The War for Europe and North Africa

1. The War for Europe and North Africa

2. The US and GB Join Forces • Churchill and Roosevelt met at the White House on December 22, 1941 to formulate their war plans • Allied Plan- To wage war against Germany and Italy first, then focus on the Pacific and Japan

3. Battle of the Atlantic • Following Pearl Harbor the Germans wanted to block supplies from crossing the Atlantic & with their subs (“U-boats”) • They did very well initially; in the first 4 months of the “Battle of the Atlantic” Germans sank 87 ships & over the next 7 months that number rose to 681. • The Allies used a WW1 tactic – convoys – (groups of ships travelling together with a sonar-equipped destroyer leading the pack) & both the US & GB launched crash shipbuilding programs that together turned the tide by 1943.

4. North African Front (1940-43)British Commonwealth, Free French, Americans (1942)VSGermans, Italians and Vichy French • Generals Eisenhower (U.S.) and Montgomery (GB) led Allied troops against General Rommel through Axis controlled North Africa • Libyan and Egyptian Desert (The Western Desert Campaign) – 2nd El Alamein (decisive battle/famous artillery barrage) • Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch) • Tunisia (The Tunisian Campaign) • Gave Allies a place to launch attack on Italy

5. The Italian Campaign (1943-1945) • Capture of Sicily (July 1943) by the Allies caused Mussolini to be stripped of power, arrested and imprisoned (calling him “the most hated man in Italy”) • Major battles: Montecassino, Anzio, Gothic Line, Spring Offensive (resulting in German surrender) • Germans did not cease the fight to regain Italy, fighting on until their collapse in 1945 • Interesting Facts: • One of the most diverse groups of Allied fighting men in World War II fought together in the Italian Campaign • Tuskeegee Airmen, 92nd Infantry (Buffaloes), Company E (141st Reg. 36th Division), 100th Battalion (Nisei) • All fought alongside their fellow American troops, all highly decorated

6. Battle of Stalingrad • Winter 1943 – probably the most significant battle on the Eastern Front AND the largest battle ever fought in human history in terms of the number of combatants engaged at the SAME TIME (2.2 million at the peak of the battle – Soviet counter-offensive) • Soviet Union prevented Germany from taking over their country • Marked turning point in the war because Hitler's army was stuck in the harsh winter weather and unable to recover. 230,000 German soldiers died. Germany at one point had controlled the majority of the city but the Soviets pulled back and counter-attacked & were the victors • Soviet army marched westward toward Germany • Soviets lost 1,100,000 soldiers…more than the U.S had in the entire war

7. D-DAY June 6, 1944 • 3 million British, American and Canadian Troops would eventually land on Omaha Beach, invade France & free Western Europe from the Germans. • On D-Day, only 156,000 landed to begin with (but still the largest amphibious invasion in human history) • Under Eisenhower's direction they planned to attack at Normandy; Code named ‘Operation Overlord’ • General George Patton advanced his troops to Paris • Allies freed France, Belgium and Luxembourg • It was the largest land-sea-air operation in history • German retaliation was brutal – especially at Omaha Beach – but despite heavy casualties the Allies held the beach & within a month had landed a million troops, 567,000 tons of supplies and 170,000 vehicles in France. All was used to create a gap in the German line of defense & allowed Gen. Patton to advance. • SPR - 9 mins

8. Liberation of Death Camps • As Allied troops pressed into Germany, Soviet troops moved through Poland & were the 1st to come across death camps. • At Majdanek they found 1000 prisoners who were barely alive; the world’s largest crematorium & over 800,000 shoes…leading them to conclude that the concentration camps were really “murder camps”.

9. Battle of the Bulge(Ardennes Region: France, Belgium, Luxembourg) • Decisive month-long battle that would be Germany’s last offensive move. • While the Nazi’s captured or wounded 80,000 G.I.s, their own losses were so monumental (120,000 troops, 600 tanks, 1,600 planes) that they could not recover. • This Battle led directly to Nazi retreat. • Interesting facts about the Battle of the Bulge: • First instance of U.S. Army desegregation (2500 black troops served) • Operation Greif (English-speaking German soldiers equipped with stolen American uniforms, weapons and jeeps sent behind Allied lines to commit acts of sabotage)

10. Unconditional Surrender • Mussolini was stripped of power by Italy’s King as Italy fell to the Allies in 1943 • Mussolini was killed April 28, 1945 by Communist partisans in the village of Giulino de Mezzegra. He was captured when trying to flee across the Swiss border. • Germany would continue to try to regain Italy until their own surrender two years later • Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide in Berlin in April of 1945 rather than witnessing the “disgrace of capitulation” (surrender). • General Eisenhower accepted unconditional surrender called V-E day (Victory in Europe Day) May 8, 1945 HOWEVER – • Roosevelt did not see the victory he died of a stroke just one month earlier…leaving his VP Harry Truman as the new President (he would see WW2 to its end as the Pacific campaign wound down).