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German's Invasion Of Poland
At 4:45 a.m some 1.5 million German troops invaded Poland all along it's 1,750- mile border with German-controlled territory. The German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and u-boats attacked polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. Nazi leader Aldolf Hilter claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britian and France were not convinced. On September 3rd, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. -
Fall of Paris
Paris fell to the Germans. The French, having dedicated not to fight in the capital itself, have withdrawn south of the city. In deciding not to defence Paris the French command "aimed at sparing it the devastation which defense would have involved. The command considered that no valuable strategic result justified the sacrifice of Paris." From the sea to the Maginot line the Allies are resisting strongly on a new line behind Paris. There was no pause in the German attacks. -
Pearl Harbor
Just before 8 a.m hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu Hawaii. The barrage lasted only two hours, but it was devastating. The Japanese destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battle ships and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 American soldiers and sailors died in the attack and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault President Franklin D Roosevelt asked congress to declare war on Japan -
Battle Of Stalingrad
The battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defence of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in the U.S.S.R during World War II. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide war in favor of the Allies. The battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million. -
Bataan Death March
After April 9th the U.S surrender of the Baraan Peninsula on the man Phillippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War 2 (1939-45), the approximate 75,000 Fillipino and American Troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. Thanks in part to major advantages in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan's planned ambush of it's few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanse navy. An important point in the pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
From April 19 to May 16, 1943 during World War II residents of the Jewish ghetto in Nazi- Occupied Warsaw, Poland, staged an armed revolt against deportations to the extermination camps. The Warsaw ghetto uprising inspired other revolts In extermination camps and ghettos throughout German-occupied Eastern Europe. -
Allied Invasion Of Italy
The allied forces launched there invasion of Italy, it began with British forces skipping across the Strait of Messina to Calabria. A couple days later more British and American forces landed several hundred miles to the north at Salerno. Their plan was the northern forces would throw a net across the Italian peninsula while the British army chased the German's into it from the south. -
Battle Of The Bulge
In December Aldolf Hilter attempted to split the allied armies in the northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Caught off guard, American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at the St-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and Bastongne. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennesn in a attempt to secure vital bridgeheads, the allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle's name. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation thunderclap was the code for a cancelled operation planned in August 1944 but shelved and never implemented. The plan envisaged a massive attack on the Berlin in the belief that would cause 220,000 casualties with 110,000 killed, many of them key German personnel, which would shatter German morale. The thunderclap had been under discussion within the allied command for some time, the proposal was to bomb the eastern- most cities of Germany to disrupt the transport. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The amphibious invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II stemmed from the need of a base near the Japanese coast. Following elaborate preparatory air and naval bombardement, three U.S marine divisions landed on the is bald in Febuary. Iwo Jima was defend by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, who fought from network of caves, dugouts, tunnels, and underground installations. Despite the conditions the marines wiped out the defending forces after a month of fighting. -
Battle of Okinawa
This was the last and biggest pacific island battles of World War II. The Okinawa campaign involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S Tenth army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty- second army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. By the end of the 82- day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties including 14,000 dead. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe day (VE day) was on May 8th 1945. VE Day officially announced the end of the World War Two in Europe. On Monday May 7th German General Jodi singed the unconditional surrender document that formally ended war in Europe. Winston Churchill was informed of this event at 07:00. While no public announcement had been made, large crowds gathered outside of the Buckingham palace and shouted "we want the king". -
Dropping Of The Atomic Bombs
During World War II an American B-29 bomber dropped the worlds first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosions wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagaski, killing a estimated 40,000 people. -
VJ day
On August 14th it was announced that Japan had surrendered to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as "victory over Japan Day" or simply "V-J day". The term has also been used for September 2, 1945, when Japan's formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Coming several months after the surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan's capitulation in the pacific bought 6 year of hostilities to a final.
