World War II

This section represents one soldier’s experience.

The United States and Britain declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941 following the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Prior to that time, the United States and Britain felt that the war going on in Europe was not a direct responsibility of either the U. S. or Britain.

Germany then declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941. Hitler took control of the German army on December 19, 1941.

On January 26, 1942, the first American forces landed in Great Britain.

In June, 1942, Germany began the mass murder of Jews by Gassing, in Auschwitz. On July 22, 1942, the first deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps; Treblinka extermination camp opened.

August 17, 1942 was the first all-American air attack in Europe.

May 7, 1943, Allies take Tunisia. July 9/10, 1943, Allies land in Sicily.

September 8, 1943, Italian surrender is announced. Italy declares war on Germany; Second American air raid on Schweinfurt.

November 28, 1943 Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin meet at Teheran.

May 12, 1944, Germans surrender in the Crimea.

June 6, 1944, D-Day landings.

July 9, 1944, British and Canadian troops capture Caen.

July 18, 1944, U.S. troops reach St. Lo.

August 4, 1944, Ann Frank and family arrested by the Gestapo in Amsterdam, Holland.

August 19, 1944, Resistance uprising in Paris.

August 25, 1944, Liberation of Paris.

October 21, 1944, massive German surrender at Aachen.

October 30, 1944, last use of gas chambers at Auschwitz.

December 16-27 Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes.

April 28, 1945, Mussolini is captured and hanged by Italian partisans; Allies take Venice.

April 30, 1945, Adolph Hitler commits suicide.

May 8, 1945 V-E Day in Europe.

June 5, 1945, Allies divide up Germany and Berlin and take over the government.

June 26, United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco.

July 16, 1945, First U.S. atomic bomb test, Potsdam Conference begins.

August 6, 1945 First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

August 9, 1945, Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

August 14, 1945, Japanese agree to unconditional surrender.

September 2, 1945, Japanese sign the surrender agreement.
V-J (Victory over Japan) Day.

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My thanks to the website History of WWII provided by http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm

Photos organized by: Dorothy McCann Collins