ww2

• Battle of Dunkirk: May–June 1940

  • British troops trapped in Dunkirk during the Battle of France
  • 338,000 British Expeditionary Force members ferried to Britain in the "Miracle at Dunkirk"
  • Adolf Hitler halted Nazi armored forces for two days, aiding the Allied rescue effort
• Battle of Okinawa: April–June 1945

  • Last major battle of World War II on the island of Okinawa
  • Operation Iceberg: Allied forces landed in largest amphibious assault in the Pacific theater
  • U.S. carrier-based bombers sunk Japanese battleship Yamato
  • Japan lost 110,000 men in the battle
  • Allied victory put Japan in striking distance, leading to the atomic bombs dropped by President Harry S. Truman
• Battle of Bataan: January–April 1942

  • Japanese offensive in the Philippines led to U.S. forces cornered on the Bataan peninsula
  • 76,000 Allied troops surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army
  • Transfer of POWs known as the Bataan Death March
• Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo: August 1942

  • Battle during the Guadalcanal campaign
  • U.S. forces faced fierce Japanese resistance on small islands in the Solomons
• Second Battle of El Alamein: October–November 1942

  • Ended Edwin Rommel's offensive in the Western Desert Campaign
  • British Eighth Army defeated German and Italian troops
  • Shifted momentum of the North African campaign
• Attack on Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941

  • Surprise attack on U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor by 353 Japanese aircraft
  • Damaged eight battleships and killed 2,403 Americans
  • Motivated the U.S. to become fully involved in the war
• Operation Bagration: June–August 1944

  • Soviet offensive against Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front
  • Swift attack with 166 divisions along a 450-mile expanse
  • Nearly 750,000 Soviet casualties during the operation
• Operation Torch: November 1942

  • U.S. troops landed in North Africa to dislodge Nazi Germany's hold on the French North African Coast
  • First combat against Germany for U.S. troops in World War II
• Battle of Narva: February–August 1944

  • Battle between Germany and the Leningrad Front for control of Narva Isthmus
  • Two phases: Battle for Narva Bridgehead and Battle of Tannenberg Line
  • Both sides lost more than 500,000 soldiers combined
• Siege of Leningrad:

  • Also known as "the 900-day siege"
  • Lasted 872 days
  • German and Finnish forces surrounded and took over Leningrad
  • More than 650,000 Soviet lives lost in a single year due to starvation, disease, and shelling
• Battle of Crete:

  • German air assault on the Greek island of Crete
  • First action with paratroopers dropped in large numbers
  • British and Greek forces defended Crete
  • Germans captured vital airfield at Maleme and flew in reinforcements
  • Allies surrendered after two weeks of fighting
• Battle of Iwo Jima:

  • Iconic event with American flag being raised
  • Japanese defenders dug in with elaborate bunkers, caves, and tunnels
  • Massive naval and air bombardment preceded the attack
  • Japanese put up strong resistance, few surrendered
  • Many positions cleared out by hand grenades and flamethrowers
• Battle of Anzio:

  • Allies staged massive amphibious operation in Italy
  • Germans surrounded the area with defensive positions
  • Allies pushed back almost to the beachhead
  • Over 100,000 reinforcements and five months of fighting needed to break out
• Battle of the Bulge:

  • Hitler's surprise Blitzkrieg to halt Allied advance
  • American forces held on despite heavy casualties
  • Germans ran out of supplies, offensive lost steam
  • Allied lines bulged but did not break, Germany lacked resources for another offensive
• Battle of Monte Cassino:

  • Allied assaults on defensive positions known as the Winter Line
  • Battle remembered for destruction of the abbey of Monte Cassino
  • More than 50,000 casualties on the Allied side
• Battle of Britain:

  • German Luftwaffe attacks on British airfields and cities
  • Stukas proved vulnerable, Germans couldn't defeat Royal Air Force
  • Hitler's invasion plans put on hold indefinitely
• Battle of Sedan:

  • Germans launched Blitzkrieg with Panzer tanks
  • French Maginot Line defenses shattered
  • Germans attacked French positions at Sedan with massed Stuka dive bombers
  • France fell soon afterwards
• Battle of Brody:

  • Operation Barbarossa, German attack on Soviet Russia
  • Battle of Brody in Western Ukraine
  • German Stukas dominated the area, disrupted Russian forces
  • Russian numerical superiority made no difference
• Battle of Leyte Gulf:

  • Largest naval battle in history off the coast of the Philippines
  • Japanese forces failed to unite, resulting in scattered actions
  • Japanese light carriers and battleships sunk
  • First use of kamikaze tactic
• Battle of the Atlantic:

  • U-boat packs aimed to blockade Europe
  • Merchant ships sailed in convoys protected by destroyers and corvettes
  • Battle won by technology including radar, radio interception, and code-breaking
  • More than 3,000 merchant ships and almost 800 U-Boats sunk