The History of the Second World War - WW II

First created 29 July 2015 Version 2.0 - 5 Jun 2019. Daperro. London.
The Second World
War
A pictorial history of the biggest human conflict
Canadian World War II Cemetery at Ben-sur-Mer, near Caen in Normandy. Total 2048 burials, including 1 French, 3
United Kingdom and 19 unknown burials.

The Seeds of the War
The Rise of Dictators
Prelude to the War
Hitler Triumphant
Wars in the Sea and in the Sky
The Germany’s Widening War
The Japan’s Widening War
The First Fight Back
The Turning Tide
The Allies Offensives
The Resistance
The End Game
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The Seeds of the War
Japanese imperial dreams. China in turmoil. World in Recession.
Churchill had repeated many times calling the WW 2, as an “unnecessary war”. On the other hand British historian
A JP Taylor linked the causes of WW 2 to how the WW 1 was ended.
“Historians often dislike what happened or wish that it had happened differently.
There is nothing they can do about it. They have to state the truth as they see it
without worrying whether this shocks or confirms existing prejudices. … I do not
come to history as a judge; and that when I speak of morality I refer to the moral
feelings at the time I am writing about, I make no moral judgement of my own.”
Foreword, Second Thoughts. The Origins of the Second World War, p7, by AJP Taylor. British Historian, journalist
and broadcaster.
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Japanese Imperialism ambitions. 1910
Japanese Imperialism has a long history. It dated back to the annexation of Taiwan in 1895. In 1905, Japan ‘leased’ part of
the Liaodong Peninsula (遼東半島) in China under the Kwantung (關東) Leased Territory. In 1910, Korea was Annexed by
the Japanese.
Three Koreans shot for pulling up rails as a protest against seizure of land without compensation by the
Japanese. Source – Wikipedia, Korea under Japanese rule.

The End of Absolute Monarchy. 1910s
The major problem of the Treaty of Versailles was the huge demand on Germany to pay reparation. This helps the
German people to turn to extremists (on the right or the left). Another major mistake was to hand over the German
colonial possessions in China to the Japanese, thus encouraging its imperial ambitions.
Deposed absolute monarchs in early 20C
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
Charles I of
Austria-Hungary
Tzar Nicholas II Russia
Puyi Emperor of China.

Before WW2, the Japan military was independent from the civilian government and reported directly to the emperor.
With universal military conscription, it enabled the military to indoctrinate young men with military-patriotic values.
During the 1930s the military established almost complete control over the government. Many political enemies were
assassinated and persecuted. Military officers occupied most of the important offices, including the prime minister.
Japanese patriotic
Militarism
“Physical education at a Tokyo
School. Strict regimentation in school
and at work created a powerful
collective discipline and spirit of
sacrifice that stood Japan well in war.
The country had practical rather than
religious; It was intensely patriotic.” -
History of 20C, 1929-1939, Hamlyn
1993, p 113.
1930s

China spent most of the early 20C
trying to establish a central
government, after the overthrow of
the Imperial rule in 1911. China was
divided by the Warlords, who
controlled different parts of China.
In 1926. the Nationalist (Kuomintang
KMT or GMD) launched, the Northern
Expeditions military campaign to
unify China. Two years later, the
Nanjing government was
established. In 1927, the Chinese
communist split with the Nationalist
in open warfare. This ended in the
Long March of 1934-1935, by which
the communist relocated their main
forces to settle in Northern China,
around Shaanxi province, in the
middle reaches of the Yellow River.
A war-torn
China. 1920s

In the mid 1920s, US
produced too much food and
too many goods. Prices were
falling and goods were not
sold. When the Wall Street
Crash occurred in 1929, the
economy collapsed. Loans to
the European were recalled,
which had a devastating
impact on the European.
After WW1, Isolationism
became popular in the US.
Americans distrusted the
European. Laws were passed
to restrict arms sales and
loans to Europe. In the 1920s
US introduced record tariffs to
protect itself from cheap
imports elsewhere.
US Isolationism & the Great Depression
Mid-1930s

In 1923, Germany experienced hyperinflation and
the European economy did not recover when
Wall Street crashed in 1929.
Britain took over parts of the Middle East from the
Ottoman Empire. But Britain had to pay £900m
war loans back to US, while its coal and cotton
export markets had collapsed. By 1930s
unemployment soared to levels the country had
never experienced before. The economy was in a
downward spiral.
In the interwar years, the French started a
massive reconstruction to replace the
destruction left of the WW1. France also took
over parts of the Middle East.
Depression in Europe
Britain unemployment rate never drop below 10% in the 1920s.
Source – History of the 20C, 1918-1929, p50..

The Rise of Dictators
Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler rose to power. Japanese racial ideology.
“To what extent did Mussolini share responsibility for the outbreak of war? By using
terrorism as an instrument of policy and inciting revolt in areas marked out for Italian
expansion he had done a good deal of icebreaking for Hitler.”
The Origins of the Second World War, p20, by Esmonde M Robertson. Lecturer at University of London.
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Mussolini,
Fascist Italy 1922.
Under economic depressions, fragile democracies and fading dreams, many countries turned to dictators. Among
them were Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia. 1925 Mussolini made himself dictator. 1932 Portugal adopted
dictatorship. 1933 Spanish fascist party was formed and Germany became a one party state. 1934 Stalinist purged in
USSR.
The Rise of Dictators. 1930s
Hitler, Nazi Germany
1933.
Franco,
Fascist Spain 1939.
Stalin,
Communist Soviet
Union 1924.

Mussolini’s march to Rome “I want to make Italy great respected
and feared.” - Mussolini, 1925.
The Italian Fascists were mainly made up of young patriotic war veterans and the organisation was united under a
strong right-wing nationalist, anti-liberal and socialist programme. It took power in 1922. Then all oppositions were
subversively eliminated, including the use of violence.

Stalin ruled by terror
“One death is a tragedy, one million
is a statistic“ - Stalin.
After Lenin died in 1924, Stalin outmanoeuvred his rivals in the party. He transformed the Soviet Union from a
peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. Stalin ruled by terror, using the secret police, purges,
executions, exiles, labour camps and persecutions to eliminate anyone who opposed him. Some estimates suggest
that he was responsible for 20 million deaths during his brutal rule.

1933 Roosevelt introduced the New Deal. The US economy began to power ahead once again. The German economy
also recovered under the re-armament program. At the same time industrialization accelerated in Soviet Union and
Japan. The Military-industrial complex became a new reality.
The Rise of Military-industrial Economy

“ … I believe that I am acting in accordance with the
will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself
against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.”
– Hitler’s Mein Kampf p60.
Hitler took power.
Oppositions eliminated
After the WW I, the Communist and Nazis had significant seats in the German parliament. The two extremist parties
often fought each others on the street. In 1933, Hitler gained power through democratic means. Within weeks he
began rounding up the Communists and put them into camps, followed by liberal politicians, trade unionists,
homosexuals and gypsies. Soon he passed anti-Jewish legislation and the Jews lost their citizenship.

In WW II, Japan believed they were the “Master Race of Asia”. They believed that they were superior to people of
Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Mongolian and other Asian descent. It was this ideology that justified the Japanese rights
to rule over other inferior races and led to cruelty and inhumanity to those they conquered. This is not unlike the
Nazi German to assert the superiority of the “Aryan race” based on racist doctrine.
Racial ideology of Japan and Nazi Germany

Prelude to War
Invasion of China & Nanjing Massacre, Abyssinia, Spanish Civil War
“The nature of Japan’s war against China was such that Japan did not and could not
declare war against China. This shows that Japan could not find a justifiable and
convincing reason to declare war. Instead, Japan called the war, a ‘holy war’ to
maintain the morale of Japanese soldiers.”
Takeo Iguchi, Japanese ambassador to New Zealand and professor at the Tokai University on an interview with The
Japan Times. 7 Dec 1999.
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Manchuria (the northeast Chinese provinces) was invaded by the Japanese army. The Japanese established a
puppet state, called Manchukuo, and their occupation lasted until the end of WW II.
In a separate incidence, on 28 January 1932, Japanese carrier aircraft bombed Shanghai. According to Barbara W
Tuchman, an American historian, “This marked the first terror bombing of civilian population” in history. This
preceded the bombing of Guernica by the German, five year later. (reference Wikipedia, January 28 Incident).
Manchuria invaded. Shanghai bombed. 1931

Occupation of Abyssinia & Rhineland. 1935-36
The Italian attack on Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) and Hitler’s remilitarization of the Rhineland were designed to flex
their military muscles and to test the reactions of the international community. The war in Abyssinia ended with the
occupation of Ethiopia and the rising popularity of Mussolini in Fascist Italy. The militarisation of the Rhineland was
a violation of the Treaty of Versailles, after WW 1. This shifted the balance of powers in Europe from France to
Germany. Making it possible for Germany to annex East European countries, while blocking any French military
attempts to put pressure on Germany.

Spanish Civil War 1936-39
In 1936 the Spanish Civil War broke, with the Nationalists fought against the Republicans. Over a million people
were in arms, with an estimated half a million killed and 450 thousands displaced. On 27 April 1937, Guernica, the
spiritual home of the Basques, was bombed indiscriminately by the German air force to help General Franco.
Civilians were targeted by air force bombers, for the first time in Europe.

In December 1936, the Chinese Communist (CCP) and the Nationalist (Kuomintang KMT) agreed to end the war
between them and to form an united front to fight the Japanese (The Second United Front). The northern communist
army was renamed as the Eighth Route Army, while the southern communist was known as the New Fourth Army.
As result of the agreement , CCP and KMT fought together against the Japanese in the Battle of Taiyuan (1937) and
the Battle of Wuhan (1938). Otherwise, the different armies stayed quite independent of each others.
China civil war suspended 1936-45

Japan invaded China, July 1937
The Sino-Japanese War can be divided into 3 phases. The first phase (1931-1937) was to invade Manchuria. This
was to secure the iron ore, the coal and the labour to build up a military machine. The second phase (1937-1941)
was to invade Northern China and coastal areas, particularly the ports. This would effectively eliminate all other
colonial powers in China, cut off China from the rest of the world and cripple Chinese economic developments. The
Third phase (1941-1945) Japan tried to expand its possessions to the rest China, but failed. In 1944 April –
December, Japan launched the Operation Ichigo, to link up all Japanese occupied territories in China, together with
territories in Indochina. This would also push back US air bases in China, beyond the range of its US bombers to
reach Japan. Operation Ichigo succeeded only temporary, as Japan could no longer hold onto its newly won areas.

