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After defeating Italy and Germany in the North African Campaign (November 8, 1942-May 13, 1943) of World War II (1939-45), the United States and Great Britain, the leading Allied powers, looked ahead to the invasion of occupied Europe and the final defeat of Nazi Germany. The Allies decided to move next against Italy, hoping an Allied invasion would remove that fascist regime from the war, secure the central Mediterranean and divert German divisions from the northwest coast of France where the Allies planned to attack in the near future. The Allies' Italian Campaign began with the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. After 38 days of fighting, the U.S. and Great Britain successfully drove German and Italian troops from Sicily and prepared to assault the Italian mainland.

The Allies Target Italy

When the Allies won the North African Campaign on May 13, 1943, a quarter-million German and Italian troops surrendered at Tunisia, on the north coast of Africa. With the huge Allied army and navy in the southern Mediterranean now freed for further action, British and American strategists faced two options: Transfer these forces north for the impending invasion of Europe from the English Channel, or remain in theater to strike at southern Italy, which British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965) called "the soft underbelly of Europe." At this crossroads, the Allies, after some dissension, decided to press north into Italy. The stepping stone to its mainland would be the island of Sicily, in part because the Allies could depend on fighter cover from air bases on British Malta, 60 miles south of Sicily and recently freed from a siege by Axis forces.

Did you know? British Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu (1901-1985), mastermind of Operation Mincemeat, described the ingenious counterintelligence operation in his 1954 book "The Man Who Never Was." A 1957 film of the same name featured Montagu in a cameo as a British intelligence officer critical of the plan.

The invasion was assisted by some subterfuge. In April 1943, a month before the Allied victory in North Africa, German agents recovered the body of a British Royal Marine pilot from the waters off a Spanish beach. Documents in an attaché case handcuffed to the officer's wrist provided a goldmine of intelligence about the Allies' secret plans, and German agents quickly sent the documents up the chain of command where they soon reached German leader Adolf Hitler (1889-1945). Hitler studied the captured plans carefully, and, taking full advantage of their top-secret details, directed his troops and ships to reinforce the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, west of Italy, against an impending Allied invasion. There was only one problem: The recovered body-which was not a Royal Marine but actually a homeless man from Wales who had committed suicide-and its documents, were an elaborate British diversion called Operation Mincemeat. By the time Hitler redirected his troops in the summer of 1943, a massive Allied invasion force was sailing to Sicily.

The Allies Land at Sicily

The invasion of Sicily, code-named Operation Husky, began before dawn on July 10, 1943, with combined air and sea landings involving 150,000 troops, 3,000 ships and 4,000 aircraft, all directed at the southern shores of the island. This massive assault was nearly cancelled the previous day when a summer storm arose and caused serious difficulties for paratroopers dropping behind enemy lines that night. However, the storm also worked to the Allies' advantage when Axis defenders along the Sicilian coast judged that no commander would attempt amphibious landings in such wind and rain. By the afternoon of July 10, supported by shattering naval and aerial bombardments of enemy positions, 150,000 Allied troops reached the Sicilian shores, bringing along 600 tanks.

The landings progressed with Lieutenant General George S. Patton (1885-1945) commanding American ground forces and General Bernard L. Montgomery (1887-1976) leading British ground forces. Allied troops encountered light resistance to their combined operations. Hitler had been so deceived by "Mincemeat" that he had left only two German divisions in Sicily to battle Allied soldiers. Even several days into the attack he was convinced that it was a diversionary maneuver and continued to warn his officers to expect the main landings at Sardinia or Corsica. The Axis defense of Sicily was also weakened by losses the German and Italian armies had suffered in North Africa, in casualties as well as the several hundred thousand troops captured at the end of the campaign.

