WWII Battle notes

The War in the Pacific

The Fall of the Phillipines American Navy is devastated following Pearl Harbor However, American aircraft carriers out at sea were unharmed Japanese bomb the American airfields in the Philippines almost immediately after Pearl Harbor Followed up by a land attack, which forces General Douglas MacArthur and his troops to retreat to Bataan Peninsula American troops suffered greatly from diseases, along with a lack of food and supplies

Bataan Death March and the Doolittle Raid On April 9, 1942 78,000 American troops are forced to surrender to the Japanese Troops forced to walk nearly 65 miles to a Japanese prison camp ( soldiers were exhausted and starving when the march began) Nearly 10,000 troops died during the Bataan Death March This news led to low American morale and military response options were limited President Roosevelt ordered sixteen B-52’s to bomb Japan for the first time (Doolittle Raid) Bataan Death March and the Doolittle Raid

Japan’s Change in Strategy Following Doolittle Raid Japanese officers disagreed about how to change their strategy in response Many wanted cut off American supply lines with an attack on New Guinea The bombing on Japan could have killed Emperor Hirohito who was revered as a god Admiral Yamamoto convinces his officers that an attack Midway Island would help him destroy the rest of the American fleet They also decided to attack New Guinea simultaneously Above( Navajo Code Talkers)

The Battle of Midway A Turning Point Code-breakers at Pearl Harbor learn the Japanese plan to attack Midway Japanese launch attack on June 4, 1942 The Japanese were unaware that they were being led into an ambush They lose 38 planes and 4 large aircraft carriers This cripples Japanese ability to control the ocean America loses 362 soldiers and the Japanese report losses of over 3,000

Island-Hopping in the Pacific The American Strategy – gets us closer to mainland Japan one island at a time!

The peak of Nazi and Fascist Expansion in the European Theater The War in Europe The peak of Nazi and Fascist Expansion in the European Theater

Allied Actions Before D-Day The Americans and British originally disagreed over strategy for the war Americans wanted to invade Europe but were persuaded by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to attack North Africa first (July 1942) They faced tough German opposition by famed General Erwin Rommel a.k.a. “The Desert Fox” Americans were soundly defeated at the Battle of Kasserine Path where they suffered 7,000 casualties and lost 200 tanks Allies were eventually able to push back and force a German surrender – on to Italy! They were led by General Patton who achieved victory on May 13, 1943

Battle of the Atlantic After Germany declared war on U.S.A, German u-boats began sinking American cargo ships By 1942, we had lost nearly 360 ships In response, the U.S. Navy starts using a convoy system to protect ships delivering supplies to our allies Convoy system was imperfect but eventually new technologies such as radar and sonar helped the Navy find and destroy German u-boats

The Red Army Stops Hitler in his Tracks Battle of Stalingrad The Red Army Stops Hitler in his Tracks

Striking Italy Allied Powers meet a Conference at Casablanca where they decide on strategy for upcoming engagement Begin a strategic bombing campaign against German (Dropping approximately 53,000 tons of bombs per month) Italy was considered “the soft underbelly” of Axis powers Invasion of Sicily begins on July 10, 1943 Within 15 days of the invasion, Italy’s dictator (Mussolini) is deposed

The D-Day Invasion Following a meeting of the Allied leaders in Tehran, a decision is made for a full-scale attack of Europe from the East and West President Roosevelt selected General Eisenhower to lead Operation Overlord, which was the code name for the attack American and British create “ghost armies” and send out false signals to hide their intentions In preparation, 1.5 million American soldiers, 12,000 airplanes, and 5 million tons of equipment had been sent to England Invasion is approved on June 6, 1944 It involves 100,000 soldiers on nearly 7,000 ships as well as 23,000 paratroopers Germans had fortified the coast with concrete bunkers and machine guns but American manpower and equipment eventually overcomes their defenses