August 7, 1942 to February 9, 1943

Weeks after Japan begins building a strategic airfield on Guadalcanal, part of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, U.S.

Japanese into initial retreat. But with reinforcements arriving, hand-to-hand jungle combat follows with Japan finally retreating six months later, with 31,000 casualties and the loss of 38 ships.

Military history's largest tank battle takes place on the Eastern Front involving an estimated 6,000 tanks, 4,000 aircraft and 2 million soldiers

n its last blitzkrieg offensive, Germany attacks the Red Army near Kursk, Russia, but due to delays and the cracking of the German Wehrmacht code, the Soviets are prepared and keep Hitler from conquering Russia.

Attempting to liberate Italy, the Allies land at Anzio, catching the Germans by surprise and quickly securing a beachhead during Operation Shingle. However, continued Axis resistance and counter-attacks ensue, resulting in a stalemate that doesn't end until the fall of Rome.

It’s seen as a failure for the Allies, although it does keep German troops from moving to France in the days before the invasion at Normandy.

In World War II's largest naval battle, the Allies invade the Philippines to retake the commonwealth and create a Southeast Asian blockade.

In a counter-attack, Japan deploys its first kamikaze, or suicide, bombers.

World War II's final major battle—and one of the war's bloodiest—begins Easter Sunday as U.S

Army and Marine forces invade Okinawa in the Ryukyus island chain southwest of Japan with the orders of taking the island to execute air strikes against Japan and create a blockade.

Fought in brutal, frigid winter conditions, Hitler's forces launch a surprise, last-ditch counter-attack in an attempt to split the line of the Allies on the Western Front at the forested region of Ardennes in Belgium and Luxembourg

In a counter-offensive after Germany's attack on Moscow, the Soviet Red Army attacks Kharkov, Ukraine with the aid of 1,500 tanks and 1,000 aircraft but German intelligence alerts the Axis to the campaign.

Facing nearly 300,000 casualties and gaining little traction, the Soviets are forced to concede.

In one of America's most important World War II naval wins, American intelligence is able to break codes to thwart a Japanese attack on the US.

at Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean. With Japan focused on Midway, U.S.

Nazi paratroopers invade the Greek island of Crete, marking history's first mostly airborne attack.

Day one of the campaign results in heavy losses for the Germans, but fearing a sea assault, Allied forces soon withdraw and evacuate in defeat.

After a nearly four-month air campaign waged over England, Britain's Royal Air Force and Navy respond to heavy bombing attacks from Germany's Luftwaffe air force, including “the Blitz,” in an attempt to destroy the RAF before invading-

Defense systems, including radar, and Hitler's decision to bomb London, rather than military bases, allows Britain to regroup and eventually win the battle.

A German invasion around the French coastal town of Dunkirk separates the French and British armies, marooning Allied forces.

But with Adolf Hitler halting Germany's advance there, the Allies are able to perform a daring—and successful—evacuation, called Operation Dynamo.

World War II's longest continuous campaign takes place, with the Allies striking a naval blockade against Germany and igniting a struggle for control of Atlantic Ocean sea routes.

The Axis, with its U-boats, responds with a counter-blockade that is at first successful, but the Allies' use of convoys, aircraft and technology eventually turns the tide.

German and Finnish soldiers begin a nearly 900-day siege and blockade of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the second-biggest Soviet city and a major center of industry.

As the Red Army finally begins to break through the blockade, the siege ends and the city is freed, but approximately 800,000 civilians die, most from hunger.

Following Germany's Operation Barbarossa, an invasion of the Soviet Union, the Axis launches a campaign to capture the capital city of Moscow before winter sets in.

In preparation, the Soviets fortify the city and bring in reinforcements. After a series of gains and losses on both sides during harsh weather, the Germans are eventually beaten back and forced to retreat.

In a conflict that marks the war's outcome tipping in the favor of the Allies the Red Army defends the Russian city of Stalingrad from German attack, bringing an end to the Axis's eastern Europe advances and handing it its first decisive defeat

one of the longest, biggest and deadliest battles of the war, it ends with close to 2 million casualties, including civilians, with brutal winter weather and a Russian blockade causing many Germans to starve to death..

The Allies invade French North Africa in an attempt to draw the Axis away from Soviet attacks on the Eastern Front and gain control of the Mediterranean shipping lanes.

The victory is touted by Winston Churchill as the "end of the beginning.

Advancing in Italy toward Rome, the Allies attack the Gustav Line, held by the Axis, at the mountain town of Monte Cassino, home to a Benedictine abbey dating to 524 A.D.

Evacuated by the Germans, both sides tell the Vatican it will not be attacked or used in military operations.

American, British and Canadian troops storm five beaches at Normandy France June 6, known as D-Day, waging one of military history's largest water invasions.

At Omaha Beach, more than 2,000 American casualties are suffered with some 4,000 deaths that day.

Fought 660 miles south of Tokyo, U.S. Marines invade the volcanic island of Iwo Jima seeking a strategic staging area for a possible attack on Japan's mainland.

Weeks of bloody battle follow and while the Americans eventually gain control, 7,000 Marines are killed, with 20,000 wounded. All but 216 of 18,000 Japanese soldiers are killed.