Major Battles of WWII

1. Major Battles of WWII

2. Midway • The Battle of Midwayis widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated an Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) attack against Midway Atoll, inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet.Military historian John Keegan has called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare.”[

3. Where was the battle of Midway?

4. Great link to info on Battle of Midway • http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/midway/midway.htm

6. Normandy • Also called “D Day” and “Operation Overlord” • June 6, 1944 • The successful attempt of the Allies to take back France from Nazi control • Allies had to surprise the Nazis on the guarded North coast and run up the beach. • Very heavy allied casualties due to the elevated situation of the German troops. Like “shooting fish in a barrel”

7. Map of the various beaches that Allied forces stormed

8. Videos about battle of Normandy(warning: the clip from Saving Private Ryan is a graphic, realistic portrayal of the war) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jp7yRj-pjo&feature=relmfu - informational video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZgKo46X8CI&feature=related -From Saving Private Ryan

9. Okinawa • The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945.

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Lbv0K8gCs - footage from the Battle of Okinawa • http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/okinawa-battle.htm - information about the battle

11. Iwo Jima • The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February–26 March 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S. invasion, charged with the mission of capturing the three airfields on Iwo Jima,resulted in some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific Campaign of World War II • Very famous picture portrays the US claiming land on Japanese soil…

12. The photograph & memorial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp_LXObnCj8 -war footage of Iwo Jima

13. Battle of the Bulge • 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 • LAST major German Offensive • Just like football, OFFENSE means trying to win, not trying to prevent the enemy from winning. That is DEFENSE. • Fought in harsh winter weather • Allies won, but it “caused a BULGE” in the allied battle lines

14. Harsh Winter weather • Battle of the Bulge • http://www.americainwwii.com/galleries/2009/icy-battle-of-the-bulge.html

15. The BULGE in the battle lines

16. Compare this to a football game… • A victory is because of several big plays… these were those plays. • Complete the “major battles” handout

17. End of the war… • VE Day (victory in Europe) • Hitler loses & commits suicide in his bunker • VJ day (victory in Japan) • US dropps the ATOMIC BOMBS • Created (using Albert Einstein’s ideas ) by J. Robert Oppenheimer during what was known as the MANHATTAN PROJECT • Scene from a movie portraying the 1st dropping of “Little Man”- the 1statomic bomb. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF4LQaWJRDg

18. 2 bombs Fat Man: August 9th 1945 Little Boy: August 6th 1945 which dropped where? Little boy----- Hiroshima Fat Man------ Nagasaki

22. We win… VJ-Day