8. ATTACKING FRANCE
• Supreme Allied Commander
– Following the success of Operation
Torch, Eisenhower is placed in
charge of all Allied forces in Europe
– He will lead the attack on France
• Tricking the Axis Forces
– 3+ million troops and thousands of
planes, tanks, etc. are gathered in
southern Great Britain
– Germans expected an attack in
France and believed it would be in
the northeastern seaport of Calais
– Real Allied target: Normandy
9.
10. OPERATION OVERLORD
• Operation Overlord
– Codename given to the Allied assault on Normandy, France
– Largest amphibious (land + sea) attack in history
– American, British, & Canadian forces would land & take the beach
• D-Day
– Military jargon/term referring to the day combat begins
– D-Day for Operation Overlord was June 6, 1944
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11.
12.
13. IMPACT OF D-DAY
• Heavy Casualties
– Approximately 4,500+ Allies dead
• Allied Advances
– June 6, 1944 – D-Day
– July 1944 – 1 million Allied troops
have now landed in France
– August 1944 – Vichy France falls;
Allied forces liberate Paris
– September 1944 – France, Belgium,
and Luxembourg are liberated
• Charles de Gaulle Returns
– De Gaulle triumphantly returns and
becomes President of France
14. DISCUSS
Now that the Axis Powers
have been defeated in France,
how should the Allies proceed
with the war?
16. BATTLE OF THE BULGE
• Battle of the Bulge
– Desperate, Hitler orders a counterattack hoping
to split Allied forces and affect supply lines
– Hitler sends a majority of their troops to one spot
to fight hoping to create a “bulge” in Allied line
– Despite initially surprised, Allies push back Nazis
– Signifies the end of the war, just a matter of time
17. MALMEDYMASSACRE
• Malmedy Massacre
– During the Battle of the Bulge,
a group of American troops
were surprise attacked by a
unit of Nazi soldiers
– Rather than take the soldiers
as POWs, the Nazis began to
execute/murder them
– Considered among the worst
war crimes of World War II
• Harold Billow
– Survivor of the massacre
– Resident of Mount Joy, PA
18. DISCUSS
How did the Soviet victory
at Stalingrad affect the war
on the Eastern Front?
23. DEATHOF IL DUCE
• No Escape for Mussolini
– April 1945 – found by Italian citizens in a
German truck dressed as a Nazi soldier
– Shot dead by Italian resistance fighters
– Body was hung upside down in Milan
and spit upon by his own people
25. DEATH OF DER FUHRER
• Allies Invade Germany
– 3+ million from the west (USA/UK)
– 6+ million from the east (USSR)
• Hitler Refuses to Surrender
– Hid in an underground bunker as
Soviets invade Berlin
– Marries girlfriend Eva Braun
– Hitler does not want to be put on
trial for war crimes (Holocaust) or
captured/tortured by the Soviets
– Hitler commits suicide only 2 days
after Mussolini is killed by his own
people in Milan, Italy
27. VE-DAY
• Unconditional Surrender
– April 1945 – Allies invade Berlin
and defeat German military
– May 1945 – German leaders agree
to an unconditional surrender
• VE-Day
– VE = “Victory in Europe”
– Signifies the end of WWII in Europe
– Celebrations are held throughout
Europe and in America
– American and Soviet troops met in
Berlin and celebrated together
