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Canada Declares War
Canada declared war on Germany. The Allies were made up of Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India. The opposing side was known as the Axis was made up of Germany, Italy, and Japan. -
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Phony War
There was no action happening and people were starting to believe that there might not actually be a war. -
Blitzkrieg
Germany declared war on Norway and Denmark using a war technique known as 'lighting war'. It is a surprise fire that intends to defeat an opponent in a short period of time. It requires the concentration of offensive weapons like tanks, planes, and artillery along a narrow area. -
Continued blitzkrieg
The campagin of blitzkrieg continued by the Germans leading to the defeat of both Netherlands and Belgium. Now all these countries were overrun by the Germans leaving France as the new target for conquest. -
Evaucation of Dunkirk
The Germans had surrounded Allied soliders on the Port of Dunkirk in France. The plan became to evacuate all the soliders before the Germans reached the bay to attack. Every possible boat was used to get Allied soliders out of the port. Bombing had started by the Germans and time was running out. In the end around 300,000 soliders were safety evacuated and sent to Britian. The evaucation ended on June 4, 1940. -
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The Desert War
The Germans attacked North Africa to get resources and strategic positions to try and win the war. The two main points that were wanted were the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. With the help of Italty the Axis took over Egypt and Libya. The Italians were being defeated by the Allied forces and Germany came to their help. The Desert War continued for years before the Allied won and invaded Sicily while liberating Italy. -
France is defeated
After the evacuation of the Allied troops from France, German soliders were able to easily take over France. France had no other option but to surrender to the Germans. -
Battle of Britain
Hitler's plan of action was to take out the Royal Air Force (RAF) of Britain in order to take over Britain. Massive bombings were done to harbours, shipping facilities, airfields, aircraft factories, and even certain parts of London. The German's had more planes then the British but they couldn't win because of the support of the Allies that the British had. Hilter finally gave up after weeks of bombing. The Battle of Britain ended in September 1940. -
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Operation Red Beard
Hilter planned a massive invasion of the Soviet Union even though he had promised Stalin that he wouldn't. The Soviet Union was caught off guard and the Germans made it deep into Russian terroritory. The Germans were not prepared for the cold Russian winters and lost their lead. Just when they were winning again the Germans were disadvantaged because of the cold and had to give up because none of the Axis troops could come to save them. The Soviet Union won and then joined the Allies. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese prepared to epand their territory to try and invade into Amercia and Europe. The United States of Amercia had yet to pick a side in the war so the Japanese wanted to attack them by surprise. On this date the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor which was a U.S. naval base. The base and fleet was destoryed. -
Bombing of Philippines
To further weaken the U.S., the Japanease bombed the Phillippines which was a U.S. terroitory. This was the last straw and the United States joined the Allies since Japan fought with the Axis. At this point all major world powers were officially at war. -
Black Christmas
The Japanese wasted no time bombing Hong Kong since it was a British Colony. Canada sent over troops to Hong Kong to help fight against the Japanese army. The Canadians were unsuccessful and defeated horribly on Christmas only 18 days after fighting. Every single Canadian was killed in battle or taken as a prisoner of war. -
Dieppe Raid
The Canadian soliders statiioned at the French port of Dieppe. A German convoy met with one filled with Canadian troops and alerted German troops on land. The Germans were waiting on shore for the Canadian ships to come in. It was a diaster. More Canadian troops kept arriving on shore and were trapped and easily defeated by the Germans. The entire battle lasted 9 hours. In the end 907 Canadian soliders were killed with 1946 taken prisoner. -
Battle of Sicily
The Allies invaded Sicily and fought the Italians who were fighting with the Germans. In the end the island of Siciliy was conqured by the Allies. This was significant because it led to the Italian goverenment surrendering to the Allies. -
Battle of Ortona
On this date Canadian troops captured the town of Ortona. It was a long struggle of first capturing a bunch of smaller Italian towns before they could reach Ortona. In the end, 1372 Canadians died. After this battle the Canadians continued to take over Italy before finially joining the Allies in France. In total 6000 Canadian soliders died in Italy. -
D-Day
The Allies called their full scale invasion of Europe, "Operation Overload". They planned to land on 5 fives at the same time on the coat of northern France. The Allies planned this attack carefully and were able to keep it a secret from the Axis. Canadian troops were sent to Juno Beach to attach. Casualties were high but they were able to defeat the Germans.
