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Battle of the Atlantic
ALLIED VICTORY. The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign during World War II, lasting five years, eight months, and five days.The United States and the allies depended largely on control of the seas; It was only by sea that the U.S. could deliver soldiers and supplies to the hard-pressed opponents of Hitler. Germany's new surface ship, Bismarck, was the pride of the German fleet. Great Britain sunk the Bismarck, so Germany began to reply with U-boats. -
Battle of the Atlantic
Germany used U-boats and hunted and attacked at night in groups, this method was known as wolf pack, which was referred to "happy time." American ships often sailed from ports without protection, and in a few months, 360 American ships were sunk, 8 U-boats were sunk. America began building bigger and better ships. New Allied aircraft protected convoys and used radar to find and destroy U-boats. The Allies broke Germanys code system called Enigma, they then new the loactions of German U-boats. -
Battle of Britain
2nd World War air campaign by the Germans against Britain. Was the most sustained aerial campaign. The German objective was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force. Coastal shipping convoys and centres were the main target. The Luftwaffe shifted attack to RAF airfields and infrastructure. Luftwaffe used the terror bomb strategy. The British forced Hitler to postpone the invasion of Britain. Germany continued bombing, which was known as The Blitz. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Germany failed to take Stalingrad. 250,000 Axis soldiers were trapped by society forces. The surviving Axis troops were forced to surrender. Stalingrad marked the beginning of Germany's collapse in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union pushed German forces back to Germany. Hitlers forced suffered a loss of 2 million, Soviet lossed 12 million. Millions of civilians also died. The Soviet Union still survived, now fighting toward the final defeat of the Axis. -
Battle of El Alamein, Egypt
The British handed the Germans a major defeat. The British and Italians began a battle for North Africa. By controlling it, the British could protect shipping on the Mediterranean Sea against Italian attack. Italian forces based in Lybia tried to drive the British from Egypt, in which they failed. The Italians were beaten badly and driven backwards. Hitler was forced to send troops to help the Italians. Erwin Rommel, known as Desert Fox, led the Germans. The British ultimately gained control -
Operation Torch
This plan called for American forces to invade the North African countries of Morocco and Algeria. France had controlled this territory before 1940. After the fall of France, Vichy leaders were installed there. The Allies hoped that the French in North Africa would side with them in battle. The Allied met little resistance upon landing, and French forces soon joined them. Allied forces then turned East to fight the Germans. Americans gained combat experience. -
Operation Torch
Some 20,000 Americans were killed or wounded during the fighting of North Africa. Stalin continued to push for a European invasion, and in the planning stages was a massice invasion of France. Allied leaders prepared to cross the Mediterranean and knock the Italians out of the war. -
Invasion of Sicily/Italy
Soon after ther attack on Sicily, Roosevelt and Churchill issued a message to the Italians asking them "whether they want to die for Mussolini and Hitler or live for Italy and civilization." They chose to live. By the end of the month, they had turned against Mussolini and forced him from power. The Allies soon took Sicily and planned to occupy the Italian peninsula. German forces rushed to stop them. The allies made steady progress at first. -
Invasion of Sicily/Italy
Taking part in the fighting was the Tuskegee Airmen, a segregated unit of African Americans, the first ever to receive training as pilots in the U.S. military. The allies planned to land a large force behind an enemy line which was a seafront resort called Anzio. In late Janurary, some 100,000 Allied soldiers fought to break out of their small coastal beachhead. Allied men freed the trapped soldiers, but 25000 to 30000 soldiers were killed or wounded. In the end, some 300,000 were injured. -
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the nickname for the Battle of Normandy. Also known as D-Day. The purpose of the Operation was to invade mainland Europe and push the German forces out of France. The Allied force was ready for action with 3.5 million soldiers. The attack began with soldiers parachuting behind the German lines to try to secure key sites. Allied aircraft filled the sky to provide cover for the wave of troops to come. Aircraft helped deliver equipment and soldiers to beaches. -
Operation Overlord
In the end, the success of Operation Overlord came down to the courage of the individual soldiers who would make the landing. By the thousands, they waded through the surf and then raced through obstacles, wounded and dead comrades, and a hail of gunfire to find something to hide behind. The Germans were slow to respond to the invasion. Hitler feared that this was just a trick. German leaders delayed and the Allies established a beachhead. Though the costs were high, D-Day was a success. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Germans launched a surprise attack. This referred to the bulge in the Allied battle lines created by the German advance. Hitler's forces threatened to win back vital ground from the Allies. A key moment in the battle came at the Belgian city of Bastogne. Surrounded by Germans, in the below-zero temperatures and low on supplies, the Americans clung to survival. They survived when Lieutenant General George S. Patton arrived to provide relief for the American force. -
Battle of the Bulge
The victory at Bastogne helped blunt German offensive. It also became a symbol of American strength and determination. By the end, the bulge created by the German offensive had been rolled back. Again the Allies set their rights on Germany and the defeat of Hitler. Victory was close at hand. -
Hitler commits suicide
In 1945, the steady distruction of German resistance continued. One by one, units from the Soviet Union met up with other Allied forces. At the same time, berlin was under heavy bombardment. On April 30th Hitler realized that all hope was lost. Adolf Hitler commited suicide in his Berlin bunker. While the news of Hitler's death spread, fighting came to halt. Berlin surrendered on May 2. German forces fighting elsewhere gave up the fight. -
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day!! Celebrations erupted in the United States and throughout Europe. More than one million people celebrated in the streets to mark the end of the European part of the war. In the United kingdom, Winston Churchill gave a speech announcing Hitlers death.
