WWII Timeline

1. WWII Timeline

2. 1939-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1939------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEPT 1- German invasion of Poland - 8pm curfew for Jews in Germany 3- Britain and France declare war on Germany NOV 8- Attempted assassination of Hitler 21- British Blockade Begins 23- Jews must wear star of David for identification 1940------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEB 12- Deportation of Jews began APR 9- Germany invades Denmark and Norway MAY 10- Germany invades Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg - Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister 27- June 4- Miracle of Dunkirk, troops rescued by boat JUNE 10- Italy declares war on Great Britain and France 14- Germans occupy Paris - Germans break Maginot Line JULY 10- Air attack on Britain begins SEPT 7- All out Air war on Britain begins 15- 185 German planes shot down in the Battle of Britain 17- Hitler postpones invasion of Britain 27- Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis signed OCT 16- US Begins draft 16.4 million registered 28- Italy Invades Greece

3. 1940 Cont.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOV 15- Warsaw Ghetto established 20-25-Hungary, Rumania, and Slovakia join the Tripartite Pact DEC 15- Great Britain invades Libya in Northern Africa 1941------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEB 12-Rommel to North Africa from Germany created the Afrika Corps MAR 1- Bulgaria joins Tripartite 11- US approves Lend-Lease Act 28- Battle of Cape Matapan-Great Britain defeated the Italian Fleet APR 6- Germany invades Greece and Yugoslavia 19- British retreat in Greece 23- British evacuate Greece 27- Germans occupy Athens MAY 10- Rudolph Hess flys to Scotland - German air raids damage Westminster Abby and Parliament in Britain 14-Bormann becomes Hess’s successor - 3,600 Jews arrested in Paris 16- Petain approves collaboration with Germany 20-Germany starts air attacks on Crete 27- German ship Bismark sank - US in national emergency

4. 1941Cont. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JUNE 1- Crete falls to Germans 2- Mussolini and Hitler meet at Brenner Pass 5- Secretary of State Hull denounces the Vichy Collaboration 14- Axis funds are frozen in the US 18- Germany Turkish friendship pack signed in Ankara 22- Germany attack the USSR from the Baltic to the Black Sea JULY 3- Scorched Earth Policy began by Stalin 12- Soviet-British mutual assistance pact 21- Maidanek Concentration Camp opened 31- All Jews in Europe are to be sent to extermination camps AUG 9-12- Roosevelt meets with Churchill off Newfoundland 14- Atlantic Charter signed SEPT 19- Germans occupy Kiev 23- Gas chamber testing at Auschwitz OCT 2- Germany drives toward Moscow NOV 18- British attack in North Africa DEC 1- Soviets attack at Tula 7- Pearl Harbor Attacked 8- US and Britain declare war on Japan 11- Italy and Germany declare war on the US 13- Hungary and Bulgaria declare war on the US 19- Hitler assumes total control of the Armed Forces in the Reich by end of Dec.- Japan taken Hong Kong, Guam and Wake Islands, and invaded Burma, Malaya, Borneo,and the Philippines

5. 1942-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1942------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 1- United Nations declaration signed by 26 nations 20- Wannsee Conference- Final Solution 21- Field Marshall Rommel on the move in North Africa FEB -Japan occupies Singapore MAR 15- Hitler predicts victory over USSR by summer 29- Trains form Paris to Auschwitz APR 9- US surrender to Japan at Batan MAY 6- Resistance in Philippines ended at Corregidor 7-8- Battle of the Coral Sea--Japanese defeated 27- Rommel counter attacks the British in North Africa 29- Heydrich-Concentration Camp Commandant-attacked by Czech rebels 30-31- Air raid on Cologne by RAF-- 1,000 bombers June 4- Heydrich Dies, more grief put on Jews for the death - Battle of Midway--4 Japanese carriers destroyed 5- Japan general retreat from Midway 10- Lidice destroyed in reprisal for Heydrichs death 23- First official gassings at Auschwitz 24- Eisenhower commander of the US forces in Europe AUG 7- US Marines land on Guadalcanal 23- German attack Stalingrad 26-28- 7,000 Jews arrested in unoccupied France

6. 1942 Cont.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SEPT 18- Food rations reduced for Jews OCT 4- All Jews in Concentration Camps sent to Auschwitz to die 23- Montgomery(GB) attacks the Afrika Corps at El-Alamein NOV 5- Rommel is defeated at El-Alamein 7-8- US and British troops land in Northern Africa 11- Germany Invades unoccupied France 19-20- Soviet counter offensive at Stalingrad 20- Montgomery captures Benghazi in North Africa, and has Rommel running 27- French fleet is scuttled (destroyed) by its own sailors so Nazis can’t use 1943------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 14-Casablanca Conference 18- Resistance in Warsaw Ghetto 20-26-Deportation of Warsaw Jews to Auschwitz 23-British enter Tripoli 24-At the Casablanca Conference unconditional surrender FEB 2- Stalingrad retaken by Soviets 9- Guadalcanal secured by US 18- Student uprising in Munich MAR 9- Rommel recalled to Germany 13- New crematorium built at Auschwitz - Failed assassination attempt on Hitler in an airplane 21- Another failed assassination attempt on Hitler at the Heroes Memorial Day 27- Mareth line broken in Northern Africa (southeast of Tunis)

