-
Battle of France
The Battle of France marked the end of the so-called Phoney War and witnessed the German forces invade France and the Low Countries. Germans managed to overcome the French. This was mainly due to superior German training and communication, and the Allies’ wrongly held belief that the Maginot Line would firstly hold; and secondly, that the Germans would concentrate their efforts on it.The Germans devastated the inexperienced French (and other Allied) troops and took the entire country soon after. -
Battle of the Mediterranean
The campaign was fought between the Italian Royal Navy, and the British Royal Navy. US naval and air units joined the Allied side in 1942. Three overall objectives in this battle. The first was to attack the supply lines of the other side. The second was to keep open the supply lines to their own armies in North Africa. The third was to destroy the ability of the opposing navy to wage war at sea. -
Battle of Britain
In 1940, the German Air Force bombed England. The Germans began by bombing shipping centers and convoys, and moved on to attacking Royal Air Force structures and airfeilds. Despite massive efforts, Germany wasn't able to destroy England's air defenses, and this defeat represents a mojor turning point in World War 2. -
Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete was a battle fought during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete. Greek and Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. Because of the heavy casualties suffered by the paratroopers, Adolf Hitler forbade further large-scale airborne operations. Allies were impressed by the potential of paratroopers and started to build their own airborne formations. -
Battle of Moscow
Soviet Russia’s successful defense of their capital was a major turning point in the war. Hitler believed that if he could capture Moscow, the spirit of the Red Army war machine would be crushed and they would be at the Germans’ mercy. However, due to a combination of fierce and strategically well-executed Russian resistance and a terrible winter with temperatures down to minus 22 degrees and colder, the Germans were destined not to take Moscow. Losses were massive on both sides. -
Second Battle of Kharkov
Kharkov was a strategically important city in the Ukraine that had seen fierce fighting in the autumn of 1941, when the Germans captured it. The Germans encircled the three Soviet armies and effectively destroyed them. In a devastatingly effective operation, the Germans wiped out nearly 280,000 Russian men and 650 tanks. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was one of the most famous battles in the Pacific Ocean during World War 2- some called it the worst naval defeat Japan ever experienced. Japan had planned out that they would catch the US of gaurd, with a defensice attack that they hoped would ensure dominance in the Pacific. Instead, America codebreakers found out the time and location of the attack and staged an ambush. The US managed to sink four Japanese aircraft carriers, as well as a heavy cruiser. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad, which saw Hitler’s major push for dominance on the Eastern Front, was marked by terrible losses on both sides. However, previously unseen brutality and crippling losses devastated the German offensive and severely dented their confidence. Once their Romanian and Italian allies had been eliminated, the Germans found themselves surrounded in Stalingrad, vulnerable and starving in the rubble to which the Luftwaffe had reduced the city. -
Battle of Bismarck Sea
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea took place in the South West Pacific Area during World War II. Over the course of the battle, aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force attacked a Japanese convoy that was carrying troops to Lae, New Guinea. Most of the task force was destroyed, and Japanese troop losses were heavy.The Japanese convoy was a result of a Japanese Imperial General Headquarters decision in December 1942 to reinforce their position in the South West Pacific -
Battle of Kursk
A decisive victory for the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, the Battle of Kursk saw the largest series of armored tank clashes of the entire war and the costliest single day of aerial conflict in history.Through a vast and brilliantly constructed network of minefields, anti-tank guns and defenses 155 miles deep, the Soviets wore down their attackers and then launched counter strikes, hemming the Germans back across a broad front. -
Battle of Monte Cassino
Waged between the Allies and the joint German and Italian troops in the early part of 1944, the Battle of Monte Cassino was one of the hardest fought battles of the Second World War. The main objective for the Allied forces fighting their way up from Southern Italy was to break through the Germans’ Gustav Line and gain control of Rome.The eventual capture of Rome came at a high price, with at least 125,000 casualties on all sides — and as many as 185,000 by some estimates. -
Battle of Narva
Narva Isthmus saw ferocious fighting between the German army and Stalin’s Red Army. Both sides were desperate to hold the valuable territory. Separated by historians into two distinct phases, the fighting was amongst the most intense seen in the entire war. In the end, after months of combat that left tens of thousands dead Hitler evacuated all troops from Estonia. The country was then free until the Soviets reoccupied it shortly after the Soviets reoccupied it shortly after the war ended. -
Normandy Beach (D-Day)
On June 6th, 1944, 160,000 British, American, and Canadian troops landed on the Normandy coastline, in an attempt to take back Normandy from the Germans. The invasion included land, air, and sea battles and spread across 50 miles of coastline. General Dwight D. Eisenhower as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces. German troops were taken by surprise thanks to decoy operations and inclement weather conditions. -
Battle of The Bulge
This was a German offensive, waged in the dense woods of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. For the US, the Battle of The Bulge represents the largest number of casualties in World War 2, when the US and Allie troops were caught of gaurd. More than 610,000 American soldiers fought in this battle, of which 19,000 were killed. -
Battle of Luzon
Luzon was seen as being of great strategic importance to the United States. American troops would have to wait until 1945 to launch an attack on Luzon, which was taken by the Japanese in 1942. When the Americans did make it back to Luzon, the fighting was frenzied and fierce, with incredibly high numbers of casualties, particularly for the Japanese. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima is one of the more controversial battles of World War 2. The Americans captured the island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific for the purpose of using it as a staging area for Allied forces to attack Japan's main islands. The invasion of Iwo Jima represented the first attack on Japan's homeland, but the territory had limited value for the US Army, and US Air Force. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan and planning on using Okinawa as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland. Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army and two Marine Divisions fought on the island. Their invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and air force. -
Battle of Berlin
The last major offensive of the war in Europe, the Battle of Berlin saw the fall of the German Army, the suicide of Hitler and the beginning of the end of the Second World War. ever onwards, causing widespread panic in the already depleted German defenses . The Red Army then proceeded to attack the city from the east and south, while a third group devastated German defenses from the north. The relentless Soviet army marched eve -
Battle of Berlin
The last major offensive of the war in Europe, the Battle of Berlin saw the fall of the German Army, the suicide of Hitler and the beginning of the end of the Second World War.The Red Army then proceeded to attack the city from the east and south, while a third group devastated German defenses from the north. The relentless Soviet army marched ever onwards, causing widespread panic in the already depleted German defenses and took the Reichstag, more or less signaling the conclusion of war. -
Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 ended in the Pacific aspect of World War 2. The US dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, followed by a bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. An estimated 90,000-166,000 people in Hiroshima were killed from the nuclear fallout within four months; Nagasaki lost another 60,000-80,000 people. In both cities, the vast majority of those killed or injured were civilians. On August 15, 1945 Japan surrendered.
