th Air Corps Bombers arrive in Britain Begin bombing campaigns 1943 Change bombing British Night: Disruption US Day: Precission Way more dangerous 14 Oct “Black Thursday” Of 2,900 crew, 650 are killed in two separate runs 117 B-17’s lost

Mustang Introduced Faster and can travel with bombers longer Gen. Doolittle switches objectives Destory German fighters Bombers unprotected More destruction of both German and US planes

332 Fighter Group all African-America July 1944 Begin escorting bombers Not one bomber lost that they escorted

America and Britain prepare for European invasion Gen. Dwight Eisenhower put in overall command American soldiers and supplies begin piling up

Two attack 1 st: 24,000 airborne troops dropped night before Take out coastal defenses and secure roads 2 nd : Troop Landings Five different beaches American: Utah and Omaha British: Sword and Gold Canadian/Polish: Juno

British Intelligence capture German spies in London Begin sending communication that attack will be at Calais Shorter route Patton placed in charge of First Army Group Fictional force Fools Germans badly

Rommel placed in charge Atlantic Wall Massive protective front Large guns Beach defenses Wants reserves closer to Normandy Hitler sure attack is coming at Calais

Supposed to go June 5 th 1944 Weather Delayed June 5 th Get go ahead Airborne is sent Miss marks Flack a fear causes may pilots to let troops go early Some land in Channel Other way off objectives

5,000 ships take troops Battleships and Bombers lay down fire Smoke fired to cover landings British Sword and Gold taken fairly easy Set off towards port city of Caen Canadian: Take Juno

Orders were not to awake Hitler Word comes in of D-Day landings No one wakes up Hitler Finally wakes up Rommel requests reserves to be sent to Normandy Hitler denies request Still believes Calais is objective

US 2 nd Rangers Heavy firing but take beaches Must climb cliffs to Pointe Du Hoc Take guns protecting Utah and Omaha beaches Will lose 60% holding the Pointe

The hardest Beach of the five German troops were Eastern Front veterans Strongest defenses of Initial landing Troops bogged down Second and thrid Finally break lines and head inland By 4pm beach is taken Over 3,000 killed

Initial penetration inland is very slow Hedgerows make it hard for tanks Troops bogged down German reinforcement Panzer divisions finally arrive

Addition of Cullin hedgerow cutter allows break St Lo liberated 20 July 1944 Allows US troops to break out in Northern France Push to Paris

July 20, 1944 Attempt on Hitler’s life by German Officers Bomb goes off Hitler saved by table Conspirators caught and killed Rommel implicated Forced to take cyanide

France liberated on Aug. 25, 1944 Allies begin Push into Northern Belgium and East towards Germany Russians break German lines and begin push towards Poland

Sept , 1944 Montgomery plan to take 5 bridges leading into Germany If successful end war by Christmas German reinforcements block taking of key bridges Montgomery slow to act Operation failed

German offensive Push allies back Take Antwerp and push allies back into the English Channel Surprise Dec. 15, 1944 Allies caught off guard Poor weather ground air support Germans push is expansive

Russians finally advance into Berlin April 30, 1945 Hitler and wife Eva Braun kill themselves Body is burnt US and British forces advance through West Germany Eagle’s Nest taken

Key city If falls Germans have clear path to Antwerp Surrounded by Germans US 101 st Airborne hold- out Relieved by Gen. Patton Makes 100 mile push through German lines in 48 hrs Weather opens Germans retreat

May 8, 1945 German high command surrender Focus now turns to Japan