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Battle of the Atlantic
-Britain needed to receive supplies from Canada throughout the war
-Germany sent u-boats to sink supplies coming from Canada to prevent Britain from being able to use the supplies
-From 1939-1943, the Germans were able to sink lots of the cargo ships going from Canada to Britain
-In 1943, Canada and Britain were able to figure out how to successfully get boats across without being sunk
-By the end of the war, Canada had lost over 2000 navy members and over 1600 merchants and civilians -
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Fall of Poland
Blitzkrieg (lightning war) first used
Key transport and communications sites eliminated by sabotage troops
Hit on three offensives (N, S, W)
Motorcycle troops scouted countryside in order to lead main infantry body around heavy resistance
Tactics, outdated equipment, huge # of German fighters overwhelmed Poland
German army lost 14 000 soldiers, defeated Polish army of 700 000 -
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Dunkirk
-Germans invaded France -Pushed Allied troops up to Dunkirk and surrounded them
-Hitler had halted German advances, giving the Allies valuable time to plan an escape
-Britain was able to send navy ships and civilian boats to rescue the stranded soldiers -
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Battle of Britain
-After the battle of Dunkirk, over 100 000 German troops lined the coast of the English Channel
-Hitler ordered the German Luftwaffe to fly over Britain and destroy their air force
-The RAF used radar to locate German planes
-Luftwaffe bombed London for 57 consecutive nights (the blitz) -
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Barbarossa
-Germany invaded the Western border of the Soviet Union, despite a non-aggression pact between the two
-Germans invaded with 3 million troops and 3000 tanks
-Soviet union joins the Allies
-Gives Allies time to recover
-More than 20 million Soviet casualties -
Pearl Harbor
-Without warning, Japan launched an attack on an American naval base in Hawaii
-The attack damaged or sunk numerous warships and hundreds of aircraft, along with killing over 2400 Americans
-In response, the USA joined the Allied forces in the war -
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Hong Kong
-Japanese forces began to attack Allied bases in Hong Kong hours after bombing Pearl Harbor
-Allied troops were outnumbered
-Tried to fight but surrendered on Christmas in 1941 -
Dieppe
-Allies wanted to raid Dieppe, a French seaport along the English Channel
-2nd Canadian Infantry Division would be lading the raid
-Didn’t have the element of surprise when their ships were spotted by a German convoy
-After 6 hours the raid was called off, with almost 1000 Canadian casualties alone -
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Ortona/Italy
-Allies wanted to rid Italy of German occupation
-Invaded at the South of the peninsula
-Canadians were on a mission to capture the city of Ortona
-After 4 months, they were able to drive the Germans out -
D-Day
-Allies planned to invade France to begin to recapture territory the Germans had been holding
-over 150 000 American, Canadian and British troops were ferried to Normandy
-Allies had learned from Dieppe, and had better air and naval support as well as better communication strategies
-Germans were fooled by fake air bases and tanks planted near Calais
-Allied invasion took Germans completely by surprise -
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Battle of the Scheldt
-First Canadian Army was given the task of clearing out the Germans from the mouth of the Scheldt River
-Weeks of fighting led to a Canadian victory
-Nearly 6400 Canadian casualties -
Period: to
Battle of Berlin
-Soviets attacked along the Oder River
-Soviets bombed Berlin a few days in
-Hitler knew the Germans would lose, they were vastly outnumbered and unprepared
-Germans were running out ammunition
-Hitler and his wife committed suicide
-On May 2, remaining German generals surrendered to the Soviets