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Battle of France/Miracle of Dunkirk
May 10, 1940 – Jun 25, 1940
-The battle was organized in two separate operations: The Fall Gelb Operation, also called Case Yellow, and The Fall Rot, also referred to as Case Red.
-Operation Case Yellow was meant to push the French defense forces out of their stronghold territory
-Operation Case Red was meant to further strengthen German’s superiority in the region.
-Was the evacuation of Allied soldiers during World War II from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk
-The BEF lost 68,000 soldiers -
Battle of Britain
Jul 10, 1940 – Oct 31, 1940
-Was a military campaign in the Second World War in which the RAF defended the UK against Nazi attacks.
-Described as the first major military campaign fought entirely by air force.
-The primary objective of the German forces was to compel Britain to agree to a negotiated peace settlement.
-An estimated 21 percent of the RAF’s fighter pilots and 16 percent of the Luftwaffe’s fighter pilots were lost each month. -
Battle of Leningrad
Sep 8, 1941 – Jan 27, 1944
-900-day Siege
-650,000 Leningrad lives were taken by the Germans in 1942 alone.
-In January 1944 a successful Soviet offensive drove the Germans westward from the city’s outskirts, ending the siege.
-It was a prolonged military blockade undertaken from the south by the German Army Group North, Spanish Blue Division and the Finnish Army in the north.
-Said to be the longest and most destructive siege in history. -
Battle of Stalingrad
July 17, 1942 – February 2, 1943
-Was the largest confrontation of World War II in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad.
-1.8–2 million people were killed, wounded, or captured.
-The Germans saw the conquest of Stalingrad as essential to their campaign in southern Russia
-Was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad during World War II.
-Stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the war in favor of the Allies. -
Operation Torch
Nov 8, 1942 – Nov 10, 1942
-First major operation that the US undertook in the European / North African theatre of World War II
-Was the first Allied amphibious landing of the war.
-American government officials objected to an early British operation, nicknamed Gymnast, which was deemed costly and ineffective-and was scrapped.
-Was agreed that Gen. Henri Giraud would lead the African French, as he had support in both the Vichy and Free French camps. -
D-Day
June 6, 1944
-More than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France.
-Over 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the invasion.
-Over 9,000 allied soldiers were killed or wounded.
-Six divisions were to land on the first day (three U.S., two British, and one Canadian).
-Two British divisions and one U.S. division were to follow up. -
Battle of the Bulge
Dec 16, 1944 – Jan 25, 1945
-Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp
-A German shortage of fuel and the gallantry of American troops fighting in the forests proved fatal to Hitler’s ambitions.
-Roughly 200,000 casualties
-The actual offensive fell short of it's goals, but managed to create a bulge 50 miles wide and 70 miles deep in American lines
-Actual offensive -> Operation Autumn Mist -
Battle of Berlin
Apr 16, 1945 – May 2, 1945
-Also known as the 'Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation' by the Soviet Union, or the 'Fall of Berlin'
-Before the battle was over, Hitler and several of his followers killed themselves.
-Marked the end of World War II
-Over two million artillery shells were fired into Berlin and the surrounding area in three weeks and 1 million Russian infantry troops took part in the assault on the city.
-150,000 German soldiers and 355,000 Russian soldiers were dead or wounded.
