-
Declaration of war
Allies (Britain, France, and Commonwealth countries including Canada, Australia and New Zealand) declared war on the Axis (Germany,Italy and later, Japan). Allied troops were stationed along the French border with Germany, where they waited for Germany, but for 7 months, nothing happened. Many people called this the phony war and didn't believe an actual war was going to happen. -
Blitzkreig
Germany renewed its Blitzkreig ("lightning war") by attacking Denmark and Norway in April 1940. Blitzkreig was a very succesful war tactic that used surprise, speed and power to overwhelm the enemy. Using these tactics, Germany qucickly conquered Denmark and Norway. They also attacked the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium. -
Dunkirk
German forces made their way through Belgium and reached the French port of Dunkirk where they surronded Allied forces. Allied forces had to escape before they were captued by Germans and the British Navy sent every boat capable of navigating through the English Channel. Nearly 340,000 Allied soldiers escaoed and soon France surrendered to Germany -
North Africa Campaign
Axis forces invaded North Africa to expand its territories. When Italy formally entered the way, British forces invaded Libya, an Italian colony and the Italians invaded Egypt for their Suez Canal. Axis dominated the Mediterranean by controlling the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. By December, British had all but destroyed the Italian army and German forces were sent to prevent an Allied victory in North Africa. Allied forces were able to take North Africa and could invade Sicily -
Battle of Britain
In July 1940, the Luftwaffe started a massive bombing campaign, aimed at destroying British harbours and shipping facilities in southern England.They started by bombing airfields but started to bomb areas of London and in retaliation, the Royal Air Force (RAF) started bombing Berlin. Hitler, furious, ordered the Luftwaffe to bomb more British cities and killed many civilians. The Luftwaffe outnumbered the RAF but they were unable to defeat them. Hitler finally gave up and many lost their lives. -
Operation Barbarossa
Germany launced an attack of the Soviet Union and broke the non-aggression pact. Soviets were unprepared for the attack and Germans striked deep into Russia. However, the Germans were ill-equipped for the long and bitterly cold Soviet winter. In 1942, they launched another attack and reached as far as Stalingrad but faced the brutal winters again. Germans surrendered in early 1943 and the Soviets joined the Allies. -
Raid of Dieppe
Soviet Union wanted Allies to start invading from the west. The plan was to launch 4 raids on the French port of Dieppe. However, one of the ships carrying Allied troops met a German convoy and warned the troops on shore. The soldiers who reached the shore were mowed down by enemy gunfire and many were trapped on the beaches. Miscommunication led to more casualties and thousands of soldiers died in a short period of time. -
The Italian Campaign
Allied forces invaded Italy from the south by beginning in Sicily. The Allies soon captured Sicily and caused the downfall of Mussolini, causing Italy to surrender. Allied forces also captured Ortona and small villages nearby. Allied forces also advanced through Italy until they were sent to join the campaign in France. Nearly 6000 Canadian soldiers were killed. -
Juno Beach
14000 Canadian soldiers arrived at Juno Beach and made their way past German defences. By the end of the day, the Canadians reached about 9km inland but the casualties were high-359 Canadians died and 715 wounded -
D-Day: The Normandy Invasion
Allies launched a fullscale invasion of Europe and rehearsed the invasion to prevent a disaster from Dieppe from ever happening again. They sent troops along an 80km beach and paratroopers behind enemy lines. It was succesful and because the Germans didn't know where they came from and were poorly coordinated resulting in a succesful landing at the 5 beaches. -
Battle of the Scheldt
Allies took weeks to advance through France and Belgium toward Germany. In October, Canadians were tasked of clearing enemy troops from the Scheldt River in Belgium. After 1 month of bitter fighting, they succesfully took the river and allowed supplies to be transported for their final advance into Germany -
Battle of Rhineland
175000 Canadians and other Allied forces began their attack to send the Germans back to the Rhine River and out of the Netherlands. The Germans lost more casualties then the Allies and on March 10, the German army withdrew to the east bank of the Rhine River, allowing Canadians to continue north to liberate Holland -
Liberating the Netherlands
When the Allied forces reached the Rhine River and Germany, they were given a seperate task: liberating the Netherlands. It was diffucult and an earlier attempt to free Holland failed resulting in German troops desttroying the port cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Food and fuel supply was cut off, many starved to death and the bitter winter made conditions even worse. -
Downfall of Fascist Italy
Mussolini was overthrown and the newly Italian government surrendered when the Allied forces advanced their way through Italy. Mussolini is killed resulting in a total collapse of fascism in Italy. -
Victory in Europe
Allied forces invaded Germany from the north and west while the Soviet Union invaded from the east led to Germany surrendering on May 8,1945. Hitler commited suicide in his bunker before he could be captured.
