WORLD WAR 2: TIMELINE

German invasion of Poland

• Began October 6th 1939
• Germans and Soviets prevailed
• Polish territory divided between to two
• Resulted in 82,394 deaths
• 694,000 Polish captured
• Marked the start of WW2

EVACUATION OF DUNKIRK

• Began May 27th 1940
• was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk
• 338,226 men escaped, including 139,997 French, Polish, and Belgian troops
• Over 80,000 casualties

BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC

• The longest continuous military campaign in World War II
• Over 60,000 died
• And over 4500 ships
• Winston Churchill first called it “The Battle of the Atlantic” in 1941

FRANCE SURRENDERS TO HITLER

• On June 22, 1940, the French government signed an armistice with Nazi Germany just six weeks after the Nazis launched their invasion of Western Europe
• Northern France spent four years under German occupation.
• Over 360,000 died and 1,900,000 were captured

JAPAN BOMBS PEARL HARBOR

• A surprise military attack on December 7th 1941
• 2403 deaths
• The attack lead to the United States formal entry into WW2
• The attack was for japan to eliminate the U.S potential attack on Asia

CANADIEN SOLDIERS DEFEATED IN JAPANS INVASION OF HONG KONG

• December 1941
• 290 Canadiens killed with 783 injured
• Another 264 died in Japanese POW camps
• Canadiens we’re defending the British colony of Hong Kong
• Most Canadien soldiers had limited military training

JAPANESE CANADIENS SENT TO INTERNMENT CAMPS

• Began after the attack on Pearl Harbor
• Lasted from 1941-1949
• Japanese canadiens stripped of their homes and businesses
• Sent to camps in the interior of B.C to work
• 90% of Japanese canadiens we’re forced to go
• Many did not have Holmes and businesses to return to after the war

D-DAY

• One of the most pivotal events of the second world war
• Began the battle of Normandy
• Canadiens sailors, soldiers and airmen played a critical role
• Nearly 150,000 Allied troops landed or parachutes into the invasion area
• Over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed
• Lead to the inevitable fall of the Axis

GERMANY OFFICIALY SURRENDERS

• On May 7, 1945 Germany officially surrendered to the Allies
• General Alfred Jodl, signed unconditional surrender of east and west forces
• Known as the beginning of the end of the war
• The date of the announcement of surrender in Moscow, May 9th ended the war in the Soviet Union

UNITED STATES DROPS ATOMIC BOMBS ON HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI

• On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the worlds 1st atomic bomb
• Over 80,000 people died at Hiroshima
• A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki Aug. 9th
• Over 40,000 people died at Nagasaki
• Resulted in Japan finally surrendering and ending the war