60th Anniversary WWII & 61st D-Day Normandy Landing.

WWII fact sheets.

Historical Perspective Among all males aged 75 or over in 2005, 50 percent will be WWII veterans, while 1.5 percent of all women of that age will be WW II veterans. http://www.60wwii.mil/Presentation/Education/wwii_fact.cfm http://www.60wwii.mil/Presentation/common/index.cfm?CFID=612052&CFTOKEN=40424631&jsessionid=7a302f42722ao$5F$DEW Normandy Prepares for D-Day Anniversary By FREDERIC VEILLE, Associated Press Writer SAINTE-MERE-EGLISE, France - World War II veterans and dignitaries were gathering in Normandy for ceremonies Monday to honor the sacrifices of Allied soldiers who died in the D-Day landings 61 years ago. Dozens of ceremonies were planned to commemorate those who fought and died on the five blood-soaked beaches during the June 6, 1944, siege that marked the beginning of the end of the Nazi regime. French and American officials planned a tribute with a church choir and band at the Normandy American cemetery in the town of Colleville-sur-Mer, where 9,387 fallen U.S. fighters are buried. Parades, wreath-laying ceremonies and concerts were scheduled in many towns and villages in a region. American parachutists dropped into the town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise on Sunday but rain led officials to cancel the jumps of French and German parachutists in a commemoration that was to include Germans for the first time. The town was the first liberated by U.S. forces in Normandy. Hoping to strike a spirit of unity, Mayor Marc Lefevre invited about 40 German parachutists to take part — but building support for his idea was not easy in his town. "Many people asked me what was going through my head," Lefevre said. "We need to know how to turn the page, and welcome the Germans without rancor." Though the rain prevented some of the jumps, hundreds of spectators, including some World War II veterans, peered skyward to watch the American parachutists. "It's always moving to see this," said 82-year-old spectator Shifty Power from Virginia who parachuted in on D-Day with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division. "It's good for Germans also to take part — it's important for peace in the world." About 156,000 Allied soldiers — mostly American, British and Canadian — took part in the invasion, storming in from the English Channel and opening a Western front against the Nazis. http://www.normandiememoire.com/NM60Anglais/event/index_content.php http://www.normandy-dday.com/gb/08dday/normandy-dday/default1000.html Links to Veterans Sites: -- Veterans -- 1. HEROS OF TWO NATIONS Capt Stefan P. Wesolowski, Polish commander of an American aircraft carrier during the invasion of Normandy www.memoriesofwar.com/veterans/wesolowski/default.asp / 2. Normandy Veterans 76 Carlisle Branch NVA 76 branch homepage, made by their dutch friends. Read all about their plans for Normandy 2004, info of the branch and their pilgrimages to Holland nvafriends.nl / 08/02/2004 3. SSgt Sanuel Bifano, 83d Infantry Division, 324th FA Bn The story of SSgt Samuel J. Bifano, 324th FA Bn, 83d Infantry Division from his induction in 1942 to his return home in 1945. gateway.ca.k12.pa.us/memorial / 4. jourji interactive website to D-Day and normandy battle' s veterans who can't come back in france for the 60th anniversary. It give them possibilities to choose places in Normandy and see again. jourji.free.fr / 20/05/2004 5. Normandy Veterans Association 76 Branch Site made by Dutch friends of the 76 Carlisle Branch NVA. Also photoreports of Normandy 2003, Oosterbeek and other commemorations www.nvafriends.nl / 6. Association for Veterans of Foreign Wars The AVFW represents all ex-service men,women & veterans. From WWII to date. We Offer many association benefits. Non service supporters can join too. www.avfw.org.uk / 7. band of brothers A Dutch website about E company, 506th Reg. 101st Airborne Division, the liberation of Eindhoven (Holland) and the personal contacts with all mebers of the famous Band of Brothers bandofbrothers.ontheweb.nl/ 8. D-Day, Normandy and beyond Website site honouring the men and women who liberated Europe in it's darkest hour. Out of respect for every veteran of the second world war. www.normandy1944.info / 9. Royal Naval Patrol Service Veterans The history of the Royal Naval Patrol Service, the unsung heroes of the Royal Naval auxiliary fleet. These brave men manned the little anti-submarine and minesweeping vessels of WW2 www.harry-tates.org.uk / Normandy 61st D-Day Anniversary About 156,000 Allied soldiers — mostly American, British and Canadian — took part in the invasion, storming in from the English Channel and opening a Western front against the Nazis. 2004 The Battle of Normandy , 2005 The Homecomings http://www.normandiememoire.com/NM60Anglais/event/index_content.php http://www.normandy-dday.com/gb/08dday/normandy- dday/default1000.html D-Day The momentous events of June 6th 1944 began shortly after midnight, with the dropping of the first British airborne troops between the Orne and Dives rivers. Then it was the turn of the Americans to parachute into the Cotentin, at the other end of the sector. Meanwhile, the RAF's heavy bombers were pounding those artillery batteries of the Atlantic Wall that were thought to pose the greatest threat. At dawn, the incredulous Germans woke to find a sea covered with ships. Operation Neptune, the first phase of the Overlord plan to reconquer Europe, was underway. At 5.45 am, the fleet opened fire on the German defences The Allied fleet opens fire At 6.30 am, the first American assault waves reached the Utah and Omaha beaches. In the British and Canadian sectors, the attack was launched an hour later, to take account of the different tide times. The Americans land at Omaha By the evening of June 6th, 20,000 vehicles and 155,000 soldiers (including the paratroops). had been landed The number of men reported killed, wounded or missing came to approximately 10,000 – far fewer than the planners had feared. The Canadians land at Bernières With the exception of Omaha, where the outcome of the battle hung in the balance for many hours, the Atlantic Wall was unremittingly smashed and the Allies advanced ten or so kilometres inland. Beaches cluttered with equipment http://www.normandiememoire.com/NM60Anglais/2_histoire/histo3_gb.htm

European Timeline

1918

Nov 11, 1918 — World War One ends with German defeat.


