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Marine Corps
History
LE-1508
pages 51 - 70
WW II
1939-1945
Countries & Leaders
 Japan:
Emperor Hirohito
 Germany: Adolf Hitler
 Italy: Benito Mussolini
 Russia: Joseph Stalin
 Great Britain: Winston Churchill
 United States: Roosevelt/Truman
General Eisenhower
A War With 2 Fronts
Eastern
Europe: Army
South Pacific: Marines
Allied Nations: 50 Countries
Axis Nations: 9 Countries
EASTERN EUROPE
 1939 - Germany not satisfied
 23 Aug
1
- Hitler & Stalin Negotiate
Sep- Hitler invades Poland
 30 Nov- Hitler invades Finland
 9 Apr 1940- Hitler invades Norway
& Denmark
Eastern Europe
 10
continued
May 1940- British Govt.
collapse, Winston Churchill is
new Prime Minister
 10 June- Mussolini invaded France
 13 Sept- Mussolini attempts an
invasion of Egypt (unsuccessful)
 28
Oct- Mussolini attempts an
invasion of Greece (unsuccessful)
Eastern Europe continued
 3 Apr
1941- Germany invades Africa
 6 Apr- Germany invades Greece and
Yugoslavia
 23 May- Germany invades Crete
 22 June- Germany, Finland and
Rumania invade Soviet Union
In The U.S.A.
 Oct.
1941 U.S. protest Japan
Military Expansion
 7 Dec. Japan attacks
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
 8 Dec. U.S. declares war
on Japan
11 Dec. 1941
–Germany and Italy
Declare War on the
United States
Marine Corps
Defensive Operations
 Pearl
Harbor
 Guam
 Wake
Island
 Philippines
 MIDWAY Island
Turning Point
of the War
4
June 1942
MIDWAY Island
 U.S. Aircraft attacked
the Japanese forces
before they attacked
Midway Island
Strength of the Corps
7
Dec. 1941 = 65,000
 2 Sep. 1945 = 485,000
Offensive Operations
 “Island
Hopping Campaign”
Solomon Islands
Gilbert Islands
Marshall Islands
Mariana Islands
----> JAPAN <----
Solomon Islands
 Guadalcanal : Aug 1942 - Feb 1943
John Basilone & Chesty Puller
 New
Georgia : 101 Japanese
Aircraft Shot Down
 Bougainville
: Nov & Dec 1943
used Close Air Support effectively
Gilbert Islands
 Tarawa
Atoll : Nov 1943
Marines had to wade 700
yards to shore under fire
 Betio
: 1944
 Makin : 1944
In Europe
 1943: Turning point for Germany
Last German offensive
1
6
Dec 1943: Churchill, Stalin &
Roosevelt
organize the
Jun 1944:
United Nations
Normandy Invasion
Largest Amphibious Operation
of all time
Marshall Islands
 Kwajalein
 Roi
Atoll : 1943
: 1944
 Namur : 1944
The Marianas
 Saipan
: 15 June 1944
29,600 Japanese defended the island
 Guam
:
18 June 1944
18,000 Japanese defended the island
 Tinian
: 24 July 1944
6,000 Japanese defended the island
Peleliu
 Sep.
& Oct. 1944
 Extensive caves &
tunnel system
 Marines used bulldozers
& flame throwers

Napalm & Rockets used for the first time
In Europe
 16
Dec 1944 :
“Battle Of The Bulge”
German Counter-Offensive
 Feb
1945 :
New Allied Offensive Began
Iwo Jima
 Feb
1945
 U.S.
Needed an air base
for B-29 Bombers
 Mt. Suribachi : flag raising
5 Marines & 1 Navy corpsman

“Un-Common Valor was a Common Virtue”
Admiral Nimitz
Okinawa
 U.S.
needed a place to
mass troops for an
attack on Japan
 Last
great battle of the war
 181,000
soldiers & Marines
attacked the island from
both sides
In Europe
7
Mar 1945 :
Allied Forces cross
Rhine River
 25
Apr :
Allied Forces cross
the Elbe & Mulde Rivers
 30
Apr :
Berlin in flames &
Hitler commits suicide
7
May: Germany Surrenders
 8 May: V-E Day (victory in Europe)
In Japan
26 July 1945 : U.S. offers Japan
the opportunity to surrender
 6 Aug : Hiroshima bombed
 9 Aug : Russia attacks Japan &
Nagasaki bombed
 14 Aug : Japan surrenders
 15 Aug : V-J Day (victory in Japan)
 2 Sep : Surrender Documents
signed aboard the USS Missouri

The Cost of WWII
United States
 France
 Britain
 Italy
 China
 Japan
 Germany
 Poland
 Soviet Union
 TOTAL
=

390,000
400,000
410,000
410,000
1,300,000
2,500,000
3,500,000
5,600,000
20,000,000
40,000,000
QUESTIONS
?????