A-14

=__**The Allied Victory**__ = toc

//The North African Plan//
The Allies began their campaign for Northern Africa after they landed in Morocco and Algeria in November 1942. In June of 1942, German General Erwin Rommel had moved to take Trobuk, a port city in Libya. General Bernard Montgomery was sent by Great Britain to counteract this German offensive. He commanded an attack in what was called the Battle of El Alamein. In fact, the battle consisted of three﻿ separate battles. In the first battle, Rommel was moving towards Egypt, but Allied troops met him there and stopped him. After this battle, there was a period of standstill while both sides fortified their positions. Then, Rommel launched a counterattack, but Britain stopped him again. Rommel was now at a great disadvantage, since his supplies were only half of those of the British. General Montgomery then launched a huge barrage of gunfire at the weakened Axis troops. This surprised the Germans and they were not at all prepared for this attack. Their force was effectively "crumbled" away and were forced to retreat. Taking advantage of Rommel's already demoralized troops, a massive force led by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower entered into Africa, crushed them by May 1943, and essentially eliminated Rommel and the Axis from Africa.

//The Battle of Stalingrad//
 The Battle of Stalingrad was an influential battle in World War II which some consider the turning point of the world war. It took place in the summer of 1942. Before this, Hitler’s Nazi forces were at a standstill at Leningrad and Moscow. In addition, the brutal Russian winter battered the already demoralized German Army. To reinforce his grip on Russia, Hitler sent his Sixth Army to capture the Soviet oil fields of Caucasus, under the command of General Friedrich Paulus. Hitler ordered the General to capture not only the Caucasus fields but Stalingrad as well. The Sixth Army consisted of 330,000 veteran soldiers. 

 Paulus started his assault on the city by fighting across land bridges spanning the Volga and Don rivers and by bombing on the city. Soon the fighting moved to inside the city itself. The fighting was fierce because both sides refused to yield the city for the same reason: it was named after Stalin. Stalin refused to let the city named after him fall and Hitler despised Stalin and wanted to wipe the city off the face of the earth. Therefore the Germans had to fight fiercely for every single street, and every block. The battles degraded into hand to hand fighting amongst the soldiers. Stalingrad’s streets were soaked in blood. By the time November came around, the Soviets had lost 90% of the city to the German Army. However, on November 19, Soviet forces inside and outside the city launched an offensive against the entrenched Germans. They trapped the Germans within the very city they had fought to keep and cut off the German supply routes. Hitler sent reinforcements to relieve Paulus, but they could not break through the Soviet lines. Paulus was stranded with a starving, freezing army that consisted merely of 90,000 men of the original 330,000. The Germans had been decimated, and Paulus eventually surrendered on the 31st of January, 1943. The last of the Germans had surrendered by February 2nd. Hitler was furious with Paulus’ failure, as he had lost not only many of his veteran Sixth Army, but he had failed to capture the Caucasus fields, thus bringing an end to his campaign in Russia. The Soviets continued to push back the German Army, as they were now on the defensive.

//The Invasion of Italy//


 The Allies planned to invade Sicily after they drove the Axis out of Africa. However the Axis planes bombed Allied ships from bases in Sicily. The Allies wanted to make the Mediterranean Sea a safe place for their ships. The Allies also thought that if the invasion for Sicily would get Italy to back out of the war. In addition, Allied forces under Eisenhower landed along the south coast of Sicily on July 10th, 1943. Then for 38 days, they engaged in fighting with the enemy over land. Mussolini, who founded fascism, ruled Italy for almost 21 years mostly as a dictator. He dreamed of building Italy into a great nation but was defeated in World War II and was executed by his own people. Most Italians were fed up with the war and Mussolini was overthrown. The Allies hoped that they would be able to take Italy without a fight. The new Italian government signed a secret peace treaty with the Allies, but the Germans quickly took control. The Allies then invaded Italy, making their main place in Salerno. The Germans attacked back hard and almost drove the allies back into the sea. Under General Kesselring's leadership, the Germans used the difficult mountain and countryside terrain to slow down the Allies.  The Germans made their next stand along the Gothic Line in the north Apennine Mountains. The Allied force, although reduced in strength by the necessity to refresh or redistribute some divisions for use in France, this initiated a drive in September that broke the Gothic Line after a 3 month campaign. In the spring of 1945 the Allies pushed across Po Valley and, when the German resistance began to crumble, this made spectacular advances which ended with the surrender of the German forces in Italy on May 2, 1945. In conclusion, Mussolini loses power but Germans keep control of Northern Italy. The Allies invade Italy but Germans keep fighting there until the war ends.