1919

April 28, 1919 — League of Nations founded.
June 28, 1919 — Signing of the Treaty of Versailles.


1921

July 29, 1921 — Adolf Hitler becomes leader of National Socialist 'Nazi' Party.


1923

Nov 8/9, 1923 — The Beer Hall Putsch.


1925

July 18, 1925 — Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" published.


1926

Sept 8, 1926 — Germany admitted to League of Nations.


1929

Oct 29, 1929 — Stock Market on Wall Street crashes.


1930

Sept 14, 1930 — Germans elect Nazis making them the 2nd largest political party in Germany.


1932

Nov 8, 1932 — Roosevelt elected President of the United States.


1933

Jan 30, 1933 — Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.
Feb 27, 1933 — The Reichstag burns.
March 12, 1933 — First concentration camp opened at Oranienburg outside Berlin.
March 23, 1933 — Enabling Act gives Hitler dictatorial power.
April 1, 1933 — Nazi boycott of Jewish owned shops.
May 10, 1933 — Nazis burn books in Germany.
June, 1933 — Nazis open Dachau concentration camp.
July 14, 1933 — Nazi party declared only party in Germany.
Oct 14, 1933 — Germany quits the League of Nations.


1934

June 30, 1934 — The "Night of the Long Knives."
July 25, 1934 — Nazis murder Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss.
Aug 2, 1934 — German President Hindenburg dies.
Aug 19, 1934 — Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.


1935

March 16, 1935 — Hitler violates the Treaty of Versailles by introducing military conscription.
Sept 15, 1935 — German Jews stripped of rights by Nuremberg Race Laws.


1936

Feb 10, 1936 — The German Gestapo is placed above the law.
March 7, 1936 — German troops occupy the Rhineland.
May 9, 1936 — Mussolini's Italian forces take Ethiopia.
July 18, 1936 — Civil war erupts in Spain.
Aug 1, 1936 — Olympic games begin in Berlin.
Oct 1, 1936 — Franco declared head of Spanish state.


1937

June 11, 1937 — Soviet leader Stalin begins a purge of Red Army generals.
Nov 5, 1937 — Hitler reveals war plans during Hossbach Conference.


1938

March 12/13, 1938 — Germany announces 'Anschluss' (union) with Austria.
Aug 12, 1938 — German military mobilizes.
Sept 30, 1938 — British Prime Minister Chamberlain appeases Hitler at Munich.
Oct 15, 1938 — German troops occupy the Sudetenland; Czech government resigns.
Nov 9/10, 1938 — Kristallnacht — The Night of Broken Glass.


1939

Jan 30, 1939 — Hitler threatens Jews during Reichstag speech.
March 15/16, 1939 — Nazis take Czechoslovakia.
March 28, 1939 — Spanish Civil war ends.
May 22, 1939 — Nazis sign 'Pact of Steel' with Italy.
Aug 23, 1939 — Nazis and Soviets sign Pact.
Aug 25, 1939 — Britain and Poland sign a Mutual Assistance Treaty.
Aug 31, 1939 — British fleet mobilizes; Civilian evacuations begin from London.
Sept 1, 1939 — Nazis invade Poland.
Sept 3, 1939 — Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany.
Sept 4, 1939 — British Royal Air Force attacks the German Navy.
Sept 5, 1939 — United States proclaims neutrality; German troops cross the Vistula River in Poland.
Sept 10, 1939 — Canada declares war on Germany; Battle of the Atlantic begins.
Sept 17, 1939 — Soviets invade Poland.
Sept 27, 1939 — Warsaw surrenders to Nazis; Reinhard Heydrich becomes the leader of new Reich Main Security Office (RSHA).
Sept 29, 1939 — Nazis and Soviets divide up Poland.
Oct, 1939 — Nazis begin euthanasia on sick and disabled in Germany.
Nov 8, 1939 — Assassination attempt on Hitler fails.
Nov 30, 1939 — Soviets attack Finland.
Dec 14, 1939 — Soviet Union expelled from the League of Nations.


1940

Jan 8, 1940 — Rationing begins in Britain.
March 12, 1940 — Finland signs a peace treaty with Soviets.
March 16, 1940 — Germans bomb Scapa Flow naval base near Scotland.
April 9, 1940 — Nazis invade Denmark and Norway.
May 10, 1940 — Nazis invade France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister.
May 15, 1940 — Holland surrenders to the Nazis.
May 26, 1940 — Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk begins.
May 28, 1940 — Belgium surrenders to the Nazis.
June 3, 1940 — Germans bomb Paris; Dunkirk evacuation ends.
June 10, 1940 — Norway surrenders to the Nazis; Italy declares war on Britain and France.
June 14, 1940 — Germans enter Paris.
June 16, 1940 — Marshal Pétain becomes French Prime Minister.
June 18, 1940 — Hitler and Mussolini meet in Munich; Soviets begin occupation of the Baltic States.
June 22, 1940 — France signs an armistice with the Nazis.
June 23, 1940 — Hitler tours Paris.
June 28, 1940 — Britain recognizes Gen. Charles de Gaulle as the Free French leader.
July 1, 1940 — German U-boats attack merchant ships in the Atlantic.
July 5, 1940 — French Vichy government breaks off relations with Britain.
July 10, 1940 — Battle of Britain begins.
July 23, 1940 — Soviets take Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Aug 3-19, 1940 — Italians occupy British Somaliland in East Africa.
Aug 13, 1940 — German bombing offensive against airfields and factories in England.
Aug 15, 1940 — Air battles and daylight raids over Britain.
Aug 17, 1940 — Hitler declares a blockade of the British Isles.
Aug 23/24, 1940 — First German air raids on Central London.
Aug 25/26, 1940 — First British air raid on Berlin.
Sept 3, 1940 — Hitler plans Operation Sealion (the invasion of Britain).
Sept 7, 1940 — German Blitz against England begins.
Sept 13, 1940 — Italians invade Egypt.
Sept 15, 1940 — Massive German air raids on London, Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester.
Sept 16, 1940 — United States military conscription bill passed.
Sept 27, 1940 — Tripartite (Axis) Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan.
Oct 7, 1940 — German troops enter Romania.
Oct 12, 1940 — Germans postpone Operation Sealion until Spring of 1941.
Oct 28, 1940 — Italy invades Greece.
Nov 5, 1940 — Roosevelt re-elected as U.S. president.
Nov 10/11 — A torpedo bomber raid cripples the Italian fleet at Taranto, Italy.
Nov 14/15 — Germans bomb Coventry, England.
Nov 20, 1940 — Hungary joins the Axis Powers.
Nov 22, 1940 — Greeks defeat the Italian 9th Army.
Nov 23, 1940 — Romania joins the Axis Powers.
Dec 9/10, 1940 — British begin a western desert offensive in North Africa against the Italians.
Dec 29/30, 1940 — Massive German air raid on London.