The Massacre of Nanjing, 1937 December
The Battle of Shanghai began in the summer of 1937. Chinese forces put a surprisingly stiff resistance against the
Japanese Army. In November some 50,000 Japanese soldiers marched towards the capital, Nanjing. The Japanese
soldiers were let loose for six weeks of carnage, known as the Rape of Nanking. Between 200,000 and 300,000
civilians were killed. There were widespread rape and looting. It was the single worst atrocity during the WW II. (ref –
Nanking Massacre. Wikipedia; The Rape of Nanking by ARTE - youtube.com).

Hitler Triumphant
Nazi occupied Europe, Britain alone, Soviets attacked Finland and Poland partitioned
“Hitler would never have got as near to success as he did if it had not been for the
weakness, the division, the opportunism [in the rest of Europe].., which allowed him to
build up such power that he could not be prevented from conquering Europe with a
major war. Still there is a lot of difference between failing to stop aggression … and
aggression itself. Indeed much of the criticism directed at the other Powers for their
failure to stop Hitler in time would fall to the ground if there proved to have been
nothing to stop”
Hitler and the Origins of the Second World War. By Alan Bullock, Master of St Catherine’s College, Oxford. p189 on
E M Roberson.
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Austrian cheered as Hitler appeased. 1938
March 1938, Hitler drove into Vienna, amid scenes of tumultuous enthusiasm. A few days later, Jewish judges were
dismissed and shops have been forced to put up placards saying “Jewish concern”.
Six months later, Hitler demanded annexation of part of Czechoslovakia. Britain, France, Italy and Germany signed an
agreement (the Munich Agreement) that Germany had no further territorial ambitions. The British Prime minister,
Chamberlain flew back to London declaring the agreement was “Peace for out time”. The Czech had been betrayed.

On 27 September 1938, Poland demanded part of Czechoslovakia, two days before the Munich Agreement was
signed. Then Hungary helped itself and took over part of Czechoslovakia near its border, claiming that it was taken
away after WWI by the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. In March 1939, German simply took over the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakia was betrayed not only by Britain and France but also by Poland and Hungary.
Czechoslovakia Betrayed. 1938

Brutal Partition of Poland. 1939.
In 1939 Stalin and Hitler made a Non-aggression Pack. Within the treaty, it
included secret agreements to divide the territories of Romania, Poland,
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland between German and Soviet. Tens of
thousands of Polish intelligentsia were exterminated, industries and properties
plundered by the German. The Soviet brutality was equally harsh. An example
of this was the massacres at Katyn by the Soviet. 4m Poles were killed under Nazi
rule, three quarter of whom were Jews.

Britain & France declared war
and US confirmed neutrality.
Britain and France promised to come to the aid of Poland if the country were attacked by Germany. Two days after
the German attack, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Within 9 hours of declaration of war, German U-
boat sank the first civilian ship SS Athenia carrying over 1000 people , 28 were American. On the following day, 4
September, President Roosevelt proclaimed neutrality of the United States in the war.
Blitzkrieg
The Blitzkrieg, with its tactics of speed
and shock, was a fresh approach to war.
Its overwhelming success of its debut in
the Polish campaign surprised not only
the Poles but the Germans themselves.
A dense concentration of armoured units,
motorized artillery and mechanized
infantry spearheaded the attack, with
close support provided by the Stukas
(dive bomber left), to open a gap in the
enemy defence. Then continued to attack
the enemy rear. Never before had a
nation’s military capacity been so utterly
annihilated in so short a time.

Neutrality failed. Denmark, Norway and Finland.
In April 1940 two neutral nations, Denmark and Norway were suddenly attacked and overran by Germany. Both
countries thought neutrality would protect them. However, British warships and British & French troops joined the
war, to fight against the German.
Stalin launched his attack against Finland on 30 Nov 1939, with about half a million men. The 133,000 Finnish troops
were inadequately equipped but their morale was high and had benefit of the terrain. Another 27 Soviet divisions
were sent to the war. Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with Finland ceded 11% of its territory and 30% of its economy
to Soviet Union. Stalin lost 127,000 Soviet troops. The conquest of Finland was abandoned.

Benelux fell. Dunkirk escape. May 1940
Like Denmark and Norway, Holland and Belgium clung to the hope that their neutrality could save them. German
used Blitzkrieg tactics, together with bombing civilians, airborne Para-troops and gliders in their assault. Their
speed of attack surprised the allies. British troops were trapped and had to be evacuated from Dunkirk, by a fleet of
small boats. A total of 338,226 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk. One third of them were French.

A few weeks after Dunkirk, Hitler turned to France, which was often regarded as a continental power. No one had
imagined that the Fall of France took only 6 weeks (10 May 1940). A puppet French state was formed in southern
France, known as the Vichy France while the north was under German occupation. Apart from Britain, all of western
Europe was under German rule or allied with Nazi Germany. Germany was Triumphant.
The Fall of France, Hitler Triumphant 1940
On November 1940, Hungary, Roman and Slovakia joined Axis Alliance. The Jewish ghetto at Warsaw was sealed off.

Wars in the Sea and in the Sky
The Battle of Britain and the Atlantic. Fascist Italy war in North Africa.
Erich Fromm writing as a Psychoanalyst in his book ‘The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness’ repudiated that war
was caused by the power of man’s destructive instinct. Instead he pointed to the hegemony ambitions of European
countries.
“By and large, it can be said that the German aims in the 1914-1918 war were also in
its main motivations: economic hegemony in Western and Central Europe and
territory in the east. (These were, in fact, also the aims of Hitler, whose foreign policy
was essentially the continuation of that of the imperial government).”
He went on to point out similar hegemony aims for France, Russia, England and Italy.
He continued “Had it not been for these aims, peace would have been concluded years
earlier”. US also subscribed to this view and pushed hard to accelerate
decolonialization in the post-war period.
The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness p286. By Erich Fromm. Berlin Institute of Psychoanalysis, Professor of
Psychiatry at New York.
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Britain Alone. 1940
It was Britain’s darkest hour. The war seemed to have been lost. America was in the hands of the isolationists. Stalin
colluded with Hitler to partition Eastern Europe. Germany was preparing an invasion of Britain. The British army had
just escaped from Dunkirk without equipment. There was no hope that Britain could liberate Europe again. The
democratic light of Britain was the only flickering flame on the edge of a continent of dictators.
At the beginning of the Battle of Britain, on 13 August Luftwaffe launched 1790 sorties against Britain. On 15
September Luftwaffe launched its largest attack against London with some 1500 aircraft. On 17th September Hitler
postponed the invasion of Britain indefinitely. Britain lost 1023 aircraft. Germany lost 1887 aircraft. Britain survived.

Total War in Britain, US & Commonwealth aids
After the Battle of Britain, it had a creditable air force, a strong navy and an empire. It was time to prepare for total
war. Rationing, air raids, civilian mobilization and conscription, Britain moved to a war footing. By 1943, 22 million of
women and men were in the armed services, war industries and defence position, just below 50%.
Before Pearl Harbour, Roosevelt hands were tied by the deep-seated isolationist opinion in US. But he managed to
pass the Lend-Lease Act, which allowed him to lease 50 destroyers for the use of some British military bases and
$7b credit to Britain. The US Congress also assigned $17b to produce a ‘two oceans’ navy. In 1941 April, US
warships began to escorti convoys, bound for Britain. Canada also sent their soldiers across the ocean , stationed
in England and rearmed by Britain.

Early in the war (Aug 1939), German surface raider Graf Spee left Germany and sailed to the south Atlantic to attack
British shipping from Africa, Asia and Australia. These imports were important to British to keep up war efforts and
to sustain its sieged economy. On 13 Dec 1939 the Graf Spee was cornered and eliminated in the Battle of River
Plate. Five months later (18 May), the German pocket battle Bismarck left Germany. It sank the British battlecruiser,
HMS Hood in the Demark Strait. Later it was sunk by the British Navy only 10 days after it left Germany.
But the real menace to British shipping was the German U-boats, which sank more cargo ships than any other
means. Most of ships were sunk on their final approach to the British Isles. Among its victim was the sinking of the
British aircraft carrier, the Courageous in September 1939.
The Battle of Atlantic 1939-1941

At the beginning of the war, the French and the Italian had formidable naval fleets in the Mediterranean. Supported by German U-
boats. British had a formidable force of aircraft carriers in the region. After 1942, the US naval and air units were also involved.
3 July 1940 the Vichy French battle fleet was attacked and crippled from the air and by naval bombardment while in port at Mers-el-
Kebir Algeria. One battleship sunk, 2 battleships and 4 destroyers were damaged.
11 Nov 1940 the Italian fleet in the port of Taranto was attacked by torpedo biplanes from British aircraft carrier leaving 5 battleships
and heavy cruisers either destroyed or sunk. 27-29 Mar 1941 Battle of Cape Matapan, in which the British and Australian navy,
together with planes, fought the Italian battle fleet. Both sides suffered heavy loss, but the Italian navy never recovered from the
battle.
The Destruction of the French & Italian fleets
in the Mediterranean July 1940 - Mar 1941

Balkans, Crete & Malta Oct 1940 - 1942
On 7 Apr 1939 Italian troops invaded Albania and took over the country in 5 days. On 28 Oct 1940 Mussolini invaded
Greece from Albania, but was defeated by the Greek, who chased the Italian back into Albania. On 6 April 1941, the
German came to the aid of Mussolini and attacked both Greece and Yugoslavia. Three weeks later, Athens fell to the
German. In the follow month (May), German paratroopers took the island of Crete.
Malta is situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea between British Gibraltar and Egypt. Using Malta the British
could harass Axis supply lines to North Africa either from the air or on the sea. Starting from June 1940 to November
1942 a total of 3000 bombing raids were launched to bomb the island into submission, and it almost succeeded.
From mid-1940 to end of 1941 the British had taken over the Italian possessions in the horn of Africa.

Victory in the Desert (N Africa & Iraq)
Libya was an Italian colony. On 13 Sep 1940, 250,000 Italian advanced into Egypt, with the intention of cutting off Britain’s
lifeline through the Suez Canal. The Commonwealth forces made up of Indian, Australian, New Zealander and British,
were only a quarter strong, counter-attacked in Dec 1940. The Italian line was overrun and the commonwealth troops
advanced into Libya, capturing Benghazi and Tobruk. Many Italian was captured. They were simply not prepared for war.
Meanwhile, In April 1941, British troops from India landed on Barsa, Iraq and fought all the way to Syria, joined up with
the Free French, Australia and British forces, thus securing the oil fields and saved from the danger of the Axis control.

