a look at the most influential battles of the war
TRANSCRIPT
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: THE FINEST HOURJULY, 1940 A Battle in the Skies
Hitler wanted to use his Luftwaffe to destroy the Royal Air Force Believed that it would force Britain to Surrender
Initial Attack British convoys and ports fell under attack Later, radar stations and aircraft factories came under attack
A Turning Point German Aircraft were at their maximum range Germans lost 600 aircraft, the RAF lost 260 Luftwaffe’s defeat marked a turning point in the war Prevented Hitler’s planned invasion of Britiain
AXIS FORCES IN NORTH AFRICAAUGUST, 1940 – APRIL, 1941 Italy saw the lands gained by Russia and Germany
Saw opportunity in North Africa Mussolini made his move in August, pushing into Somaliland Next was an attack on Egypt, targeting the Suez Canal
Counterattack Allies push Italian forces out of Egypt by the end of 1940 Italians were being pushed out of Africa entirely
Rommel’s Offensive and the Afrika Korps The Italians asked Germany to support them in Africa Hitler sent down Rommel, who pushed the front lines back to Egypt’s border.
The Suez Canal A canal that allowed for transport between Europe and Asia without going around
Africa
EL ALAMEIN: THE PATH TO THE SUEZ CANALJANUARY – NOVEMBER, 1942 The Push
Rommel pushed the front lines from Libya to Egypt, hoping to capture the Canal Capturing the British-held canal would mean that Allied supply lines would be
crippled, as well as lower the morale of the Allies Rommel got within 150 miles of Cairo, at El Alamein
Allied Counter Attack – General Bernard Montgomery Equipped with 300 Shermans and 200,000+ troops Began the counter-attack on October 23rd, by attacking the Germans with over 800
artillery guns
A German Defeat Rommel retreated October 23rd, with losses at over 30,000 men. British forces drove Rommel out of Egypt and back into Librya Germany driven completely out of Africa by May1943
THE BATTLE OF STALINGRADAUGUST, 1942 – FEBRUARY, 1943
A bloody Battle Considered the bloodiest battle in human history, with over 2 million deaths
A Valuable City Access to Caucasus region- a region rich in oil. Access of Ukraine- a major area for food production Access to the Volga River- a major waterway Humiliation- Capturing Stalingrad would be a huge embarrassment for the Russians.
Initial Movements Germans reached Volga by late August. Nazi General Friedrich Paulus and the Sixth Army began sieging Stalingrad with
bombings, artillery, and tanks. In September, over 250,000 German troops stormed Stalingrad with support from the
Luftwaffe.
THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD (CONT.)AUGUST, 1942 – FEBRUARY, 1943 The Russian Defense
Soviet General Gregory Zhukov was to direct the defense of Stalingrad Germans had raised their flag in the center of the city, but hadn’t yet captured it yet Fierce hand-to-hand combat ensued, with the Luftwaffe flying support
Operation Uranus; the Russian Counterattack Zhukov planned to weaken the Germans, then launch a counterattack The Russians began to move tons of supplies in order to prepare
About 1mil troops, 13,000 guns, 894 tanks, 1000+ aircraft Zhukov aimed his attack at the inexperienced Romanian soldiers
Attack was a success.
Defeat of the German Sixth army Zhukov surrounded the Germans, and cut off their supplies through the Russian Winter Only 35,000 men were able to retreat from Russia. Half were dead, the rest POW’s
BATTLE OF KURSKJULY - AUGUST, 1943
Fought in Western Russia
Largest tank battle in history- over 6000 tanks involved
Russian spy networks uncovered German plans to attack Information allowed the Russian to create defensive structures
German advance halted Soviet counter-attack pushes Germany out of Russia
Germany lost the ability to attack the Eastern Front
D-DAY: INVASION OF NORMADYJUNE, 1944
Operation Overlord Largest amphibious assault in history
Day of the Allie’s attack on Germany German Field Marsha Erwin Rommel was absent at
the startLandings
US Forces at Utah and Omaha beachesUS created makeshift harbors to help France
British forces at Gold and Sword bases
BATTLE OF THE BULGE DECEMBER, 1944 – JANUARY, 1945
Germany’s last major assault
Germany was to attack a gap in the Allie’s defensive lines Attack through the Ardennes Forest and capture Antwerp, Belgium, a port city.
Poor weather meant that Allied aircraft were grounded, benefiting the Germans
German soldiers also attempted to infiltrate allied lines
Allied-held Bastonge fell under siege. At request of surrender, General McAuliffe replied “Nuts!” General Patton eventually lifted the siege.
OTHER NOTABLE BATTLES
Battle of France
Siege of Leningrad
Battle of Moscow
Battle of Anzio
Battle of Monte Casino
Operation Market Garden
Battle of Berlin
DAY OF INFAMYDECEMBER 7TH, 1941
Japanese carrier-based aircraft bomb Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Sinks 4 ships, most notably, the USS Arizona
Hawaii wasn’t the only pacific island to fall Guam, Wake Island, the Philippines, and Singapore all fell to the Japanese
Most important targets were not hit Fuel storage Aircraft Carriers
BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEAMAY, 1942
No actual ship-to-ship combat First naval battle in history where this has happened
Both sides suffered large losses American carrier Lexington Sunk American carrier Yorktown damaged Japanese light carrier Shoho sunk Japanese large carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku damaged
Aftermath Invasion of Port Moresby cancelled Japanese loss of carriers gave the US and edge at midway
BATTLE OF MIDWAYJUNE, 1942
The turning point of the Pacific Theatre Japanese lost 4 carriers
Kaga, Akagi, Hiru, Soryu Never fully recovered from the loss
Admiral Isoroku set a trap US broke the IJN code, and launched an aerial assault
BATTLE OF LEYTE COASTOCTOBER, 1944
The largest naval battle in history
Sho-go plan meant to stop the re-conquest of the Philippines Nearly worked when Admiral Halsey was baited into moving the main force
A separate Japanese force attempted to pass through the Surigao Straight The Seventh fleet intercepted, and Crossed their ‘T’, destroying them
BATTLE OFF SAMAR – TAFFY 3 A small force of Destroyers and Escort Carriers held off Japan’s largest attack force
Japanese attack force consisted of 4 battleships Included Yamato, and her sister ship, the Musashi, the largest battleships ever built Besides the battleships, there were a number of heavy cruisers and destroyers
Taffy 3 consisted of very little 6 Escort Carriers 3 Destroyers 4 Destroyer Escorts
Taffy 3 fought fiercely So much so, that the Japanese admiral though we was facing the main fleet, and retreated
Losses American
2 ESC 2 DD
-Japanese 3 HC
BATTLE OF IWO JIMAFEBRUARY – MARCH, 1945
In between the Mariana islands and Japan Would act as an airbase for US aircraft
Japanese defenders burrowed deep into the island Miles of trenches and tunnels were dug on the island
Famous picture of 6 Americans hoisting the flag taken here Taken by Joe Rosenthal's Was retaken after the battle ended
BATTLE OF OKINAWAAPRIL – JUNE, 1945
Largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theatre
Japanese launched over 1500 Kamikazes The Japanese also large amounts of their force surrender
Very unusual, was mostly people forced into fighting
US Major Losses War Correspondent Ernie Pyle Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.
Commander-in-chief for the ground forces