//The D-Day Invasion//
 After the British had evacuated the French from Dunkerque in 1940, the Allied forces began to plan an invasion of the German-held France. By 1942, USA and UK commanders began to discuss the plan for the Operation they code named Overlord.However, the Germans knew that the Allies would eventually attempt to retake

  France through the Northern Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day beaches. In order to prevent invasion, Hitler assigned General Rommel to set up defenses in Northern France. Rommel brought in artillery and placed mines in both the English Channel and the beaches. He also strung up barbed wire along the coast. The Germans concentrated their forces near the city of Calais, since they had received intelligence that the Allied forces were planning at attack there. In truth, the Calais strike force was a ruse to lure the majority of the German Army away from the real strike point: Normandy. To test the German defenses along France's Northern beaches, the Allies sent in a predominantly Canadian force to attack the German-held port of Dieppe. The Canadian force suffered heavy losses and was forced into retreat, discouraging an attack on a port. Instead the Allies planned to attack on open beach, where they would have better chances of victory. Supreme commander Dwight D. Eisenhower planned the attack and intended it to take place on June 5; however, the seas were rough that day so the attack was postponed to the next day. On June 6, thousands of boats crushed the channel following minesweepers. They carried over 130,00 Allied troops to Normandy.To compliment the seaward invasion, paratroopers and glider battalions dropped down behind enemy line to further disrupt their defenses; these forces captured bridges, railroads, and other means of transportation. At the break of dawn, battleships began their relentless hammering of the German fortifications. At 6:30 am Allied soldiers worked their way ashore and began the bloody fight for the beaches. Their landing zone spanned 60 miles, making it the largest seaborne invasion in recorded history. D-Day had caught the Germans completely by surprise. Nevertheless, the German forces fought valiantly and gave the Allies a fight. In one landing site, Allied forces barely managed to secure the beach. But by the end of the day all five of the Allied landing sites had been secured. The Allies created an artificial harbor and then brought the remainder of their forces (numbering 1 million troops) into France. They slowly began to advance through German lines to retake France. On June 27, the Allies captured the port of Cherbourg and on July 25, Allied bombers blasted a hole through the German line. Lieutenant General George S. Patton took advantage of the newly formed hole by racing through it, thus breaking the entire German line. By September, the Allies had liberated France from German control.

//The Battle of the Bulge//
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The Battle of the Bulge started on December 16, 1944. Hitler had persuaded himself into thinking that the alliance between Britain, France, and America in the western area of Europe was not strong and that a major attack on them would break up the alliance. Hitler decided that he would send a mass attack on the mostly American forces to try and break up the alliance. The massive attack was known as the Ardennes Offensive, but because the initial attack by the Germans created a big bulge in the Allies' front lines, it has become commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge. When Hitler attacked he had a four step plan:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1. The Sixth Panzer Army, led by Sepp Dietrich, was to lead the attack to capture Antwerp. // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 2. The Fifth Panzer Army, led by Manteuffel, was to attack the center of the American forces, capture the road and rail centre of St Vith and then drive on to Brussels. // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 3. The Seventh Army, led by Brandenberger, was to attack in the southern flank, as designated by Hitler, and to create a buffer zone to prevent American reinforcements from attacking the Fifth Panzer Army. // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 4.The Fifteenth Army was to be held in reserve to counter any Allied attack when they took place. //

