It was August, and the Allies from the Normandy beachheads have managed to secure beachheads and pushed inland, securing the towns of St. Lo, Caen, and Cherbourg. Another invasion force from the south pushed northward to link up with the Normandy forces. The result of “Hitler’s Last Gasp Attack” had caused to the Allies to gain a decisive victory. This is the Falaise Gap.
Exactly 68 years ago, the largest amphibious invasion took place on June 6th, 1944. 150,000 American, British, and Canadian troops landed on five different beaches in Northern France. This is Operation Overlord.
On this day in 1945, the entire world celebrated as Alfred Jodl, the secretary of Hitler, signed the unconditional surrender treaty, ending the War on the Western Front. The Soviet Red Army suffered tremendous casualties, but Berlin was theirs. This is the Battle of Berlin and VE Day.
On the day of August 24, 1942, two armies clashed in one of the largest and bloodiest battles in WWII. The German 6th Army attacked two Soviet Armies at the city of Stalingrad. Six monthes of bloody fighting for one city, almost 2 million casualties of men and equipment, and one ruined city. This is the Battle of Stalingrad. Continue reading
In North Africa, 1942, the German Afrika Corps surged across Egypt to attack the British 8th Army at El Alamein.Two commanders, Rommel and Montgomery would decide the fate of the North African War. Over 1500 armored units total were engaged in this battle, and lasted over 10 days. The Battle of El Alamein would be the turning point of the North African War as well as the War for Europe. Continue reading
On August 8 as decided at the Tehran and Yalta conferences Russia would assist the USA in the pacific theater by invading the Manchuria part of the Japanese Empire. During the attacks, Russia was supported by Mongolia and the Republic of China (it wasn’t Communist yet). While on the other side it was Japan, Manchuria and supporters from inner Mongolia .The Soviet commander Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky’s plan to capture Manchuria was simple but huge. It was to be conducted on three fronts, Transbaikal Front (from China), the First East Front (from Vladovstok) and the Second Far East Front (from Khabarovsk). Continue reading