The Germany’s Widening War
Soviets attacked and joined the war. Supplying the Soviets
“Buchanan’s heretical view is that the Western democracies should have let Hitler
expand his Reich eastward went to war with the even more dangerous Soviet Union.
Once these despotisms had exhausted themselves, the Western democracies would
have been left dominating Europe. The lives of millions of Western civilians and
soldiers would have been spared.” wrote Margolis
Toronto Sun 17 November 2008, Eric Margolis.
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Hitler’s gamble, Invasion of the Soviets 1941
In June 1941 Germany began its offensive against the USSR, with three key objectives Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev.
Germans made rapid advance initially. By September, with help from the Finnish troops in the north, the siege of
Leningrad began. The siege lasted until January 1944. Kiev was overrun in September and fell into German control. On 5
December German troops were only 25 km from Moscow. But the Germans were exhausted and failed to capture
Moscow. The Axis suffered 918,000 casualties, almost a third of the invasion forces.

Siege of Leningrad Sep 1941- Jan 1944
The siege of Leningrad (modern day St Petersburg) lasted from September 1941 until Jan 1944, but the first, bitter
winter was the worst. The blockages were maintained by German in the South and Finns in the north. Despite
rationing , 5,000 people were dying a day by Jan 1942. People ate cats, dogs and birds. There were reports of
cannibalism. Bombing and freezing conditions destroyed the sewage system and water supply. During the siege at
least 632,000 people died of starvation. Despite the cold and the hunger the city held for 872 days. The Red Army
established a supply route across Lake Ladoga in Nov 1941 by watercraft in the warmer months and by land
vehicles over thick ice in winter. There were attempts by the Red Army to break the blockade but failed until 1944.

The first British Arctic convoy sailed in September 1941. The Arctic Convoy sailing was extremely dangerous,
especially in winter. As well as the Germans, they faced extreme cold, gales and pack ice. The loss rate for ships
was higher than any other Allied convoy. Over 4 million tons of supplies were delivered to the Russians including
tanks and aircraft, trucks, tractors, telephone wire, railway engines and boots. There were a total of 78 convoys,
with 1400 ships delivered essential supplies to the Soviet, escorted by the British, Canadian and later US navy. The
convoy was ended in May 1945. 16 Royal Navy warships and 85 cargo ships were lost.
Arctic Convoys Sep 1941- May 1945

US aids to the Soviet 1941
US began sending huge amount of supplies to the Soviet. Under Lend-Lease, US alone shipped $11.3b to the Soviet
(~$150b in today’s money), including 514,231 American tanks & vehicles, in addition to 13208 front line fighting aircrafts.
By May 1945, US had sent a total of 16m tons of supplies including locomotive, rail and machine tools, plus 5m tons of
food. US supplied the Soviet with 75% of its total copper requirements between 1941 and 1943. US supplies were
delivered via the Alaska-Siberian route and via the Florida-N Africa-Iran-Moscow route. US built 7 airfields in central
Alaska and Canada built 6 airfields in Alberta to help the flow of supplies for the Soviet. It was close but Soviet Union
was saved.

Soviet Union War Machine 1942
See Purnell 991.
From Jun 1941 to Nov 1942, the Red Army’s strength at the front grew from 2.9 to 6.1m. In Jun 1941, the Soviet
moved much of their industries beyond the Ural mountains. In Dec 1941 the coal and steel production declined by
63% and 58%, as Hitler switched his attack to the industrial south. Even by 1945, coal and steel production had not
returned to the 1940 levels. Nevertheless, in 1942 Soviet armaments production, exploiting huge stocks reserves
before the war, surpassed that of Germany; 24000 armoured fighting vehicles to 4880 German: 21,700 aircraft to
17,700, 4 million riffles to 1.4 million. By 1942, the Soviet recovered from the initial onslaught. Both Moscow and
Leningrad were held. Industries regained their momentum.

The Japan’s Widening War
SE Asia invasion. Pearl Harbour. American join the war. China’s Volunteer Air War
On the different perspective between American and Japanese teachers
For the Japanese teachers, Pearl Harbour was almost naturally connected with the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki because both were testaments to the horror and folly of
fighting wars. For some US teachers, particularly those who subscribed to the
popular atomic bombs saved American-live narrative, that connection seem insincere
and spurious, because Pearl Harbour was an unjust attack while the dropping of the
atomic bombs were however unfortunate, a necessary and ultimately justifiable means
to end the war.
Yujin Yaguchi , University of Tokyo.
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Japan widen the war
“ If We yield to America’s demands, it will destroy
the fruits of the China incident.”
General Hideki Tojo 14 Oct 1941
On 7 December 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. Thailand and Malaya were invaded. Japan also launched bombing
raids on Guam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and Wake Island. Japan also entered Saigon.
As Hitler widened the war by attacking the Soviet, Japan was also decided to widen the war by attacking Southeast
Asia and Pearl Harbour. US was the most vocal critic on Japanese invasion of China. In 1938 US and Britain began
arming China, using the newly completed Burma Road. US also imposed drastic economic sanction against Japan
cutting off its oil supplies and most of its foreign trade. The Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Chinese air force
began its first combat mission less than 2 weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbour. It was US support of China that
caused the Japanese to attack the US.

Japanese’s gamble, Pearl Harbour 7 Dec 1941
Before German attacked on the Soviets, the Axis seemed invincible. Most of the countries were either weak or
unprepared. If they had not attacked the US and the Soviets, the world today maybe very different. But US and the
Soviet had two more years before they entered the war. The surprise attack was a great success for the Japanese.
Then US declared war on Japan. However, the three Pacific US aircraft carriers had a lucky escape, as they were at
sea. Their survival proved to be a vital factor in decisively destroying the Japanese navy, later.

Two months after Pearl Harbour and the sinking of two British cruisers (Prince of Wales & Repulse),
most of Southeast Asia was under Japanese occupation. Only Philippine with its 80,000 strong US and
Filipino troops held out until April. Japan had replaced all the European Colonial powers in the region
and now had access to oil, raw material and other resources it needed.
Hong Kong Fell 1942

From Dec 1941 to Feb 1942 Japanese began the first phase of the Burma campaign. Burma was strategically
important, because of its oil and also to stop Britain supplying China using the Burma Road. In the second phase
(Mar 1942 – May 1942), Burma overrun by Japanese. Rangoon fell. Allies retreated back into Assam in India. The
rapid pace of the Japanese through the jungle surprised the British commanders. The Japanese pressed forward
everywhere in almost reckless fashion. The expected river defences did not stop the advance. By the end of the
campaign, China was cut-off and the Japanese were knocking at the door of India.
The Burma-China-India theatre was the only area in the Far East where Indian, British, Chinese and American
forces worked together whole in the duration of the war.
Burma Conquered & a rising Empire. May 1942

Between 1937-1941, the Soviet Volunteer Group supplied a total of 563 fighters and 322 bombers to China. In Oct
1937, after the Japanese invaded China proper, some 450 Soviet pilots and technicians arrived in China with 225
planes. Overall some 227 were killed in action. By the beginning 1939, Chinese Air Force had less than 100 aircrafts
left. In March 1939, some pilots were transferred for the defence of Chongqing. In July-Aug 1939, 60 additional Soviet
aircrafts joined the air force at Lanzhou. On Dec 1939 up to 50 Soviet fighters were transferred to south Yunnan to
defend the Burma Road. From 1938-1940 the Soviet volunteer squadron engaged in 50 major air battles, together with
the Chinese shot down 81 and damaged 114 Japanese aircrafts and 14 Japanese warships. In 1940 the Soviet
volunteer pilots were withdrawn but continued to supply aircraft to China until 1941, when Soviet and Japan signed
their Non-aggression pact. To save its own neck Soviet walked away from the Nationalist, as well as the Communist.
Soviet Volunteer Group in China, SVG 1937 - 1940

In 1941 Chinese air force was in trouble after the withdrawl of the Soviet Volunteer Group and the arrival of the
superior Japanese ‘Zero’ fighters. Chiang Kai-shek asked President Roosevelt for help.
In Nov 1941 First contingent AVG (American Volunteer Group) Flying Tigers was ready. It was made up of 100 pilots
and 200 ground staff. Dec 1941 Flying Tigers diverted to defend Burma. AVG was disbanded in 4 Jul 1942, after 297
enemy planes were destroyed, with a loss of 14 pilots. AVG merged with 23 Fighter Group (23FG) with additional
planes, including B25C bombers. This became the CATF, as part of the US army air force, under the command of
Chennault. Its main mission was to defend the aerial supply (HUMP) and provide ground support to the Chinese
forces. CATF was disbanded in 19 Mar 1943 and became the 14 Air Force. In the 9 months CATF shot down 149
Japanese planes, (plus 85 probable), with a loss of 16 fighters. It had flown 65 bombing missions against Japanese
targets in China, Burma and Indochina, dropping 311 tons of bombs and lost only one B-25 bomber.
The Flying Tigers – AVG & CATF 1941 - 1943

The First Fight Back
First offensive against Germany and Japan. Defending Australia. End of North Africa war. Dieppe.
“Professor Barraclough’s useful definition of history … called it the attempt to re-
create the significant features of the past on the basis of imperfect and fragmentary
evidence. This imperfect and fragmentary evidence is the historian’s ‘sources’.”
The Nature of History p131, by Arthur Marwick educated at Edinburgh University and Balliol College, Oxford.
Professor of History at the Open University.
Click to
Section Index

First Bombing of Germany & Japan
The Luftwaffe bombed Britain during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. In May 1942 the RAF assembled a force of
1000 bombers to bomb Cologne. A total of 262 separate air raids were mounted, dropping 34,711 long tones of
bombs. The bombing did some serious damages but it was unlikely to finish the war by bombing alone.
In April 1942 US launched its first raid on Tokyo. 16 B25 bombers were launched without escort from the carrier
Hornet. The raid did little material damage, but boosted American morale and led to the Japanese recall of many
units back to its home islands. But an estimate 250,000 Chinese were killed while the Japanese searched for
Doolittle’s men in China.

Naval Contests in the Pacific May & Jun1942
After Pearl harbour, the US had only 3 carriers and 3 battleships for the entire Pacific Ocean, comparing with 12
battleships, 15 Fleet carriers and 5 light carriers in the Japanese navy.
Battle of the Coral Sea (May 42) - Japanese sent a landing force to New Guinea, led by the light carrier Shoho. This
was accompanied by a strike force with 2 fleet carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku. The US naval force centred on two
carriers, the Yorktown and Lexington. In the battle , US sank the Japanese carrier Shoho and damaged the carrier
Shokafu. The carrier Lexington was also sunk and the Yorktown was heavily damaged. It was the first time two fleets
fought a battle at 200 miles (320 km) apart. Japanese won the battle but the invasion had to be cancelled.
Battle of Midway (Jun 1942) – Three US carriers Hornet, Enterprise and the patched up Yorktown were sent to
intercept the Japanese strike force of 4 fleet carriers heading to Midway. While the Japanese were preparing their
planes for a second attack, US dive bombers arrived for their attack. In the end all four Japanese carriers were sunk,
together with US carrier the Yorktown. The Midway battle was a major turning point in the war in the Pacific, in which
four of the best Japanese carriers were sunk, together with their elite pilots. From then onward, the Japanese navy
was on the defensive. The Japanese had lost their offensive capability.

