north africa
DESCRIPTION
North Africa. Before 1941 Germany had control under General Rommel’s (“Desert Fox”) command 1942 British want to invade N. Africa and Italy (“soft underbelly”) – U.S. wants to invade France – Operation Torch English General Montgomery pushes Rommel out El Alamein (Egypt) - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
North Africa• Before 1941
– Germany had control under General Rommel’s (“Desert Fox”) command
• 1942– British want to invade N.
Africa and Italy (“soft underbelly”) – U.S. wants to invade France – Operation Torch
– English General Montgomery pushes Rommel out
– El Alamein (Egypt)• Montgomery beats
Rommel in surprise attack
North Africa• Eisenhower
(American) chases Rommel from other side
• Rommel surrounded– Rommel accused of
plot to assassinate Hitler
– Takes poison and commits suicide
Italy - 1943• Allies attack Italy• Mussolini out of
power• Germans come
in and put Mussolini back in power
• 1944 - Allies take Italy again (Battle of Anzio and Monte Cassino)
D-Day
June 6, 1944
Operation Overlord• Invasion finally a
go for May 1944 – Where to attack?
• Weather and plans push back invasion
• Time to fake out Germans – fake army, inflatable tanks, Patton, decoy bombing
http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w416373/HIS%20351/Lsn%2018-%20WWII%20Normandy.ppt#338,2,Operation Overlord
Inflatable Tanks
http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w416373/HIS%20351/Lsn%2018-%20WWII%20Normandy.ppt#338,2,Operation Overlord
Ready for Operation Overlord
• June 5, 1944 chosen as invasion day
• More than 700 Allies die in rehearsal
• Bad weather forces delay to 6th
• Germans waiting for Allies (though mainly at Calais)
German Defenses
Allied Plan
• The Allied plan would involve amphibious landings on the Normandy beaches supported by airborne assaults behind the beaches to block German counterattacks
http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w416373/HIS%20351/Lsn%2018-%20WWII%20Normandy.ppt#338,2,Operation Overlord
June 6, 1944• Paratroopers begin landing shortly after
midnight• Minesweepers led the way• Planes bomb beaches (7500 sorties
between midnight and 8 a.m. – 31,000 airmen)
• Landing begins at 6:30 a.m.• Landing at 5 beaches (Omaha, Utah, Gold,
Juno, and Sword) - - all secured by end of day
• 195,000 soldiers/navy (American, British, and Canadian - - 133,000 go to shore), 7000 ships with landing crafts, tanks, etc., 11,000 airplanes
http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w416373/HIS%20351/Lsn%2018-%20WWII%20Normandy.ppt#338,2,Operation Overlord
At low tide, the assaulting troops had to cross more than 300 meters of completely exposed beach.
Charles Durning
Aftermath• Over 10,000 casualties
– Heaviest losses at Omaha
• By June 30th, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies
• By Sep. 30, Allies have freed France, Belgium, and Luxembourg
• Germans make one last push (Battle of the Bulge – December 1944) - - initially successful but eventually lose
1945• Mussolini killed
– Mussolini is found dressed as German Soldier
– Shot the next day and hung from town square in Milan
Germans close to surrender• Hitler marries Eva
Braun• Writes final note to
Germans– Blames Jews for
starting war– Blames his generals
for losing war• April 30, 1945
– Takes poison and then shoots himself; Eva swallows poison
April and May 1945• Roosevelt dies• Germany
surrenders unconditionally
• May 8, V-E Day (victory of Europe)– Truman (new U.S.
president) accepts surrender