Transcript 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.

The End of World War II
The North African Campaign
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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
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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
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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
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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
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TURNING POINT
BATTLE in Europe
After this, the Germans
were on the defensive
and began to retreat
Invasion of Italy
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Statistics:
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5000 ships
150,000 men
30,000 vehicles
Six parachute regiments with over 13,000
men
• 800 planes
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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