WWII TIMELINE (2A & 2B MARCH 14th and MARCH 15th 2011)

Timeline

1939

•  Hitler invades Poland on 1 September. Britain and France declare war on Germany two days later.

1940

•  Rationing starts in the UK.

•  German 'Blitzkrieg' overwhelms Belgium, Holland and France.

•  Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.

•  British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk.

•  British victory in Battle of Britain forces Hitler to postpone invasion plans.

1941

•  Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia.

•  The Blitz continues against Britain's major cities.

•  Allies take Tobruk in North Africa, and resist German attacks.

•  Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.

1942

•  Germany suffers setbacks at Stalingrad and El Alamein.

•  Singapore falls to the Japanese in February - around 25,000 prisoners taken.

•  American naval victory at Battle of Midway, in June, marks turning point in Pacific War.

•  Mass murder of Jewish people at Auschwitz begins.

1943

•  Surrender at Stalingrad marks Germany's first major defeat.

•  Allied victory in North Africa enables invasion of Italy to be launched.

•  Italy surrenders, but Germany takes over the battle.

•  British and Indian forces fight Japanese in Burma.

1944

•  Allies land at Anzio and bomb monastery at Monte Cassino.

•  Soviet offensive gathers pace in Eastern Europe.

•  D Day: The Allied invasion of France. Paris is liberated in August.

•  Guam liberated by the US Okinawa, and Iwo Jima bombed.

1945

•  Auschwitz liberated by Soviet troops.

•  Russians reach Berlin: Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrenders on 7 May.

•  Truman becomes President of the US on Roosevelt's death, and Attlee replaces Churchill.

•  After atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrenders on 14 August.