EVENTS OF WWII

YEARS OF CRISIS

Operation Sea Lion

German Plan to take over Britain

They were going to land 25 divisions along the south coast of England-thrust forward to take London.

Tank divisions and infantry troops could only reach Br by ship

The Battle of Britain

Germany would have to control the ocean; they could do that only by controlling the air. (Br. defences were limited, apart from the Royal Navy)

July 1940: Hitler unleashed a savage air attack on British ships in the English Channel

By mid Aug., 2000 German aircraft were in the skies over Britain

The Battle of Britain The British RAF was small in

comparison to the German Luftwaffe (LW)- knocking out air fields and supply factories.

Then the LW tried to break the will of Britain by targeting cities/civilians (“Blitz”)

The Germans feared that winter might delay the planned invasion.

CHURCHILL’S RESPONSE In response, PM Churchill

ordered bombing raids on Berlin.

Hitler was outraged with what he called "terror bombings”

German air attacks peaked on Sept 15, 1940 when 1000 LW bombers and 700 fighters flew over London in a daylight raid.

RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes climbed high to meet them, and spectacular air battles took place.

VIDEO

THE END OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

GERMANY LOSES The LW losses were great

and Germany realized that their tactics were not working.

Operation Sea Lion was abandoned (another of Hitler's errors).

By 1941, Hitler had redeployed the LW to the Balkans and later the Russian front.

For Br. the worst was over.

The Reasons for the Br. victory: radar insular geography ability to hold out RAF ("Never have so

many owed so much to so few.")

Germany's Invasion of the Soviet Union On June 22,1941 Hitler

attacked the Soviet Union.

This was Operation Barbarossa.

The Soviet Union found itself in the allied camp.

What would have motivated Hitler/Ger. to attack the USSR?

Largest country in the world

Natural Resources-Minerals, oil

LEBENSRAUM

At first, the Soviets were At first, the Soviets were unable to stop the unable to stop the German German blitzkriegblitzkrieg and and suffered over 1 million suffered over 1 million casualties.casualties.

Operation Barbarossa 3 million Nazi troops Stalin was shocked at this

betrayal Blitzkreig looked to be

successful Nazi Soviet War

Largest most brutal battles

Deadliest atrocities Miserable conditions

SCORCHED EARTH POLICY The Soviet army just kept retreating into the massive land area

By late fall, the Ger. soldiers were headed for Moscow and got

within 39 km. Russia used a ‘scorched earth’ policy in its retreat, which

involved destroying all resources that could be of use to the enemy- shelter, rail and communication lines, livestock, crops, and supplies.

The Germans did not get to Moscow before winter, and suffered great hardships – temps. as low as -50 c, no warm clothing, no anti-freeze, no oils suitable for winter operation of their tanks....

Siberian troops were brought in to defend Moscow.

Hitler's gamble failed and a quick, decisive victory did not occur.

It would be a long, hard fought war. HOWEVER Russia’s unlimited

supply of soldiers along with the weather forced Germany to retreat by January 1943.

The Soviet Union suffered over 21,000,000 casualties during WWII.

GERMANY LOSES

The Battle of Dieppe Aug. 1942, 5000 Canadian

soldiers were picked up from England for a raid on the French port of Dieppe. They had trained for 3 years.

The Canadians, with 1000 Br. and some Americans, were to attack Dieppe.

The raid was intended to pull German forces away from the Russian front and to test Ger. defences.

Dieppe BeachesGerman forces were German forces were planted on the cliffs planted on the cliffs above the Dieppe above the Dieppe beaches. beaches.

They started shooting They started shooting as the Canadians as the Canadians charged down the charged down the landing ramps.landing ramps.

Results of Dieppe Out of 5000, almost 1000

died, more than 500 were wounded, 2000 were captured and became POWs

Soldiers never had a chance to fight

Dieppe was a costly learning experience

Future attacks against the Germans would have to be MASSIVE and WELL ORGANIZED

The few who made it to the beach were killed there; only a few made it to the town.

Officer and soldiers examining a Churchill tank stuck on the beach in front of the boardwalk after the battle, its left track broken. Wounded men lying on the ground are about to be evacuated.

Canadian prisoners escorted by German guards marching through Dieppe, August 19th, 1942.

THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC

WWII Events

JAPANESE AGRESSION

Japanese expansion in East Asia began in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria and continued in 1937 with a brutal attack on China.

On February 24th, 1933, Japan stuns the world and withdraws from the League of Nations.

The Tripartite Pact

On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, thus entering the military alliance known as the "Axis."

Question #1

How do feel about this? Should you be concerned? Should something be done?

Embargo Against Japan

United States, Britain and the Netherlands froze all Japanese financial assets.

The effect was to prevent Japan from purchasing oil, which would, in time, cripple its army and make its navy and air force completely useless.

THE SITUATION

Relations between Japan and Western nations had reached a breaking point

Japan was hard hit by US tariffs Having invaded Korea and China, begun to build its empire in

the Pacific (the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere) The U.S. had stationed a naval fleet in Hawaii in case of

war in the Pacific Britain wanted to help, but could not spare the troops. Canada helped by sending soldiers to Hong Kong.

PEARL HARBOUR

U.S. and Japan were trying to sign a peace treaty.

Secretly, Japan was planning an attack because they wanted the West's colonies in the Pacific

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto planned a surprise attack using fighter planes launched from Japanese aircraft carriers.

THE ATTACK

Dec. 7, 1941 – the attack began… Japan had not declared war (it was late) and the U.S. was caught off guard.

After 2 hrs. the U.S. fleet was destroyed and 1000s were killed…

VIDEO

Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour

THE SLEEPING GIANT

The U.S. immediately declared war. (Dec. 8, 1941- "A day that will live in infamy")

The US was the richest nation in the world and could invest enormous amounts of $ and troops to the war effort.

The US became the Arsenal of Democracy

Japan had awoken the “sleeping giant”

What is the message of the poster?

What is the message of the poster?

What is the message of the poster?

The Battle of Hong Kong

On Dec. 8, 1941, Japan launched its attack on Hong Kong.

Their air force destroyed docks, military barracks, airplanes etc.

Churchill had asked Canada to send troops to help

HONG KONG

Every Canadian soldier in HK was killed or taken prisoner.

The battle was considered a "death trap”

Dec. 19, 1941- Japanese soldiers attacked. Canadians were outnumbered 10 to 1.

HONG KONG-Why did they Fail? More than 50 000 Japanese

soldiers were stationed 50 km from Hong Kong

The Japanese were well-equipped and experienced

Plans for the Japanese attack had been drafted 1 yr. earlier-code name was Hana-Saku —"flowers in bloom”

Canadian troops were insufficiently trained - 30% of them had not even fired a gun

Can & Br. troops did not total more than 14 000, including nurses and civilian volunteers.

RESULTS

By Christmas 1941, Hong Kong surrendered after only 17 days.

286 Canadians died and another 266 would die in Prisoner of War (P.O.W.) camps.

Question 2

Has your stance changed? What are some of the potential implications for Canada?

JAPANESE POW`S Canadian prisoners were brutalized and starved. They stayed in crowded

barracks and were used as slave labour, building landing strips and shipyards, etc.

A single serving of plain rice 3 times a day. Many fell ill from exhaustion, malnutrition, pneumonia, or cholera.

Red Cross medicine was sent to the camps but was stolen and sold on the black market.

Death rates in Japanese P.O.W. camps were 6 times higher than in German camps.