-
The war began on September the 1st, 1939 by the invasion of Poland from the German troops. It has been stated as an uneven fight as Nazi Germany had 1.5 million men, 2,000 tanks, 1,900 modern aircraft's all while the Polish army had fewer than a million troops, less than 500 aircraft's and a small number of armoured vehicles. They occupied the Polish frontier zones within 6-7 days and they were on their way to cause Poland a bone crushing defeat.
-
Germany attacked the west on 10th of May 1940. The British and French commanders thought they'd use the same attack as they did during WWI so they rushed to Franco-Belgium awaiting the Germans attack. The Germans went through the Ardennes Forest, which is located in Southeastern Belgium and Northern Luxembourg. They broke through their defence and advanced to the coast to later on defeat them.
-
Japan attacked Pearl Harbour in Oahu, Hawaii in hopes of destroying their fleet as they had Japanese operations happening on the same day. 21 warships were destroyed, 2,403 crew members were killed and supply was lost. Luckily for them 3 of their aircraft carriers were not there on the day, many of the destroyed ships were repaired and used later on in the war.
-
The day after Japan attacked Pearl Harbour with their aircraft's, Congress Roosevelt in his speech declared war against Japan. As it was a deliberate attack everyone had the same ideas and opinions and understand the implications and very life of the nation. From that day fourth war was declared against the Japanese Empire.
-
3 days after the Pearl Harbour incident and the United State's deceleration of war against Japan, Adolf Hitler declared war against the US, Italy following the pursuit also declared war against the US.
-
The US already knew about the attack the Japanese were planning as they already cracked their codes by 1942. They made a rumour saying they were out of fresh water to confirm their suspicions which ultimately were right. They set out on June 4th, being attacked as they predicted but little did the Japanese know that the US carrier forces was East of the island and were ready for action.
-
Pervitin(Meth) was used quite a lot during the war as it could help soldiers stay awake for longer, reduces the need for food but increases alertness. A soldier by the name Amoi Koiven ended up taking roughly 30 pills, for the next 2 weeks he was lost, high and suffering from hunger, hallucinations, psychosis and even delirium. He ended up losing a leg and had many issues afterwards due to his overdose and the consequences the drug had on his body. -
They wanted to take Okinawa as it was the biggest chain of Islands located southwest of Japan. They wanted to us it as a base as it would make it easier for air bombers to attack Japan.
-
Japans initial plan was the heavily damage and destroy everything, thereby breaking the resolve of the Americans but America had different, bigger and more explosive plans. As Japan continued to fight the US the US decided to use the Atomic Bomb known as the Little Boy. As they haven't used the Atomic Bombs they had no idea about what sort of damage it'd cause. Approximately 70,000 were killed by the bomb immediately with many more dying later due to the radiation from the bomb.
-
Germany surrendered May 1945 but conflict was still happening between the US and Japan. A week after the US dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima Japan officially surrendered, signing the documents on September the 2nd, 1945.