1. D-Day
June 6th, 1944

2. What was the situation in 1944?
The Russians have defeated the Germans and are advancing in the East
The Allies are victorious in Africa and launch an assault on mainland Italy through Sicily

3. The Russian Front
On August 23rd, 1939, Stalin and Hitler signed a “Non-Aggression Pact” which vowed not to interfere in each other’s business
On June 22nd, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union
Having purged his military of many of its best officers, Stalin and the Soviets were not ready for war

4. The Eastern Front Operation “Barbarossa” – began on June 22nd, 1941
The early days saw the Germans drive into the Soviet Union almost reaching Moscow by October
The German army besieged Leningrad for what was to become a two year struggle ending in the death of more than one million civilians
When the severe Russian winter arrived
the Nazi offensive broke down and the German attack was halted

5. The Tide Turns
The Nazis needed supplies and resources to continue the war so victory in the Soviet Union was essential
From Sept. 14th, 1942 – Feb. 2nd, 1943 – the Germans and Russians fought for the strategic city of Stalingrad on the Volga River
Hitler and the Nazis lost the battle – German and other troops were killed or taken prisoner
By the Autumn of 1943 the Germany army of 2.5 million soldiers faced an army of 5.5 million Soviet soldiers

6. Italy
From July 10th to August 17th – the Allies including the Canadians fought and took Sicily from the German Army – Codenamed “Operation Husky”
The Campaign of Italy was designed to take the pressure off their Russian Allies and pull German troops out of north-western Europe readying the area for Operation “Overlord”
9th September, 1943 the attack began on Italy
The Canadians were forced to fight for every metre of the mountainous terrain as the Germans refused to give it up
Italian Campaign Animated Map

7. The Italians Surrender
On the 8th of September, 1943, the Italian Government surrenders
The Allied planners thought the Italian Campaign would be over in a matter of weeks.
They were wrong.
Italy would represent frustration and death for thousands of Allied soldiers in a bitter stagnated fight.
It would be a year before Allied troops entered Rome, and the Invasion of France would overshadow that victory.

8. The Battle for Italy
When Italy formally surrendered on September 8th, the Italians separated into two camps, pro-Allied and pro-German factions.
On September 9, the Allies landed Americans at Salerno and the British landed at Taranto
By September 26 the Allies had built a force of 189,000 men and 30,000 vehicles.
Following the Italian surrender, the German Army took control of the defense of Germany

9. Ortona
Ortona is an ancient city that consists of narrow streets and connected houses
Much of Ortona was reduced to rubble, making it difficult for the Canadians to use tanks
The Germans barricaded themselves in houses and mined the streets
The fighting was house-to-house- literally – the Canadians blasted (Mouse-Holing) their way through walls to get from building to building.
The battle continued over Christmas Day, 1943 but three days later the Germans withdrew.

10. The Move on to France
Having the Germans occupied in Italy allowed the Allies to move forward with their plan to open up the long awaited western front in Europe

11. The Plan
Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt agreed it was time to open up a new front in the West through the beaches of France
The obvious choice for a landing area was the Pas de Calais so the Allies decided to attack in Normandy instead but believed they had to deceive the Germans they intended to attack elsewhere

12. Normandy It Is! Normandy is a peninsula on the French Coast
It was chosen because the Germans expected the attack to be on the Pas de Calais

13. The Criteria
The enemy must remain ignorant of the proposed landing site = enemy not know where the Allies will land
The enemy must be prevented from bringing up reinforcements quickly once the allies landed
Complete Allied air and naval domination in the English Channel
Local defenses must largely be destroyed by air and sea bombardment

14. Operation “Overlord”
There would be five sectors that would be attacked:
Utah – American
Omaha – American
Gold – British
Juno – Canadian
Sword - British

15. The Attack – June 6th, 1944
Operation Overlord Simulation

16. The Atlantic Wall!
The Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by the Germans between and 1944

17. The Time Has Come
On the evening of June 5th paratroopers dropped in to secure bridges for the allied advance
Heavy bombers dropped their payloads on what was supposed to be the beach defenses
In the early morning the largest armada of ships left Britain for the French coast

18. The Canadians on D-Day
Of the nearly 150,000 Allied troops who landed or parachuted into the invasion area, 14,000 were Canadians
The Royal Canadian Navy contributed 110 ships and 10,000 sailors in support of the landings while the R.C.A.F. had helped prepare the invasion by bombing targets inland
Canadians suffered casualties, including 359 killed.

