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Battle of the River Plate
It was the first naval battle of WWII. The German pocket battleship the "Graf Spee," sailed by captain Langsdorff, was trying to capture merchant ships near South America. Three British Royal Navy ships fought them, lead by captin Harwood. Graf Spee was severely damaged along with one of the British ships, the Exter. The Brish won the battle. -
Battle of France
It lasted from May 10 – June 22, 1940. It was fought between the Germans, led by General Guderian and General Erich von Manstein, and the French, led by General Maurice Gamelin. It was fought because the Germans wanted to take over France and continue their invasion of Europe. The French had 360,000 casualties, and the Germans had 157,621 casualties. The Germans won the battle. -
Battle of Britain
It Lasted from July 10 – October 31, 1940. The German Luftwaffe (Fighter unit) fought with the RAF (Royal Air Force) over Britain's airspace. The Luftwaffe was led by Herman Goering, and the RAF was headed by Hugh Dowding.The Luftwaffe lost 1,900 aircraft and more than 2,500 pilots, and the RAF lost 1,544 pilots, and 40,000 civillians died. The British won the battle. -
Battle of Pearl Harbor
It was on December 7, 1941. It was between the Japanese, led by Chuichi Nagumo, and the Americans, led by Husband Kimmel. It was fought because the Japanese wanted to destroy the naval bases and carrier ships at Pearl Harbor. The Americans had 1,247 casualties, and the Japanese had over 64 casualties. The U.S. won the strategic battle. -
Battle of Moscow
It lasted from October 2,1941 – January 7, 1942. It was fought between the Germans, led by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, and the Russians, led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov. It was fought bcause the Germans wanted to capture the capital city of Moscow to gain a foothold in the Soviet Union. The Russias had over 600,000 casualties, and the Germans had 250,000 casualties. The Russians won the battle. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
It lasted from May 4-8, 1942. It was between the U.S. navy, led by Frank J. Fletcher, and the Japanese Navy, led by Shigeyoshi Inoue and Takeo Takagi. It was fought because the Japanese were trying to take Port Moresby, which would have cut off Australia from Allied help, and would have left New Guinea and Austrailia open to Japanese attack. The Japanese had 3,500 casualties, and the U.S. had about 540 casualties. The U.S. won the battle. -
Battle of Midway
It was fought between the Pacific U.S. Fleet, lead by Chester Nimitz, and the Japanese fleet, lead by Isoroku Yamamoto.The Japanese were trying to deafet the U.S. so they could have the Pacific. Over 2,800 soldiers were killed, the Japanese lost 4 aircraft carriers, and the U.S. lost 1 aircraft carrier. The U.S. won the battle. -
Battle of Stalingrad
It lasted from August 23, 1942 – February 2, 1943. It was between the Germans, led by Freidrich Paulus, and the Russians, led by Georgy Zhukov. It was fought over the control of the city of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. The Germans had 750,000 men killed, missing or wounded, and the Soviets had 478,741 men killed or missing, and 650,878 wounded. The Russians won the battle. -
Battle of Kursk
It lasted from July 12 – August 23, 1943. It was fought between the Germans, led by General Kluge and Field Marshal Manstein, and the Russians, led by General Georgi Zhukov. The battle was fought becuase the Germans wanted and needed to beat the Russian troops after they had lost the battle of Stalingrad, and regain lost territory. The Germans had 366,000 casualties, and the Russians had 1,600,000 casualties. The Russians won the battle. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
It was fought from October 23 - October 26, 1944. It was fought between the Americans, led by, William Halsey, and the Japanese, led by Takeo Kurita. It was fought because the U.S. wanted to defeat the Japanese Navy. The Americans had 3,000 casualties, adn the Japanese had 10,500 casualties. The U.S. won the battle. -
Battle of the Bulge
It lasted from December 16,1944 – January 25, 1945. It was the last great German counter - offense through the Ardennes Mountains, led by Hitler, against the allied forces, led by Dwight D. Eisenhower. After the battle there were 81,000 american soldiers wounded,19,000 killed, and 100, 000 German soldiers wounded or captured. The allies won the battle. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
It was fought from Febuary 19 - March 26, 1945. It was between the Americans, led by Holland Smith, and the Japanese, led by Tadamichi Kuribayashi. It was fought because the Americans wanted to take Iwo Jima to be closer to Japan, and because it was a major air base and stronghold of the Japanese. The Americans had 6,821 casualties, and the Japanese had 21,844 casualties. The U.S. won the battle. -
Battle of Berlin
It lasted from April 16 – May 2, 1945. It was between the Russians, led by Joseph Stalin, and the Germans, led by Hitler. The battle was fought because the Russians wanted to finish off the Germans and capture Berlin. The Russians had 300,000 injured and 75,000 dead soldiers, and the Germans had 275,000 wounded men. The Russians won the battle, and Hitler committed suicide. -
Battle of the Atlantic
It lasted from September 3, 1939 – May 8, 1945. It was fought between the German U-boats, led by Admiral Karl Dönitz, and the British and American navies, led by Sir Percy Noble and
Sir Max Horton, and Admiral Royal Ingersoll.This battle was fought because the Germans were trying to cut off British supply lines across the Atlantic. The allies had 30,000 sailors killed, and the Germans had 28,000 sailors killed. The Allies won the battle. -
Battle of Okiniwa
It lasted from April 1 – June 22, 1945. It was fought between the Japanese, led by Mitsuru Ushijima, and the U.S., led by Raymond A. Spruance. It was fought because the U.S. wanted to capture the island of OKinwa near Japan so that they could have air and naval bases closer to their enemy.There were 90,000 Japanese troops killed, and 6,990 U.S. men were killed. The U.S. won the battle.
