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END OF WORLD WAR II

END OF WORLD WAR II. D-DAY TO SURRENDER. AMERICAN ENTRANCE. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the American forces were very damaged in the South Pacific;

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END OF WORLD WAR II

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  1. END OF WORLD WAR II D-DAY TO SURRENDER

  2. AMERICAN ENTRANCE • After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the American forces were very damaged in the South Pacific; • Damage or destruction of 18 warships, 188 aircraft and 2,333 US servicemen were killed and another 1347 wounded; • The Japanese had only lost about 29 aircraft; • Deemed a victory for the Japanese, it hardened the resolve of the Americans to help end the war;

  3. AMERICAN ENTRANCE • The US fleet was out of commission for over a year, however three main aircraft carriers were not in the Harbour at the time of attack; • Most of the damaged ships were later restored for use in the war in the South Pacific; • The absence of a third wave of fighters against Pearl Harbour by the Japanese would have destroyed fuel supplies and made it harder for the Americans to recover as quickly;

  4. AMERICAN ENTRANCE • The Japanese victory was short lived, as the American government used the emotion of the attack to solidify the American home effort to enter into the war; • FD Roosevelt referred to the attack as a “day of infamy” and encouraged the American people to bring the full power of the military into the war to defeat the “Axis of Evil;”

  5. AMERICAN ENTRANCE • Immediately after the Pearl Harbour attack, Hitler declared support for their Japanese Allies and declared war on the US; • By doing so he drew the Americans into the fight in Europe, where they would bring much needed reinforcements and supplies to the battered British Commonwealth and Russian forces; • The American entrance into Europe drew some of the Nazi forces from the East and allowed Russia to push forward;

  6. AMERICAN ENTRANCE • The Canadians and the Americans at home had to play important roles in helping those in Europe as well as accounting for protection at home; • Mackenzie King and Roosevelt discussed defense plans for North America and signed the Ogdensburg Agreement in August 1940 dealing with air, sea and land defenses;

  7. AMERICAN ENTRANCE • By 1941 the war was taking a financial toll on the British and Canadians, while the Americans maintained neutrality; • In April 1941 the Lend-Lease program was developed between the three allies in order to help the war effort, but keeping the Americans neutral; • The US would lend war materials to the Allies, and gain access, through leases, to British owned military bases; • This allowed the US to aid the Allies with important materials, but still appear to be outside the activities of war - mostly to avoid a drop in public opinion;

  8. SPIES AND POW’s • The Camp X located between Whitby and Oshawa; • For two years the Camp produced 500 graduates, half of whom became spies, secret agents and guerilla fighters; • The training was tough: • Night parachuting, explosives training, coded communications, civilian resistance, resist torture;

  9. SPIES AND POW’s • Two Canadian secret agents were • GUSTAVE BIELER • First Canadian Special Operations Executive (SOE) working in occupied France; • Captured in January 1944 • Endured torture by the Gestapo; • Sentenced to death in Sept 1944 by firing squad – not hanging (usual for prisoners);

  10. SPIES AND POW’s • HENRY FUNG • First Chinese-Canadian agent parachuted in Malaya in June 1945; • He was 19-years old working with the SOE blowing up telephone lines, railway bridges and harassing Japanese road convoys; • Contracted malaria and jaundice and had to be shipped home by the British to Canada;

  11. SPIES AND POW’s • ENIGMA CODE • In 1939, Polish agents escaped to Britain with information regarding the German coding machine called “Enigma;” (Greek for “mystery”) • The British were able to break the code using another machine called “Ultra;” • This enabled them to obtain vital information about military activities of the Nazis; • The Nazis were unaware of the advances of the British and Americans in this regard;

  12. SPIES AND POW’s • Allied forces in Hong Kong were 14000 British, Indian, Canadian and Chinese soldiers; • Canadians arrived in November 1941 to join the other forces and all were forced to surrender to the stronger Japanese forces by December 1941; • They were all kept in brutal prisoner of war camps on mainland Chine until 1945 when Japan was defeated and they were liberated; • Most were forced to work in Japanese war industries;

  13. D-DAY – OPERATION OVERLORD • Complex and risky operation that called for coordination of air, naval and land forces from Canada, Britain and the US in order to invade Europe and get a foothold; • The attack was separated into three phases in order to best utilize resources and make the greatest impact against the Nazi forces in Europe;

  14. D-DAY – OPERATION OVERLORD • PHASE I • Air Bombing and Parachuting • Aircraft bombing German defences; • Drop paratroopers and glider shock troops to seize vital roads and bridges; • Looking to secure the skies over Normandy in order to facilitate more troops safety being sent in to Europe to overtake the forces;

  15. D-DAY – OPERATION OVERLORD • PHASE II • Naval Clearing and Delivering • Operation Nepture involved an armada of 7000 ships clear lanes of minefields and bombarding the Nazi positions; • Also had to convoy 100000 assault troops to the Normandy beaches, 20000 vehicles and a array of equipment; • All had to be at the right beach at the right time;

  16. D-DAY – OPERATION OVERLORD • PHASE III • Land Forces, Assaulting and Securing • First US Army was assigned to Utah and Omaha beaches, • The second British Army was to hit Gold and Sword beaches; • The Canadians were assigned to Juno beach; • The main objective for all was to secure a position in France from which further offensives could be launched;

  17. VE-DAY – VICTORY IN EUROPE • Canadian Efforts: • July – August 1944 – closing the Falaise Gap • Nazis were trying to keep an escape route open through the French town of Falaise as they retreated from France; • This position was between the American and Canadian advancing forces; • Allied planes bombed continuously through the day as the Nazi troops moved; • By the end, 50000 Nazi troops were captured and all of Normandy was in Allied possession;

  18. VE-DAY – VICTORY IN EUROPE • Battle of the Scheldt • October – November 1944 • First Canadian Army had to clear the Belgian port of Antwerp to allow access to Allied forces; • British bombers blasted the area dams and flooded the region allowing the amphibious vehicles to be used; • Although the Canadian losses were high (6367 lost) but the difficulty of the attack won praise from the British; • Nazi forces in Antwerp surrendered in November 1944;

  19. VE-DAY – VICTORY IN EUROPE • END OF THE WAR • February – May 1945 • Early activities were more like WWI trench warfare than WWII; • Western Allies cross the Rhine River in March and

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