World War II 1939 - 1945

1
World War II1939 - 1945
2
Invasion of Poland

• Germany invaded Poland on 1st September 1939
• Britain France declared war on 3rd of September
• But initially held back from attacking Germany

3
The Blitzkrieg

• The blitzkrieg is German for 'lighting war'
• First used by the Luftwaffe (German
  Airforce) in April 1940
• First came aeriel bombing...
• ...followed by tanks and infantry
• The Allies were taken by suprise
• The Netherlands fell in 5 days
• Belgium in 18 days
• Luxembourg in 48 hours
• The excavation of Dunkirk started on May 26th

4
Pearl Harbour

• Hawaii - 7th December 1941
• Surprise attack by Japananese
• Kamikaze pilots and mini-subs
• Resulted in USA enterting the war

5
The Doolittle Raid

• 1942 18th of April
• Lt Colonel James H. Doolitle
• It was the first time the USA attacked the
  Japanese in WW2
• The Japanese used germ warfare to kill up to
  25,000 Chinese because they had helped the
  Americans

6
The Afrikakorps

• Germany and their friends Italy also fought the
  French and British in Africa
• The leader of the German Afrikakorps was Erwin
  Rommel known as the Desert Fox
• His tanks covered 320km in one day
• The best know battle was at El Alamein
• His panzer division were defeated by General
  Montgomery in 1943
• He was later linked to a plot to kill Hitler

7
Delivery Day

• D-Day was June 6th 1944 when the Allies landed on
  the beaches of Normandy France
• The German Army was taken by suprise
• They slowly advanced towards Germany
• The Russians attacked from the east in June
• Paris was freed in August 1944
• A famous tank battle happend called the battle of
  The Bulge

8
End of War

• The Russian Army entered Berlin on 21st April
• Hitler killed himself on April 30th
• Germany surrendered on 7th May victory was
  celebrated the following day known as VE day
• War continued in the Pacific until August
• On August 6th the USA dropped an Atom bomb on
  Hiroshima followed 3 days later by the bombing of
  Nagasaki
• Japan surrendered on August 14th

9

• 50 million dead
• 20 million Russians
• 15 million Soldiers
• 6 million Jews
• 4 million Poles
• gt2 million Japanese