1941

Jan 22, 1941 — Tobruk in North Africa falls to the British and Australians.
Feb 11, 1941 — British forces advance into Italian Somaliland in East Africa.
Feb 12, 1941 — German General Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli, North Africa.
Feb 14, 1941 — First units of German 'Afrika Korps' arrive in North Africa.
March 7, 1941 — British forces arrive in Greece.
March 11, 1941 — President Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act.
March 27, 1941 — A coup in Yugoslavia overthrows the pro-Axis government.
April 3, 1941 — Pro-Axis regime set up in Iraq.
April 6, 1941 — Nazis invade Greece and Yugoslavia.
April 14, 1941 — Rommel attacks Tobruk.
April 17, 1941 — Yugoslavia surrenders to the Nazis.
April 27, 1941 — Greece surrenders to the Nazis.
May 1, 1941 — German attack on Tobruk is repulsed.
May 10, 1941 — Deputy Führer Rudolph Hess flies to Scotland.
May 10/11, 1941 — Heavy German bombing of London; British bomb Hamburg.
May 15, 1941 — Operation Brevity begins (the British counter-attack in Egypt).
May 24, 1941 — Sinking of the British ship Hood by the Bismarck.
May 27, 1941 — Sinking of the Bismarck by the British Navy.
June 4, 1941 — Pro-Allied government installed in Iraq.
June 8, 1941 — Allies invade Syria and Lebanon.
June 14, 1941 — United States freezes German and Italian assets in America.
June 22, 1941 — Germany attacks Soviet Union as Operation Barbarossa begins.
June, 1941 — Nazi SS Einsatzgruppen begin mass murder.
June 28, 1941 — Germans capture Minsk.
July 3, 1941 — Stalin calls for a scorched earth policy.
July 10, 1941 — Germans cross the River Dnieper in the Ukraine.
July 12, 1941 — Mutual Assistance agreement between British and Soviets.
July 14, 1941 — British occupy Syria.
July 26, 1941 — Roosevelt freezes Japanese assets in United States and suspends relations.
July 31, 1941 — Göring instructs Heydrich to prepare for the Final Solution.
Aug 1, 1941 — United States announces an oil embargo against aggressor states.
Aug 14, 1941 — Roosevelt and Churchill announce the Atlantic Charter.
Aug 20, 1941 — Nazi siege of Leningrad begins.
Sept 1, 1941 — Nazis order Jews to wear yellow stars.
Sept 3, 1941 — First experimental use of gas chambers at Auschwitz.
Sept 19, 1941 — Nazis take Kiev.
Sept 29, 1941 — Nazis murder 33,771 Jews at Kiev.
Oct 2, 1941 — Operation Typhoon begins (German advance on Moscow).
Oct 16, 1941 — Germans take Odessa.
Oct 24, 1941 — Germans take Kharkov.
Oct 30, 1941 — Germans reach Sevastopol.
Nov 13, 1941 — British aircraft carrier Ark Royal is sunk off Gibraltar by a U-boat.
Nov 20, 1941 — Germans take Rostov.
Nov 27, 1941 — Soviet troops retake Rostov.
Dec 5, 1941 — German attack on Moscow is abandoned.
Dec 6, 1941 — Soviet Army launches a major counter-offensive around Moscow.
Dec 7, 1941 — Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor; Hitler issues the Night and Fog decree.
Dec 8, 1941 — United States and Britain declare war on Japan.
Dec 11, 1941 — Germany declares war on the United States.
Dec 16, 1941 — Rommel begins a retreat to El Agheila in North Africa.
Dec 19, 1941 — Hitler takes complete command of the German Army.


