World War II
Battles
European Battles
Battle of Britain
(August 13-September 17, 1940)
British Victory
– For over a month, the skies over Britain
were filled with aircraft from the British
Royal Air Force defending England against
the bombing raids of the German
Luftwaffe.
– attacks on British airfields and aircraft
using a variety of fighters and bombers.
– In late August, the Germans changed their
tactics from bombing airfields to bombing
cities, especially London.
Stalingrad
Sept 12, 1942 – Jan 31, 1943
Soviet Victory
– As the Germans advanced through Russia during
Operation Barbarossa, they extended their lines from
Leningrad in the North to Stalingrad in the south, and
Stalingrad had to be taken in order to secure the
Caucasus and create a route to the Middle East.
– The Battle of Stalingrad saw bitter, bitter, bitter, fighting,
much of it house-to-house and hand-to-hand.
– With the advance stopped, the Soviets began to encircle
the German army and slowly choke it off from supplies
and reinforcements.
– Hitler refused to allow the army to retreat from
Stalingrad, sealing the fate of 100,000 men.
Normandy
June 6, 1944 D-Day
– June 6, 1944, saw the largest amphibious assault landing
in military history.
– The allies initiated a bombing campaign.
– Hitler was still convinced that the Normandy invasion was
a ruse, and the real invasion would come at Calais.
– Deception campaign -Germans believed that U. S.
General George S. Patton would lead the invasion of
Europe at the Pas-de-Calais
– The allies landed five divisions on five beaches. Two
American divisions landed on Omaha and Utah beaches
while two British divisions and one Canadian landed on
Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches. Behind German lines,
the allies dropped 2 American airborne divisions and one
British , making eight divisions landing somewhere in
France on the first day of the battle.
– Omaha Beach, where the outcome was in doubt for most
of the day.
Battle of the Bulge
Dec 16, 1944 – Jan 16, 1945
Result – American Victory
– In a desperate attempt to regain the initiative, halt the
allied advance, and retake the port of Antwerp, the
Germans, in December 1944, launched their last major
offensive of the war.
– Thirty German divisions were secretly massed in the
Ardennes Forest and then thrown against a weakened
American line on December 16, 1944.
– Members of the 101st Airborne Division held out against
the German attack, completely cutoff from
reinforcements or supplies.
– Patton's Third Army, fighting south of the Ardennes,
disengaged from the enemy, turned north, and, within
several days, engaged the Germans in the Ardennes and
relieved Bastogne.
World War II
Battles
Mediterranean Battles
Operation Torch
1942
 Allied invasion of North Africa
 Attack Europe’s “soft underbelly”
 Tank warfare
El Alamein
Oct 23, 1942 – Nov 4, 1942
Result – British Victory
– British Eighth Army and the German Afrika Corps faced
each other in western Egypt.
– General Erwin Rommel, commanding the Afrika Corps.
– General Bernard Montgomery, commanding the British
Eighth Army.
– German line, which was extremely strong and well
defended, especially by hundreds of thousands of land
mines. The British attacked first on the Germans' left
flank, achieving surprise. The Germans countered, but
were unable to repel the attackers.
– Rommel reinforced those areas under assault, thus
leaving other parts of his line exposed. Montgomery took
advantage of this and initiated another attack on
November 1.
Italian Campaign
 Allies move north and defeat Italy
Sicily
Jul 10, 1943 – Aug 17, 1943
Result – Allied Victory
– The allied invasion of Sicily began on July 10, 1943,
when over 180,000 men hit the beaches or were
airdropped onto the island, defended by only two
German divisions. Syracuse was taken on the first
day; Palermo on July 22; and Catina on August 5.
– The Germans began evacuating their forces, as well
as the Italians, on August 11, and were able to get
off the island some 100,000 men, plus their
equipment. On August 16, the Americans beat the
British to Messina, located on the northeastern tip
of the island. The remaining Germans evacuated on
August 17.
Salerno / Anzio
Sept 9, 1943 – Sept 16, 1943
Result - Allied Victory
– First landing at Salerno on September 9, 1943. The
landing, commanded by General Mark Clark, met
little resistance in most areas, but the Germans put
up a fierce fight in a few pockets and prevented the
allies from moving off the beaches.
– The allied invasion eventually stalled and heavy
fighting ensued. However, the Germans were
unable to bear the allied air attacks and began to
withdraw on September 16.
– The allies were then able to expand their
beachhead and, within two week, enter the city of
Naples. The Italian campaign had begun.