19. The Battle for Normandy
For the first month following the D-Day landings, a stalemate developed during which the Allies built up their forces
In July, Canadian troops helped capture Caen and then turned towards Falaise where they aimed at joining an American advance from the south to encircle the German forces in Normandy.
By August 21, the Germans had either retreated or been destroyed between the Canadian- British and American pincers
The ten-week Normandy Campaign cost the Canadians alone more than 18,000 casualties, 5000 of them fatal.

20. The Liberation of Northwest Europe
September 1944 the British captured the Belgian port of Antwerp
It was a key victory for the allies because they desperately required its docking facilities to bring in supplies.
The problem was that the Germans occupied both banks of the 70-kilometre long Scheldt River estuary linking Antwerp to the sea.
Realizing the value of Antwerp to the Allied supply line, the 2nd Canadian Army under the command of Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds was assigned to the task of securing the Scheldt Estuary

21. Liberating The Scheldt Estuary
The Battle of the Scheldt, was a series of military operations which took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands from October 2 to November 8, 1944
By September, 1944, it had become urgent for the Allies to clear both banks of the Scheldt Estuary in order to open the port of Antwerp to Allied shipping, thus easing logistical burdens in their supply lines stretching hundreds of miles from Normandy.
The British captured Antwerp on September 4th, 1944 but the Germans still controlled the Scheldt Estuary making the port useless

22. The Scheldt Continued…
After five weeks of difficult fighting, the First Canadian Army with support from other countries was successful in securing the Scheldt Estuary
It took numerous amphibious assaults, crossing of canals, and fighting over open ground.
Both land and water were mined, and the Germans defended their retreating line with artillery and snipers.
The Allies finally cleared the port areas on November 8, but at a cost of 12,873 Allied casualties (killed, wounded, or missing), half of them Canadians.

23. The Battle of the Bulge
The Ardennes Offensive known to the general public as the Battle of the Bulge, started on December 16, 1944
Three powerful German armies plunged into the semi-mountainous, heavily forested Ardennes region of eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg.
Their goal was to reach the sea, trap four allied armies, and negotiate peace on the Western front.

25. The Battle of the Bulge
Thinking the Ardennes was the least likely spot for a German offensive the line was thin with American manpower concentrated north and south of the Ardennes. = Limited Allied Forces
Even though the German Offensive achieved total surprise, the American troops did not give ground without a fight = Allies stood tough!
Within three days the Americans, assisted by the arrival of powerful reinforcements insured that the Germans would not achieve their goal.

26. Battle of the Bulge Outcome
The German losses in the battle were critical
The last of the German reserves were now gone
The Luftwaffe had been broken
The German Army in the West was being pushed back.
Most importantly, the Eastern Front was now ripe for the taking and the German Army was unable to halt the Soviets
German forces were sent reeling on two fronts and ***NEVER RECOVERED***.

27. The Final Days In April 1945, the battle is coming to a close.
On the 30th April, Hitler commits suicide together with his mistress Eva Braun hours after they were married.
Hitler gave strict orders for his body to be burned, so that his enemies wouldn't do what they had done to Mussolini, who was publicly displayed hanging upside down and mutilated

28. The Soviets Arrive – Berlin Falls
By 2 May, the Reichstag, the old German parliament falls and Berlin surrenders to Marshall Zukhov, who receives the honour of being the conqueror of Berlin.
The battle for Berlin cost the Soviets over 70,000 dead. Many of them died because of the haste with which the campaign was conducted.

29. VE-Day
The major Allied ground offensive from the west against German territory began on 8 February 1945
In April, Canadian troops liberated most of the Netherlands
The Germans formally surrendered on 8 May 1945, known as Victory-in-Europe, or ‘V-E’ Day

30. Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Following FDR’s death, Harry Truman becomes President of the United States
Truman decided to use the bomb on Japan because he believed that it was the only way to get the Japanese to surrender and save American lives
On August 6th, 1945 a lone B-29 Superfortress called the Enola Gay by its crew took off and headed for Hiroshima Video

31. Fat Man and Little Boy
At 8:15am the atomic bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima
Within seconds two thirds of the city was flattened and thousands were dead
On August 11, a bomb called “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki at 11:02 am
At noon, August 15th, 1945 – Emperor Hirohito spoke directly to his people to tell them Japan had surrendered

32. Why Did the Allies Win? Complete material superiority – weapons etc.
More soldiers
Better Strategy
Technology
Morale
Material and financial Wealth