Download Battles During WWII

Battle of the Atlantic
1939-1945
•Canada provided supplies to Britain by
means of Atlantic Ocean –delivery of
supplies, troops, and equipment
•Important to allies: keep method of
supply open.
•Important to Hitler: to shut down and
take control.
•Longest campaign of WWII.
•Canadians two lines of defense against
German U-boats:
1. Sea craft= corvette (fast, lightly
armed warship) could out maneuver
submarines
2. Royal Canadian Air force (RCAF)—
out of range to protect ships at Black
Pit.
Black Pit: Germans had upper hand with
U-boats –air crafts could not reach –
Germans traveled in Wolf Packs
Continued
 The final actions of Battle May 1945, just before
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Germany surrender.
By the end: over 2000 vessels found at bottom of ocean
1943, advantage shifted to the Allies—sufficient escort
aircraft carriers & long-range aircraft =cover the
Atlantic Gap
‘Black May’ of 1943, U-boat losses were unsustainable
U-boats withdrew from Atlantic—new German
submarines arrived in 1945=too late to affect course of
the battle.
Battle of the
Britain
July-September 1940
-Hitler decides to attack British
ships in the English Channel by
using the Blitzkrieg
( "lightning war“ –use of strategic
bombing)
-In response, Churchill ordered an
attack on Berlin
Hitler claimed that this was a
terrorist act and that Germany had to
respond by killing British civilians in
London.
-London was attacked
-Allies: fought primarily by the
Royal Air Force (RAF)
- Canadian pilots did join the RAF,
and helped win this battle
Continued
 Over 43000 people had died in these air attacks but
Britain remained unconquered
 Battle of Britain ended when Germany’s Luftwaffe (the
aerial warfare branch of the Germans) failed to gain air
superiority over the Royal Air Force despite months of
targeting Britain’s air bases, military posts and its
civilian population.
 “As a result, Hitler permanently postponed a landing
on the British Isles and suspended the Battle of
Britain.”1
Dunkirk/The
Miracle at Dunkirk
•Thousands of British
troops raced across
English Channel to defend
France. A group of
Canadian soldiers
remained in Britain to
defend against the
expected German
invasion.
•the Germans advanced
rapidly into France leaving
both British and French
troops trapped.
•In May, 1940, British
troops evacuated from the
seaport town of Dunkirk
on the French coast.
It was a Miracle because…
 Rescued from harbour and beaches near to Dunkirk from the German
advance just in time
 Cloud cover—Hitler waited until the clouds cleared—they were
rescued when cleared
 viewed as act of God/divine intervention.
 300 000 soldiers were rescued by boats of all sizes- a makeshift fleet of:
sightseeing boats, river ferries, fishing boats and privately owned
crafts
 sailed across the British Channel to return the stranded troops safely
back to Britain.
 They got the troops back - over a third of a million of them – “to fight
another day.”
 Escape also captured minds and hearts of British people.
 One of the greatest rescues of all time= Crucial turning point in WWII
 Reminder of :human ability to rise to the occasion to overcome
obstacles.— “Lasting monument to resilience of human the spirit.”
Operation
“Barbarossa”
rd
•August 23 , 1939, Stalin and Hitler
signed a “Non-Aggression Pact”
•On June 22nd, 1941, Germany invaded
the Soviet Union—breaking this
pact.
•Having purged his military of many of
its best officers, Stalin and the Soviets
were not ready for war
•Operation “Barbarossa” – began on
June 22nd, 1941
•Germans drive into the Soviet Union
almost reaching Moscow by October
•German army overwhelmed
Leningrad for a two year struggle
ending in the death of more than one
million civilians
•Shostakovich Symphony No. 7
premiered in 1942—Soviets used it as
propaganda tool
•BUT– Shostakovich’s intentions =
for the Russian people (ONLY) to
give them hope.
Continued
 Severe winter arrived in Russia—Nazi offensive
broke down and the German attack was halted.
 Not prepared for the winter conditions
 Germans and Russians fight for strategic city of
Stalingrad on the Volga River.
 Result= Russians defeat the Germans and begin
advancing in the East
Battle of Dieppe
 Russia demanded that Britain established
second front in Western Europe.
 British decided to send in Canadian troops
to Dieppe and allowed the allies to test the
German strength in Northern France.
 Objective: hold town long enough to destroy
the harbour set up and withdraw
 Approx 5000 Canadians went in and only
approx 1500 returned.
 Arrived at the beach: lost element of surprise
and cover of darkness.
 Germans strong with machine gun pill
boxes, Canadians were sitting ducks coming
in land from the water.
Lessons of Dieppe:
 Canada defeated in Dieppe
 BUT the lessons learned from this battle were taken
to D-Day (Normandy)
 Canada victorious in D-Day, which demonstrated
Canada’s resilience and determination to win the
war—establishes Canadian identity.
D-Day
•Evening of June 5th paratroopers
dropped in to secure bridges for
the allied advance
•In the early morning, the largest
fleet of ships left Britain for the
French coast
•Of approx 150,000 allied troops
who landed or parachuted
= 14,000 were Canadians
The Royal Canadian Navy
contributed 110 ships and 10,000
sailors in support of the landings
•Canadian Third Division:
responsible for landing at (codename) Juno Beach (between
British landing at Gold and
Sword Beaches)
Success of D-Day:
 Element of surprise—allies had developed computer
to break German’s Enigma code (a code that made
German communications impossible to read)
 Attack at low tide and at first light
 Both Naval and air support(via parachutes)
 Dividing of beaches: each with own objective based on
geography, German defenses, etc.