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November 1 1941 allied troops landed in Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers in North Africa. After months of fighting, the last of the Afrika Korps surrendered in May 1943.
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Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
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Prime Minister Churchill arrived at the White House on Dec 22, 1941 and spent the next three weeks working out war plans with President Roosevelt and his advisors.
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April 18, 1942 Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle led American bombers to attack Tokyo and other cities in Japan.
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A five day battle that started in May of 1942 in which the main Allied Powers of the Pacific, Americans and Australians, stopped the Japanese drive toward Australia.
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The battle that took place on June 3, 1942 when the Americans were defending the island of Midway. The American’s bombed the Japanese fleet. According to a Japanese official, America had avenged Pearl Harbor in this battle.
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The German army approached Stalingrad August 1 1942-January 31, 1943 the German commander surrendered, two days later his troops surrendered.
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Hitler ordered Liberty ships in 1943.
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Got off to a good start with the capture of Sicily in the summer 1943. “Bloody Anzio” lasted four months, until the end of May 1944. Italy was free in 1945.
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first day of the Allied Invasion (Operation Overlord) June 6, 1944.
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Soviet troops were the first to come across one of the Nazi death camps in July 1944.
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Dec 16 Germans broke through weak American defenses
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February 1945, the Allied powers got together and discussed the fate of Germany.
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The February 19, 1945 Americans raised their flag on the island of Iwo Jima. The island during this time is considered one of the most heavily defended spot in the world, with 27,000 Japanese troops everywhere
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In April 1945, Marines invaded Okinawa. The fight was ghastly. The American’s lost 7,600 lives by the end of the battle on June 21, 1945. But the Japanese lost 110,000 just to defend the island.
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April 12,1945 the president had a stroke and died while posing for a portrait in Warm Springs, Georgia.
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May 8, 1945 the Allies celebrated V-E Day- Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe was finally over.
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A project started to create an atomic bomb. Led by General Leslie Groves with research from J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project was the most ambitious scientific enterprise but the best kept secret of the war. The bomb was tested on July 16, 1945.
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On August 6-9, 1945 the Allied powers conducted two atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
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US occupied Japan by order of General Douglas MacArthur. In the early years of the occupation, more than 1,100 Japanese were arrested and put on trial. Seven of those were sentenced to death. MacArthur also changed Japan’s economy. Japan wrote a new constitution that was called the MacArthur Constitution.
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The trials against the 24 remaining Nazi leaders. At the end of the trials 12 of the 24 leaders were sentenced to death, the remaining were sent to prison.
