Unit 3 WWII – CHC2P/D Blitzkrieg and the Battles Ms. Pannell

Topic 4 Blitzkrieg:  Blitzkrieg – Lightening War  Relentless Nazi air and ground attack using Stuka dive- bombers, tanks and mobilized infantry  Was quick and took the enemy by surprise

Sept 1939, Spring 1940 Sept crushed:  Poland > 1 month The Phoney War (Winter 1940) when no fighting took place Spring Crushed:  Denmark - 1 day  Norway - 2 days  The Netherlands – 5 days  Belgium – 18 days  France – 6 weeks

Spring Dunkirk Fall of France  British and French troops pushed back to the English Chanel by advancing German soldiers – town of Dunkirk  Britain could not afford to have any naval ships sunk during an attempted rescue  Fisherman, ferry boats and pleasure sailors rescued trapped British soldiers.  rescued, equipment left behind

Blitzkrieg – the strategy  Air attack Take out strategic sites Create chaos in civilian population Paratroopers secure strategic sites  Armored tank attack – break through into towns (create an entry ‘column’)  Infantry attack (troops arrive in truck loads – enter after tanks  City surrenders

“blood, toil, tears, and sweat” Summer 1940  Britain stood alone in Europe  Winston Churchill – Britain’s new P.M. “blood, toil, tears, and sweat”  Halifax – assembling convoys (food, weapons, soldiers) Eiffel Tower – 1889 centennial of French Revolution

Battle of Britain  British air force (RAF) and navy controlled the 50km Channel, separating Britain from France 1.Germany needed to control the skies over the Channel before its planned invasion fleet could sail

Battle of Britain continued  July 10, 1940 German air force Luftwaffe set out to clear the skies  Targeted radar stations, airfields, ports and factories  Slowly the first RAF planes were wiped out

Battle of Britain continued  August – RAF bombed Berlin  commander of the German air force, Herman Goering retaliated with the “blitz” - bombing cities with the intention of terrorizing the civilian population into surrendering London bombed 57 consecutive nights. By the end of May 1941, over 43,000 civilians had been killed by bombing, ½ in London

Battle of Britain continued  Londoners responded by moving into air-raid shelters, subway stations, reopening their stores every day and just “carrying on”  British resistance grew stronger, not weaker

Battle of Britain continued  London raids allowed few remaining spitfires and Hurricanes to regroup: i.new pilots were trained ii.Planes came off assembly lines at about 500/month  Sept 15, 1940: Luftwaffe attacked but the RAF was ready. The Luftwaffe was decidedly beaten!

Battle of Britain continued Battle of Britain won by a few hundred pilots:  Canadians  Poles  Britons  South Africans  New Zealanders RAF lost 915 planes, Luftwaffe lost 1,722 planes

WW2, a new direction for Hitler If Hitler could not wipe out Britain, he would turn against the Soviet Union

WWII overview Sept 1939 Invasion of Poland Spring 1940 W. Europe Blitzkrieg Fall of: Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France - Miracle at Dunkirk Summer 1940 Battle of Britain June 1941 O. Barbarossa Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union Dec 1941 Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor Hong, Kong, and Many islands in The Pacific U.S. join the war Aug.1942 Cdn. Dieppe Raid Sept – end of war Italian Campaign June 1944 D-Day – allied Invasion of W. Europe “O. Overlord” May 1945 V.E. Day USSR Land Grab Aug 1945 V.A. Day Atom Bomb

Operation Barbarossa, June 1941  Hitler redirects his attack eastward  Breaks the non- aggression pact with the Soviet Union  Attacks the Soviet Union  The Allies and Soviets now united over a common enemy - Hitler Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km front

Operation Barbarossa continued  The Nazi would advance into the Soviet Union until the winter  Hitler overestimated the strength of soviet tanks and manpower  Soviets would eventually push the Germans back  This marks the beginning of the end for the Nazis