The Japanese bombed Port Moresby in the south of New Guinea on 3 Feb 1942. On 22 July 1942 the Japanese landed on north of
New Guinea to fight their way to the Port of Moresby. The occupation of the port would isolate the Australian from the American
and allowed Japan to threaten the Port of Darwin in Northern Australia. In 1942, the 11 infantry and 3 armoured divisions of
Australian troops were placed under US command. By 1945 nearly 1 million US service personel had passed through Australia
US bases in their fight with the Japanese. Australian troops together with US marines were sent to New Guinea to defend Port
Moresby and to clear the Japanese off New Guinea. The war lasted until the surrender of the Japanese in 1945.
Fall of Dutch Indies & Defending Australia - Jan & Jun1942
The prime reason for Japan to invade the Dutch Indies was for its rich resources, in particularly crude oil and rubber. The
Japanese invasion forces were based in Vietnam for the western half of the indies mainly Sumatra and Java. The eastern
invasion force was based in the newly occupied southern Philippines, targeting Borneo and the spice islands. The invasion
started on 10 Jan 1942 and ended with the surrender of the East Indies government on the 8th Match. The Dutch Indies were
defended primarily by 40,000 Dutch troops aided by 8,000 British, Australian, New Zealander and American troops.

Raid on Ceylon and Invasion of Madagascar
War in the Indian Ocean May - Nov 1942
Japanese occupied the Andaman Islands on 23 Mar 1942. On 5 Apr, Japanese force which attacked the Pearl Harbour,
attacked the naval base at Colombo, Ceylon. On the following days, Japanese sank the British Hermes carrier and
several other warships. On the 9 Apr, Japanese raided Trincomalee, Ceylon and then left the region.
Japanese had a plan to build a submarine base on the island of Madagascar to attack Allied shipping. Madagascar
was under the control of the Vichy French government. On 5 May 1942, British launched an amphibious landing on the
island and subsequent military actions to secure the entire island by 8 Nov 1942.

North African, Rommel Offensive
Feb 1941 – Nov 1942
The failure of Mussolini in Libya prompted Hitler to send his Afrika Corp to North Africa, under the command of
Rommel in 12 Feb 1941. The two opposing forces were now parity which caused the frontline to seep back and
forth, in series of offensives and counter offensives.
Rommel’s initial attack pushed the British back to Egypt. On Nov 1941 (to Jan 1942) the British launched Operation
Crusader to relieve Tobruk and pushed the German back into Libya. In 21 May 1942, Rommel launched his second
attack and drove the British back first to Gazala. Again in 27 May, German retook Tobruk (21 Jun 1942) and pushed
the British back to El Alamein (27July 1942).

Torch Landing – 8 Nov 1942
On 8 Nov 1942, the first Allied amphibious operation was launched, the Torch landing, with the American and British
landed in Casablanca, Morocco and Oran & Algiers in Algeria which is under the Vichy France rule. The operation
involved 100,000 men and 120 ships with air cover. The Vichy’s force in Algeria surrendered quickly (9 Nov) and
more German troops arrived (10 Nov) from Sicily to hold Tunisia and protect Rommel’s rear. The North African war
had two fronts with the American & British approaching Tunisia from the west and the British (Alexander &
Montgomery) on the east, fighting all the way from El Alamein.

North Africa Won - May 1943
The Mediterranean was very important to the British. In was her link to her empire in Asia and to the oil fields of the
Middle East. This was the reason that Britain spent so much effort in securing the North African coast.
By the Second Battle of El Alamein in 23 Oct to 11 Nov 1942, the Allies had achieved a decisive victory against the
Afrika Corp, with a numeric advantage of 2 to 1. Rommel withdrew back to Tunisia, after the Torch Landing. On 14
Feb 1943, German launched its final offensive from Tunisia. By 13 May 1943, resistance in Tunisia collapsed. Italian
surrendered with more than 250,000 prisoners were taken by the Allies.
Because of the desert terrain, tanks, howitzers and field guns played a central role in battle but the most critical
element was logistics, which had to cover long distances. The availability finally won the North Africa Battle.
“ Now this is not the end. It is not even the
beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the of end
of the beginning.” Churchill 1943

On 19 Aug 1942, the Allies landed on the French port of Dieppe. It was a ‘hit and run’ operation to ‘open a second
front’ to relieve pressure on Russia, as fierce fighting between Germany and the Soviets, deep in Russia. It was an
unimaginative frontal assault, without heavy air bombardment. The initial assault involved 5000 Canadian, 1000
British troop and 50 US Army Rangers. Almost 60% who made it ashore were killed. The RAF air force lost 106
aircrafts and of the total 237 naval vessels, the Royal Navy lost 33 landing crafts and one destroyer.
It was a bitter lesson to learn. The operation was a complete failure without any tangible result. When the D-Day
landings was launched a total of 156,000 men were landed, over 25 times more men were involved.
Dieppe Landing – Aug 1942

The Turning Tide
Stalingrad and the Caucasus. Wining the U-Boat war. French Resistance’ Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Bombing of Germany. The China Stabilizing . Italy invasion.
Politics must continue: war cannot. That is not to say that the role of the warrior is
over. The world community needs, more than it has ever done, skilful and disciplined
warriors who are ready to put themselves at the service of its authority. Such warriors
must properly be seen as the protectors of civilisation, not its enemies.
A History of Warfare. p391, by John Keegan, British military historian, lecturer, writer and journalist.
Click to
Section Index

The Nazi failed to take Moscow and St Petersburg (Leningrad) in the Winter of 1941-1942. and decided instead to
concentrate their effort in the south to drive through Ukraine, into the oil-rich Caucasus.
The Axis overran most of Crimea in the autumn of 1941. On 17 Dec 1941, the Axis launched their attacked on the
Black Sea port of Sevastopol, but the city held out. It finally fell on the 4 July 1942, some 6 month later, after much
hand-to-hand combat and an exhausted Germany army.
In the summer of 1942 (28 Jun – 24 Nov), the German launched their offensive in South Russia, designed to knock the
Soviet Union out of the war. The German had two main objectives – Volgograd (Stalingrad) and the oil fields of Baku
on the Caspian Sea. In the initially advance into Caucasus, Germany captured large areas of land and several oil
fields. However, the Red Army counter-attacked with 1 million men and defeated the Germans at Stalingrad. 850,000
Axis troops were trapped and annihilated, together with 900 aircrafts, 500 tanks, 6000 artillery pieces lost. This forced
the Germans to retreat from the Caucasus and marked a major turning point in the WW2.
Sevastopol, Stalingrad & Caucasus Summer 1942

Winning the U-Boat war - 1943
From the beginning of the war to Apr 1942, Germany only put out less than 20 U-boats at sea. At the peak, in Apr
1943, Germany had 159 U-boats at sea. In the same year (1943) the Allies sank a total of 239 U-boats, equivalent to
an average life of 8 months per U-boat. At the same time (Apr-Dec 1943), tonnage loss to the U-boats had hit an all
time low. In other words, the Allies were winning the U-boat war. This was mainly due to improvement in detection
(radar, sonar and long-range anti-sub aircraft), more effective anti-sub weapons (depth charges & “Hedgehog”
mortar cluster), more effective convoys defence and better intelligence after the breaking the German naval code.

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – Apr-May 1943
In Poland, Jews had been herded into artificial ghettos, as a first stage in Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’. Some 433,000
Jews were sealed off and isolated by a wall in a 2.5 square miles district of Warsaw. They were systematically
starved by their captors and terrorised by constant violence. In Jan 1943, ghetto fighters fired upon German troops,
trying to round up inhabitants for deportation. On 19 Apr 1943, Warsaw ghetto uprising had begun . 750 fighters
fought with heavily armed Germans. They were able to hold out for nearly a month. The Germans had crushed the
resistance. More than 56000 captured and 7000 were shot and the remainder were deported to camps to be gassed.
When Soviet troops liberated Warsaw in Jan 1945 only about 200 Jews remained and the old city destroyed.

In 1943 British waged three separate bombing campaigns against Germany – the industrial Ruhr, the “firestorm of
Hamburg and finally Berlin. US adopted a strategy of precision bombing against Germany. US crews flew their
missions by day. Estimated 50,000 of US airmen were killed or captured in the bombing campaign – roughly the
same rate of loss as sustained by the RAF British Command. The bombing of civilian remains a controversial issue,
whether it happened in London, Chongqing, Tokyo or Berlin. There were much discussion on its effectiveness of
civilian bombing even during the war, but there is no conclusive evidence that it worked.
Bombing of Germany by day & night – 1943-45

Unlike the Allies, Germany had 6 years preparing for war . A large portion of the economy was devoted to military
production. At the beginning of the war, British blockade restricted German access to world markets. Petroleum,
sugar and cotton were all extremely scarce. During the war, as Germany acquired new territories, which were forced
to sell raw material and produces at extremely low prices. Germany also used forced labour to maintain
productions. Hundreds of thousand of people in occupied territories were used as slave labours, which made up a
quarter of German workforce. Production was maintained under Germany and its occupied territories right to the
end of the war. However, in late 1943, Allied recovered and out produced Axis in 1944 by a significant margin.
Germany military production continued

Communists in northern China, were known as the 8th Route Army. It had a force of 400,000-500,000 men in 1940.
behind Japanese lines. In the early stages of the war (pre 1939), they fought against the advancing Japanese. The
communists mounted only one major battle against the Japanese, the Hundred Regiments Offensive (百團大戰) in
20 Aug – 24 Jan 1941, involving around 200,000 men, including many from locally organised militia. Their main targets
were railways, roads and bridges. Most of the fighting was with the ‘Puppet troops’, Chinese fighting for the Japanese
army. After the battle, the Japanese retaliated with the “Three All” policy of “Kill all, burn all and destroy all”. The
communists never mounted another major battle but conducted mostly small scale guerrilla warfare. During the war,
the communists expanded their areas and consolidated their positions. At the end of WW II their strength was around
600,000. In the south, the communist was known as the New 4th Army but not under Mao’s control. It was organized
by Ye Ting 葉挺, who left the Long March, disaffected Mao’s leadership in 1931. In Apr-May 1945 Chinese
Communist mobilized 150,000-250,000 troops to support Soviet force in Manchuria.
War in northern China 1939 - 1945

Stalemate in China 1939 - 1941
After the fall of Beijing, Shanghai and
Nanjing in 1937, The next major crash
was the Battle of Wuhan, with 1.1m
Chinese troops fighting 350.000 well
armed Japanese, supported by 500
planes. The Chinese were supported by
the Soviet Volunteer Group with some
200 planes. Fighting stretched all along
the length of the lower Yangtze, across
vast areas of Anhui, Henan, Jiangxi and
Hubei. Four and a half months later
Wuhan was captured by the Japanese.
It was one the largest and longest battle
of WW II.
Japan took control of Canton, Dec 1938
(Guangzhou), Hainan Island, Feb 1939
and a stretch of coast of Guangxi
Province, Nov 1939, near Vietnam, thus
completed the blockade of all Chinese
ports. After Wuhan, Japan began
offensives on the next stretch of the
Yangtze River. Between 17 Sep and 13
Oct, the Chinese won a significant battle
at the provincial capital, Changsha.
This was the Battle of Changsha 1 in
which the Japanese advance was
stopped, defeated and made to
withdraw.
After the Battle of Changsha I, the
Japanese had almost reached the
maximum area of its occupation in
China. A stalemate had been reached,
in which the Japanese was unable to
defeat China and neither was the
Chinese able to evict the Japanese.