World War II
Battles
Pacific Battles
Pearl Harbor
Dec 7, 1941
Result – Japanese Victory
– On December 7, 1941, the Japanese, under the
command of Admiral Yamamoto, launched a
surprise attack on the American forces at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.
– The attack inflicted heavy losses on the Americans
who were caught completely unaware. Among the
loses were 2,400 killed, six battleships sunk
(including the USS Arizona), 3 destroyers sunk, 3
light cruisers sunk, and 164 aircraft destroyed.
– Fortunately for the Americans, their aircraft carriers
and heavy cruisers were at sea and remained
untouched.
Coral Sea
May 4, 1942 – May 8, 1942
Result – Allied Victory
– The battle was carried out almost
exclusively by naval aircraft on both
sides. Attacks were made on each
other's carriers, with the U.S. losing
the Lexington and the Yorktown
being seriously damaged. .
– Stopped the Japanese expansion to
the South
Midway
June 4, 1942 – June 7, 1942
Result – American Victory
– After their setback at Coral Sea, the Japanese turned
their attention to one of the United States' last pacific
holdings--Midway Island.
– The Japanese plan was to invade Midway Island, from
which the Japanese could stage an invasion of Hawaii,
completely expelling the Americans from the Pacific.
– The Japanese launched their attack on Midway Island on
the morning of June 4, 1942, inflicting heavy damage to
the island.
– Japanese bombers were still on the decks of their carriers
being refueled and rearmed for another attack on
Midway.
– The American victory at Midway was decisive , and put
the Japanese on the defensive for the remainder of the
war.
– Stopped Japanese expansion to the East.
Bataan Death March
Philippines 1942
 USA v. Japan
 70,000 POWs were marched 85 miles in
the rainforest.
 50% die
 Gen. MacArthur declares “I shall retrun”
 Island Hopping Begins
Guadalcanal
Aug 1942 – Jan 1943
Result – American Victory
– On August 7, 1942, the 1st Marine Division (U.S.) landed
on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands
– The Japanese responded quickly to the American landing,
first by sending a naval task force which attacked an
American and Australian screening force off Savo Island,
sinking several American ships and an Australian ship
– This action forced the American navy to withdraw, leaving
the Marines on their own.
Japanese continued to land more and more troops on
Guadalcanal, the Americans kept gaining more territory.
– By the end of January 1945, The American build up of
troops exceeded 50,000 Marines and Soldiers.
Iwo Jima
Feb 19 – March 27, 1945
Result – Allied Victory
– On February 19, 1945, as part of its Island Hopping
campaign in the Pacific, the United States landed two
Marine Divisions (4th & 5th) on the Pacific island of Iwo
Jima.
– The goal of the invasion was to capture the island and
the three airstrips it contained, and use them in the air
war against the Japanese home islands.
– Japanese did not resist the initial Marine landing, but
instead, came out of their bunkers, which they had built
to survive a 72-day naval bombardment, after the
Marines were well ashore.
– United States Marines lost nearly 6,000 killed and over
17,000 wounded in a campaign expected to last two
weeks, but what instead took nearly a month and a half.
Okinawa
Apr 1 – Jun 22, 1945
Result – American Victory
– On April 1, 1945, the United States army landed on the
Japanese island if Okinawa, the closest the Americans
had yet been to the Japanese home islands.
– The landing, under the command of Lieutenant General
Simon Buckner, consisted of nearly 200,000 troops (2
Marine Divisions and 2 Army Divisions)
– Okinawa saw the largest use of the Kamikazes by the
Japanese since the beginning of the war. Nearly 2,000
individual sorties were launched against the invading and
supporting fleets; inflicting heavy casualties (almost
5,000 sailors) and material lose (sinking over 30 ships).
– The Japanese suffered over 65,000 casualties killed
defending Okinawa, with the Americans losing nearly
12,500 killed, (Marines, Army, and Navy).
Leyte Ggulf
Oct. 1944 Phillipines
 USA v. Japan
 Japanese troops are defeated
 Gen. MacArthur makes his return
Battle of the Atlantic
1939 - 1945
(Eventually an Allied Victory)
– When the allies did begin using convoys, the Germans
changed their tactics from sending out individual
submarines to cover a certain area or roam until they
found a target to gathering several U-boats together in a
wolf pack and attacking whole convoys.
– The Battle of the Atlantic lasted from the beginning of
the war to the end, and the prize was control of the
Atlantic Ocean. The Germans deployed U-boats as their
primary weapon and used them against British,
American, and other allied shipping.
– The wolf pack method proved successful. As the battle
wore on, the allies used advances in aircraft, escort
carriers, sonar, and depth charge technologies to turn the
tide in their favor in the Atlantic.