WORLD WAR II 1942 In January of 1942

WORLD WAR II (1942) • In January of 1942 the Japanese attack and capture the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Burma, Borneo. • The Japanese also invade the Solomon Islands, including Bougainville.

JANUARY 13, 1942 • The Germans begin a U-boat offensive along the East Coast of the United States. • From January till August of 1942 the Axis sank over 600 cargo ships – 3. 1 millions tons of cargo lost.

FEBRUARY 1, 1942 • The first U. S. aircraft carrier offensive of the war as the USS Yorktown and Enterprise conduct air raids on the Japanese held Gilbert and Marshall Islands.

FEBRUARY 1942 • The Japanese attack Java, Singapore, and Sumatra. • The British surrender at Singapore. • Douglas Mac. Arthur is ordered out of the Philippines.

MARCH 1942 • General Douglas Mac. Arthur is appointed commander of the Army in the Pacific. • Admiral Chester Nimitz is appointed commander of the Navy in the Pacific.

MARCH 18, 1942 • The War Relocation Authority is established in the U. S. • 120, 000 Japanese. American Citizens will rounded up and taken to Internment Centers in the Western section of the U. S.

INTERNMENT CAMPS CONTINUED • Some Japanese. Americans spent the entire war in the camps. • 17, 000 Japanese. Americans served in the military • In 1988 the U. S. Government compensated the internees.

THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH • On April 10, 1942 76, 000 Allied POWs including 12, 000 U. S. soldiers are forced to walk 60 miles under the blazing sun without food or water to a new POW camp. • Over 5, 000 Americans die on this journey.

THE DOOLITTLE RAID • On April 18, 1942 the United States launched the Doolittle Raid. • B-25 s from the USS Hornet launch bombing raids against Tokyo. • All the pilots were volunteers, considered a suicide mission.

THE DOOLITTLE RAID CONTINUED • Bombers would launch from an aircraft carrier to attack Japan and land in China. • The planes were forced to launch early because they were discovered by the Japanese. • They had to fly a greater distance and did not have enough fuel to reach China safely.

RESULTS OF THE DOOLITTLE RAID • The bombers did hit Japan and did some damage. • One of the 16 planes crashed in Russia, the others had to land early in China. • 2 crew members died in the crash, 8 were captured and three executed. The other five eventually were set free. • It proved to Japan that they could be hit.

THE BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA • The battle took place from May 7 -8 off the coast of New Guinea. • It is the first time in history that two opposing aircraft carrier forces fight each other without seeing each other, using only aircraft. • Japan suffers its first defeat of the World War II.

IMPORTANT DATES • May 27 = SS leader Heydrich is attacked in Prague. • June 4 = Heydrich dies of wounds. • June 10 = Nazis empty Lidice (ghetto) in response to Heydrich’s assassination. • All males over 16 were murdered. Another 13, 000 people were deported, imprisoned or killed.

THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY • On June 4 -5 of 1942 the Japanese and the United States fought to control the island of Midway, one of the last U. S. outpost in the Pacific. • This was another battle where most of the fighting was done by aircrafts form carriers.

MIDWAY CONTINUED • U. S. torpedo planes and dive bombers form the carriers ENTERPRISE, HORNET, and YORKTOWN attacked and destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers, plus other Japanese ships. • The Unites States lost the YORKTOWN. • This was an American victory and the turning point of the war.

IMPORTANT DATES • June 7, 1942 = The Japanese invade the Aleutian Islands. • August 7, 1942 = The first U. S. amphibious invasion of the Pacific occurs as U. S. Marines invade Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

Why did the Germans want Stalingrad? 1. It is a major industrial city on the Volga River – transportation network to the north. 2. Its capture would allow Germany into the oil-rich Caucasus Region cutting of oil to Russia’s military. JULY 9, 1942 THE GERMANS BEGIN THE PUSH TO TAKE OVER STALINGRAD (U. S. S. R) – VOLGOGRAD

*The Battle of Stalingrad is the single most bloodiest battle in history – the second being the Battle of Leningrad. *The battle was fought in the buildings and streets of Stalingrad with thousands of Russian civilians involved. BATTLE OF STALINGRADE JULY 17, 1942 – FEBRUARY 2, 1943

Soviets = 479, 000 dead or missing soldiers. 650, 000 wounded or sick 40, 000 plus civilians dead. Thousands of civilians wounded, homeless, hungry. STALINGRAD CONTINUED

OTHER RESULTS GERMANY = 750, 000 SOLDIERS KILLED OR WOUNDED. 91, 000 SOLDIERS CAPTURED. Over all there were about 2 million casualties making it the deadliest battle in history. The battle lasted for 199 days – making it one of the longest in history. This was a turning point on the Eastern Front of Europe – the Germans began to retreat and did not launch another successful invasion on the east. The life expectancy for a newly arrived Russian soldier at Stalingrad was one day ( at the height of the battle ), for an officer it was three days. SOVIET VICTORY?

MORE DATES • August 30, 1942 – The United States invades the Aleutian Islands to take them back from the Japanese. • November 14 -15 = In a sea battle off of Guadalcanal the USS JUNEAU is sunk resulting in the deaths of the five Sullivan Brothers.

Operation Torch was an Anglo. American invasion of Northwest Africa. (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) The Soviet Government was putting pressure on G. B. and the U. S. to open up a second front in the west to take pressure off the Soviets. OPERATION TORCH THE U. S. INVASION OF NORTH AFRICA (NOV. 8, 1942)

OPERATION TORCH The Americans favored an invasion of Europe, while the British wanted an invasion of Africa. The U. S. agreed to the Africa invasion to set up an invasion of Southern Europe in 1943

GENERAL DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER Eisenhower was put in charge of the operation. He set up quarters in Gibraltar to over the operation (British Naval Headquarters in Southern Spain)

THE STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR Located between Spain and Africa. The opening to the Mediterranean Sea. Known as the ROCK OF GIBRALTAR

RESULTS OF OPERATION TORCH The Allies captured Casablanca and pushed through Algeria. At Tunisia the Allies met heavy resistance by Rommel. After receiving reinforcements the Allies were able to force Rommel to retreat from Africa. The British also secured the eastern section of North Africa at the Battle of El Alamein North Africa was becoming secure – which set the stage for an Allied invasion of Southern Europe through Italy.

INVASION OF ITALY - 1943

OTHER DATES • December 2, 1942 = Enrico Fermi conducts the worlds first nuclear chain reaction test at the University of Chicago. • December 31, 1942 = The Japanese withdraw from Guadalcanal resulting in a U. S. victory and the beginning of the U. S. island hopping strategy.