1942

Jan 1, 1942 — Declaration of the United Nations signed by 26 Allied nations.
Jan 13, 1942 — Germans begin a U-boat offensive along east coast of UsA.
Jan 20, 1942 — SS Leader Heydrich holds the Wannsee Conference to coordinate the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question."
Jan 21, 1942 — Rommel's counter-offensive from El Agheila begins.
Jan 26, 1942 — First American forces arrive in Great Britain.
April, 1942 — Japanese-Americans sent to relocation centers.
April 23, 1942 — German air raids begin against cathedral cities in Britain.
May 8, 1942 — German Summer offensive begins in the Crimea.
May 26, 1942 — Rommel begins an offensive against the Gazala Line.
May 27, 1942 — SS Leader Heydrich attacked in Prague.
May 30, 1942 — First thousand bomber British air raid (against Cologne).
June, 1942 — Mass murder of Jews by gassing begins at Auschwitz.
June 4, 1942 — Heydrich dies of wounds.
June 5, 1942 — Germans besiege Sevastopol.
June 10, 1942 — Nazis liquidate Lidice in reprisal for Heydrich's assassination.
June 21, 1942 — Rommel captures Tobruk.
June 25, 1942 — Eisenhower arrives in London.
June 30, 1942 — Rommel reaches El Alamein near Cairo, Egypt.
July 1-30, 1942 — First Battle of El Alamein.
July 3, 1942 — Germans take Sevastopol.
July 5, 1942 — Soviet resistance in the Crimea ends.
July 9, 1942 — Germans begin a drive toward Stalingrad in the UssR.
July 22, 1942 — First deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps; Treblinka extermination camp opened.
Aug 7, 1942 — British General Bernard Montgomery takes command of Eighth Army in North Africa.
Aug 12, 1942 — Stalin and Churchill meet in Moscow.
Aug 17, 1942 — First all-American air attack in Europe.
Aug 23, 1942 — Massive German air raid on Stalingrad.
Sept 2, 1942 — Rommel driven back by Montgomery in the Battle of Alam Halfa.
Sept 13, 1942 — Battle of Stalingrad begins.
Oct 5, 1942 — A German eyewitness observes SS mass murder.
Oct 18, 1942 — Hitler orders the execution of all captured British commandos.
Nov 1, 1942 — Operation Supercharge (Allies break Axis lines at El Alamein).
Nov 8, 1942 — Operation Torch begins (U.S. invasion of North Africa).
Nov 11, 1942 — Germans and Italians invade unoccupied Vichy France.
Nov 19, 1942 — Soviet counter-offensive at Stalingrad begins.
Dec 2, 1942 — Professor Enrico Fermi sets up an atomic reactor in Chicago.
Dec 13, 1942 — Rommel withdraws from El Agheila.
Dec 16, 1942 — Soviets defeat Italian troops on the River Don in the UssR.
Dec 17, 1942 — British Foreign Secretary Eden tells the British House of Commons of mass executions of Jews by Nazis; U.S. declares those crimes will be avenged.
Dec 31, 1942 — Battle of the Barents Sea between German and British ships.


1943

Jan 2/3, 1943 — Germans begin a withdrawal from the Caucasus.
Jan 10, 1943 — Soviets begin an offensive against the Germans in Stalingrad.
Jan 14-24, 1943 — Casablanca conference between Churchill and Roosevelt. During the conference, Roosevelt announces the war can end only with an unconditional German surrender.
Jan 23, 1943 — Montgomery's Eighth Army takes Tripoli.
Jan 27, 1943 — First bombing raid by Americans on Germany (at Wilhelmshaven).
Feb 2, 1943 — Germans surrender at Stalingrad in the first big defeat of Hitler's armies.
Feb 8, 1943 — Soviet troops take Kursk.
Feb 14-25, 1943 — Battle of Kasserine Pass between the U.S. 1st Armored Division and German Panzers in North Africa.
Feb 16, 1943 — Soviets re-take Kharkov.
Feb 18, 1943 — Nazis arrest White Rose resistance leaders in Munich.
March 2, 1943 — Germans begin a withdrawal from Tunisia, Africa.
March 15, 1943 — Germans re-capture Kharkov.
March 16-20, 1943 — Battle of Atlantic climaxes with 27 merchant ships sunk by German U-boats.
March 20-28, 1943 — Montgomery's Eighth Army breaks through the Mareth Line in Tunisia.
April 6/7, 1943 — Axis forces in Tunisia begin a withdrawal toward Enfidaville as American and British forces link.
April 19, 1943 — Waffen SS attacks Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto.
May 7, 1943 — Allies take Tunisia.
May 13, 1943 — German and Italian troops surrender in North Africa.
May 16, 1943 — Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto ends.
May 16/17, 1943 — British air raid on the Ruhr.
May 22, 1943 — Dönitz suspends U-boat operations in the North Atlantic.
June 10, 1943 — 'Pointblank' directive to improve Allied bombing strategy issued.
June 11, 1943 — Himmler orders the liquidation of all Jewish ghettos in Poland.
July 5, 1943 — Germans begin their last offensive against Kursk.
July 9/10, 1943 — Allies land in Sicily.
July 19, 1943 — Allies bomb Rome.
July 22, 1943 — Americans capture Palermo, Sicily.
July 24, 1943 — British bombing raid on Hamburg.
July 25/26, 1943 — Mussolini arrested and the Italian Fascist government falls; Marshal Pietro Badoglio takes over and negotiates with Allies.
July 27/28, 1943 — Allied air raid causes a firestorm in Hamburg.
Aug 12-17, 1943 — Germans evacuate Sicily.
Aug 17, 1943 — American daylight air raids on Regensburg and Schweinfurt in Germany; Allies reach Messina, Sicily.
Aug 23, 1943 — Soviet troops recapture Kharkov.
Sept 8, 1943 — Italian surrender is announced.
Sept 9, 1943 — Allied landings at Salerno and Taranto.
Sept 11, 1943 — Germans occupy Rome.
Sept 12, 1943 — Germans rescue Mussolini.
Sept 23, 1943 — Mussolini re-establishes a Fascist government.
Oct 1, 1943 — Allies enter Naples, Italy.
Oct 4, 1943 — SS Reichsführer Himmler gives speech at Posen.
Oct 13, 1943 — Italy declares war on Germany; second American air raid on Schweinfurt.
Nov 6, 1943 — Russians recapture Kiev in the Ukraine.
Nov 18, 1943 — Large British air raid on Berlin.
Nov 28, 1943 — Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin meet at Teheran.
Dec 24-26, 1943 — Soviets launch offensives on the Ukrainian front.


