Download Timeline Battles of the Second World War

Timeline: Battles of the Second World War
The battles here are presented along chronological lines, not according to locale.
BATTLE: THE INVASION OF POLAND
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: September 1st, 1939
It started the Second World War.
WHERE: Poland
Blitzkrieg allowed the Germans to sweep
through Poland with little resistance.
WHAT: The Germans invaded Poland using
blitzkrieg tactics.
OUTCOME: Britain and France declared war on
Germany. Canada’s declaration followed a week
later.
BATTLE: THE PHONY WAR
Canada was not automatically obligated to go
to war, but chose to do so a week after
Britain’s declaration.
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: October 1939 – April 1940
WHERE: Western Europe
Allied troops and Canadians were all waiting
for combat to begin.
WHAT: It was expected that Germany was going
to invade Western Europe.
OUTCOME: Germany did not invade due to bad
weather and indecision.
BATTLE: EVACUATION OF DUNKIRK
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: 1940
WHERE: The English Channel
WHAT: British and French troops retreated to
the French beaches at Dunkirk and became
trapped.
In spite of this being a defeat, this event
represented a moral victory for the Allies.
A few weeks later, France surrendered to
Germany.
OUTCOME: 900 ships sailed from England and
rescued 340,000 soldiers.
BATTLE: THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
WHEN: Summer of 1940
WHERE: Britain
WHAT: Air attacks by the Luftwaffe on Britain’s
RAF airfields
OUTCOME: Hitler eventually abandoned air
attacks on the airfields and ordered daylight
bombing raids on London. This allowed Britain’s
forces to regroup and later win the battle.
BATTLE: THE INVASION OF THE
SOVIET UNION
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
The use of radar and the German cipher
machine (the Engima) contributed to
Britain’s power in the airs.
Hitler’s change in tactics in response to
Churchill’s bombing of Berlin likely cost him
the war.
This battle was the first time that Hitler was
denied conquest.
The battle left the future Allies with a base
from which to attack Hitler in Europe.
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: June 22nd, 1941
WHERE: Soviet Union
Hitler invaded the Soviet Union to fulfill his
vision of Lebensraum and to destroy
communism.
WHAT: Hitler launched an invasion called
“Operation Barbarossa” with 3 million German
troops.
The Soviets reacted with a “scorched earth”
policy
OUTCOME: The Germans advanced but were
stopped just outside of Moscow for now.
BATTLE: PEARL HARBOUR
Hitler now had a two front war.
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: December 7th, 1941
WHERE: Pearl Harbour, Hawaii
This attack brought the United States into the
war. In Europe this gave Britain a much-
needed ally.
WHAT: The Japanese launched a surprise attack
on the American naval base.
OUTCOME: The United States and Britain
declared war on Japan.
BATTLE: THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY
Canada declared war against Japan and
Canadian troops were sent to fight in Hong
Kong.
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: June, 1942
WHERE: Midway Islands, north and west of
Hawaii
WHAT: The Americans intercepted the Japanese
fleet which was preparing to conquer these
islands.
This marked a turning point in the Pacific
Theatre.
The American fleet sank the best units of
Japanese naval aviation (aircraft carriers).
The Japanese were on the defensive after this
battle.
OUTCOME: The Japanese were soundly
defeated.
BATTLE: DIEPPE
WHEN: August, 1942
WHERE: Dieppe – coast of France
WHAT: 5,000 Canadians landed on the beach
with the goal of taking the beach and the town
back from the Germans.
OUTCOME: The attack failed and many
Canadians were killed and taken prisoner.
BATTLE: BATTLE OF EL ALAMEIN
WHEN: October 1942
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
More Canadian troops died in these few hours
than on any other day in the war.
Part of the reason for the failure was that
Britain decided to forgo the much-needed
aerial and naval support.
Allies learned that heavy air and sea support
would be necessary for any future invasion of
France.
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
This victory was a turning point in the war.
WHERE: 60 miles west of Cairo, North Africa
It was the first time the Allies had defeated the
forces of the fascist countries.
