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WWII Battles Overview: Battle of the Atlantic, Battle of France, Dunkirk, Operation Barbarossa

Learn about key World War II battles including the Battle of the Atlantic, Dunkirk evacuation, Operation Barbarossa, and the Battle of France. Understand the significance, casualties, and strategies of these crucial events.

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WWII Battles Overview: Battle of the Atlantic, Battle of France, Dunkirk, Operation Barbarossa

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  1. Battles

  2. The Germans Advance • Germany goes into Poland and conquers it by Sept. 27 • Soviet Union goes into Poland Sept. 17, 1939 • From Oct-April not much is happening on the western front British newspapers call it the phony war • April – Germany goes through Denmark onto Norway (1940) • The Germans decide to avoid the Maignot line and go the through the Ardennes forest – surprising the Allies • Battle of France is underway (May 20, 1940) • Germans are pushing the Allies back into retreat

  3. Battle for Control of the Atlantic • Axis controlled much of Europe by 1941, so Britain became an isolated target for Nazis • Britain relied on supplies and reinforcements from Canada, but the Germans were determined to cut off this lifeline. • Before the war even started, German U-Boats had laid underwater mines where the convoy would travel • U-Boats hunted Allied ships in “wolf packs” • By 1941, the Wolf Packs were winning the battle sinking Allied ships faster than they could be built • In 1942, sank 143 Allied Cargo Ships • Developed Convoy System to protect cargo ships with naval vessels (Canada took them half way.) • By 1943 the tide was turning as more ships got past the Wolf Packs and more U-Boats were sunk – more supplies got to Britain

  4. Casualties • 36,200 sailors killed • 36,000 merchant seamen killed • 3,500 merchant vessels, 175 warships, 741 RAF Coastal Command Aircraft

  5. “The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea, or in the air, depended ultimately on its outcome, and amid all other cares we viewed its changing fortunes day by day with hope or apprehension.” -Sir Winston Churchill, describing the importance of the Battle of the Atlantic What made the Battle of the Atlantic so important? Why did British Prime Minister Churchill say this?

  6. The Battle of FranceMay-June, 1940 • From May to June 1940, the Germans invade and conquer France, pushing Allied soldiers (mostly French and British) back to the Atlantic Coast. • Allied soldiers were surrounded and pinned, the subject of constant bombardment by the Germans (“like shooting fish in a barrel”)

  7. British troops under fire on the beach at Dunkirk, France

  8. Miracle at Dunkirk • 800 privately owned “little ships”, and 222 Naval Vessels including 4 Royal Canadian Navy destroyers, arrive off the coast to evacuate 338,000 troops in a matter of days. = “Miracle” • The boats managed to pick up the Allied troops and ferry them to safety across the British Channel • Churchill’s Speech on Dunkirk “Fight Them on the Beaches”

  9. “A Miracle of Deliverance” • The boats managed to pick up the Allied troops and ferry them to safety across the English Channel • June 25, 1940: France Surrenders • A French government was set up in the south in a town called Vichy and became a puppet government controlled by Germany • Hilter turns on his next target: Britain • Britain is isolated, but not alone

  10. Casualties • British: 68,111 killed, wounded, or captured • French 290,000 (with more missing or taken prisoner) • German: 27,074 killed, 111,034 wounded

  11. “As we rounded the point to the beach at Dunkirk, you became aware of the shelling – the Germans were only 12 miles inland… But you came to the beach and the uniforms of 400 000 waiting [Allied] soldiers stood out on the white sand. These were disciplined troops, even with shelling and bombing there was no panic. They were impressive.” -Robert Walter Timbrell, Canadian-born British naval officer recalling his part in the rescue at Dunkirk Why do you think the troops were considered so “impressive” at Dunkirk?

  12. Operation Barbarossa:June 1941 • Hitler and Stalin signed a “Non-Aggression Pact” in 1939, although both probably realized that this would only delay, not prevent war between Germany and Russia. • Stalin unprepared for blitzkrieg attack by German forces • Hitler wanted to take over USSR and secretly prepared for almost a year • Video: Hitler Invades Soviet Union

  13. In 1939, Hitler told a Swiss diplomat: “Everything I undertake is directed against Russia. If those in the West are too stupid and too blind to understand this, then I should be forced to come to an understanding with the Russians to beat the West, and then, after its defeat, turn with all my concentrated force against the Soviet Union. “

  14. USSR stalled Germany by briefly fighting and then retreating a small amount… awaiting the winter season • This forced an unprepared Germany into a war of attrition (wearing down the enemy) with USSR • USSR launched a counter-attack in December 1941 • Germany conquered vast areas of the USSR, inflicting heavy losses on the Red Army (USSR) • USSR forced German army away from Moscow (capital) • Germany failed it’s overall goal of defeating the USSR • Hitler was so confident of a quick campaign, he failed to send winter clothing or equipment with his army!

