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Battle of Britain
Fig. 1 Battle of Britain, Map
(Battle of Britain, 1940) -
Battle of Britain
Started on July 10th, 1940. This air campaign was created to destroy the British Royal AIr Force and to pave the way for an invasion of Great Britain. The Royal Air Force had two advantages; their radars, and it's pilots and warplanes were shot down over their home territory. Britain's greatest advantage through this battle was Winston Churchill who gave voice to his Allie, Adolph Hitler. This battle ended on October 31, 1940 with Britain defeating Germany. -
Battle of Cape Matapan
Fig 2. Radar Array in Italy, Ruins
(Hogg and Shrader) -
Battle of Cape Matapan
Started on March 26, 1941 when the Italian navy set out to attack British convoys. This was a naval battle that was between the British and the Italian. It occurred in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. On March 28th, the Italian and the British both spotted each other around Crete. The British admiral, Cunningham, established a Royal Navy primacy in the Mediterranean.They started firing off of the island of Gaudo. This battle was awful for the Italians. They lost a lot of equipment and surrendered. -
Pearl Harbor
Fig 3. Naval Air Station Burns at Pearl Harbor, Explosion
("Pearl Harbor") -
Pearl Harbor
Early morning, Japanese fighter pilots attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. That day, President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed that, that day would "live in infamy." Japan attacked without a declaration of war. The U.S. allied with Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Japanese task forces were detected on U.S, radar, but the new technology and technicians were unable to read the size of approaching forces. This resulted in 2,000 casualities, ship and air craft damages. -
Battle of Midway
Fig 4. Battle of Midway, Plane
(Willbanks) -
Battle of Midway
Began in early 1942 when Yamamoto Isoroku promised his staff that capturing Midway would allow Japan to deprive the U.S of a base for their aircrafts, help Japan capture Hawaii, and give Japan the opportunity to destroy all U.S aircrafts. The battle officially started when Boeing B-17 bombers struck at a Japanese carrier without damage. That night, Japanese fighters shot down 47 of the 51 U.S planes. Japan thought they won, but they were defeated on June 6th, 1942. -
The Battle of the Coral Sea
Fig 5. Battle of the Coral Sea, Ship
(Battle of the Coral Sea) -
Battle of the Coral Sea
First major naval battle when opposing fleets didn't sight eachother. It was a tactical win for Japan, but a sttrategical win for the U.S. Unknown to the Japenese, the U.S. had expected the invasion. Two task forces were assembled on Coral Sea and the two U.S. carriers, Lexington and Yorktown, were larger than Japenese counterparts. U.S. scout planes found invasion fleet. Morning of May 8, U.S. and Japan located opposing carriers and only one survived from each side. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Fig 6. Russian troops at Battle of Stalingrad, Soldiers
(Eysturlid) -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad started on August 23, 1942 with the destruction to Stalingrad by the German VIII Air Corps. It was considered the “high-water mark” of the German invasion on the Soviet Union and the turning point of World War II in the East. Adolph Hitler ordered this attack on Stalingrad to be done and in September, 1942, The German Army went out for Stalingrad. Russia was not going to let Germany come into their territory, so they protected Stalingrad and they defeated Germany. -
The Battle of Normandy (D Day)
Fig 7. Soldiers Rush the Beaches of Normandy, Soldiers
(Soldiers Rush the Beaches of Normandy) -
The Battle of Normandy (D Day)
One to two years post D-Day, Germany controlled the European continent. Allied commanders needed to gain a foothold here, so France could be released. Normany, would make an ideal lpace for ambush because of its location. A decoy attack took place before D- Day to deceive Germany. June 6, 1944 Operation Overlord took place. German forces were broken due to the attack of 150,000 men. Late June resulted in the addition of one million more allied troops. ("D-Day") -
Hiroshima
The bombing of Hiroshima took place August 6, 1945 at 8:15 a.m. It was dropped from the Enola Gay, an American B-29 super fortress. This bomb was 2,000 times more powerful than the largest bomb and was known as Little Boy. It contained 12-15,000 tons of TNT and ruined five square miles. 140,000 plus were either killed or injured. The city of Hiroshima was chosen due to the terrain and military reasons. (1945) Fig. 8 Enola, Enola Gay -
Nagasaki
On August 9, 1945 another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and tens of thousands of people were killed. This bomb was code named fat Man after Winston Churchill. Fat Man was 9,000 pounds and the area it was dropped on was confined to 2.6 miles. This was because Nagasaki was surrounded by mountains. (Nagasaki) Fig. 9. Battle ,Explosion -
Japan Surrenders
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the Japanese to surrender. Japan was given a deadline to surrender by the President, they didn't, so these two bombs were dropped. The bomb was dropped on Nagasaki because Japan didn;t react to Hiroshima right away. The Japanese Supreme Council surrendered August 10, 1945. ("Nagasaki Bombing") Fig. 9. Japanese, Soldiers
