TURNING POINTS of WWII
Dunkirk Evacuated
June 4, 1940
Battle of the Atlantic
• 1939 – 1945 (Jan. 1942 – July 1943 were
decisive)
• German U-Boats were sinking unprotected
U.S. and other Allies' merchant ships
• Allies began using convoys to protect ships
• The Allies also used a sonar system to detect
German U-Boats
• The Germans were very successful in the
beginning, but by mid - 1943, the Allies had
the upper hand
"The Battle of the Atlantic was the only thing that really
frightened me" - Winston Churchill.
Battle of Stalingrad
(June 1941 – January 31, 1943)
• Germans violated nonaggression pact with
Soviet Union and attacked
• Hitler hoped to captured Soviet oil fields
• Germans nearly won (controlled 9/10 of the
city)
• Winter of 1943 hit
Battle of Stalingrad cont…
• Hitler forced Germans to stay put
• Soviets used to their advantage and won
• Soviets lost 1,100,000 people in this battle
• Turning point in WWII
• From that point on, Soviet army began to
move westward towards Germany
• The Battle for Stalingrad was fought during
the winter of 1942 to 1943.
•
• Stalingrad was an important target as it was
Russia’s centre of communications in the
south as well as being a centre for
manufacturing.
War in North Africa and Italy
Italian and British forces battled for control of North Africa.
The Suez Canal and the oil fields of the Middle East were
essential to the British war effort
Back-and-forth fighting
•
•
•
•
•
Afrika Korps led by Erwin Rommel
Pushed British back into Egypt
Traded blows for two years
1942—Battle of El Alamein
British victory under Gen. Bernard
Montgomery
• Axis power lessened in North Africa
Americans join the battle
•
•
•
•
Soviets wanted European front
Invasion of western North Africa
Dwight D. Eisenhower led troops
Rommel caught between forces in
east and west
• Supply problems worsened
• May 1943—surrendered to Allies
Nearly 250,000 Axis soldiers taken prisoner; with surrender, all of North Africa in Allied
hands
Tuskagee Airmen
The North Africa Campaign:
The Battle of El Alamein, 1942
Gen. Ernst Rommel,
The “Desert Fox”
Gen. Bernard
Law
Montgomery
(“Monty”)
Erwin Rommel
Commander of the Nazi
forces in North Africa
The Panzer IV was
the mainstay
of the Afrika Corps
and were needed in
great
numbers in the
Western Desert
North African Campaign
Operation Torch
Purposes:
•Drive Axis powers out of North
Africa and Middle East
•Divert German forces from Russian
Front
Strategy: Sandwich Afrikan Corp between
British in East and Allied forces (including
US) in West
The Italian Campaign
[“Operation Torch”] :
Europe’s “Soft Underbelly”
 Allies plan assault on
weakest Axis area North Africa - Nov.
1942-May 1943
 George S. Patton
leads American
troops
 Germans trapped in
Tunisia - surrender
over 275,000 troops.
July - August 1943,
Operation "Husky": Allied forces invade Sicily, Italy.
This Operation was the greatest Airborne-Amphibious
Operation of WWII until D-DAY
3,000 ships and landing-craft with 160,000 men
(8 Divisions), 14,000 vehicles, 600 tanks and 1800 guns.
Operation continues in Sicily and Italy 1943-1945
Operation
Husky
Invasion
of Italy
First Allied attacks on Monte Cassino
Farthest Extent
of Japanese Conquests
Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle:
First U. S. Raids on Tokyo, 1942
Battle of the Coral Sea:
May 7-8, 1942
Battle of Midway Island:
June 4-6, 1942
Battle of Midway Island:
June 4-6, 1942
Battle Of Midway
The fight for the Pacific
BATTLE OF MIDWAY, a decisive naval battle of World War. This victory by the United States over
Japan in June 1942 ended the Japanese advance in the Pacific Ocean.
American intelligence intercepted Japanese plans
The Americans sent their entire carrier force,
The Americans succeeded in sinking four Japanese carriers,
This was the turning point in the Pacific War.
Yamamoto erred in dividing his
force of more than 160 vessels.
The U.S. commander, Adm.
Chester Nimitz, with 76 ships