-
On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany started invading Poland. This marked the beginning of the Second World War. Germany joined shortly with the Soviet Union, which started invading Poland on September 17th. Together they took Poland in about one month. After that, Germany gained almost the total domination of central Europe. https://www.jpost.com/international/on-this-day-nazi-germany-invades-poland-starting-world-war-ii-in-europe-678364 -
World War II is the biggest war in human history. More than 60 million people, 2.5% of the world's population, were killed. About 70 countries took a part in the conflict. It is also the most influential war. The outcome of WWII still affects the world today. https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/World_War_II_casualties https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraid=15&smtid=1#:~:text=World%20War%20II%20was%20truly,as%20on%20the%20high%20seas.
-
The battle of the Atlantic was the longest and the largest battle in WWII. The war started hours after Britain declared war on Germany and ended on May 8th, with the German navy's surrender. The enemies' main goal was to sink Allies' merchant ships that carried supplies and troops from North America to the European battlefield. More than 100 convoy battles occurred in the Atlantic. The Canadian navy protected more than 25,000 ships across the ocean with our corvettes.https://bit.ly/2xgB54
-
Unlike WWI, the war in the air played an important role in WWII. For example, the Battle of Britain was a key to Britain's defence against Germany. The Air War started at the beginning of WWII and ended when Japan surrendered, but the first large-scale bombing was on May 15th, 1940, when RAF bombed German industrial targets in the Ruhr area. After the war, RCAF had grown to the 4th largest air force in the world.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/bombing-air-war-1939-1945/ -
Battle of Britain was the largest air battle in the WWII. After Germany took France, Hitler made a plan of invading Britain, which was called Operation Sea Lion. German air force, Luftwaffe, wanted to take over the air control over the English Channel. Many Allied countries had sent air forces to fight against Germany, including RAF, RAAF, and RCAF. Germany lost many aircraft and failed in the end. This also meant the failure of Operation Sea Lion.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain -
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour on December 7th, 1941, the Pacific War began. The United States declared war on Japan the next day and became a part of the Allies. The war lasted almost four years. After the Germans and Italians all surrendered, Japan became the last country that hadn't surrendered. Finally, the war ended after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/vj-day-victory-over-japan -
After Japanese troops attacked Pearl Harbour, they entered Hong Kong very quickly. Because there were too many casualties on the European battlefield, Britain didn't leave a lot of troops in Asia. Canada, India, and China sent troops to support Britain, but they still lost the war. These troops surrendered on Christmas Day, and they were sent to Japanese POW camps. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-hong-kong -
The Dieppe Raid was one of the bloodiest battles in the Second world war. At that time, Britain and America were focused on the battles in North Africa, but the Soviet Union pressured them to attack western Europe, so they planned this raid. However, it was designed to test the Allies' ability to break through the Nazis' Fortress Europe. Although they did not have victory, they got a valuable lesson. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dieppe-raid -
The Italian Campaign was Canada's longest army campaign. It lasted 2 years and cost 26200 Canadian casualties. When Canadian troops entered Ortona, they encountered street fighting. If the troop moved through outside of the building, they would be exposed to enemy fire. So they made holes inside buildings and moved through the holes. That way the enemy wouldn't see their movement. This strategy was called "mouse-holing."https://cmea-agmc.ca/heritage-moment/mouse-holing-Ortona -
The Normandy landings were the turning point of WWII. The Allies started to counterattack Nazi Germany. It was also the largest seaborne invasion in world history. Hundreds of thousands of Allies' soldiers landed in Northern France on the D-Day. Canadian troops landed on Juno Beach. More than 14000 Canadian soldiers landed on that day. They took over the coastline with less than two thousand casualties
islandernews.com/local/kbvotes/historic-june/article_ecbe75c8-c455-11eb-906c-571073b11c7b.html -
From September 1944 to April 1945, the Allies invaded the land occupied by Germany from all sides. They invaded Netherland from the north and the west. Canadian troops had done important and deadly tasks in the last moment of fighting against Germany. Finally, on May 5th, 1945, the German troops inside Netherland capitulated, so this day, May 5th, became a holiday in Netherland called Liberation Day. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/battles-and-stages/liberation-of-netherlands -
A couple of days after the Liberation of the Netherland, Germany surrendered unconditionally. It surrendered in the west on May 7 and in the east on May 9, 1945. People celebrated the next day, and that day is called Victory in Europe Day. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe#:~:text=On%20May%208%2C%201945%2C%20both,machine%20during%20World%20War%20II.
