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Japanese
10,000 Japanese troops launched a counter-attack in eastern Shanxi Province in China in an attempt to relieve the nearly-surrounded Japanese 36th Division -
Britain and France
Britain and France decide to intervene in Norway to cut off the iron ore trade in anticipation of an expected German occupation and ostensibly to open a route to assist Finland. The operation is scheduled to start about March 20. -
German
German air raid on Scapa Flow causes first British civilian casualties. Hitler and Mussolini meet at the Brenner pass on the Austrian border,Benito Mussolini agrees with Hitler that Italy will enter the war "at an opportune moment". -
German's trade
Germans land in several Norwegian ports and take oslo; the Norwegian Campaign lasts two months. The British start their Norwegian Campaign. Denmark is invaded and surrenders in six hours. The German heavy cruiser Blücher is sunk at the Battle of Drobak Sound. -
British ending
The Destroyers for Bases Agreement is completed. Britain obtains 50 destroyers in exchange for giving the United States land grants in various British possessions for the establishment of US naval and air bases, on ninety-nine-year rent-free leases on bases in the Bahamas, Antigua, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Jamaica, and British Guiana. -
fateful war
Beginning on September 7, 1940, and for a total of 57 consecutive nights, London was bombed. Up to that point, the Luftwaffe had targeted Royal Air Force airfields and support installations and had nearly destroyed the entire British air defense system. Switching to an all-out attack on British cities gave RAF Fighter Command a desperately needed break and the opportunity to rebuild damaged airfields, train new pilots and repair aircraft. -
Period: to
blitz attack
More than 30,000 bombs fell on Britain during the Blitz, Adolf Hitler's prolonged air war of British cities which lasted from Sept 7th, 1940 to May 21st, 1941. -
Destruction in London
Destruction was spread out all over the city, with German bombers targeting all bridges west of Tower Bridge, factories on the south side of the Thames, the warehouses at Stepney, and the railway line that ran north from Elephant and Castle. -
Battle of Britain
The Blitz was authorised after the Luftwaffe had failed to defeat the RAF during the Battle of Britain, a precondition for the 1940 launch of Operation Sea Lion, the provisionally planned German invasion of Britain. -
other cities targeted
Other British cities targeted during the Blitz included; Portsmouth, Southampton, Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Bath, Cardiff, Birmingham, Coventry, Nottingham, Norwich, Ipswich, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Hull, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Newcastle and also Glasgow, Scotland and Belfast, Northern Ireland -
Hitler's intention
Hitler's intention was to break the morale of the British people so that they would pressure Churchill into negotiating. However, the bombing had the opposite effect, bringing the English people together to face a common enemy. Encouraged by Churchill's frequent public appearances and radio speeches, the people became determined to hold out indefinitely against the Nazi onslaught -
shelters for people
During the nightly bombing raids on London, people took shelter in warehouse basements and underground (subway) stations where they slept on makeshift beds amid primitive conditions with no privacy and poor sanitation facilities. -
End of 1940
By the end of 1940, German air raids had killed 15,000 British civilians. One of the worst attacks had occurred on the night of November 14/15 against Coventry, an industrial city east of Birmingham in central England. In that raid, 449 German bombers dropped 1,400 high explosive bombs and 100,000 incendiaries which destroyed 50,000 buildings, killing 568 persons, leaving over 1,000 badly injured. -
Elephant attack
Nick was attacked by Hannibal the elephant and his ribs were cracked, but he made the mistake of not telling anyone about the attack and made up a lie that he slipped on one of the trails because he was very embarrassed. -
result of war
In all, 18,000 tons of high explosives had been dropped on England during eight months of the Blitz. A total of 18,629 men, 16,201 women, and 5,028 children were killed along with 695 unidentified charred bodies. -
invasion passes
By May 1941 the threat of an invasion of Britain had passed, and Hitler's attention had turned to Operation Barbarossa - his ill-fated foray into Russia commencing on June 22nd 1941 - the first phase of the Blitz came to an end. -
Arrival at Hawk's Nest
Nick Freestone's mother's apartment where him and his mom were living was destroyed in the Battle of Britain, so Nick was sent to Burma where his father lives to stay with them. He meets Hilltop, a Burmese mahout who is famous throughout the country. He also makes friends with Hilltop's great-grandchildren Mya and Indaw. Nick moves into the Freestone's plantation Hawk's Nest to stay safe away from the war as best as he can. -
Japanese Invasion
Jackson Freestone and Indaw are taken by the Japanese as POWs to another plantation. Nick and Mya stay at Hawk's Nest under complete Japanese guard. Nick soon gets a letter from his father saying that he was transported from a camp for British and Australian prisoners in Singapore to a camp in Burma. -
The Secret Passageways
A Buddhist monk from India named Taung Baw (Hilltop) shows a secret passage that was in the house to Nick and Mya. Everyone later believes that they escaped the house when they were actually in the tunnels the whole time. From then on, Hilltop shows the passages that link to Hawk's Nest. On their day of escape, Hilltop instructs Nick and Mya to dusguise themselves as novice monks, and in the tunnels, they shave their heads and eyebrows to look like a novice monk and learn the ways of the monk. -
Trapped
In a nearby village, Nick and Mya are trapped by Captain Moto who wants to find and catch the theif Kya Lei (Tiger's Breath,) the Robin Hood of Burma. -
Letter
Nick and Mya wake up alone to a letter from Hilltop saying he would be back in a couple of days, and not to worry or go anywhere without him. He went to the prison camp. Kya Lei found Nick and Mya in the forest and gives them directions to each camp. Each day, they get closer and closer to Jackson Freestone and Indaw. -
Sargeant Sonji
Hilltop trustingly asks Sonji for help with Jackson Freestone's escape from the prison camp. Sonji agrees and pretends to bury Jackson alive when he is on burial duty, and gives Hilltop the sign while Nick is thinking his father is dead because he was not informed of the plan. Hilltop and Nick climb down from the tree and start to dig up Mr. Freestone who is breathing through the hollow bamboo cross. They uncover him and to Nick's surprise, his father is alive. -
Caught
Nick, Mya, Hilltop, Indaw, and Jackson all escaped into the forest until they are caught by Captain Moto and Bukong who say that Jackson and Indaw are to be executed and Mya is to marry Bukong after the war. -
Hannibal the Hero
Captain Moto demanded to know where Kya Lei is. Hannibal saved them not because of Bukong threatening his mahout, but the tiger skin seats and him being in musth. Bukong and Moto are killed and their guards are shot by Bernard (Nick's step father), Kya Lei, and a Kachin guerrilla. -
Parting
Bernard decides to send Nick, Mya, Hilltop, Jackson and Indaw to Bengal. Hilltop declines the offer to go to India because me must stay with Hannibal who is not in good condition. -
End Of WWII
At the end of the war, Nick's mother decides to go to the U.S. and Nick chooses to stay with his father. When they moved to Alice Springs the people had made fun of the ways Nick's father used in Burma but the cattle business turned out to be one of the most successful businesses in that region. Soon afterward at Nick's 18th birthday they find out that WWII has ended and everyone reunites.
