Pushing the Axis Back

1. Pushing the Axis Back Section 4

2. Striking Back at the Third Reich Allies have no choice but to launch an invasion from the beach Can be very risky No cover on a beach, no place to run/hide, no way to turn back If war was going to be won by the Allies, they had to land troops in Europe and on islands in the Pacific

3. Cont. First large Allied invasion of the war, attack on North Africa, had shown allies could mount a large-scale attack from sea Roosevelt felt it was time to meet with Churchill to plan next attack, met in Casablanca, Morocco Casablanca Conference

4. Casablanca Conference

5. Strategic Bombing Read this Section

6. Striking at the Soft Underbelly As bombing of Germany intensified, so did the plan for invading Sicily Dwight D. Eisenhower was placed in command of invasion General Patton and British General Bernard Montgomery were put in charge of forces on the ground Invasion began before dawn on July 10, 1943

7. General D. Eisenhower General George Patton

8. British General Bernard Montgomery

9. Cont. Allied troops made it ashore despite bad weather Very few casualties DUKW- amphibious truck that proved very effective in bringing supplies and artillery to soldiers on the beach

10. Connecting History

11. Cont. Striking at the Soft Underbelly 8 days before troops came ashore… American tanks led by Patton smashed through enemy lines and captured western half of island Continued to push east Montgomery attacked from the south August 18, the Germans had evacuated the island

12. Cont. Attack on Sicily created turmoil in Italian government King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel, and others decided Mussolini’s time was up King called Mussolini in and told him that he was the most hated man in Italy and King had him arrested New Italian government secretly started negotiating with Allies for Italy’s surrender September 8, 1943 Italian government publicly announced Italy’s surrender

13. Cont. Hitler was stunned by Italy’s surrender but refused to give up Italy German troops went to action at once Seized control of northern Italy, including Rome, attacked Americans at Salerno, put Mussolini back in power To stop Allied advance German army took up positions near Cassino, which had rough, steep terrain

14. Cont. Allies decided to land at Anzio, behind German lines Hoping to surprise and force Germans to retreat Plan backfired Took Allies 5 months to break through German lines at Cassino and Anzio May 1944 Germans begin retreating The Italian campaign was one of the bloodiest in the war Cost the Allies more than 300,000 casualties

15. Roosevelt Meets Stalin at Tehran Read this Section

16. Landing in France Roosevelt headed to Cairo where him and Churchill continued to plan invasion of France Operation Overlord- code name given to planned invasion Roosevelt selected Eisenhower to command the invasion

17. Planning Operation Overlord Hitler fortified the coast of France preparing for Allies invasion Allies had the element of surprise on their side Hitler wasn’t sure where they would come ashore Pas-de-Calais was the most obvious choice because it was the area of France closest to Britain U.S. baited the Germans into believing they would come ashore here by placing inflated rubber tanks, empty tents, and dummy landing craft along the coast across from Calais Looked real to German spy planes Real target wasn’t Pas-de-Calais, but Normandy

18. Cont. Everything ready to go, picking a date was the hardest obstacle Invasion must begin at night to hide ships, arrive at low tide to see beach obstacles, low tide had to come at dawn so gunners could see targets, moonlit night so paratroops could see landing targets behind enemy lines the night before, weather had to be good, a storm would ground the planes and rough seas could swamp landing craft Few days each month when invasion could begin

19. Cont. • First opportunity would last from June 5-7, 1944 • Date for the invasion became known as D-Day • Eisenhower’s staff referred to the day any operation began by the letter D • June 5 bad weather conditions • June 6 weather improves slightly • Advisers split on the decision • Eisenhower gave the final order: “OK, we’ll go.”

20. The Longest Day Read this Section

21. Island-Hoping in the Pacific Driving the Japanese back Britain and American military leaders were developing strategy to defeat Japan Pacific Fleet, commanded by Admiral Nimitz, would advance through the central Pacific by hoping from one island to the next getting closer and closer to Japan General MacArthur’s troops would advance through the Solomon Islands, capture the north coast of New Guinea, then launch invasion to retake Philippines

22. Cont. Island-hoping campaign was read to begin in the fall of 1943 Problems came with the coral reef that surrounded most islands Tarawa was navy’s first objective and experience with the reef Landing craft were at risk of running aground forcing marines to wade through the water Causalities were high, 1/3 soldiers made it to shore

23. Cont. One vehicle was able to cross the reef and deliver its troops to the beaches, the LVT LVT was a boat with tank tracks Invented in the 1930s to rescue people in the Florida swamps

24. Cont. Next objective was Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands Much smoother objective All troops went ashore in amphtracs Next came Mariana Islands Admiral Nimitz captured all 3 islands: Saipan, Tinian, and Guam Used the islands to build airfields for the B-29 Bomber Superfortress B-29 could fly farther than any other plan in the world and could bomb Japan from Marianas Islands

25. MacArthur Returns to the Philippines MacArthur’s campaign began with the invasion of Guadalcanal in August 1942 Continued until 1944 when MacArthur had enough islands to surround Rabaul, which housed the main Japanese base in the region MacArthur ordered his forces past Rabaul in fear that navy’s advance across the Pacific was leaving him behind Captured Hollandia, then New Guinea, then on to Morotai- which was the last stop before the Philippines

26. Cont. U.S. assembled enormous invasion force to take back Philippines October 20 troops began to land on Leyte, eastern side of Philippines MacArthur headed to the beach shortly after the invasion began “People of the Philippines, I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.”

27. Cont. Japanese respond by sending 4 aircraft carriers towards Philippines, secretly dispatched another fleet from the west American carriers left Leyte Gulf to stop them Japanese saw their chance, ships from the west raced through Philippine Islands and ambushed remaining American ships READ THE REST OF THIS SECTION