1. STALINGRAD & D-DAY

2. STALINGRAD

3. 1941 – OPERATION BARBAROSSA  Hitler turned on Stalin and attacked in Russia in the largest land invasion in history…  The Germans conquered a large amount of land, and drove deep into Russia…  Moscow was in sight when the Winter hit…  The brutal Russian winter tilted the battle toward the Russian side!

4. HITLER’S ERRORS THUS FAR  1) Dunkirk  Hitler should have finished off the B.E.F when he had the chance!  2) Ending the Battle of Britain to attack Stalin  Hitler made an unnecessary enemy and opened two fronts!  3) Slowing production of war munitions in 1941!  Hitler was in control of Europe and felt he would inevitably win the war….  As a result, the Germans slowed down their production of war munitions!

5. 1942 - STALINGRAD  In Summer, 1942 Hitler launched his second attack on Russia…  This attack had multiple targets:  1) The Caucasus  2) The City of Stalingrad

6. THE CAUCASUS  Every Modern Army requires one thing to wage war…  OIL  The Caucasus region was oil rich…  Hitler figured that he could  1) Rob the Russians of a crucial supply of oil…  2) Enrich Germany by capturing enemy oil…

7. STALINGRAD  Previous name Volgograd…  Stalin renamed the city in honor of himself…  The city held strategic importance on the Volga River

8. IN ADVANCE OF THE BATTLE….  Stalin issued an announcement…  ALL RUSSIANS IN STALINGRAD ARE TO STAY AND FIGHT FOR THE HOMELAND!  Including WOMEN and CHILDREN!  Russian Troops were stationed BEHIND the city,  To shoot those who fled…  Civilians fought the Nazi’s with sticks, rocks, knives and pistols!

9. RUSSIAN TACTICS  Civilians defended the city…  Russian forces behind the city ordered to shoot anyone fleeing!  Russian forces ordered to “HUG THE GERMANS”…  To stay physically close to the attacking force…  This prevented the LUFTWAFFE from bombing the city without hitting their own men!

10. THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD  The Battle for Stalingrad was close quarters, city fighting….  Burned out bombed city block by city block…  The Germans were better armed…  …But there were 1,000,000 Russian Soldiers … along with the Civilians who stayed to defend…

11. THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD

12. JANUARY 1943  The Battle for Stalingrad dragged on for 5 months…  The German Army tried to call in the Italians for support… but the Italian Army was tied down in the Italian Campaign!

13. LATE JANUARY 1943  Despite Hitler’s direct order that the German Forces were to DIE for Stalingrad…  “Surrender is out of the question. The troops will defend themselves to the last!”  The German General Paulus officially surrendered and was captured January 31 st 1943…

14. STALINGRAD AS THE TURNING POINT…  FROM HERE ON, THINGS WENT DOWNHILL FOR THE GERMANS…  ITALY FROM THE SOUTH  RUSSIA FROM THE EAST…  ALL THAT WAS LEFT WAS  AN ATTACK FROM THE WEST

15. JUNE 6, 1944 D-DAY

16. D-DAY “THE DAY OF DELIVERANCE”  CODE NAME: OPERATION OVERLORD  THE MISSION:  TO BREACH HITLER’S “ATLANTIC WALL”  TO SUCCESSFULLY LAND ON THE BEACHES OF FRANCE  TO ESTABLISH A BASE OF OPERATIONS AND OPEN A THIRD FRONT AGAINST HITLER’S NAZI’S  DETAILS:  LAND, SEA & AIR ASSAULT  THE LARGEST AMPHIBIOUS INVASION IN HUMAN HISTORY

17. D-DAY “THE DAY OF DELIVERANCE”  COMMANDER IN CHIEF: DWIGHT D. EISENHAUER (AMERICAN)  LOCATION: NORMANDY, FRANCE  PLAN?  5 SIMULTANEOUS BEACH LANDINGS

18. CORRECTING THE MISTAKES OF DIEPPE  Sychronization of Land, Sea & Air troops  Forces:  156,000 troops  7000 Ships  171 Air Squadrons  New tanks (FUNNIES) to handle beach terrain  Air bombardment of German Defenses

19. OPERATION: FORTITUDE  In order to draw the Nazi’s away from the true invasion point, large numbers of troops were deployed to areas around Europe…  NORTH – Drew Germans up to Norway  SOUTH – Drew Germans to South France…  The REAL INVASION was at NORMANDY!

20. NORMANDY, FRANCE  5 Simultaneous Beach Landings…  UTAH  OMAHA  GOLD  JUNO  SWORD  JUNO BEACH WAS ASSIGNED TO CANADA

21. JUNO BEACH  30,000 Canadian soldiers  Royal Canadian Air Force

22. THE ATTACK  Slated to be June 5 th, but postponed due to weather…  June 6 th  Attack began at 2am  5000 bombers spend the next 4 hours bombing German defenses…  Paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines  6:30 am, beach landings

23. VERY DIFFICULT OBJECTIVES  Atlantic Wall defenses  Mines in the sea to take out boats  Machine gun positions & fortresses

24. JUNO BEACH  Troops at Juno Beach were up against a large concentration of German Soldiers  The Canadian Troops accomplished their goal and took Juno Beach…  340 Canadians were killed  750 were wounded…

25. SUCCESS!!  The Allied Invasion was successful on all 5 beaches  Because of D-Day the Allied Countries now had a foothold back in Europe  Hitler now faced war on 3 fronts