  15. Its failure was a turning point, as USSR became a member of the Allied Forces • USSR spend two years forcing Germans back to the border • This was the largest military operation in history (in terms of manpower and casualties) • Different Casualty Estimates: • Almost 918,000 wounded & missing • 700,000 killed, 604,000 wounded, 36,000 missing • At least 802,191 killed, unknown wounded, and some 3,300,000 captured

  16. Battle of Hong Kong:December 8-25, 1941 • With Western eyes focused on Germany, Japan began capturing European colonies in Asia. • A small, untrained contingent of Canadians tried to protect Hong Kong. They were ill equipped to fight the army, artillery and airplanes of the Japanese. • British intelligence estimated the Japanese strength at about five thousand troops with little artillery support. • In reality, the number was ten times that many. In addition, they were battle-hardened troops with considerable fighting experience. And they were fully equipped.

  17. Poor planning had resulted in none of the 212 Canadian military vehicles that had been included ever arriving in Hong Kong. • The two battalions selected, the Royal Rifles and the Winnipeg Grenadiers, had been on garrison duty, in Newfoundland and Jamaica, respectively. They had absolutely no combat training or experience, and, in fact, had been labelled “unfit for combat” by the high command. • The Canadian authorities, deciding that time was of the essence, hastily assembled these troops with very minimal experience. Many had less than five weeks training and several could not even fire a gun. • After 17 days of intense fighting, the Canadians surrendered on 25 December 1941. Nearly 300 Canadians had been killed and over 500 wounded. • The survivors were sent to Japanese prison camps. They were used as slave labour. Two hundred and sixty-seven Canadians died in the camps.

  18. Prisoner of War Camps • Imprisoned by their Japanese captors in prisoner-of-war camps at North Point on Hong Kong Island and at Sham Shui Po on Mainland China, the Canadians were forced to endure conditions that could rightly be described as horrific and horrendous. Exhausted from battle, many wounded, they were hoping for the best. • What they faced was unknown, but the Geneva Conventions that set out humane rules for the treatment of prisoners gave them some cause for hope. Three and a half years of brutal captivity proved just how illusory those hopes were.

  19. The Japanese violated the Geneva Conventions with impunity. They set their captors to work – in mines, on the docks, and constructing an airport – all in direct violation of the rules regarding the treatment of prisoners of war. • Nevertheless, having to work for the Empire of the Rising Sun may well have been the most minor of the Japanese infractions. Not only did the Japanese work their prisoners cruelly, the conditions in which they were kept were inhumane. Food rations were meagre –often only a small bowl of rice. • The huts in which they had to live were rat infested, dark, with no heat. The prisoners were forced to sleep on wooden planks or a cement floor. • Given their already weakened conditions, the hard work, and the lack of adequate medical care, diseases were rampant through the camps. • Dysentery, thyroid problems, diphtheria, wet beriberi, and dry beriberi (hot feet) infected all but a small handful. Drugs that might have alleviated some of the suffering and saved lives were stolen by camp commanders and sold on the black market. • Some prisoners were tortured and others executed.

  20. The camps were, in short, a living hell. • The casualty rate was high. While 290 soldiers had died in battle or had been executed by the Japanese, almost the same number died in the POW camps. • In total, 554 soldiers of the 1,975 soldiers who originally sailed to Hong Kong were buried or cremated in the Far East. • The soldiers who had fought bravely and survived the fighting, in some ways came to envy their fallen comrades. • They had come through the battle, but now they faced another challenge in this “hell on earth,” although a very different one. • For example, those who were fortunate enough to survive typically lost almost half of their body weight.

  21. Casualties • Allies: 2113 killed or missing 2300 wounded 10,000 captured • Axis: 675 killed 2079 wounded • Civilian: 4000 killed 3000 severely wounded

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