz
The Germans bombed airfield and aircraft factories and then bombed some parts of London. Britains air force tried to get back at Germany by bombing Berlin. Hitler was very angry by this and told his pilots to bomb London and other cities over several weeks. -
Battle of Britain ends
Germans had more planes than the British but they still couldn't beat them. The British had advanced radar systems and really effective fighter planes. They were also helped by the commonwealth and Canada with pilots, planes, and supplies. When Hitler saw that the battle was futile he gave up on taking Britain. -
Operation Barbarossa
This was a huge attack on Russia by the Germans after they were defeated in Britain. Hitler wanted raw materials, agricultural land and labour for his army. The Germans went deep into Russian lands and were not ready for the harsh conditions of Russia. They couldn't go back and they had no reinforcements because they were all in North Africa at the time, Germany lost 300,000 men and surrendered in early 1943. -
The Dieppe Raid
Stalin wanted a second front in the war to weaken Germany, so they asked the allies to send troops to the western front. Britain sent a Canadian force to attack the French port Dieppe.This was juat the trial run or the actual invasion of Europe, and it was a disaster. They were supposed to surprise the Germans but they were found out and even though the Canadians had a lot of support, they were still obliterated when they landed. Many killed, wounded and taken prisoner. -
Battle of Sicily
British Prime minister Winston Churchill though that the best way to take Europe back was by invading through the south, Sicily and Italy. First the allies invaded Sicily, they fought in mountainous lands losing some soldiers but eventually took the island after 38 days. Mussolini was overthrown after this and the new government surrendered, but the Germans continued to fight for their Italian territory. -
Battle of Ortona
The Canadians were trusted to take the town of Ortona when the Germans retreated into there. First they had to take many smaller villages and fight through German territory. At Ortona battles were fought by houses, the Canadians took the town on December 28 of 1943. They lost many men in Italy. -
D-Day: The Normandy Invasion
The allies invaded Europe by landing their troops on five beaches of the coast of Normandy. They had air and naval support and paratroopers that landed before the attack and disrupted transportation and communication lines. More than a million troops were brought in with tanks and supplies. They had the element of surprise with them. -
Juno Beach
The Canadians took this beach by themsleves by getting through concrete barriers, barbed wire, and land mines. They fought in 9 kilometres, but with high numbers of deaths and wounded. -
Battle of the Scheldt
Canadians were trusted with driving German troops from the Sheldt river in Belgium. This river connected Antwerp with the North sea, but the Germans still controlled it. The Canadians managed to take back the river after a month and this helped to bring in supplies for the final advance on Germany. -
Battle of the Rhineland
On this day the allies with lots of Canadians began to drive back the Germans.They had to go through mud and flooded fields against the Germans. Very many allied soldiers died, including Canadians, but way more Germans were killed and there were lots of prisoners. On March 10 the Germand withdrew to the east and let the Canadians go North to liberate Holland.