America in China 1941 – 1943
During the period of 1940 to 1943, several battles were fought along
the Yangtze, in the province of Hubei, Hunan, Henan and Jiangxi.
In Dec 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbour and widened the war into
SE Asia, the Pacific and Burma. Now Japanese troops were needed
elsewhere. During this time we saw the rapid expansion of the
puppet troops (Japanese collaborationist forces) in China. America
was now an Ally and began actively supporting the Chinese war
effort. US supplies were flying in and US planes began to station in
China. We began to see a strengthening of the Chinese Nationalist
forces and at the same time a weakening of the Japanese offensives
in China. In 1942 and 1943, Chinese Expeditionary Force fought in
Burma and also in India. Initially they were trained by the British and
later by the American,

Final Japanese Offensive in China 1944
In 1944 (May-Aug), Japan launched a major military offensive, Operation Ichi-Go with the aim to connect all the Japanese
occupied areas in China and Indochina, and also to eliminate Chinese airports being used by US to attack Japanese in Asia and
to bomb Japan. The operation was able to capture some key cities in China and linked up the various occupied areas. Chinese
were unable to stop them and lost a few of the airports, but the Japanese also suffered heavy losses.
In 1945, Chinese changed from defensive into offensive operations and regained almost all the areas lost a few months earlier.
Also US had made advances in the Pacific and the Japan islands were within range of their bombers.
There were five collaborationist (puppet) governments in China during WW II, together with Taiwanese serving under the Imperial
Japanese army. The number of collaborationists (puppets) fighting for Japan must be about one million or more by the end of
the war. They made up a significant percentage of the Japanese army in China, if not more.

From 10 March 1943, 14th Air Force adopted the
name Flying Tigers and conducted highly
effective fighter and bomber operations along a
wide front that stretched from the bend of the
Yellow River and Tsinan in the north to Indochina
in the south from Chengdu and Salween River in
the west to both East and South China Seas and
the island of Taiwan in the East. They were also
instrumental in supplying Chinese forces through
the airlift across “The HUMP” in China-Burma-
India theatre. By the end of WW II, 14AF had
achieved air superiority over the skies of China
and established a ratio of 7.7 enemy planes
destroyed for every American plane lost in
combat.
On mid-July 1943 , in addition to the core 14AF, a
second group began the CACW, Chinese-
American Composite Wing, with bombers (B-25)
and fighters (P-40), with pilots from both US and
Nationalist China. By end of 1943, the balance
had tipped against Japan, as 14AF was able to
mount long-range offensive missions. Late in
1944, P-51 Mustangs were assigned to CACW.
Most CACW bases existed near the boundary of
Japanese-Occupied China and even one inside
Japanese occupied territory (Valley Field). In 1944
Chinese bases began using B-29 to bomb Japan.
Beginning of 1945 there were 800 aircraft in
China.
Overall estimated that over 4000 Japanese planes
were destroyed or damaged in China-Burma-India
theatre. In addition, they estimated the air units
in China destroyed 1.1m tons of shipping, 1079
locomotives, 4636 trucks and 580 bridges.
Air War in China 1943-45

Supply to China – the Burma Road & flying over the Hump
1942 Burma overrun by Japanese. Switch to supply by air. In July 1943 air tonnage rose from 5500 to 8000 in Sept
and 13,000 in Nov 1944. After the capture of Myitkyina, deliveries jumped from 18,000 tons in Jun 1944 to 39,000
tons in Nov 1944. July 1945 the last full month before the end of the war ,71,000 tons were flown over the Hump
compared to only 6000 using Ledo-Burma Road. A total 650,000 tons were delivered over the hump, compared to
147,000 tons on the Ledo-Burma Road.
1942 A new road from Ledo, India was built to reconnect to the old Burma road. To supply 65000 tons to China.
15,000 American, 60% African American, were assigned to build the road. 1100 American died in the construction.
the first 113 trucks reached China Feb 1945. In following 6 months 129,000 tons of supplies were delivered.
The supply of China was a crucial factor in maintaining the war with Japan. China had no industrial base and all
petroleum, weapon, ammunition, transports had to be imported. A single bomber, in a bombing mission in China
required four planeloads of supplies, over the Hump from India. To supply the front line-troops in China, we are
talking about a supply line of over 10,000 miles, all the way from the US, via India.
1937 US supply started and ended 1938. Britain began to supply China.
1940 Road closed for 3 month on Japanese pressure.
Gaps due to data not available.

After the defeat of the Axis in North Africa, the Allies invaded Sicily on the night of 10 July 1943.
Landings took place in 3 regions of the island, aided by two British and two American airborne
divisions, with an initial force of 160,000 men, 14,000 vehicles, 600 tanks and 1800 guns. At the height
of the campaign there were 467,000 allied troops on the island. After about a month of fighting
German and Italian began to evacuate their troops and their weapons from Sicily in the first half of
August. The loss of Sicily led to the removal of Mussolini by King Emmanuel III, on 25 Jul.
Invasion of Sicily - Jul 1943

Italian Campaign – Sep 1943 – 5 Jun 1944
On the 3 – 9 Sep 1943, Allies troops landed at the Italian side of the strait of Messina, Salermo (south of Naples) and
Taranto, Southern Italy. The Italian government, with Mussolini deposed secretly , agreed to an armistice with the
Allies. German troops began disarming the Italian and ten of thousands of Italian troops were sent to Germany to
work as forced labour. The landing at Salermo was nearly repelled. Allied entered Naples on 1 Oct and was greeted
as liberators. But the Allies were held up by German’s fortified defensive lines, in particularly at Monte Cassino, a
key stronghold. By Dec the Allies were stuck with little prospect of a breakthrough. In January landed south of
Rome at Anzio to outflank the German, the Allies were unable to breakout of the beach area, until 25 May to link up
with the main force. On 5 June 1946 the Allies entered Rome, just a day before the D-Day invasion at Normandy.
The Italian Campaign saw the hardest fighting in the west. The total Allies casualties totalled about 320,000
consisting of American, British, Canadian, French, Indian, New Zealanders, Polish and South African.

The Allies OffensivesThe Battle of Kursk. Allied advancing in Europe & Pacific. Normandy Landing.
Never has the face of the globe and human life been so dramatically transformed as in
the era which began under the mushroom clouds of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But as
always history took only marginal notice of human intentions, even those of the
national decision-makers. The real social transformation was neither intended nor
planned.
The Age of Extremes p177, by Eric Hobsbawm, British Marxist historian, King’s College, Cambridge University.
Click to
Section Index

Originally planned for early 1943, German delayed the
battle due to the introduction of new tanks and
interrupted by the Allies landing in Sicily. This gave
the Soviet more time to construct anti-tank traps,
defensive strong holds to wear out the German attack,
surrounded by extensive mine fields. Importantly the
British, through the Lucy spy ring in Switzerland,
provided accurate information about where and when,
the German attack would come from, as the British
had cracked the German code and able to read the
German secret messages, it ended with the Soviet
counteroffensive and destroyed the German. Both
sides realised that the battle would be decisive. Most
of the German generals had advised to take on a
defensive posture, but Hitler overruled them and
launched the attack without any army reserve force
and limited ability to replace losses.
At the height of the battle (when Soviet counter
attacked), the Germen had 940,000 men, 10,000
artillery, 3200 tanks, supported by 2,100 aircraft and
the Soviet had 2,500.000 men, 47,400 artillery, 7,300
tanks and supported by 3,500 aircrafts. It was a
decisive defeat for the German. Hitler had lost
superiority on the Eastern Front and Soviet regained
the initiative to push Hitler back into Germany, even
though the Red Army losing considerably more men
and material than the German.
Turning Point at Kursk – 5 Jul - 23 Aug 1943

The strategy was trading space for time to build up its military. In 1942, the Soviet had successfully defended Leningrad,
Moscow and Stalingrad. In the case of Moscow and Stalingrad, the Soviet even decisively defeated the German, by wearing
them down, then launched a massive counter-attack, to trap the invading German army. The problem for Germany was the
supply lines were getting longer and longer. After Kursk, German in the Eastern Front was collapsing and the Soviet began a
series of offensive battles to regain territories lost.
In 1942 and the 1943, the Soviet began pushing the German back at all fronts. First in the Caucasus and South Russia, Aug 42 to
Oct 43, joined up with the Russian army that defeated the German at Stalingrad. Then after Kursk, Ii was the Battle for the
Dnieper , 26 Aug – 6 Nov 1943, when the Axis was driven out of Kiev. North of Kursk, the Battle for Smolensk 13 Aug - 2 Oct
1943, pushed the German back to the border of Belarus today, with Smolensk liberated. In the north Leningrad was still under
siege, in 1943. Soviet attempt to free the city was unsuccessful. It was only at the end of January 1944 that Leningrad was freed,
with the Soviet using over twice as many troops, 3 times as many guns and 6 times as many tanks. By end of Feb 1944, the
Soviet reached the borders of Estonia and Latvia.
Soviet Fight Back - 1943

New Guinea Fight
Back – May - Dec 1943
To isolate Australia from America, the Japanese needed to control the
sea-lanes to Australia. They planned to occupy the Port Moresby on
the south-side of New Guinea facing Australia and to build an airbase
on the island of Guadalcanal out in the Pacific. At the beginning of
May 1942, they made their first attempt of landing at the Port of
Moresby, but the battle of Coral Sea put an end to that. On 22 July
1942, Japanese landed on the north coast of New Guinea and fought
their way to Port Moresby but they were stopped by the Australian
troops. Further Japanese attempts were repelled. Allies made several
seaborne and airborne landings. By December Allies also landed on
the islands of New Britain, thus the eastern half of New Guinea was
secured.