1944

Jan 6, 1944 — Soviet troops advance into Poland.
Jan 17, 1944 — First attack toward Cassino, Italy.
Jan 22, 1944 — Allies land at Anzio.
Jan 27, 1944 — Leningrad relieved after a 900-day siege.
Feb 15-18, 1944 — Allies bomb the monastery at Monte Cassino.
Feb 16, 1944 — Germans counter-attack against the Anzio beachhead.
March 4, 1944 — Soviet troops begin an offensive on the Belorussian front; First major daylight bombing raid on Berlin by the Allies.
March 15, 1944 — Second Allied attempt to capture Monte Cassino begins.
March 18, 1944 — British drop 3000 tons of bombs during an air raid on Hamburg, Germany.
April 8, 1944 — Soviet troops begin an offensive to liberate Crimea.
May 9, 1944 — Soviet troops recapture Sevastopol.
May 11, 1944 — Allies attack the Gustav Line South of Rome.
May 12, 1944 — Germans surrender in the Crimea.
May 15, 1944 — Germans withdraw to the Adolf Hitler Line.
May 25, 1944 — Germans retreat from Anzio.
June 5, 1944 — Allies enter Rome.
June 6, 1944 — D-Day landings.
June 9, 1944 — Soviet offensive against the Finnish front begins.
June 10, 1944 — Nazis liquidate the town of Oradour-Sur-Glane in France.
June 13, 1944 — First German V-1 rocket attack on Britain.
June 22, 1944 — Operation Bagration begins (the Soviet summer offensive).
June 27, 1944 — U.S. troops liberate Cherbourg.
July 3, 1944 — 'Battle of the Hedgerows' in Normandy; Soviets capture Minsk.
July 9, 1944 — British and Canadian troops capture Caen.
July 18, 1944 — U.S. troops reach St. Lô.
July 20, 1944 — German assassination attempt on Hitler fails.
July 24, 1944 — Soviet troops liberate first concentration camp at Majdanek.
July 25-30, 1944 — Operation Cobra (U.S. troops break out west of St. Lô).
July 28, 1944 — Soviet troops take Brest-Litovsk. U.S. troops take Coutances.
Aug 1, 1944 — Polish Home Army uprising against Nazis in Warsaw begins; U.S. troops reach Avranches.
Aug 4, 1944 — Anne Frank and family arrested by the Gestapo in Amsterdam, Holland.
Aug 7, 1944 — Germans begin a major counter-attack toward Avranches.
Aug 15, 1944 — Operation Dragoon begins (the Allied invasion of Southern France).
Aug 19, 1944 — Resistance uprising in Paris.
Aug 19/20 — Soviet offensive in the Balkans begins with an attack on Romania.
Aug 20, 1944 — Allies encircle Germans in the Falaise Pocket.
Aug 25, 1944 — Liberation of Paris.
Aug 29, 1944 — Slovak uprising begins.
Aug 31, 1944 — Soviet troops take Bucharest.
Sept 1-4, 1944 — Verdun, Dieppe, Artois, Rouen, Abbeville, Antwerp and Brussels liberated by Allies.
Sept 4, 1944 — Finland and the Soviet Union agree to a cease-fire.
Sept 13, 1944 — U.S. troops reach the Siegfried Line.
Sept 17, 1944 — Operation Market Garden begins (Allied airborne assault on Holland).
Sept 26, 1944 — Soviet troops occupy Estonia.
Oct 2, 1944 — Warsaw Uprising ends as the Polish Home Army surrenders to the Germans.
Oct 10-29, 1944 — Soviet troops capture Riga.
Oct 14, 1944 — Allies liberate Athens; Rommel commits suicide.
Oct 21, 1944 — Massive German surrender at Aachen.
Oct 30, 1944 — Last use of gas chambers at Auschwitz.
Nov 20, 1944 — French troops drive through the 'Beffort Gap' to reach the Rhine.
Nov 24, 1944 — French capture Strasbourg.
Dec 4, 1944 — Civil War in Greece; Athens placed under martial law.
Dec 16-27, 1944 — Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes.
Dec 17, 1944 — Waffen SS murder 81 U.S. POWs at Malmedy.
Dec 26, 1944 — Patton relieves Bastogne.
Dec 27, 1944 — Soviet troops besiege Budapest.