WHAT: The Germans and the Italians sought
control of Egypt.
This victory prevented the Germans from
seizing the Suez Canal.
OUTCOME: The British won in a decisive
victory.
BATTLE: BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: The duration of the war
WHERE: Between North America and Britain
WHAT: Germany wanted to cut off all Allied
supplies to Britain; British and Canadian navies
wanted to put an end to the German submarine
threat.
TECHNOLOGY USED: U-Boats; the convoy
system (merchant ships surrounded by destroyers
for protection); long-range bombers; sonar
OUTCOME: The Allies beat the German
submarines, “wolfpacks”, by dropping bombs and
depth charges.
BATTLE: THE BATTLE OF
STALINGRAD
The Royal Canadian Navy provided much of
the protection for merchant ships.
By the end of the war the Royal Canadian
Navy had expanded to include 370 ships and
100,000 personnel.
2,000 members of the Canadian Navy lost
their lives in combat.
Canada’s involvement was crucial to the
Allied victory.
Many Canadians also served by manning the
freighters that transported material to Europe.
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: September 1942 – January 1943
WHERE: Stalingrad
WHAT: Hitler attacked Stalingrad because of its
name, and to go past it to the Caucasus oil fields.
This victory was an enormous boost in morale
for the Allied forces.
After this battle, the Germans suffered defeat
after defeat on the eastern front as Stalin’s
forces moved closer to Berlin.
OUTCOME: The Soviets captured or killed the
entire German army.
BATTLE: THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: 1943 - 1945
WHERE: A landing on Sicily and then onto the
peninsula of Italy.
The “Vandoos”, a French-Canadian unit,
played a big part in liberating Rome from
German control.
WHAT: Allied forces, including Canadians,
landed on Sicily using an amphibious attack, and
then moved onto the mainland.
Mussolini was captured and hung in public
in 1945.
OUTCOME: The Germans were finally driven
back by a French-Canadian unit which then
pushed through to free northern Italy in the fall of
1944.
BATTLE: THE NORMANDY LANDING
WHEN: June 6th, 1944
WHERE: The shores of Normandy
WHAT: “Operation Overlord” was the Allied
invasion of German-held Europe.
OUTCOME: The Allied forces gained a foothold
in Europe to begin pushing back the German
army.
BATTLE: BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF
WHEN: October 1944
The capture of Italy was an important step
towards the liberation of Europe, and it kept
many German troops occupied.
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
This was the largest Canadian military
operation of the Second World War.
Canadian forces were assigned the target
called Juno; over 5,000 Canadians were killed.
There were more than 200,000 Allied
casualties.
Allies gained the much-needed beachhead in
Europe.
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHERE: The Philippines
WHAT: The Americans took on virtually the
whole Japanese fleet.
The Japanese introduced the kamikaze suicide
technique: planes loaded with explosives
would deliberately crash into an American
ship.
OUTCOME: The Americans sank one half of the
Japanese fleet.
BATTLE: THE LIBERATION OF
HOLLAND
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: May 1945
WHERE: Holland
This Canadian victory allowed Allied troops
to continue forward towards Germany.
WHAT: Canadian forces drove the NAZIS to
retreat from Holland and surrender.
Canadians have been much respected in
Holland ever since.
OUTCOME: On May 8th 1945 the last German
troops surrendered.
BATTLE: HIROSHIMA
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: August 6th, 1945
WHERE: Hiroshima, Japan
This was the first atomic bomb used in
warfare.
WHAT: Truman decided to drop an atomic bomb
on the city.
OUTCOME: 100, 000 people were killed.
BATTLE: NAGASAKI
SO WHAT?
(Canadian Involvement / Significance)
WHEN: August 9th, 1945
WHERE: Nagasaki, Japan
A total of 170,000 people died due to both
atomic bombs.
WHAT: Truman dropped another atomic bomb
since Japan did not surrender immediately
OUTCOME: 35,000 people were killed.
This Introduced the nuclear era in modern
international affairs.