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Hitler thought that his forces would be able to surround and cut off Canada’s First Army, America’s First and Ninth Armies and Britain’s Second Army. It seemed to be a really bizarre plan – especially since Germany had been in retreat since D-Day, their military was depleted of supplies, and they were facing the strong power of the Allies. However Hitler, as head of the military, decided that they would attack anyways. Before the attack started, English speaking German soldiers dressed in American uniforms went behind the lines of the Allies and caused chaos by spreading a bunch of random lies, changing road signs, and cutting telephone lines. Those who were caught were shot after a court martial. The weather was also in Hitler’s favor. Low cloud and fog meant that the superior air force of the Allies could not be used against the German tanks. The weather was typical for the Ardennes in winter, so the ground was hard enough for military vehicles to cross, suiting Hitler's armored attack. The battle started with a two hour rain of terror with bombs on the Allied lines that was followed by the giant armored attack. They thought that since the majority of the German's army was reinforced, it might have allowed them to be based at the Schnee Eifel. The Germans experienced great success at the beginning. The Allies were surprised by the attack; this was because they had received little intelligence that such an attack would take place. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> However, the success of the Germans only lasted two days. Other than making a bulge into the Allied front line, the Germans didn't do anything much. Because the Germans had based their attack on a massive armored onslaught, they required a lot fuel to maintain it. However the Germans simply did not possess such quantities of fuel, so they soon ran out. By December 22nd, the weather started to clear, allowing the Allies to bring in their air power to literally blow away the Germans. On the following day, the Allies started a massive counter-attack against the Germans. But on Christmas Eve, the Allies were, for the first time, attacked by air bombers. The Germans attacked rail yards in an attempt to ruin the ability of the Allies to supply themselves; in spite of that, since the Germans were without fuel for their armored vehicles, any success in the air was meaningless. The Germans had advanced 60 miles in two days but starting December 18th, they entered a position of stalemate. The fighting was harsh and intense. As the Germans attempted to advance new front in Holland, the battle only grew more intense. By mid-January 1945, the German lack of fuel was increasingly evident – the Germans had to simply get rid of their vehicles. The 1st SS Panzer Division, the unit responsible for the Malmedy Massacree, had to make their way back to Germany on foot. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The Battle of the Bulge ended up being the largest battle fought by the United States in World War II. 600,000 American troops were involved in the battle. The Americans lost 81,000 men while the Germans suffered 100,000 casualties. It was significant because it was a battle on two fronts and led to the eventual German surrender in WWII

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The Japanese in Retreat//
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> In 1944, the Allied troops moved into the Pacific and landed on the Filipino island of Leyte. This group was led by General Douglas MacArthur, and their ultimate goal was to overtake Japan and Southeast Asia. When the Allies landed, the Japanese admiral created a trap where their navy would draw the US fleet north of Leyte Gulf so another Japanese force would come from the other side and surround the Allies. The Allies first used air strikes to damage the chasing

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Japanese fleet and damaged them enough that they thought they wouldn't be a threat anymore. After the Allies went to pursue the north fleet, they were able to destroy them and sink all of their ships but one. Soon, though, the southern Japanese fleet, which wasn't as damaged as the Allies had thought, met the American fleet and engaged in battle. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> This battle was one of the first were Japanese kamikazes played a role. They were suicidal pilots who would crash their planes into enemy ships to sink them. The kamikazes ended up sinking an American carrier. However, the tide soon turned. The Japanese hadn't engaged in battle fully because they had wrongly assumed the American fleet was larger than it actually was. Therefore, there attacks were held-back, giving the Allies an opportunity to counterattack. Many Japanese ships were sunk or destroyed and the Japanese were forced to withdraw. In the end, the Battle of Leyte Gulf would become the largest naval battle in history. The Japanese loss meant its navy was almost completely obliterated and could no longer fight in the war.

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<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**//Iwo Jima//**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Iwo Jima was an island off the coast of Japan used as an airstrip for their air force. It had been of interest to the United States to launch an attack on the island to weaken Japan's defenses but to also provide an emergency landing strip for American bombers. The attack started with weeks of bombing from aircraft to weaken the fortified structures on the island. Then, on February 19, 1945, U.S. Marines landed on the island to begin the ground battle. With the support of naval artillery fire, the ground troops were able to capture two airstrips and Mount Suribachi, where they famously raised an American flag. They were able to accomplish all this in five days. However, for the next few weeks into March, even more intense fighting took place. American troops met heavily fortified Japanese defense troops motivated to die to protect the island. Many casualties were suffered on both sides, but eventually the Marines were able to capture island of Iwo Jima. This ended up being one of the more decisive victories for the Allies in World War II. Soon after Iwo Jima, American forces moved to the island of Okinawa. They engaged in a bloody battle with the Japanese in June. The human cost was staggering–the Japanese suffered over 100,000 casualties.