1945

Jan 1-17, 1945 — Germans withdraw from the Ardennes.
Jan 16, 1945 — U.S. 1st and 3rd Armies link up after a month long separation during the Battle of the Bulge.
Jan 17, 1945 — Soviet troops capture Warsaw.
Jan 26, 1945 — Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz.
Feb 4-11 — Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin meet at Yalta.
Feb 13/14 — Dresden is destroyed by a firestorm after Allied bombing raids.
March 6, 1945 — Last German offensive of the war begins to defend oil fields in Hungary.
March 7, 1945 — Allies take Cologne and establish a bridge across the Rhine at Remagen.
March 30, 1945 — Soviet troops capture Danzig.
April, 1945 — Allies discover stolen Nazi art and wealth hidden in salt mines.
April 1, 1945 — U.S. troops encircle Germans in the Ruhr; Allied offensive in North Italy.
April 12, 1945 — Allies liberate Buchenwald and Belsen concentration camps; President Roosevelt dies. Truman becomes President.
April 16, 1945 — Soviet troops begin their final attack on Berlin; Americans enter Nuremberg.
April 18, 1945 — German forces in the Ruhr surrender.
April 21, 1945 — Soviets reach Berlin.
April 28, 1945 — Mussolini is captured and hanged by Italian partisans; Allies take Venice.
April 29, 1945 — U.S. 7th Army liberates Dachau.
April 30, 1945 — Adolf Hitler commits suicide.
May 2, 1945 — German troops in Italy surrender.
May 7, 1945 — Unconditional surrender of all German forces to Allies.
May 8, 1945 — V-E (Victory in Europe) Day.
May 9, 1945 — Hermann Göring is captured by members of the U.S. 7th Army.
May 23, 1945 — SS Reichsführer Himmler commits suicide; German High Command and Provisional Government imprisoned.
June 5, 1945 — Allies divide up Germany and Berlin and take over the government.
June 26, 1945 — United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco.
July 1, 1945 — U.S., British, and French troops move into Berlin.
July 16, 1945 — First U.S. atomic bomb test; Potsdam Conference begins.
July 26, 1945 — Atlee succeeds Churchill as British Prime Minister.
Aug 6, 1945 — First atomic bomb dropped, on Hiroshima, Japan.
Aug 8, 1945 — Soviets declares war on Japan and invade Manchuria.
Aug 9, 1945 — Second atomic bomb dropped, on Nagasaki, Japan.
Aug 14, 1945 — Japanese agree to unconditional surrender.
Sept 2, 1945 — Japanese sign the surrender agreement; V-J (Victory over Japan) Day.
Oct 24, 1945 — United Nations is officially born.
Nov 20, 1945 — Nuremberg war crimes trials begin.


1946

Oct 16 — Hermann Göring commits suicide two hours before his scheduled execution.



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Data Sources: Center for Military History

 

http://www.60wwii.mil/Presentation/Timeline/pac_timeline.cfm

Pacific Timeline

Apr 13, 1941 — Russo-Japanese Non-Aggression Pact signed.
Jul 29, 1941 — Japanese occupy southern Indochina with French permission.
Nov 11, 1941 — Coast Guard is place under jurisdiction of Department of the Navy for duration of national emergency.
Dec 07, 1941 — Japanese carrier-based horizontal bombers, dive bombers, torpedo bombers, and fighters totaling heavily attack ships of the United States Pacific Fleet and military installations at Pearl harbor and other places on Oahu. Midway Island is bombarded by two Japanese destroyers. President orders mobilization. Japanese declaration of war reaches Washington, D.C.
Dec 08, 1941 — United States declares war on Japan. Japanese aircraft in widely scattered operations bomb Guam, Wake, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippine Islands. Japanese forces land on Batan Island, north of Luzon, Philippines, and on east coast of Malay Peninsula.
Dec 09, 1941 — Japanese occupy Bangkok, Thailand. Japanese land on Tarawa and Makin, Gilbert Islands. China declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.
Dec 10, 1941 — Guam surrenders to Japanese landing force. Japanese land on Camiguin Island and at Gonzaga and Aparri, Luzon, Philippines.
Dec 11, 1941 — Marines on Wake Island repulse Japanese landing attempt and sink two enemy destroyers. Japanese make landings at Legaspi, Luzon, Philippines.
Dec 21, 1941 — Naval local defense forces in Philippine Islands move headquarters to Corregidor. Japanese make landings in Lingayen Gulf area, Philippines.
Dec 23, 1941 — Wake Island, which had been subjected to prolonged enemy bombing, surrenders to Japanese invasion force.
Dec 24, 1941 — Japanese land at Lamon Bay, Luzon, Philippines.
Dec 25, 1941 — British surrender Hong Kong. Japanese land at Jolo, Philippines.
Dec 26, 1941 — Manila, Philippines, is declared an open city but enemy bombing continues.


