WWII

Pearl Harbour, Hawaii Sun Dec 7, 1941 Brought the US into the war.

Hong Kong Dec 1941 Hong Kong is a vital British Colony Canadian Troops Untried. Assigned to protect Hong Kong POW – malnourished and forced to do hard labour until the end of the war (3.5 years)

Blitzkrieg and Dunkirk Blitzkrieg: "lightning war first used by the Germans in World War Two and was a tactic based on speed and surprise and needed a military force to be based around light tank units supported by planes and infantry (foot soldiers). Interactive Map of WWII Due to the success of Blitzkrieg warfare, the German army quickly pushed the British and French armies back to the English Channel in a few weeks. "Speed, and still more speed, and always speed was the secret……..and that demanded audacity, more audacity and always audacity." Major General Fuller

Battle of Britain July-Oct 1940 Hitler wanted to destroy the RAF (Royal Air Force) before a land invasion of Britain. Southern England and London area bombed RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes Luftwaffe: Messerschmitt and Stukas

Battle of the North Atlantic German U-boats sinking more Allied ships than could be built Canadian Corvettes provided half the escorts to convoys across the Atlantic.

Italian Campaign July 10, 1943 “Operation Husky” Soft underbelly of Europe. Would steal German troops from NW Europe and take pressure off their Russian allies. “Mouseholing”

Dieppe August 19, 1942 Canadian and British troops to test German defenses A raid not an invasion “Dress rehearsal” for D-Day invasion Canadian losses similar to the numbers at Passchendaele

D-Day June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Europe in Normandy, in northern France Heavily defended German positions – “Atlantic Wall”. Germans had defended the cliffs for 4.5 years.

European Campaign Canadians job: clear ports and channels along the coast (Netherlands) “Dambusters”

Bombardment of German Cities 1942 – Systematic bombing of German cities began goal: destroy industries, railways, highways, refineries first, however it was decided to give cities a general pounding first. Cologne, Hamburg, Dresden and Berlin targeted. "There were no warning sirens. We were completely surprised and rushed back down to the cellars of the hospital. But these quickly became hopelessly overcrowded with people who could no longer find shelter in their own burning buildings. The crush was unbearable, we were so tight you could not fall over.""Apart from the fire risk, it was becoming increasingly impossible to breath in the cellar because the air was being pulled out by the increasing strength of the blaze." "We could not stand up, we were on all fours, crawling. the wind was full of sparks and carrying bits of blazing furniture, debris and burning bits of bodies." "There were charred bodies everywhere." "The experience of the bombing was far worse than being on the Russian front, where I was a front-line machine gunner." Rudolph Eichner

End of WWII Feb the Russian army is within striking distance of Berlin. Allied troops reached the Rhine River by Mar 5 Apr 28 Benito Mussolini was captured by Italian partisans and killed. May 4 the German forces in Northern Germany surrendered. Apr 16 Russian final assault. Apr 30 Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun commit suicide. On May 2 Berlin surrenders. Formal surrender May 7. Victory in Europe Day is May 8, 1945 VE celebrations on Bay Street