History 12 - Caleb & Layton

In May 1940, France declared war on the Germans because they invaded Poland but not soon after they were defeated by the Germans getting the name “Fall of France”. A reason that they lost was that they were unprepared. It is significant because it is remembered as one of the most important battles of WW2. The Germans invaded France through the Ardennes forest but the French believed that it would be difficult for German tanks and forces. They also believed that any of the German attacks would come from the border so they would be able to defend the Maginot line. They were very false about this because the Germans moved at a very fast pace through the Ardennes forest and the allied troops were poorly equipped. The Germans faced 156,000 casualties while the allies were faced with 2,292,000 casualties 90,000 were killed 200,000 were wounded and 1,800,000 were captured.

On July 10th 1940, this is the time when Germany bombed Britain to destroy there aircrafts and the airforce in order to invade them. This was very significant because of the first battle campaign to be fought entirely by air forces. It was also the largest and most undergoing bombing it lasted months because the Germans kept on bombing Britain. There air forces were seen as the key that they won the battle. But there were many lives lost in the battle 2662 German casualties, they lost 1250 aircrafts with 1017 men in all of that 520 men died in fighter command.

On June 22nd, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union because of both Hitler’s urge to overthrow the Soviets and his heightened suspicion of Stalin’s intentions. The Germans unleashed nearly 150 divisions on the Soviet Union, consisting of about 3,000,000 men. In total the Barbarossa force included about 2,500 air-crafts, 3,000 tanks, and 7,000 artillery pieces. The largest invasion in history was in full effect. This invasion spanned across the North Cape to the Black Sea. The Germans speculated that the western parts of the U.S.S.R. consisted of about 150 divisions; however, the Soviets brought over 200 fresh divisions by mid-August. Germany severely underestimated their opponent and suffered the reparations of doing so. The Germans were able to defeat the original Soviet army, but were stopped by the fresh divisions. The invasion officially was put to an end on December 5th, 1941. This failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a ‘two-front war’ against alliances with superior resources and assets, which made Barbarossa one of the most significant turning points of the second World War.

On September 8th, 1941, German began its siege of a major industrial center in the Soviet Union and their second-largest city, Leningrad. Also known as the 900-day Siege, the siege of Leningrad lasted 872 days. Leningrad was one of the original culprits of German’s invasion in June 1941. The siege spanned across the western Soviet Union which caused hundreds of thousands of civilians to be evacuated and sent to the east. The remaining two million residents were ordered to construct anti-tank fortifications along the city’s edge. When Germany had surrounded Leningrad on September 8th, they were stopped by the fortifications and the Red Army. Germany began attacking from the east in October, and the Finnish advanced from the North. By November, Leningrad was almost completely surrounded. Throughout the attack, Germany sent in air-strikes which occurred a few times a day during the siege. Supplies ran very low in the city and many fell victim to starvation. Then in January 1943, the Red Army were able to break through the German line which created a route for supplies. Soviet forces advanced towards Leningrad in 1944 which forced the Germans to eventually retreat to the south on January 27th. This siege was very significant to World War II because it cost over 1,000,000 Soviet lives. Up until the 1960s, Leningrad had not restored their population of 3,000,000.

On December 7th, 1941, Japanese airplanes made a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour and the US Navy. The Pearl Harbour is found in O’ahu, Hawaii, which was a US territory at the time.This Japanese attack forced the United States to join the second World War. While Europe and Asia had been involved in the war for about 2 years, the United States had stayed out of it. Since Hawaii was halfway between Japan and the American west coast, Japan was anxious of the US Navy. Their solution was to cripple the US Navy and take out their war ships to prevent an American attack. However, the result of Pearl Harbour was America joining the war the next day, so Japan failed in that prospect. This ambush on the harbour was a complete surprise, without warning, suddenly hundreds of Japanese fighter planes and bombers came zooming towards Pearl Harbour. The attack consisted of two waves and by the second wave, the US Navy ships were obliterated. Although Japan greatly damaged the US Navy, it was not too severe for the United States because they were able to almost completely recover from it. During the attack, 2,390 Americans were killed and only 64 Japanese. This attack was very significant because it united the Americans rather than break them, and was the reason that the United States joined the war and eventually became one of the major combatants of WWII.

