Transcript File

TODAY’S PLAN
• Video Introduction: Saving Private Ryan
• Presentation: D-Day to Liberation
• Activity: Liberation of the Netherlands
D-DAY: THE PLAN
• Ever since the Evacuation of
Dunkirk, the Allies had planned
on invading France and taking it
back
• Hitler, however, had anticipated
this and built 2400 mile
fortification consisting of
bunkers, mines, and other
obstacles along the French coast
• In January 1944, General Dwight
Eisenhower was appointed
commander of D Day
(codenamed Operation Overlord)
ATLANTIC WALL
D-DAY: THE PLAN
• While the Allies had
created a diversionary
plan to attack Pas-De –
Calais (including a fake
army) the real target was
Normandy
• The attack was originally
planned for June 5, 1944
but due to bad weather it
was postponed until the
next day
D-DAY: THE ATTACK
• More than 5000 ships carrying
troops headed for Normandy on
the morning of June 6, 1944.
Along with them were 11,000
aircraft for support.
• By 6:30 am thousands of
paratroopers had landed behind
enemy lines
• The Americans attacked beaches
codenamed Utah and Omaha;
the British attacked Gold and
Sword; while Canadians attacked
Juno
D-DAY: THE ATTACK
• All beaches were taken within
the day with Omaha proving to
have the most resistance
• By the end of the day 156,000
Allied troops had landed on the
beaches of Normandy suffering
over 5000 casualties
• One week later on June 11 the
beaches were fully secured with
over 326,000 soldiers, 100,000
tons of equipment, and 50,000
vehicles
D-DAY: JUNO BEACH
• On the morning of D-Day, over 30,000
Canadians passed through concrete
barriers, barbed wired, and other
obstacles to take Juno Beach
• Canadian soldier massively
outnumbered German soldier who were
often under 18 or over 35 due to the
massive losses they had taken over the
war
• Over 100,000 soldiers would take a role
in D-Day and the following invasion
• On the first day of battle 359 Canadians
were killed while 715 were injured
D-DAY: THE LIBERATION
OF FRANCE
• With the invasion of Normandy the
Allies were slowly taking control of
Northern France
• On August 15, 1944 the Allies launched
Operation Dragoon in which 100,000
soldiers took over Southern France
and rapidly made their way north
• By the time the South and North armies
reached Paris it was largely evacuated
and the Allies liberated the city
• The attack in France forced the
Germans to borrow soldiers from the
East which gave the Soviet Union a
huge advantage
DID YOU KNOW?
•
The “D” in D-Day actually only stood for Day
and was simply used to preserve secrecy.
•
New gadgets designed for D-Day included a
“swimming tank” and a flame throwing tank
called “the crocodile”. There were even
collapsible motorbikes.
•
To plan for the operation the BBC ran a
competition for French beach holiday
photographs. It was actually a way of
gathering intelligence on suitable beaches.
•
It was the largest seaborne invasion in
history: 7,000 ships took part.
•
Commonwealth personnel, nearly all British
and Canadian, outnumbered the Americans
on D-day. Of the 156,000 men landed in
France on 6 June, 73,000 were American,
and 83,000 were British and Canadian,
while the Commonwealth naval contingent
was twice that of the Americans.
THE BATTLE OF THE
BULGE
• In the winter months of 194445, Hitler launched his last
attack
• The Germans were to send a
massive army group through
the Ardennes Forest and cut off
communication between
Canada, USA, and Britain
• The attack took the Allies by
surprise and was largely
successful for the first two days
THE BATTLE OF THE
BULGE
• The bad weather also supported the
Axis because as it prevented the Allies
from using air support
• The battle lasted a month and was
locked in a stalemate for most of it
• Hitler’s attack, however, relied heavily
on vehicles and the Germans were
running dangerously low on fuel
leading to an Allied victory
• The battle had heavy losses for both
sides
• The Allies: 90,948
• The Axis: 67,200-100,000
THE BOMBING OF DRESDEN
• In February 1945, the Allied
forces bombed the city of
Dresden for three reasons
• Dresden was a Nazi city and
the bombing was therefore
justified
• Dresden was a massive
producer of Germany’s
weapons and equipment
• Though the Russians were
their allies, Roosevelt and
Churchill wished to show how
powerful they were in case
Russia turned on them
THE BOMBING OF DRESDEN
• Over three bombing
raids, the entire city of
Dresden was burnt down
• Temperatures were so
high that the roads of the
city melted
• 3,330 tons of bombs
were dropped and
between 35,000-135,000
people died
BATTLE FOR BERLIN
• By April 1945, the Allies had completely
surrounded Berlin
• The Soviet Union had devastated German
forced after the Battle of Stalingrad and
was now ready to attack Germany’s
capital
• Moreover, the Soviets had 2,500,000
soldiers ready for the battle while
Germany only had 1,000,000 (most of the
old men and children)
• Despite Hitler’s slim chances of winning,
he decided to fight to the last man
• After shelling the city for three weeks, the
Soviets sent in 1 million soldiers and
destroyed the city with tanks
• 80,000 Russians were killed versus
150,000 Germans
• On May 2 1945, Berlin surrendered to the
Soviets
GERMAN SURRENDER
• During the Battle for
Berlin Adolf Hitler hid
in his bunker
underneath the
Reich Chancellery
Building
• On April 28, 1945
Adolf Hitler married
his long time
girlfriend Eva Braun.
GERMAN SURRENDER
• Finally realising that Germany
could not win the War, Hitler
and his new wife killed
themselves on April 30, 1945.
There bodies were burned.
• On May 7, 1945 General
Alfred Jodl surrendered on
behalf of Germany in Reims,
France.
• With the surrender of
Germany, the War in Europe
was over.
DID YOU KNOW
• Despite becoming the dictator of Germany,
Hitler was not born there. Hitler was born in
Braunau am Inn, Austria on April 20, 1889
• Throughout his youth, Hitler dreamed of
becoming an artist. He applied twice to the
Vienna Academy of Art (once in 1907 and again
in 1908) but was denied entrance both times.
• Hitler endured and survived four years of World
War I. During this time, he was awarded two
Iron Crosses for bravery.
• Adolf Hitler had one sister that lived past
childhood. Paula Hitler lived until 1960 and had
no ties to the Nazi party
• On January 2 1939, Hitler was declared Times
Magazine “Man of the Year 1938”