Key Events of World War II

1. Key Events of World War II

2. September 1, 1939 • Germany invades Poland • Used a new type of warfare called Blitzkreig or lightningwar • Heavily armed German tanks rolled into Poland and behind them marched the German Army, the Wehrmacht • From the air, the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, bombed and machine-gunned the Polish defenses and cities • Hitler believed Britain and France would NOT declare war over Poland • Britain demanded German troops to leave Poland immediately • Germany failed to answer

3. September 3, 1939 • Britain and France declare war on Germany

4. September 10, 1939 • Canada declares war on Germany

5. September 17, 1939 • Soviet Union (Russia) attacks Poland from the east within two weeks Poland is completely taken over

6. 1939 • Germany invades Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands

7. 1940 • Germany attacks France • Rapid German advance traps the British and French forces at Dunkirk • France fell in 6 weeks • Mussolini and Italy enter the war on Germany’s side

8. June 1940 • Only the English Channel separates Great Britain from Germany • ONLY BRITAIN NOT UNDER CONTROL OF THE AXIS POWERS

9. Operation Sea Lion • Invasion of Britain by Germany planned • 25 divisions to land on south coast of England and thrust forward to London • Key to Invasion – Germany first had to control the air before gaining control of the sea

10. June 10, 1940, Battle of Britain began • Mid-August 2000 German aircraft swarming skies over Britain • Luftwaffe successful at bombing airfields and supply factories • RAF could do little to counter German attacks

11. August 24, 1940 • Luftwaffe bombed London by mistake • Churchill ordered bombing raids on Berlin in reprisal

12. September 15, 1940 • 1000 Luftwaffe bombers and 700 fighters flew over London in a daring daylight raid • Germany failed to seize air supremacy • OPERATION SEA LION ABANDONED

13. 1941 • United States neutral • American Lend-Lease Policy initiated to aid Britain

14. June 22, 1941 • OPERATION BARBAROSSA began • Germany attacks Soviet Union (Russia) • In 3 months reached the outskirts of Moscow and Leningrad • Germans unprepared for the very cold Russian winter • Soviet Army fought back • Hitler’s gamble had failed • United States stationed its naval fleet in Hawaii in case war broke out in the Pacific Ocean

15. December 2, 1941 • Canadian brigades sent to Hong Kong • Canadian troops join small Commonwealth force that totalled no more than 14,000 • Canadian troops were not ready for battle

16. December 7, 1941 • Pearl Harbour bombed by the Japanese • Attack planned by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto • Almost nothing left of American fleet • 18 warships, 349 aircraft lost or damaged • 3581 naval personnel and 103 civilians killed or wounded • UNITED STATES ENTERS THE WAR

17. December 8, 1941 • Japanese attack Hong Kong island • Canadian soldiers outnumbered 10 to 1

18. December 25, 1941 • HONG KONG OFFICIALLY SURRENDERED • 286 Canadians died in action or were killed afterward by Japanese soldiers • 266 Canadians died in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps

19. 1942 Japan expands in the Pacific • Philippines, Singapore, Malaya, Burma fall to Japan

20. August 19, 1942 • 5000 Canadian troops picked for raid on French port of DIEPPE • Joined by 1000 British Commandos and American Rangers • Attack launched to test German defenses • Huge loss of life – 1000 Canadians died and more than 500 wounded • 2000 Canadians were captured and became POW’s • Britain desperate for supplies – German U-boats attacking supply ships radar introduced • British General Bernard Montgomery defeated Rommel at El Alamein

21. August 19, 1942 Continued... • Russian winter destroying German army • Russians fighting hard in their country and begin pushing Germans out • Russian victory at Leningrad • Massive Allied bombing of German cities

22. July 10, 1943 • Canadian troops land on shores of Sicily • Sicily fell quickly and many Italians captured

23. September 3, 1943 • Allies landed on the Italian peninsula • Fierce fighting occurred because Germans controlled hilltops and mountain peaks that ran the length of Italy

24. Late Autumn 1943 • Canadians had moved 650 km up centre of Italy on their way to Rome • Canadians found their way blocked by Germans at Ortona, an ancient town situated above the Adriatic Sea

25. Decemeber 27, 1943 • Canadians capture Ortona • Canadian losses were high – 2,339 soldiers killed • 16,000 soldiers evacuated because of sickness or battle fatigue

26. June 4, 1944 • Rome captured • Canadian forces fought in Italy until February 1945

27. 1944 • United States retakes New Giunea, the Solomon Islands and Philippines from Japan

28. June 6, 1944 D-Day • Invasion of Europe (Normandy) by the Allied forces • Lessons learned at Dieppe used to plan invasion • 5 divisions to land on 80km front • 7,000 Allied ships scheduled for invasion • Juno Beach – Germans ready for Canadians • Omaha Beach – American at mercy of the Germans, 7500 soldiers lost • Invasion considered success – 155,000 soldiers, 6.000 vehicles and 3,600 tonnes of supplies landed in France • Defending German division destroyed • Canadians pushed inland to within striking distance from Caen • Canadian losses – 1,000 killed, wounded or captured • Germany now fighting war on 3 fronts – Soviet Union (Russia), Italy and France

29. Early 1945 • British Commonwealth forces, with Chinese support recapture Burma • Japanese fleet almost destroyed and army being enclosed

30. March 1945 • Americans invade Okinawa • 100,000 Japanese fight to the death • Allies cross the Rhine River and invade Germany • Canadians given job of liberating Holland • 6,300 Canadians killed or wounded in this operation

31. April 30, 1945 • Soviet army enter Berlin

32. May 1945 • Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide and bodies doused with gasoline and burned (actual date this happened is up for debate)

33. May 5, 1945 • Canadians accept surrender of German forces in Holland

34. May 8, 1945 • Germany Surrenders • Peace in Europe BUT war with Japan continues

35. July 26, 1945 • First atomic bomb rested in New Mexico desert • Scientists had worked had worked 3 years on Manhattan Project • President Truman called for Japan to surrender or accept ‘prompt and utter destruction’

36. August 1945 • Harry S. Truman, US President to drop an atomic bomb on 2 Japanese cities

37. August 6, 1945 • American B-29 bomber “Enola Gay” detonated first bomb (“Little Boy”) over city of Hiroshima • 70,000 died • 130,000 wounded, 43,500 severely • By 1950 some 200,000 had died from effects of radiation

38. August 9, 1945 • Second bomb called “Fat Man” dropped on the city of Nagasaki • Hills surrounding the city concentrated the blast • 70,000 people died within 6 months • By 1950 some 140,000 had died from radiation • Japanese realized that a continuation of the war in the face of atomic weapons would devastate their country

39. August 15, 1945 • Japan agreed to unconditional surrender

40. Canadian Casualties During World War II • Total enlistment was 1,086,771 • Army 22,910 • RCAF 17,047 • RCN 1,981 • Total 41,938