The Allies Advance

For the next five weeks, Patton's army moved toward the northwestern shore of Sicily, then east toward Messina, protecting the flank of Montgomery's veteran forces as they moved up the east coast of the island. Meanwhile, jarred by the Allied invasion, the Italian fascist regime fell rapidly into disrepute, as the Allies had hoped. On July 24, 1943, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) was deposed and arrested. A new provisional government was set up under Marshal Pietro Badoglio (1871-1956), who had opposed Italy's alliance with Nazi Germany and who immediately began secret discussions with the Allies about an armistice.

On July 25, the day after Mussolini's arrest, the first Italian troops began withdrawing from Sicily. Hitler instructed his forces to make contingency plans for withdrawal but to continue to fight fiercely against the Allied advance. As July turned to August, Patton and Montgomery and their armies battled against determined German troops dug into the mountainous Sicilian terrain. The U.S. and British soldiers pushed back the Axis forces farther and farther until most were trapped in a northeast corner of the island.

Axis Troops Leave Sicily

As Patton and Montgomery closed in on the northeastern port of Messina, the German and Italian armies managed (over several nights) to evacuate 100,000 men, along with vehicles, supplies and ammunition, across the Strait of Messina to the Italian mainland. When his American soldiers moved into Messina on August 17, 1943, Patton, expecting to fight one final battle, was surprised to learn that the enemy forces had disappeared. The battle for Sicily was complete, but German losses had not been severe, and the Allies' failure to capture the fleeing Axis armies undermined their victory. The advance against the Italian mainland in September would take more time and cost the Allies more troops than they anticipated.

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After defeating Italy and Germany in the North African Campaign (November 8, 1942-May 13, 1943) of World War II (1939-45), the United States and Great Britain, the leading Allied powers, looked ahead to the invasion of occupied Europe and the final defeat of Nazi Germany.

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As the battle of Iwo Jima was coming to a close, the U.S. had their very strong army, navy and air force ready to attack Okinawa which is just 350 south of Japan's mainland. The air and naval attacks started much earlier than the actual invasion. The invasion officially started on April 1st, 1945 when ground troops officially touched down on Hagushi. By April 4th, the marines had cut the island in half due to the Japanese being quiet. The first counterattack started on the ^th of April in the form of Kamikaze planes(nearly 350 planes). U.S. forces suffered the highest casualty rate. Finally after losing a hill, the Japanese were overtaken on May 16th after brutal, close-quarter fighting for a month.
Did you know the Japanese used several kamikaze attacks in the Battle of Okinawa?
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Battle-of-Okinawa

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Iwo Jima, Iōjima, Ogasawara, Tokyo, Japan

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America was given information the Japan was down warplanes and the Iwo Jima would be a good place to attack. With the information given, they used it to plan an attack that would last no more than a couple of days. With the geography of Iwo Jima, it was easy for the Japanese to take a good defense. The U.S. marines were faced with very difficult conditions in Iwo Jima. While the U.S. had nearly 70,000 men on the ground, compared to Japans approximately 23,000. Japan was also very low on supplies. Battles raged for four weeks in northern Iwo Jima. The Americans called it a win but the Japanese "holdouts" remained for years. The Japanese finally ran out of out of supplies and surrendered almost four years after the end of World War 2.
Did you know that nearly 70,000 marines alone died at Iwo Jima?
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima

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In WW2, this battle was the first offense and defense victory for the Allies. This was a surprise attack in August of 1942. The Japanese suffered an immense amount of casualties. This caused the Japanese to withdrawal from Guadalcanal. By the end of the battle the Japanese lost two-thirds of the army that committed to being on the island. The possession of Guadalcanal essential for control of the sea.