1942

Jan 02, 1942 — Manila and Cavite, Philippines, fall to the Japanese.
Jan 06, 1942 — Japanese amphibious force occupies Brunei Bay, Borneo.
Jan 11, 1942 — Japanese begin invasion of Netherlands East Indies by landings at Tarakan and Jesselton, Borneo; Menado and Kema, Celebes. Japan declares war on the Netherlands.
Jan 18, 1942 — Germany, Italy, and Japan sign new military pact in Berlin.
Jan 22, 1942 — Japanese reinforcements land in Subic Bay area, Philippines.
Jan 23, 1942 — Japanese land at Balikpapan, Borneo. Japanese occupy Rabaul, New Britain, and land at Kieta, Bougainville, Solomon Islands.
Jan 24, 1942 — Japanese land at Kendari, Celebes; Kavieng, New Ireland; Subic Bay, Philippines Japanese land on Rossel Island off New Guinea.
Jan 29, 1942 — Japanese land at Badoeng Island and Mampawan, Celebes.
Jan 31, 1942 — Japanese land at Amboina Island, Netherlands East Indies.
Feb 08, 1942 — Japanese troops land at Gasmata, New Britain. Japanese land at Singapore Island.
Feb 11, 1942 — United States troops arrive at Curacao and Aruba, Netherlands West Indies.
Feb 14, 1942 — Japanese paratroopers drop on Palembang, Sumatra.
Feb 15, 1942 — Singapore surrenders to the Japanese. Japanese forces land on Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies.
Feb 19, 1942 — Bali, Netherlands East Indies, is invaded by the Japanese. Battle of Badoeng Strait starts at night and continues the next day.
Feb 20, 1942 — Submarine SWORDFISH (SS-193) evacuates President Quezon and other Philippine officials from Luzon, Philippines Japanese invade Timor Island in the Netherlands East Indies.
Feb 23, 1942 — Japanese submarine shells oil refinery at Ellwood, Calif.
Feb 27, 1942 — Battle of Java Sea is fought.
Mar 02, 1942 — Japanese troops land at Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippines.
Mar 08, 1942 — Japanese forces invade Lae and Salamaua, New Guinea. Japanese occupy Rangoon, Burma.
Mar 10, 1942 — Japanese invade Finschhafen, New Guinea.
Mar 11, 1942 — Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur and Rear Adm. F. W. Rockwell leave Luzon, Philippines, by motor torpedo boat for Mindanao, PHILLIPINES.
Mar 23, 1942 — Japanese occupy Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal.
Mar 30, 1942 — Christmas Island is occupied by Japanese forces.
Apr 05, 1942 — Lorengau, Manus Island, in the Admiralty Islands, is occupied by the Japanese.
Apr 09, 1942 — United States-Philippine forces on Bataan, Philippines, surrender to the Japanese.
Apr 10, 1942 — Japanese land on Cebu, Philippines.
Apr 18, 1942 — USS HORNET (CV-8) launches 16 Army B-25's over 650 miles east of Japan.
Apr 29, 1942 — Japanese land on and seize Parang and Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines.
May 04, 1942 — Battle of the Coral Sea (4-8 May) commences.
May 08, 1942 — Battle of the Coral Sea (4-8 May) ends. This is the first battle in modern naval history in which opposing warships did not exchange a shot; all damage was inflicted by carrier aircraft.
Jun 06, 1942 — Battle of Midway (4-6 June) opens as aircraft from four Japanese carriers strike Midway Island installations, which are defended by Marine and Army personnel and aircraft.
Jul 21, 1942 — Japanese land and occupy Buna, New Guinea.
Aug 07, 1942 — Marines land on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu, Tanambogo, and Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, in the first American land offensive of the war.
Aug 08, 1942 — Marines win control of Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo, Solomon Islands. An unfinished enemy air strip on Guadalcanal is captured and renamed Henderson Field.
Aug 25, 1942 — Japanese occupy Nauru, Gilbert Islands, and Goodenough Island, off southeast coast of New Guinea.
Sep 18, 1942 — Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, is reinforced by 7th Marine Regiment.
Sep 24, 1942 — Japanese land on Maiana, Gilbert Islands.
Sep 25, 1942 — Japanese land on Beru, Gilbert Islands.
Sep 27, 1942 — Japanese land on Kuria, Gilbert Islands.
Oct 02, 1942 — Marines occupy Funafuti, Ellice Islands.
Oct 11, 1942 — Battle of Cape Esperance commences at night and continues on 12 October.
Oct 13, 1942 — 1st Marine Division is reinforced by 164th Infantry Regiment of Americal Division, United States Army; this is the first major unit to reach Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
Oct 26, 1942 — Battle of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, ends as Marines repulse Japanese land and air attacks.
Oct 30, 1942 — Japanese land second invasion force at Attu, Aleutian Islands. (See 16 September 1942)
Nov 12, 1942 — Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (12-15 November) opens.
Nov 15, 1942 — Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ends.
Nov 16, 1942 — US Army forces land south of Buna, New Guinea.
Nov 24, 1942 — Japanese forces land at Munda Point, New Georgia, Solomon Islands.


1943

Jan 12, 1943 — Army forces occupy Amchitka, Aleutian Islands.
Jan 19, 1943 — Japanese land on Wewak, New Guinea.
Feb 08, 1943 — Evacuation of over 11,000 Japanese troops from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, is completed.
Feb 09, 1943 — Organized resistance on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, ends.
Feb 21, 1943 — Marines and Army troops occupy Russell Islands, Solomon Islands.
Mar 02, 1943 — Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2-5 March) opens as United States Army and Australian aircraft bomb 8 Japanese transports escorted by 8 destroyers in Bismarck Sea en route to Lae, New Guinea. Aircraft and motor torpedo boast attacks continue until all transports and four destroyers are sunk.
Apr 18, 1943 — Admiral Yamamoto, Commander in Chief Japanese Combined Fleet, is killed when his aircraft if shot down by Army aircraft.
May 11, 1943 — Army troops land on Attu, Aleutian Islands; landing is covered by naval forces.
May 30, 1943 — Organized Japanese resistance ends on Attu, Aleutian Islands.
Jun 16, 1943 — Japanese aircraft attack ships at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; large number of enemy aircraft are shot down.
Jun 21, 1943 — Marines and Army troops land at Segi Point, New Georgia, Solomon Islands.
Jul 05, 1943 — Marines and Army troops land at Rice Anchorage, New Georgia, Solomon Islands.
Jul 28, 1943 — Japanese complete evacuation of Kiska, Aleutian Islands, without detection by United States forces.
Aug 06, 1943 — Battle of Vella Gulf is joined shortly before midnight and continues through the opening minutes of 7 August.
Aug 13, 1943 — Japanese aircraft attack shipping at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
Aug 15, 1943 — Third Amphibious Force lands Naval, Marine, and Army personnel at Vella Lavella, Solomon Islands. This landing by-passes enemy position on Kolombangara, Solomon Islands.
Aug 28, 1943 — Marines occupy Nanumea, Ellice Islands.
Sep 01, 1943 — Army troops land on Baker Island supported by naval task force.
Sep 04, 1943 — United States naval force lands Australian troops on Huon Peninsula, near Lae, New Guinea.
Oct 03, 1943 — Japanese complete evacuation of Kolombangara, Solomon Islands.
Oct 07, 1943 — Japanese complete evacuation of Vella Lavella, Solomon Islands.
Nov 20, 1943 — Naval, Marine, and Army forces land on Tarawa and Makin, Gilbert Islands.
Nov 23, 1943 — Tarawa Atoll, and Makin in the Gilbert Islands, are declared secured.
Nov 25, 1943 — Naval Battle of Cape St. George.
Dec 15, 1943 — Army troops are landed on Arawe Peninsula, New Britain.
Dec 26, 1943 — 1st Marine Division is landed at Cape Gloucester, New Britain.


