Transcript WWII Battles - Flushing Community Schools

WWII GENERALS AND
BATTLES
Generals – The United States
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Omar Bradley
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Attended West Point
Married Mamie
Allied commander of North Africa where he defeated Rommel
Allied forces commander during the Normandy invasion
Became President
Graduated from West Point
Planned and participated in Normandy invasion
Named first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
George Patton
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Considered one of the most successful generals in US History
Fought in WWI
Led the Allies to victory in Sicily
Part of the Normandy invasion
Died in Germany in 1945 in a car accident
Generals – The United States,
continued
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James Doolittle
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Fought in WWI
Led the Doolittle Raid in WWII
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Was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor
Douglas MacArthur
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Killed 50 and injured 400 in bombing sites in Tokyo
Missed primary targets
Father, Arthur was a strong military leader
Fought in WWI
Commanded troops in the Pacific
Remained in Japan for six years after the war
Was fired by Dwight Eisenhower for his extreme strategy during the Korean War
Chester Nimitz
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Fought in WWI
After Pearl Harbor, he was promoted to commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet
Generals - Germany
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Erwin Rommel
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Hermann Goring
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Most successful generals
Called the “Desert Fox” because he used surprised attacks
Successful for a time in North Africa
British forces defeated him in Egypt
Was sent back to France
Tried to overthrow Hitler
Drank poison, killing himself in 1944
Served in WWI
Commanded Hitler’s Stormtroopers
Addicted to pain medication
Tried to take power legally from Hitler
Was tried an convicted after WWII
On the night of his execution, he took poison and died in his cell
Adolf Hitler
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Evil
Scared of cats
Generals – France, China and Japan
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Charles de Gaulle
French
 Fought in WWI
 Captured in WWI
 Released at the end of the
war
 Fled to England after
France’s surrender
 Arrogant
 President in 1959
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Chaing Kai-shek
Chinese
 Allied powers because of
their tense relationship with
Japan
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Hideki Tojo
Japanese
 General during WWII
 Becomes Prime Minister
 Tried and executed after
the war
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Battle of the Atlantic
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September 1939-1945
War’s longest continuous military campaign
Goal
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Germans used U-Boats
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Unterseeboot
Underwater boats or early submarines
Germans were very successful until 1941
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Stop Allied shipments across the Atlantic to Great Britain and the
Soviet Union
Americans helped with convoys
Royal Air Force (RAF) increased coverage
CASUALTIES
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100 convoy battles and about 58,000 men died
Battle of the Atlantic Map
Battle of Britain
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Summer and fall of 1940
Largest sustained bombing campaign at that time
Turning point of WWII
BACKGROUND
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Germany was gaining a lot of land
Using surprise air attacks
The RAF saved the country from a German ground invasion
Because Hitler was not gaining enough momentum, he suspended the
Battle of Britain, but did not admit defeat
CASUALTIES
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The German Luftwaffe lost about 1900 aircraft and 2,500 aircrew
The RAF lost about 1000 aircraft and 500 aircrew
Battle of Britain Map
Battle of Coral Sea
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May 4-8, 1942
Significance: Japanese sought to extend their control by taking
all of New Guinea & occupying the Solomon Islands. They
hoped this would draw the US Navy’s carriers into battle so
they could be destroyed.
 3 Japanese fleets left to invade the new area.
Result:
Allies
Japanese
Lost: Lexington (carrier); Sims
(destroyer); Neosho (oiler)
Lost: Shoho (destroyer)
Damaged: Shokaku
(destroyer), Zuikaku (air
group)
543 Killed
1,074 Killed
Battle of Coral Sea Map
Battle of Midway
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June 4, 1942
Significance: Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto planned
an invasion of Midway Island (a base for attacking Hawaii)
to draw the US Pacific Fleet into a battle where he could
destroy it.
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Victory for US
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Japanese carriers launched 108 planes to attack.
US responded with several dive bombers that sunk many of the
Japanese ships.
340 American’s Killed
3,057 Japanese Killed
Battle of Midway marked the turning point of WWII in the
Pacific.
Battle of Midway Map
Battle of Guadalcanal
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June 8, 1942-February 9, 1943
Islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi and the Solomon
Islands were targeted in this campaign
The goal was to ensure that the Japanese did not
have access to Australia and New Zealand
There were very important supply lines from the US
and Great Britain
Allies won this battle and stopped the Japanese
from furthering expanding their territory
Battle of Guadalcanal Map
Battle of Stalingrad
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July 17, 1942-February 2, 1943
Russians consider this the greatest battle of their war
One of the bloodiest battles in history
Germany and USSR understood why Stalingrad was important
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Industrial and transportation center
Won by the USSR mainly because Germans were freezing to death
and were unable to get help
FACTS
Germany had to surrender
• 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment was an
all female Soviet battalion. All fought and
Hitler was humiliated
died in battle
CASUALTIES
• Hitler would not allow retreat and it is why
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Axis – 850,000
USSR – 1,129,619
he lost this battle
• Hitler sent summer uniforms and vodka as
supplies to his troops
• King George VI honored the Russians by
giving a giant sword to Stalingrad
Operation Overlord
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June 6, 1944-August 1944
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Commanded by General Eisenhower
Allied invasion of France
Largest amphibious attack in history
Storming the beaches of Normandy nicknamed Utah,
Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword
Involved a fake army to channel Hitler’s resources to the
wrong spot
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Bad weather delayed the invasion by one day
Makes Hitler believe the real attack as at another place in
France
Turned the tide of the entire war
Also known as D-Day
Operation Overlord Map
Battle of the Bulge
(Ardennes Offensive)
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December 16, 1944-January 25, 1945
German goal was to split the Americans and British line in
half
Fought in a dense forest in Belgium, France and Luxembourg
US had the highest casualties in this battle
Weather played a major role in the battle as snow storms
made it difficult for Germans to provide air support
When weather improved, the Allies used the Air Force to
attack the Germans
Momentum changed several times, but in the end, the Allies
won this battle
Battle of the Bulge Map
Battle of Iwo Jima
February 19, 1945-March 16, 1945
 US Marines invaded Iwo Jima after months of
bombardment
 One of the bloodiest battles in Marine history
 After the battle, Iwo Jima served as an emergency
landing site for US Airmen
 The picture on the right was famously
taken at Iwo Jima by Louis Lowery
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Battle of Iwo Jima Map
Battle of Okinawa
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April 1-June 22, 1945
The island was important to get closer to an invasion
in Japan
100,000 civilians were killed in this battle
One of the bloodiest battles of the war
America declared the island secure on July 2
Battle of Okinawa Map