The End of World War II
The North African Campaign Britain and US wanted to
defeat the Axis, starting in North Africa
June 1942: General Erwin Rommel (Germany) took Tobruk, Libya Germans then advanced into Egypt
October 1942: General Bernard Montgomery (UK) launched massive attack at El Alamein, Egypt
Germans were defeated
The Allied invasion of North Africa was known as Operation Torch.
November 1942: Large Allied force, led by Dwight D. Eisenhower (US) invaded North Africa
The German army in Africa was defeated by May 1943
Stalingrad Summer 1942:
German troops headed south to get oil and capture the city of Stalingrad
August 23, 1942: Battle of Stalingrad began
Germans destroyed most of the city, but Stalin would not surrender
The Battle of Stalingrad November 1942:
Soviets launched a counter-attack and cut off the Germans from their supplies
Hitler refused to abandon Stalingrad
February 1943 Germans surrendered
99% of Stalingrad was destroyed
Importance of Stalingrad
TURNING POINT BATTLE in Europe
After this, the Germans were on the defensive and began to retreat
Invasion of Italy
Allies went to Italy after North Africa thought it was the weakest part of the Axis powers
July 1943: Allies invade Sicily captured it from Germans and Italians
Mussolini was fired by King Victor Emmanuel and on September 1943, Italy surrendered.
Germany Invades Italy
Germany invaded Italy and put Mussolini back in power
Fighting continued in Italy until May 1945
April 1945 Mussolini captured and killed
Preparations to Invade Western Europe
1943: Allies started to build up an invasion force in Britain
They tricked the Germans into thinking the invasion would come either in Norway or Calais, France
Inflatable Tank Plywood Guns
D-Day
Operation Overlord was the plan to invade France
Under the command of Dwight D. Eisenhower
British, American, French, Canadian forces invade at Normandy, France
Allies expected heavy casualties The actual day the Allies invaded is
known as D-Day. It occurred on June 6, 1944.
Military road vehicles awaiting shipment to France at Southampton docks.
Empress Dock almost completely filled with landing craft preparing for D-Day
D-Day Statistics:
• 5000 ships• 150,000 men• 30,000 vehicles• Six parachute regiments with over 13,000
men• 800 planes
By end of the day, more than 9000 Allied solders were dead, but 100,000 made it ashore
IMPORTANCE: allowed Allies to establish a beachhead and bring more men and supplies into France.
Battle of the Bulge
After D-Day, Hitler faced a two-front war
December 1944: German’s last offensive launched
Known as the Battle of the Bulge Eventually the Allies won and forced
the Germans to continue retreating
The End of the War in Europe
March 1945: Allies invaded Germany By end of April, Soviets attacking
Berlin April 30, 1945: Hitler committed
suicide May 7, 1945: Germany
Surrendered V.E. Day celebrated: May 9, 1945
Island Hopping Continues The US strategy in
the Pacific was called island hopping. The US attacked smaller, weakly defended islands, getting closer and closer to Japan
October 1944: Allied forces returned to the Philippines after the Battle of Leyte Gulf
Kamikaze Attacks
After the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese had no navy left
The Japanese were using more kamikaze attacks.
These were Japanese suicide pilots. They crashed planes into Allied ships.
Kamikaze Attacks
USS Missouri during a kamikaze attack, April 11, 1945
USS St Lo after a kamikaze attack, October 25, 1944
Iwo Jima and Okinawa March 1945: American
Marines took Iwo Jima April 1945: Americans
invaded Okinawa This was one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
Americans began planning an invasion of Japan
The invasion was expected to cost about 1 million American lives
The End of the War The Manhattan Project was the secret
government project that was building atomic bombs.
President Truman warned Japan of “a rain of ruin from the air.”
August 6, 1945: US dropped atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan
70,000-80,000 people killed immediately August 9, 1945: US dropped a-bomb on
Nagasaki More than 70,000 killed immediately Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945
VJ Day