Did you know that Every branch of the U.S. military fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal?
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-guadalcanal

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An unsuccessful attack of B-17's was raged on the Japanese by the U.S. which started Battle of Midway. Due to the first unsuccessful mission, the U.S. sent more B-17's out to attack the Japanese once again. Unfortunately, the Japanese had other plans and worked one step ahead of the Americans, including 108 warplanes. As the Japanese were getting ready to attack the U.S. yet again, they got word of incoming planes. An incoming fleet of devastator torpedo pilots were headed straight for their base. These planes were all shot down along with the fighter jet escot planes around them. As the Japanese refueled their planes and prepared to retaliate, another wave of planes for the U.S. came through. These planes set three Japanese carriers and set them on fire. After a counter-attack from the Japanese that was abandoned the U.S. sunk yet another one of the Japanese boats.
Did you know radar gave the U.S. forces a huge advantage.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway

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A day after the brutal attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese started attacking the Philippines. The Japanese soon captured the capital of the Philippines and started taking over everything. Filipinos and Americans that were in Mariveles were captured and were forced to walk 65 miles to Bataan. They were split into groups of about 100 men and were marched for about 5 days. Many died due to the brutality of their captors. They were starved, beaten and if they became too weak, they were bayoneted. They were then taken to POW camps were most of them died anyways.
Did you know the Filipino prisoners were generally treated much worse than the American prisoners?
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march

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April 16,1945 was the final assault against Adolf Hitler. This resulted in 2 weeks of hopeless fighting by German soldiers. Most of then were the youngest and oldest men who were defending the city although their fierce leader was in an underground leader. Women were sexually assaulted in the streets, horses were carved for their meat and businesses were broken into. Although Adolf had said he would give his life for his people, that was unfortunately not the case. As his people died, he huddled in a bunker with his wife, terrified that he would be found. He eventually killed himself in the bunker along with his wife.
Did you know around 150,000 Polish soldiers fought alongside the Soviet Union?
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/battle-of-berlin-memorial-tiergarten

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The Germans wanted to split up the allied armies like they had done before, so they went for the Ardennes forest, which was a great place to hide, due to its denseness and the fact that there were very few roads. After a brutal day of fighting, the Germans broke through the American front, taking over everything of importance. This battle had everything from  paratroopers dropping behind the lines, to cutting communications lines, to even English-speaking German soldiers disguised as Americans. Unfortunately for the Germans, this battle was not like the one they were hoping. Throughout a brutal winter, the Americans fought a nearly impossible battle. They marched through snow drifts to attack the Germans. The toughness of the Americans ran true, eventually captured key parts of the land. They restored the front which ended up driving the Allies to victory.
Did you know that this battle was the last major German offensive of the war?
https://www.army.mil/botb/

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The Battle of the Bulge

In late 1944, during the wake of the Allied forces' successful D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, it seemed as if the Second World War was all but over. On Dec. 16, with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favor. The battle that ensued is known historically as the Battle of the Bulge. The courage and fortitude of the American Soldier was tested against great adversity. Nevertheless, the quality of his response ultimately meant the victory of freedom over tyranny.

Overview

Early on the misty winter morning of Dec. 16, 1944, more than 200,000 German troops and nearly 1,000 tanks launched Adolf Hitler's last bid to reverse the ebb in his fortunes that had begun when Allied troops landed in France on D-Day. Seeking to drive to the coast of the English Channel and split the Allied armies as they had done in May 1940, the Germans struck in the Ardennes Forest, a 75-mile stretch of the front characterized by dense woods and few roads, held by four inexperienced and battle-worn American divisions stationed there for rest and seasoning.

After a day of hard fighting, the Germans broke through the American front, surrounding most of an infantry division, seizing key crossroads, and advancing their spearheads toward the Meuse River, creating the projection that gave the battle its name.

Stories spread of the massacre of Soldiers and civilians at Malmedy and Stavelot, of paratroopers dropping behind the lines, and of English-speaking German soldiers, disguised as Americans, capturing critical bridges, cutting communications lines, and spreading rumors. For those who had lived through 1940, the picture was all too familiar. Belgian townspeople put away their Allied flags and brought out their swastikas. Police in Paris enforced an all-night curfew. British veterans waited nervously to see how the Americans would react to a full-scale German offensive, and British generals quietly acted to safeguard the Meuse River's crossings. Even American civilians, who had thought final victory was near were sobered by the Nazi onslaught.

