WORLD WAR II:THE EUROPEAN THEATRE

EL ALAMEIN(Oct 23-Nov 4, 1942)

• Part of Operation Torch, Allied invasion of North Africa

• German “Afrika Korps” led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (The “Desert Fox”)

• American and British forces led by Gen. George S. Patton

• Allied victory; Axis forces in North Africa surrender by May 1943

THE ATLANTIC(Sept 3, 1939 – May 7, 1945)

• German U-boat fleet vs. Allied navies and merchant ships

• German submarines reach as far as US East Coast

• Allies adopt convoy system; merchant ships sail in large groups protected by fast navy ships

• May-June 1942: Germans sink 1.2 million tons of Allied shipping

• sonar – technology that allowed ships to “see” under water

STALINGRAD(July 17, 1942 – Feb 2, 1943)

• Important industrial city in the Soviet Union

• Controlled access to all resources USSR needed to fight the war; Hitler wants it

• Stalin orders his troops to hold the city at all costs• Entire city reduced to rubble; Germans forced to fight house by house

• Turning point - 91,000 Germans surrender; 5,000 actually survive Soviet prison camps

SICILY(July 9 – Aug 17, 1943)

• Operation Husky – Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s plan for the invasion of Sicily

• Led by British General Montgomery and US General Patton

• Soft underbelly- Plan to attack Germany through Italy because it was weaker

• Caused Italian government to force Mussolini out of office; Italy surrenders on Dec 8• Germany retains control of Northern Italy

NORMANDY(June 5-6, 1944)

• Operation Overlord – Allied invasion of Europe, planned by Gen. Eisenhower

• Two phases: men in parachutes on June 5 (D-day -1) and beach landings on June 6 (D-Day)

• 5 beaches: Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold, Juno• Toughest fighting at Omaha Beach

• Allies establish foothold in Europe; begin to push Germans out of France

BATTLE OF THE BULGE(Dec 16, 1944 – Jan 25, 1945)

• Final German offensive of the war; surprise attack in Belgium during a snowstorm

• Pushed Allied lines backwards, forming a “bulge”• Centered on the town of Bastogne; Germans surround American troops in the town for almost two weeks

• German army runs out of gas; attack fails. Germany loses more than 100,000 men