Guadalcanal & Solomon
Islands – Aug 42 - Dec 43
The Allies fight back in the Pacific followed three
main routes. 1. South-West Pacific Area
(MacArthur) along New Guinea, Mindanao,
Philippines, Okinawa and Japan. 2. South Pacific
(Halsey) along Guadalcanal through the Solomon
Islands to Rabual. 3. Central Pacific Area (Nimitz)
along the Marshall and Gilbert Islands through
the Caroline Islands to the Marianas Islands, Iwo
Jima and Japan.
US marines were landing on the Guadalcanal the
eastern most of the Solomon islands on 7 Aug
1942 to deny the Japanese of using the island as
an airbase to intercept shipping between the US
and Australia. The Japanese fought ferociously
and sent no less than 5 major naval forces to
bomb, to bombard and to reinforce Japanese
troops on island. In the end, 9 Feb 1943,
Japanese troops were evacuated from
Guadalcanal. In total 7,100 Allied were dead
compared to 31,000 Japanese. American also
lost 29 ships, included 1 carrier, 7 cruisers and
615 aircraft. Whilst, the Japanese lost 38 ships,
including 1 carrier, 2 battleships, 1 cruiser and
between 683 and 880 aircraft.
The advance along the Solomon islands resumed
on 21 Feb 1943. By 1 Nov, the Allies landed on
Bougainville, the opposite end of the Island
chain. Now the Allies had changed its strategy
and by passing the heavily defended Japanese
bases, but indeed cut off their supplies by
intercepting convoy and sinking troop
transports. Part of Bougainville and Rabaul, the
regional command centre remained in Japanese
until their surrender in 1945.

Central Pacific and the Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Central Pacific offensive did not start until 20 Nov 1943, when there were sufficient aircraft carriers and
amphibious capacity available. Their first objective was the islands of Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert islands. By
this time US had 17 carriers in the Pacific. The invasion force was made up of 3 carriers and 20 transporters, with
25,000 troops landed on the two islands. The fighting was bloody. A third of the 5000 marines landed on the first day
were casualties. It took 4 days to defeat the Japanese.
US continued their advance across the central Pacific. First along were the Marshall islands. On 23 Feb 1944, US
began to soften up the Marianas, with carrier aircraft, destroyed 170 Japanese aircraft and ships. The assault on
Mariana and Palau islands began in June with landings on Saipan. The Japanese navy counter-attacked on 19-20
June. US won a decisive victory, sinking 3 Japanese fleet carriers and destroying 550-645 aircrafts with a loss of 1
battleship and 123 aircrafts. This is known as the Battle of the Philippine Sea. On July US forces landed on Guam
and Tinian. By August Guam and Saipan were secured and Palau was taken in Nov 1944. Now US could begin their
bombing campaign on Japan, with their long range B29 bombers.

Oct 1943 Stilwell’s (X Force)
began to move from India’s
Assam into Burma with initially
consisted of two US-equipped
Chinese divisions and a light
Chinese-manned tank battalion,
together with the Marauders,
American troops behind the
enemy line, later joined by the
Chindits, the British equivalent.
From the second half of April
1944 the Chinese expedition
troop (Y force) crossed into
Burma from China’s province of
Yunnan, fighting towards
Myityina, along the old Burma
road. Later more Chinese troop
poured into Burma, to defend a
300 km front with over 110,000
troops. On 17 May 1944 the
Allies find captured the airport at
Myithyina and North Burma was
secured. While the Japanese
were fighting the British Indian
troops in Imphal and Kohima at
the same time. On 27 Jan 1945,
the X Force finally linked up with
the Y force, by then the whole of
northern Burma was under Allies
control.
Northern Burma-China Front – Oct 43 - May 44

India at War, Imphal & Kohima – 8 Mar – 3 July 1944
In 6 Mar 1944, the, Japanese launched its military campaign into Assam India, together with the Azad Hind (Free India
Movement or Indian National Army, INA). Once the attack began in India, two divisions of the British Indian troops
retreated back to the Imphal plain. In April the Japanese attacks on Imphal were held with reinforcement from
Arakan, Burma. In May, a counter-offensive began and the Kohima-Imphal road was re-opened on 22 June, ending
the siege of Imphal.
The Japanese attacked Kohima on the 3 Apr 1944. On 18 Apr the small force defending Kohima was relieved by the
newly arrived Indian 33 Corps. It counter-attacked and the Japanese retreated, at end of May. In 22 Jun the Japanese
forces from Imphal and Kohima linked-up. The Japanese offensive was finally broken off in July and retreated back
into Burma. It was the greatest defeat to that date in Japanese history. They suffered 50-60,000 dead and 100,000 or
more casualties. Most of these losses were the result of disease, malnutrition and exhaustion. The Allies suffered
12,500 casualties including 2269 killed. Imphal was the turning point in the Burma war.

in Dec 1944 the British began its offensive at Chindwin River. This coincides (Jan 1945), with British advances along
Arakan coast, in a series of amphibious operations. In mid-January the British were near Mandalay. The British took
control of Mandalay on 20 Mar 1945. Ten days later 30 Mar, the British advance toward Rangoon some 480km to the
south. On 1 May British paratroops dropped at the mouth of the estuary and Indian troops made an amphibious
landing the next day. Rangoon was in the British hand on 3 May. Three days later these forces joined up with the
troops advancing down from Mandalay.
The Burma campaign in the only area, in which the Allies were fighting as a co-ordinated force in Asia. It enlisted
about a million British troops from Britain, India, Nepal and a long list of British African troops, around 110,000
Chinese troops in 1942 and 1944 onward, together with 12,000 America. About 150,000 Japanese troops were aided
by Azad Hind (Free India), Thai and Burmese.
Back to Rangoon – Dec 1944 - 1945

Air War over Europe – 1944 - 1945
In 1943 the British RAF started to bomb Germany by Night, while the US used precision bombing by day. The
Luftwaffe was wasted away engaging on the Eastern Front. In early 1944, the Allies continued to bomb Germany,
while carefully attacking targets in France that could interfere with the Normandy landing. The US also realised air
supremacy was vital, calling “to destroy German fighters”. In 1944 the Luftwaffe disintegrated and increasingly Allied
fighters were used for tactical ground-attack roles, along with the medium bombers. The attacks concentrated on
airstrips, interdict the movement of munitions, oil and troops by attacking railway bridges and tunnels, oil depots,
canal barges, trucks and moving trains. On D-Day, Allied aircraft flew 14,000 sorties, while the Luftwaffe managed
only 200. Two week later the Luftwaffe lost 600 of the 800 planes it kept in France. From Apr through to Aug, both the
AAF and RAF was under Eisenhower’s direction, these were used to bombed supply system, refineries, and
warplanes. About 10 days after D-Day, the AAF started operating out of bases in France. “They have complete
mastery of the air,” declared by the commander of the elite 2nd Panzer Division.”

To prepare for the Allies invasion from the West, the German built an extensive system of coastal defence and
fortifications called the Atlantic Wall. The strongest being in France facing the English Channel. It was a lethal forest
of angle-iron to trap landing craft and amphibian vehicles, mighty guns against ships, foxholes, bunkers, anti-
personnel mine fields, anti-aircraft batteries etc. On the eve of D-Day, the German had 58 effective divisions, of which
17 were mobile divisions and 10 Panzer divisions. The Panzer divisions would be needed to push the Allied back into
the seas, before the Allies could secure their beachheads. Wrongly, the German also expected that Calais would be in
Allies’ plan.
Preparing for D-Day
Equally, the Allies faced many difficulties. The Allies amassed more than 2 million men for the operation. On D-Day,
the Allies needed to land 8 combat regiments on Normandy and within 5 days about 15 divisions and support troops
would be needed. A prolong storm in the North Sea would be a disaster. The first to land in France would be the 3
airborne divisions, which would required 1,100 transport planes and 300 gliders, flying in under darkness. On the
first day the seaborne landings delivered 141,000 men with their vehicles. 11590 aircraft flew 14674 sorties, with 127
lost. Nearly 7000 vessels were involved with 1213 warships, 4126 landing crafts. The Allies suffered at least 10,000
casualties and German between 4-9,000 on the first day.

The airborne landings and the French resistance disorientated the defending German and secured various
chokepoints for the following seaborne landings coming on shore. Of the five landing beaches, Omaha suffered the
worst casualties, trying to overcome German defending position and obstacles. The Allies even considered
cancelling the landing at Omaha. None of the first day objects were met, major cities of Carentan, St Lo, Caen and
Bayeux were not captured. None of the beachheads were not linked up, except Juno and Gold. But the Allies did beat
off an attack by the 21st Panzer Division and the Allies had a foothold in France

Breakout of Normandy – 19 Aug 1944
It took 6 weeks of bitter fighting before the Allies could captured Caen. It was crucial. The delay was due to
congestion on the beaches for the armour support to move forward. During the next week the German 12th SS Panzer
arrived to defend the city. On 1 Aug Patten broke into Brittany. On 19 Aug the German withdrew to avoid being
trapped by the US and the British & Canadian Troops. It took altogether well over two months before the Allies to
breakout of Normandy.

The Bomb Plot - 20 Jul 1944
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The assassination was an attempt to seize power
for the Nazi Party (including the SS), for the purpose of obtaining peace with the western Allies. The assassination
failed and Hitler survived with minor injury. At least 7000 people were arrested of which 4980 were executed.
Rommel had known the assassination plans and had accepted them. Hitler forced him to commit suicide with a
cyanide capsule, which he did on 14 Oct 1944. In return Rommel’s family had not been persecuted.

Landing on Southern France – Aug-Sep 1944
The invasion of southern France was one of the most controversial decisions of the war, for it meant that the weight
of the Allied drive in Italy would have to be shifted to the west, leaving the liberation of central Europe to the
Russians. The British protested but the Americans and Russians prevailed. It also shifted away from the Balkan
theatre. It also allowed the French led troop to take a full share of the liberation of France.
The landing took place on 14 August, just a month and 10 days after the Normandy landing. It cleared the Germans
from southern France and the Rhone valley. It cost the Germans one-third of their total effectives in the south.
Around 175,000 to 200,000 men were landed. One month later the troop (known as the Dragoon) reach Dijon join-up
with Patton’s 3rd Army, who fought their way from Normandy.

The Liberation of France & Belgium - Sep 1944
Once the Allies broke out of Normandy, they were in Paris within a week. By 25 Aug 1944, the German garrison
surrendered. Even before the Allies arrived, the French resistance, FFI staged an uprising against the German
garrison. Skirmishes reached their peak o 22 August. Hitler gave the order to inflict maximum damage on the city.
Estimated that between 800 and 1000 Resistance fighters were killed and 1500 were wounded. Despite repeated
order from Hitler to destroy Paris “in complete debris”, the German garrison surrendered.
Soon enough, on 3 Sep Brussels was liberated and the next day Antwerp was in Allies’ hand but the port cannot
function without clearing a channel to the sea. The advance was too quick and the Allies supply lines were longer.
In effect, the broad Front option into Germany gave way to the Narrow Front advance through Arnhem, while the rest
had to wait until supplies caught up with them in October.

