TURNING POINTS OF

WORLD WAR 2The events that led to the end

Canadian History

THE TIDES TURNThe Italian situation In 1942 the war strength began to turn in

favour of the allies British and American troops began to push

back successfully against the German and Italian armies in North Africa Marshall Rommel, aka the “Desert Fox” led these axis

forces The Russians fought against the Germans

in the Battle of Stalingrad– the winter was too harsh for the Germans In February 1943, the once proud German Battalion

(6th Army) surrendered The Russians took 90 000 prisoners and now the

Soviet’s who were betrayed by Germany sought revenge

Together, these two armies, strong and determined, turned their efforts to Berlin

THE UNITED STATES ADVANCES•The US recovered quickly after Pearl Harbour and set their sights on Japan

•They defeated the Japanese Navy at Midway Island

•China was also trying to fight off the Japanese with their army•British and Commonwealth (New Zealand etc) were approaching from the south

Click icon to add picture

THE ITALIAN DEFEAT Canadian soldiers hadn’t

been involved in any large attacks since Dieppe

Under the leadership of General Montgomery “the battle of Sicily” began

This battle was fought over 38 days (July)

Mussolini’s dream of an Italian empire was crumbling as he realized the allied forces were coming for mainland Italy

His own people rebelled against him and threw him out of power in 1943

Hitler moves his troops into Italy to defend it— Not to help Mussolini but to defend

an open bridge to Germany

Sicily

THE LIBERATION OF ITALY91000 Canadians fought in Italy, it was a long and hard battle– more than 30 000 were wounded or killed. The Germans did try hard too with snipers hiding in the mountains.

Along the way, the Italians who supported to allied forces helped them along the way

In the Battle of Ortona, 1375 Canadians died The Germans went door to door

fighting in this town It took a month to capture this town–

Canadians were very good at street fighting They developed “the mouse holing technique”

They used explosives to blast a hole in the attic through houses that were connected to gain access to houses in a row

They would clear the house and then move to the next

D –DAY •Is the name given to the long awaited Invasion of France• Canadians, Americans, New Zealanders, Indian,

South African, French and Polish armies marched towards France after conquering Italy

D-DAY CONTINUED…

D-day was code named Operation Overlord Everything was set and in place the only concern was the

weather– high winds meant that the ships couldn’t dock June 6th became the final date for D-day (a day after it was

planned) Germans were set up in a port town in France called Calais– they

used the natural coast line to guard the take back of France The Allied forces set up a MOCK/FAKE camp to trick the Germans

into thinking that they were setting up camp in another place They set up fake tents, inflatable tanks and dummy ships etc

THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY- D-DAY The Allied forces having tricked the Germans

that they were located elsewhere, they attacked on the beaches of Normandy Bombers pounded the German base They learnt from Dieppe and knew they couldn’t

invade from the port== they had to be dropped behind them

NORMANDY CONNECTION TODAY

D-DAY PLAN STRATEGY The allied planned 5 points of invasion

Utah and Omaha for the Americans Gold and Sword for the British Juno for the Canadians

For Canadians, it was a long day of battle– 340 were killed, 574 wounded– 13 000 in total Canadians wounded in the battles to follow

Canadians advanced the farthest inland

JUNO BEACH

There were a few complications with Juno, the ground troops really succeeded in this storm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6QvsHkIRgg

The documentary is rated PG-13– there is a “bad” word said

KEY MOMENTS The A-Bomb (Atomic bomb) or Mushroom

Cloud in Hiroshima On August 6th 1945 an American bomber

dropped the first Atomic bomb in history The bomb was dropped by an American

plane and drifted to ground Your body melted from the heat of the

blast 173 000 people died and hundreds were

poisoned from the remnants The Americans demanded the Japanese

surrender--- they did not Another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki

They finally surrendered on August 15th 1945 Known as V-J day Video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwkyPvlWPM0

KEY MOMENTS Berlin

11 months before D-day, Soviet troops now fighting against Germany met in Berlin and fought in Central Germany

Canadians were given the duty of capturing and clearing ports along the way to Berlin to allow allied ships to dock

On Sept. 8th 1944 Canadian forces entered Dieppe again on foot and were victors!

Holland 1945 saw the freeing of

Holland by the Canadian troops

Canadians stormed German troops in the Dutch land and were received by locals with much appreciation and warmth

THE END OF DICTATORSHIPS

On April 25 1945 Mussolini was captured and shot by his own people

They strung his body by a hook and displayed it in a major city (Milan)

Click icon to add picture

THEN…. In an underground bunker, Hitler listens to the advancing troops (Soviets) in Berlin (April 28th )

He shot himself with a revolver and ordered his body burned, so he could not be publicly displayed or humiliated

On May 8th 1945- Germany surrendered

This was known as V-E Day Victory in Europe Day

THE RESULT OF ALL OF THIS?

Exhausted countries, anger, bitterness, confusionThe Atomic bomb opened a whole new RACE to armsThe league of Nations were now replaced by the United Nations

Could peace be kept?

Is there a New World Order? Power?