1944

Jan 02, 1944 — Army troops land at Saidor, New Guinea, under cover of cruisers and destroyers.
Jan 31, 1944 — Marines and Army troops land on Kwajalein and Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Feb 01, 1944 — Invasion of the Marshall Islands continues as Marines land on Roi and Namur Islands, and Army troops land on Kwajalein Island.
Feb 02, 1944 — Roi and Namur Islands in the Marshall Islands are secured.
Feb 07, 1944 — Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, is declared secured.
Feb 12, 1944 — Marines land on Arno Atoll, Marshall Islands; this begins a series of "mopping-up" operations in minor atolls of the Marshall Islands.
Feb 15, 1944 — United States Third Amphibious Force lands New Zealand troops in the Green Islands off New Ireland.
Feb 18, 1944 — Marines and Army forces land on Engebi Island, Eniwetok Atoll, in the Marshall Islands.
Feb 19, 1944 — Marines and Army troops supported by naval bombardment land on Eniwetok Island, Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands.
Feb 22, 1944 — Marines land on Perry Island, Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands; this operation completes United States control of Eniwetok Atoll.
Feb 29, 1944 — Destroyer task group lands Army troops on Los Negros Island, Admiralty Islands.
Apr 22, 1944 — Army forces land at Aitape, Tanahmerah Bay, and Humboldt Bay in New Guinea. 
May 17, 1944 — Army troops land at Wakde-Toem area, New Guinea.
Jun 15, 1944 — Naval task force lands Marines on Saipan, Marianas Islands.
Jun 19, 1944 — Battle of the Philippine Sea (19-20 June) opens as Japanese carrier-based aircraft attack Fifth Fleet covering Saipan operation.
Jun 21, 1944 — Naval attack force lands Marines and Army forces on Guam, Marianas Islands.
Jul 24, 1944 — Naval attack force lands Marines on Tinian, Marianas Islands.
Jul 30, 1944 — Naval task force lands Army troops near Cape Opmarai, northwest New Guinea, and on off-shore islands of Amsterdam and Middleburg.
Aug 01, 1944 — Organized Japanese resistance ends on Tinian, Marianas Islands.
Aug 10, 1944 — Organized Japanese resistance ends on Guam, Marianas Island.
Sep 15, 1944 — 1st Marine Division lands at Peleliu, Palau Islands.
Sep 17, 1944 — Army troops land on Angaur, Palau Islands.
Sep 23, 1944 — Naval task group lands Army troops at Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands.
Sep 28, 1944 — Marines occupy Ngesebus and Kongauru Islands in the Palau Islands.
Oct 17, 1944 — Army troops are landed on Suluan and Dinagat Islands at the entrance to Leyte Gulf, Philippines.
Oct 23, 1944 — Naval Battle for Leyte Gulf (23-26 October).
Dec 15, 1944 — Army forces are landed on southwest coast of Mindoro, Philippines.
Jan 09, 1944 — Army forces land in Lingayen Gulf area, Philippines.


1945

Jan 29, 1945 — Army forces are landed near San Antonio, northwest of Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippines, by naval attack group.
Jan 30, 1945 — Army troops are landed on Grande Island, Subic Bay, Luzon, PHILLIPINES.
Jan 31, 1945 — Army troops are landed at Masugbu, south of the entrance to Manila Bay, Luzon, Philippines, by naval attack group.
Feb 19, 1945 — Marines land on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands.
Feb 28, 1945 — Army troops are landed at Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island, Philippines, by naval attack group.
Mar 16, 1945 — Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, is declared secured. Army forces supported by destroyer gunfire land on Basilan Island, Sulu Archipelago, Philippines.
Mar 18, 1945 — Army troops are landed on southeast coast of Panay, Philippines, by naval task group.
Mar 26, 1945 — Army forces are landed on Kerama Retto, Ryukyu Islands, by naval attack group. Army forces are landed at Talisay Point, Cebu, Philippines, by Naval attack group.
Mar 27, 1945 — Army troops, supported by destroyers and motor torpedo boats, land on Caballo Island near Corregidor, Luzon, Philippines.
Apr 01, 1945 — Marines and Army forces land on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands.
Apr 09, 1945 — Army troops land on Jolo in the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines.
Apr 10, 1945 — Army troops land on Tsuken Shima, off east coast of Okinawa.
Apr 15, 1945 — Army troops land on Carabao Island at the entrance to Manila Bay, Luzon, Philippines.
Apr 16, 1945 — Army forces land on Ie Shima, Ryukyu Islands.
Apr 17, 1945 — Army forces are landed near Malabang, Parang, and Cotabato on Mindanao, Philippines, by naval attack group.
Apr 20, 1945 — Army troops land on Catanduanes Island, Philippines.
May 03, 1945 — Army forces land at Santa Cruz, Davao Gulf, Philippines.
May 10, 1945 — Army troops are landed at Macajalar Bay, Mindanao, Philippines, by naval attack group.
Jun 03, 1945 — Naval task group lands Marines on Iheya Shima, Ryukyu Islands.
Jun 09, 1945 — Naval task group lands Marines on Aguni Shima, Ryukyu Islands.
Jun 21, 1945 — Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, is declared secured 82 days after the landing.
Jul 05, 1945 — General of the Army Douglas MacArthur announces the liberation of the Philippine Islands.
Aug 14, 1945 — Japan accepts the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration and agrees to surrender. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, USA, is named Supreme Allied Commander to receive the Japanese capitulation and conduct the occupation of Japan.
Sep 02, 1945 — Japanese surrender documents are signed on board the battleship MISSOURI (BB-63) at anchor in Tokyo Bay, Japan. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur signs for the Allied Powers, and Fleet Adm. C. W. Nimitz signs for the United States.

 
 


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