Spies and Codebreakers.
The US broke all the Japanese naval codes and gathered intelligence that made it possible for the American
victorious ambush of the Japanese Navy at Midway and to shoot down a plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto in 1943.
The most difficult to crack was the German ENIGMA code, which was constantly being updated. It was cracked with
the use of a computer. The war in North Africa, the Battle of the Atlantic, the invasion of Sicily and Italy and the
Normandy Landings were all Victories won with help of the ENIGMA codebreakers. The German also cracked the
British codes used to transmit convoy routes. These were passed on to U-boat commanders searching for targets.

Eastern Europe - Summer 1944
In the Eastern Front the Soviets found themselves in total control. On 10 June 1944 the Soviets attacked Finland.
Soon Finland negotiated a peace. To prevent, the German aiding the Finns, the Red Army entered Lithuania, Latvia
and Estonia. Latvia help by trapped German troops held out until the end of the war. The German were deported
and the Latvian forces were executed as traitors. Soviet Union re-established control of the Baltic states Further
south the Soviet captured Minsk on 4 July. The German 9th Army encircled. Pushing on, the Red Army was
approaching Warsaw on the 1 Aug 1944. Hitler continued to insist his generals to stand and hold and not allow them
to regroup. In the autumn the Red Army liberated Slovaks. In the South, the Black Sea fleet joint with the land forces
and trapped the German 17th Army in Crimea. The Red Army continued their offensives, retook the western Ukraine
and moved south into Moldavia. On 23 Aug 1944 King Michael I of Romania led a successful coup with support from
opposition. The Rumanian joined the Allied and declared war on the Axis with nearly 1 million men. This
accelerated the Red Army advance into Romania. On 12 Sep 1944, an armistice was signed announced an
unconditional surrender to the USSR.

The ResistanceResistance movements. The most effective were the French in
Europe and Philippines in the Pacific .
A Soviet view on the Cold War
At times it seemed that an armed clash was near and inevitable. In these conditions
the Soviet Union did everything it could to prevent war and strengthen its own and the
world’s security. Several years more had to pass, however before a certain
appreciation of the idea of peaceful co-existence between countries with different
social and economic systems appeared in the Western nations.
Soviet Foreign Policy, by Ilya Semyonovich Kremer.. The History of the Second World War. Purnell 1969, vol p3472.
Click to
Section Index

Chinese Resistance
China was not completed occupied by the Japanese. The alliance between the Nationalists and the Communists
were effective in resisting further occupation of China after 1939. China lost its Northeast provinces to the Japanese
as long ago as in 1931, when China were ruled by a number of Warlords. It was in the Northeast of China where
most independent resistance forces were found. Wikipedia (Nov 2015) listed such 8 resistance movements. One of
the most interest of these was the Muslim Detachment of Islamic resistance (回民義勇隊). In the southern China,
there were two independent resistance movements based in Hong Kong – The Gangjiu dadui (Hong Kong-Kowloon
Brigade, 港九大隊) and the Dongjiang Guerrillas (East River Guerrillas,東江游擊隊). Under the Japanese
occupation, the Hui minority (Muslim) suffered particularly harshly. Many atrocities were committed against them.
Girls were forced into sex slavery. In 1939 the Japanese planned to create a Hui (Muslim) puppet state based on two
Chinese provinces (Suiyan and Ningxia) in the north, on the ground of ‘self-determination’. The Nationalist Muslim
general Ma Hongbin defeated the Japanese in the Battle of Wuyuan in 1940, after heavy casualties.

Malaysian Resistance
There were several groups of resistance movement in Malaya. The largest groups were Chinese dominated. The
largest was the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). Others were Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Army
(OCAJA) and later the two Malay groups, Wataniah and the Askar Metayu Setia. MPAJA was a communist-led
movement. Some of its members were trained by the British for subversive operation. Just before the fall of
Singapore, the British advised the group to move into the Jungle. The MPAJA have some 13,000 men and had
supplies and training from the British. They were the same group, who fought the British after the war for
independence.

Burma Resistance
Burma was annexed to the British Empire and a spirit of resistance to colonial rule far more than most colonies.
Initially the Burmese saw the Japanese not as conquerors, but as liberators. Aung San, the Burmese politician
assisted the Japanese invasion in 1942, and became defence minister in the puppet government. Before long,
however, he secretly contacted the British and from March 1945 openly cooperated with the British in expulsion of
the Japanese. He was assassinated by political opponents in July 1947.
However, some tribes like the Karen remained loyal to the British. As the British retreat to India, some British
officers volunteered to stay behind and others later parachuted in to organise resistance forces in the mountains
and jungles of eastern Burma. Thousands of these Karen volunteers served alongside British officers. Some
officers actively supported their calls for a separate homeland after the war, but the Karen lands were included into
an independent Burma in 1948.

Philippines and Vietnam
The Philippines resistance was one of the more effective in opposing the Japanese occupation. Of the 48 provinces in
the country the Japanese had only control over 12 provinces. A post-war study showed that there were some 260,000
people were involved, ranging from armed protection of the local population to bandits, who were more interested in
money.
In Vietnam, the Viet Minh was fighting the Vichy French administration as well the Japanese occupation. By the end
1944, the Viet Minh claimed a membership of 500,000, from Tonkin to Cochinchina. They were assisted by American,
Soviet Union and the Republic of China. After the war, they began fighting the French colonialists until 1954.

Warsaw Uprising – Sep 1944
As Red Army were at the Polish border, the Communists within the Polish resistance (Home Army) split from the
main movement, at the end of 1943. Some units of the resistance was taken over by the Russian secret police
(NKVD). In these unit the members of the Home Army were eradicated or sent to Gulags deep in the USSR.
With the Russian summer offensive rapidly liberating much of Poland and approaching the capital, Moscow Radio
was urging the Poles to rise up. The Polish Home Army rose against the Germans in Warsaw. The Red Army halted
east of River Vistula and the Poles were left to fight on without support, until the Polish surrendered to the German.
No one is sure of casualties but Polish historians believe that 150,000 Poles dies in the uprising, with 17,000 German.

Soviet Partisan Resistance
The Soviet partisans operated in the German occupied territories were under Soviet government control and often
modelled on the Red Army. The main objectives were to disrupt German military efforts behind the enemy lines.
There were also partisans used to conduct long range reconnaissance patrol missions with Soviet territory –
Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Finland and Karelia. As we seen on last slide (Warsaw
Uprising), there were many communist inspired resistance movements in other parts of Europe, According to
Soviet sources there were 90,000 partisans in the end of 1941 and grew to more than 500,000 in 1943.

Resistance and Civil War in Greece
Greek Resistance was bedevilled by enmity between the two main Resistance groups. The Greek resistance is widely
considered to be one of the fiercest resistance movements in occupied Europe, if not the fiercest, causing
innumerable damages to the occupation power. The Resistance was made out of at least five major forces. It was
their success sabotage against the Italian in 1943 that led to the German takeover. Britain tried to co-ordinate the
different groups. Churchill agreed that Stalin would be allowed a free hand in Romania while Greece was to be in the
British sphere of influence. In Oct 1944, a provisional Greek government was set up in Athens and a Greek Army
was formed. On 3 Dec the communist clashed with the Greek government and began to advance to Athens.
Churchill ordered British troops to crush the Communist. On 4 Jan 1945 a new government was formed and a truce
was signed 4 days later.

Yugoslavia Resistance
Yugoslavia was invaded by German in the Spring of 1941. Hitler also granted Croatia, as an independence puppet
state. Which included Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Croatian Nationalists begun a campaign of murder, expulsion
and forced religious conversion of the Serbs. Resistance in Yugoslavia was fragmented, due to the lack of national
unity among the country’s races. There were 150,000 in resistance movements. In July 1943, the British switched
their support for Tito. Eventually, it was the Communists, under Tito, who provided the only effective opposition. In
August 1944, Tito told Churchill that it was not his intention to establish a Communist government in Yugoslavia.
But secretly Tito flew to Moscow in Sept and coordinated the liberation of Yugoslavia and in 20 Oct 1944, Tito’s
partisan forces and the Red Army entered Belgrade. More than a million of Yugoslavs died in WW 2, mostly killed by
other Yugoslavs. Alone of the occupied countries, Yugoslavia was the only country in Europe liberated by the
indigenous population.

Czech and Slovak Resistance
There several resistance groups in Czechoslovakia but divided into two camps, the Democratic and the Communist
camps. One of their main success was the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the second man in the SS hierarchy
and head of the puppet state of the Protectorat of Bohemia and Moravia (27 May 1942). In the aftermath the Czech
resistance was eliminated by the German, in a reign of terror. In Aug 1944, as the Red Army approached Slovakia,
an uprising managed to gain control of a large area of Slovakia. German reinforce arrived and forced the insurgents
back into the hills. In May 1945, the Czech came out of their hiding in Prague and disarmed the German. With many
area under control of the resistance, the Resistance had greatly assisted the Red Army’s entry into Eastern Europe,

At the beginning resistance was passive, like information-gathering and anti-Nazi propaganda. But in 1943 armed
struggle, assassination and guerrilla warfare became their main activities. From May 1941 to 1945, over 400 agents
were sent to France by Britain to aid the French Resistance movement. One day before the D-Day invasion of
Normandy, Eisenhower requested the BBC to send coded messages to the French Resistance movement that the
invasion would begin within 24 hours. On the eve of D-Day almost 1000 sabotage actions were carried out and
these continued until Liberation, by some 150,000 Frenchmen inside occupied France. The Nazi retaliated against
the Resistance at time, by massacres entire village of innocent people, including children. The village of Oradour
was an example of this. After the war some 220,000 people were honoured for their role in the Resistance.
The French Resistance – 1943-1945

Dutch and Belgium Resistance
Belgium was a flat country that did not favour guerrilla resistance, except in the wooded Ardennes. Belgian
Resistance was chiefly concerned with Intelligence activities. From 25 clandestine transmitters in France and in
Belgium in 1942, it reached 40 transmitter on D-Day 1944. The Belgium supplied 80% of the information coming from
the occupied countries, especially on the enemy radar stations which proved so dangerous for Allied bombing
missions over Germany. One of their success was to put all high tension lines out of action for the entire country
thus costing the Germans 10 million hours of work.
In Netherlands there were only limited resistance activities. One of their most typical activities was the help given to
Jews – among were many children – who had managed to escape mass arrests. Nine organisations specialised in
helping those in hiding, supplying them with ration coupons, false identity papers etc.