Beginning on June 4th and ending on June 7th, 1942, the Battle of Midway was one of the most important battles of the Second World War. This island gets the name ‘Midway’ because it is located between Asia and North America, and because of its geographical advantages, it was a very important asset in the war. After the U.S. launched its attack on the Japanese home islands, Japan decided to attack Midway Island in order to push back the American presence in the Pacific. The Japanese’s plan was to catch the Americans off guard and trap their aircraft carriers before the U.S. could have a chance to fight back. Unfortunately for Japan, a number of Japanese transmissions regarding their plans were intercepted by American codebreakers, so the Americans were ready for the attack with traps of their own. When Japan launched their fighter planes and bombers on Midway, three American aircraft carriers were ready and closed in on the Japanese. The Japanese were unable to fend off the American strike on their vessels. The Japanese lost four aircraft carriers which was detrimental to their attack. This attack was very significant because it was a decisive victory for the United States and turned the tide of WWII on the Pacific Front.

Beginning in early 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad was one of the deadliest and widespread battles in World War II. Located in the Southwest of Russia on the Volga River, Stalingrad was a major communications and industrial center. Since Stalingrad was named after Josef Stalin, it was very important to him. The city was also important to Stalin enemy, Hitler for very different reasons. The battle of Stalingrad began with the Luftwaffe, the German air force began bombing the river and then the city itself. The city was reduced to scraps. As the German forces moved in on the city, the Soviet troops stood their ground and fought fiercely. By November 1942, the Soviet troops rounded up and began a counter attack. They surrounded the Germans and trapped them within the city. German supplies were running low and they eventually surrendered. This angered Hitler because he expected his General, Friedrich Paulus to fight to the death, and he later stripped Paulus of his rank and held a national day of mourning because of the shame that Paulus brought Germany. This battle suffered enormous losses on both sides, about 750,000 German soldiers were killed and nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers died as well. This battle was significant not only because of its staggering fatalities, but also because it was a turning point in the war, after this battle, Germany never completely recovered from their losses.

On August 19th 1942. The Dieppe Raid was between Canadians with other allies and Germany. It was the first Canadian Army engagement in the European theatre. They wanted to have a successful on German Occupied Europe over waters. It did not go too well because the German forces were on alert and the result was a disaster. Not even 10 hours in allied troops were killed some evacuated and captured. Over 900 Canadians were killed. The Dieppe raid happened in France. This was a failure because of poor planning. The officials knew that Dieppe was very well protected but they took the risk anyways. They attacked a beach with mountains this gave the Germans an advantage of higher ground.

Beginning on July 1st and ending on July 27th 1942, the first Battle of El Alamein in Egypt resulted in a deadlock between the Axis forces, consisting of Germany, Italy, and the Afrika Korps, and the Allied forces which consisted of Britain, British India, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. The second Battle of El Alamein which began on October 23rd, 1942 was more decisive of the state of the Axis in North Africa. At 9:40pm on October 23rd, the battle began with a ground and air attack by Britain and its allies. After the first attack, the British XXX Corps advanced to the northern sector and the XIII Corps advanced to the south. Both Corps managed to dig deep into enemy lines but were unable to completely breakthrough, so they began phase two; Dogfight. This phase included a multitude of limited attacks on the enemy’s defence positions. These attacks were lead by General Bernard Montgomery, who was the most famous general of WWII. The third phase was the ‘Breakout’, which was a final blow to Marshal Erwin Rommel’s German Corps. By November 11, 1942, German forces were in full retreat. Back in Britain, they rang the church bells for the first time for almost 3 years to celebrate the success of the Eighth Army. The Battle of El Alamein, particularly the second one, was significant to World War II because it was a turning point in the North African campaign and was the only great land battle won by the British without American participation.