But this was not 1940. The supreme Allied commander, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower rushed reinforcements to hold the shoulders of the German penetration. Within days, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. had turned his Third U.S. Army to the north and was counterattacking against the German flank. But the story of the Battle of the Bulge is above all the story of American Soldiers. Often isolated and unaware of the overall picture, they did their part to slow the Nazi advance, whether by delaying armored spearheads with obstinate defenses of vital crossroads, moving or burning critical gasoline stocks to keep them from the fuel-hungry German tanks, or coming up with questions on arcane Americana to stump possible Nazi infiltrators.

At the critical road junctions of St. Vith and Bastogne, American tankers and paratroopers fought off repeated attacks, and when the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne was summoned by his German adversary to surrender, he simply responded, "Nuts!"

Within days, Patton's Third Army had relieved Bastogne, and to the north, the 2nd U.S. Armored Division stopped enemy tanks short of the Meuse River on Christmas. Through January, American troops, often wading through deep snow drifts, attacked the sides of the shrinking bulge until they had restored the front and set the stage for the final drive to victory.

Never again would Hitler be able to launch an offensive in the west on such a scale. An admiring British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill stated, "This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory." Indeed, in terms of participation and losses, the Battle of the Bulge is arguably the greatest battle in American military history.

Courtesy of the U.S. Army Center of Military History

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In late 1944, during the wake of the Allied forces' successful D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, it seemed as if the Second World War was all but over. On Dec. 16, with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favor.

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After the Germans and Italians surrendered at Tunisia, the Aliies had two choices on what to do next, they could go north or attack Italy. The allies went with attacking Italy. The allies unintentionally tricked the Germans into thinking the Allies were going to west Italy. Yet, the Allies were actually going to Southern Italy. Due to a storm, a massive invasion of Sicily was nearly cancelled. The bad weather worked in favor of the Allies, they brought in nearly 150,000 troops and brought about 600 tanks with them. Hitler took out all of the troops in Sicily because he thought they were going to be invaded somewhere else, so Sicily was left with only two divisions to fight for Germany. This inevitably lead to Mussolini's fall and Italy started secret ties with the Allies.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/invasion-of-sicily

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Before America entered the war, Germany took over northwestern France, and the only way they got away with it was because nobody was really able to stop them. After America joined the war, Allied plans to advance a cross-channel invasion started. General Dwight Eisenhower planned months and weeks ahead of D-Day to deceive Germany. At dawn of June 6, paratroopers and gliders had already landed behind enemy lines, they secured bridges and exit roads. The British and Canadians captured multiple beaches. U.S. forces faced serious hardship at Omaha beach where it is said 2,000 lives were lost. On June 11th, the beaches were completely secured with over 326,000 troops, more than 50,000 vehicles and some 100,000 tons of equipment that had landed at Normandy.
Did you know the landing craft boats were originally designed for use in Louisiana swamps?
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day

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Stalingrad served as an industrial center of Russia. Hitler wanted to occupy Stalingrad for propaganda purposes, but then it took a dark turn. He announced that when he took Stalingrad he would kill all men residents and deport all the women. So, in return, Stalin ordered anyone strong enough to take up arms for their city. German's brutally fought north of Stalingrad, but Russian's successfully held them off. Stalin was ahead of the game and got the money makers, such as cattle and grain, out of the city. However, he forgot about the actual citizens. Tens of thousands of Russians died, and by the end of 1942, Stalingrad was in ruins, yet Stalin would not step down. Even with significant losses, the Russians stayed and did not back down. Due to the horrendous winter of Russia, the battle of Stalingrad eventually ended with the capture of 100,000 German soldiers.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad
Did you know that nearly 200,000 men were initially lost out of Stalin's forces?