Norway Resistance
The Norwegian resistance distrusted the British and did not want to come out of the open
prematurely, attracting German reprisals. The difference was patched up in 1943 leading to increase
sabotage in industry and against land and ses communications. The British SOE (Special
Operations Executive, a secret agent organisation) made it a priority to destroy the heavy-water
facility. The heavy-water plant Rjukan was destroyed in 1943. In Feb 1944, the resistance sank the
ferry that was carrying 1300 pounds of heavy-water. The Allies supplied equipment to arm 32,000
resistance fighters in 1944, led the German to believe that an Allied invasion of Europe was via
Norway. As a result 17 divisions were stationed in Norway.

The End Game
To be a Great Power – by definition, a state capable of holding its own against any
other nation – demands a flourishing economic base. … Yet by going to war, or by
devoting a large share of the nation’s ‘manufacturing power’ to expenditures upon
‘unproductive’ armaments, one runs the risk of eroding the national economic base,
especially vis-à-vis states which are concentrating a greater share of their income
upon productive investment for long-term growth.
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers p697, by Paul Kennedy, Professor of History at Yale University, studied at
University of Oxford, Lecturer of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Visiting Fellow at the Institute for
Advanced Study, Princeton.
Low Countries battles. Invasion of Germany. Return to the Philippines. Iwo Jima &
Okinawa. Victory in Italy. Surrender of Germany and Japan.
Click to
Section Index

Market Gardens – 17 -25 Sep 1944
To speed up the advance across the Rhine, the Western Allied decided to captured all the bridges over the Dutch
waterways, around Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, in a single military operation, on the 17 Sep 1944. To capture
all the bridges at the same time, the Allied mounted the biggest airborne operation in WW2, with 16,500 paratroops
and 3,500 gliders-borne troop on the first day. A single column of armour would drive 60 miles through the
Netherlands to connecting all the captured bridges. It was a daring move and nearly succeeded. Unexpectedly two
SS Panzer divisions were stationed around the Arnhem area, the farthest of the target area. The British paratroops
were cut off, 6,000 were captured only a fifth of the troops got back to Allied line. Arnhem was not liberated until 15
April 1945.

Battle of the Bulge
On 16 Dec 1944, German launched a major offensive through the dense forested Ardennes in Belgium, France and
Luxembourg, The attack caught the American by surprise. The attack involved to three German armies and some
300,000 men in 25 divisions. On the Allied side it was defended by 610,000 men, in 34 divisions. The initial onslaught
created a 100km bulge into the Allied front, creating wide confusion in the Allied command. It was eventually
contained and driven back. The American lost 81,000 men and the German lost 100,000 men. It was the largest battle
fought by the American in WW2. In the battle the German spent all its reserves. There was nothing to available to
hold the Eastern front, according to General von Mellenthin. Hitler’s plan of splitting the Allied was based on false
hope. The battle lasted just over a month to 25 Jan 1945.

Destruction of German Cities - 1944
Britain and America unleashed a series of devastating air raids aimed at crippling military resistance and smashing
civilian morals. In 1944, Britain and America dropped a total of over 900,000 tons of bombs on Germany or 4.5 times
more than the previous year. On 16 Jan, a third of Magdeburg was destroyed, On 13-14 Feb, 1300 bombers
appeared over Dresden in successive waves dropping incendiaries and explosive. Hugh fire storm engulfing the city
centre, killing between 25,000 to 100,000 people. On 21 Feb 2000 bombers flattened Nuremberg. On 3 Mar, Berlin
was bombed during daytime with 100,000 left homeless. This was not one sided, earlier in war, the German bombed
the city of Coventry and thousands of civilians were killed in the Blitz in Sep 1940 – May 1941, although much
smaller scale. “The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing.”
Churchill in a memorandum, a few week before end of WW 2.

Allies Invaded Germany - 1945
In the East, the German conducted a “scorched earth” retreat. By Feb 1945, there were 6m Red Army troops facing
around 2m Axis troops in the East. As the Soviets advanced 8m refugees fleeing through Germany ahead of the
Red Army. Reprisals against the German were encouraged by the Communists and terrible atrocities were
committed.
In March 1945, the Allies in the West crossed the Rhine and advancing swiftly, sometimes 80 km in a day. In April,
400,000 German troop were encircled and taken prisoners, in the Ruhr. The German was facing 1.5 m American,
400k British and 100k Free French troops in the West. Squads of fanatical Nazis were executing any soldier who
dared suggest surrender. Many were round by the Gestapo to join the war, Volkssturm (People’s storm), including
boys and girls at the end. Hitler retreated into his Berlin bunker. Hitler gave orders to destroy everything, bridges,
power stations, hospitals etc. “There is no need to take into consideration the basic needs of the people. Those that
remain after the battle are those who are inferior; for the good will have fallen.”

Return to Philippines & Battle of Leyte Gulf
On 20 Oct 1944, the US landed in the island of Leyte. The Japanese plan was to cut-off the troops on shore. This
was achieved by destroying the US supporting landing fleet, with the Japanese navy sailing into the Leyte Gulf from
the west. Meanwhile another Japanese fleet, with 4 carriers was sailing from the north to lure the main US fleet from
the Leyte Gulf. The US main fleet did sail to north to meet the Japanese and sunk four of the Japanese carriers.
American intercepted the Japanese fleet sailing from the west, two carriers and a battleship were sunk. The US lost
1 light carrier, 2 escort carriers and 2 destroyers, mainly sunk by Kamikaze attacks. This was the last and the largest
naval battle in WW 2. The US landing was secure on 25 Dec and the Japanese navy lost all its carriers.
In mid-Dec onward, the American made several landings in the north and on the main island of Luzon. Before the fall
of Manila on the 3 Mar 1945, the Japanese marines went on a barbaric killing spree. They sought out civilians to kill
on purpose. An estimated 100,000 were killed. The incidence is known as the Rape of Manila. One million of Filipinos
were killed during the war, the majority in the final year and a quarter of a million bought as guerrillas.

Iwo Jima & Okinawa - 1945
American forces in the Pacific began their landing on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, before the invasion of Japan. The
Japan was hoping to inflict unacceptable casualties on the American in the hope of negotiate a compromise peace.
Iwo Jima, barely 20 square km was defended by 21,000 Japanese troops. It was the first piece of Japanese territory
to be invaded by the US. Iwo Jima was turned into a fortress of gun emplacements and pillboxes, connected by
tunnels. On 19 Feb 1945, an invasion fleet of 800 ships and 100,000 marines landed on the island. The Japanese
troop were well hidden and US had to fought for every inch of the island. In the end only 216 Japanese
surrendered, with 6000 US troops were killed.
In Okinawa, 100,000 Japanese troops were dug into three strong defensive ridges, in a well-concealed network of
caves and tunnels. On Eastern Bay, 1 Apr 1945, 172,000 US troops were landed on Okinawa. Torrential rain reduced
the battlefield to trenches of the WW 1. Flame-throwers and high explosives were used blasting the Japanese
positions. Many committed suicide to avoid capture and surprisingly for the first time 11,000 surrendered. The war
was ended on the 22 Jun 1945.

800 Kamikaze planes were used to bomb the American fleet at Okinawa. They sank 32 ships and damaged 368. Altogether 47
ships were known to by sank by kamikaze planes. All kamikaze pilots were volunteers. The kamikaze philosophy is utterly
opposed to the idea that nothing is more precious than one’s life. Here was an answer given by an staff officer of the X Air
Fleet during the Okinawa Campaign.
“In analysing the attitude of these men it must be borne in mind that they considered their attack mission simply as part of
their duty and did not regard the task as something very extraordinary. …. They were too deeply involved in the national
attitude and psychology which had been nurtured in the long history and tradition of the country.” Captain Rikihei Inoguchi.
Kamikaze

Victory in Italy - Jan – 2 May 1945
In Jan 1945, the Italian front was at a standstill, south of Bologna, with the British, Indian, New Zealand & Polish on the Adriatic
side, with the Canadian, South African & American south of Bologna and the American & Brazilian in the west near the
Apennines range. The break through came in April, Bologna was taken on 24 April by the American and the Polish troops.
Meanwhile the British advanced though the Argenta gap on the 18 April, into the Po river and Lombardy plain. It was all
finished on 2 May with the surrender of Germany forces in Italy.

Death of Mussolini and Hitler –April 1945
After his ‘liberation’ by German commandoes, Mussolini had lived a captive life as the head of the puppet Italian Fascist state,
entirely dependent on the German military hold on northern Italy. And when the Allies breakthrough shattered the German
front in the spring of 1945 Mussolini was left to the mercy of Italian republicans and partisans, now engaged on the witch-hunt
against all Fascist leaders and officials. For Mussolini, in his last days, life no longer seemed to have any meaning – and at last
the founder of Fascism, hunted down by his own countrymen, met a violent and ignominious death. Two days later, Hitler
committed suicide in his Berlin Bunker, while the Red Army was only a mile away.

Germany Surrender
With the Rhine behind them the Western Allies were in a position to push on to Berlin. Instead of converging to
Berlin, the Western Allied fanned out toward Munich & Salzburg, Prague and swinging north to Hamburg, preventing
Russia go into Denmark. At the same time the Red Army was ready to advance toward Berlin. On 16 Apr with 1.4m
troops the Red Army began their assault on Berlin. But despite their overwhelming strength progress was slow and
costly. On 25 Apr US troop met up the Russian on the bank of the River Elbe. On the 30 Apr, the Russian flag was
flown from the Reichstag and Berlin surrounded to the Russian on 2 May. Five days later, General Jodl signed the
unconditional surrender to the Allied on behalf of the German Government.

Fire Raids on Japan
With the capture of the Marianas and the arrival of the B-29 bombers, the American was in a position to soften up
Japan for an eventual landings on the large islands. In mid-June 1944, the American started to bomb Japan from
bases in China. In July incendiaries were used on Nagasaki. Then in March, it was used on Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka
and Kobe. Large part of these cities were destroyed by fire. On Tokyo alone civilian deaths were estimated to be
between 75,000-100,000 killed and a million people made homeless. Even then the Japanese leaders did not
capitulate. Now the horror of war had arrived on their Japan doorsteps

The Atomic bombs
The US dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings kill at least 129,000
people. Six days later on 15 Aug the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, on same day when Japan announced its surrender.
The Soviet tore up its Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact agreement signed four years earlier, on 13 Apr 1941.

The Surrender of Japan
On 15 Aug 1945, Japan announced her surrender and on 2 Sep the surrender was formally signed by Mamoru
Shigemitsu, the foreign affairs minister, on board of the USS Missouri.

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality,
its futility, its stupidity.” Dwight D Eisenhower.
All rights reserved. Rights belong to their respective owners.
Available free for non-commercial and personal use.
Music – Sad Romance, composed by Thao
Nguyen Xanh and played by Ji Pyeong Keyon
The
End
Omaha beach today
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The History of the Second World War - WW II

The History of the Second World War - WW II

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