7. 1943 Cont. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ APR 17- British and American forces link up in Tunisia 19- Nazis destroy the Warsaw Ghetto MAY 7- Tunis and Bizeria taken by Allies 13- Germans surrender in Northern Africa 19- Berlin declared Judenfrei (cleansed of Jews) JUNE 12- Pantelleria Island of Sicily surrenders to Allies JULY 10- Allies land in Sicily 19- Allies bomb Rome 25- Mussolini dismissed by King Victor Emmanuel AUG 17- Sicily conquered by Allies SEPT 3- Allies land on the Italian Mainland 8- Italy surrenders 9- Allies land at Salerno in Southern Italy 10- Germany occupies Rome 13- Mussolini rescued by Otto Skorzency OCT 1- Allies enter Naples 13- Italy declares war on Germany 18- Jews for Rome sent to Auschwitz 19-30-Moscow Conference NOV 6- Kiev recaptured by Soviets 9- UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration formed 22-26- Cairo Conference-- Churchill, Roosevelt, and CiangKai-shek of China 27- Auschwitz crematorium blown up 28- Teheran Conference-- Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt

8. 1943 Cont. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DEC 3-7 2nd Cairo Conference-- included Stalin 24- Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe 26- Failed assassination attempt on Hitler by Lt. Col. Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg 1944------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 3- Soviets reach Polish border 19- 29 month siege of Leningrad ended 22- Allies land at Anzio-behind German Lines in Italy FEB 15- Monte Cassino destroyed-- Broke the Gustav Line APR 5- Charles de Gaul head of French Liberation 14- Jews from Athens to Auschwitz 22- Soviets invade Rumania MAY 11- Gustav line in Italy attacked--100 miles south of Rome 23- Allies move from Anzio Beachhead 25- Germans fall back from Anzio to Terracina JUNE 4- Rome occupied by US 6- D Day Allies land at Normandy Beach 12- First V-1 rocket launched at Great Britain 14- De Gaulle returns to France JULY 3- Minsk recaptured by Soviets 9- Rommel request removal of his troops form Normandy- Refused- Rommel joins the plot to kill Hitler 11- Lithuania and Latvia occupied by Soviets 16- Final meeting of Ludwig Beck & Von Stauffenberg on coup against Hitler

9. 1944 Cont.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JULY 18- Line at Caen broken by Allies 20-July Plot, fails at Rastenburg-- table stopped bomb from killing Hitler 25-27- US break throw in France at Saint-Lo AUG 1- Polish underground revolts 4-8- Trial to hang conspirators in attempt on Hitler 15- Allies invade southern France 21-US reaches Seine river in France and surround Paris 23- Coup-de-tat in Rumania, Rumania surrenders 25- de Gaul returns to Paris SEPT 3- Brussels liberated by British 5- Soviet declares war on Bulgaria 8- First V-2 rocket launched at Britain 9- Armistice with Bulgaria 12- Invasion of Germany for West OCT 14- Rommel commits suicide 20- Belgrade in Yugoslavia occupied by Soviets NOV 16- All out Operation Queen in west Germany by Allies 26- Crematorium to be destroyed at Auschwitz, ordered by Himmler to cover up DEC 4- Battle of Saar begins 16- Battle of Bulge, German counteroffensive beaten back to former line

10. 1945-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1945------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 4-13- Kamikase pilots sunk 17 US ships 14-Soviets invade East Prussia 17- Warsaw liberated by Soviets - Budapest Jews around 80,000 freed 20- Armistice with Hungary 27- Liberation of Lithuania FEB 4-11- Yalta Conference of big Three-- Japans unconditional surrender 13- Fall of Budapest to the Soviets 19- Marines land on Iwo Jima 23- German Roer Line protecting Cologne breached by US MAR 3- Declaration of war by Finland 7- Fall of Cologne - Crossing of the Rhine by US 16- Allied attack on the Saar Basin - US marines secure Iwo Jima 23- British-American crossing of the Rhine in the north and a drive to the Rhur April 1- US land on Okinawa 10- More than 15,000 Jews freed at Bushenwald 11- Essen captured by the Allies--in west Germany in the heart of the Rhur 12- Death of President Roosevelt. Truman becomes President. 13- Occupation of Vienna by the Soviets 15- Around 40,000 prisoners freed at Belsen by British 16- Soviets on final push to Berlin

11. 1945 Cont.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16- Soviets on final push to Berlin 23-Outskirts of Berlin reached by Soviets 25- Refusal of Himmler’s offer to arrange German Surrender to the Allies - Opening of the United Nations parley at San Francisco - Meeting of American and Soviets troops at Torgau, on the Elbe s. of Berlin 28- Mussolini executed by Italian partisans near Lake Como and put on display 30- Hitler suicide in his Berlin bunker - Around 33,000 inmates freed from concentration camps by US MAY 2- Unconditional Surrender of the German armies in Italy - Admiral Karl Doenity continues the Reich govt. - Capitulation of Berlin - Concentration camp at Theresienstadt taken over by Red Cross 5- Surrender of German armies in the Netherlands, Denmark, and north Ger. 6- Occupation of Plzen, Czechoslovakia, by US 7- Unconditional surrender signed by Gen. Alfred Jodl at Reims 8- V E Day victory in Europe 9- Field Marshal Keitel and Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov sign the German unconditional surrender documents in Berlin JUNE 21-Okinawa secured by US 26- United Nations Charter signed by reps of 50 nations in San Francisco JULY 12-8/2-Potsdam Conference 16- Atomic bomb test in New Mexico

12. 1945 Cont.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AUG 6- Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima--US#s 66-78,000K 8- Soviets invade Manchuria- Declare war on Japan 9- Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki--US #’s 39,000K--Japan #s 240,000K 14- V Day Japan surrendered-- allowed to keep its emperor SEP 2- Official signing of Japan’s surrender aboard the USS Missouri NOV 20- Nuremberg tribunal opens DEC 16-26- meeting of Big 3 in Moscow October 16, 1946 Execution of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg