The War in Europe General Eisenhower talking with troops before D-Day

The War in Europe

General Eisenhower talking with troops before D-Day

Axis Occupation, 1942

Europe & North Africa• Battle of the Atlantic

– Hitler tries to cut off supplies to Britain

– U.S. organizes convoys of cargo ships, with navy support, to get supplies safely across the Atlantic

• The Eastern Front – Hitler invades the Soviet Union in 1941;

• Stopped by cold weather

– Battle of Stalingrad (1942) • Stalingrad was a major industrial center;

• Luftwaffe bomb, city burns, hand-to-hand combat

• Soviets hold out till winter, then counter-attack

• Germans surrender Jan. 1943 – a major turning point in the war

Naval ships and planes gave support to convoys traveling through the Atlantic.

Battle of Stalingrad;1942

Europe & North Africa

• Stalin pressures FDR/Churchill to open a second front in Western Europe– Instead, Allies invade N. Africa led by Gen. Eisenhower

– Afrika Corps, led by Gen. Rommel, surrender May, 1943.

• Italian Campaign (p. 573), read and answer:– Why do you think FDR/Churchill agreed to only accept

unconditional surrender by the Axis powers?

– What happened to Mussolini?

– Describe what happened at “Bloody Anzio.”

D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy

• In 1943, the Allies began making plans to invade France;• Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower commanded the invasion forces;• The Allies choose to strike on the coast of Normandy, in

northwestern France

D-Day, cont.• Code Name: Operation Overlord• June 6, 1944 – U.S., British and

Canadian forces storm the beaches of Normandy;

• Troops are met with machine guns, rockets and cannon fire;

• Heavy losses are sustained;– 2,700 American troops lost

• Allies retake Paris within a month– Gen. Patton – led army forces

– Gen. Omar Bradley– led air forces

Troops Preparing for Launch

Troops Wading to Shore

Launching

German Defenses

German Defenses, cont.

German Defenses, cont.

German Defenses, cont.

German Canon on Omaha Beach

Up the Beach

Point du Hoc Looking Towards Omaha Beach

The Cost of Freedom

The American Cemetery in Normandy

Journal Write

• You are a soldier preparing to launch onto the beaches of Normandy.– What are you thinking?– What have you done to prepare?– What fears do you have as you are about to

launch?