Descriptions of the major battles and campaigns of World War II
When September 1939 to May 1945 Where Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, Irish Sea, Labrador Sea, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Outer Banks (U.S. coast), and Arctic Ocean Who U-boats of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) under Rear (later Grand) Admiral Karl Doenitz (1891–1980) and aircraft of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) under…
When Preparations completed in August 1940 Where Southeast English coast from Ramsgate and Dover (county Kent) in the north to Portsmouth (county Sussex) and Devon in the south, as well as the Isle of Wight off the south coast of Hampshire Who Staff of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) (English: Supreme Command of the Armed…
When September 7, 1940 to May 10, 1941 Where Great Britain and Northern Ireland Who German Luftwaffe under Air Marshal Hermann Goering (1893–1946) versus the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fighter Command under Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding (1882–1970) and after November 1940 Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Fighter Command William Sholto Douglas (1893–1969) Why The Luftwaffe’s…
When July 10 to October 31, 1940 Where The skies over Britain and the English Channel Who Three German Luftwaffe Air Fleets (Luftflotten): Luftflotte 2 based in Belgium and northern France under Field Marshal Albert Kesselring (1885–1960), Luftflotte 3 based in Normandy under Field Marshal Hugo Sperrle (1885–1953), and Luftflotte 5 based in Norway and Denmark under Col-Gen….
When June 22 to August 19, 1944 Where Belorussia, Soviet Union (Belarus), Baltic States, and Eastern Poland Who Army Group Center under Field Marshal Ernst von Busch (1885–1945); after June 28, 1944, Gen. Walter Model (“Hitler’s fireman”) (1892–1945). Soviet forces were the First Baltic Front under Gen. Ivan Bagramyan (1897–1982), the First Belorussian Front under Gen….
When June 28 to November 24, 1942 Where Soviet Caucasus region lying between the Black and the Caspian seas Who In preparation for Operation (Case) Blue (German, Fall Blau), Army Group South of the German Army was subdivided into Army Groups A and B. Army Group A was initially commanded by Field Marshall Wilhelm von…
When November 8–16, 1942 Where Vichy French protectorate of Morocco and Vichy French Algeria, North Africa Who Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) had overall command of Operation Torch, which consisted of three task forces. Commanding the Western Task Force (aimed at Casablanca) was U.S. Maj. Gen. George Patton (1885–1945). The Center Task Force (aimed at Oran)…
When August 23, 1942 to February 2, 1943 Where Stalingrad (today’s Volgograd), an important industrial city of 400,000 people and river and rail terminus on the Volga River Who The German Sixth Army under Gen. Friedrich Paulus (1890–1957); elements of the Fourth Panzer Army under Gen. Hermann Hoth (1885–1971); along with Germany’s satellite armies, the…
When June 6 (D-Day) to August 25, 1944 Where The coast of Normandy, France, stretching from the east coast of the Contentin Peninsula to the west bank of the River Orne. Five invasion beaches: in the east (left flank), the Anglo-Canadian sectors of “Sword,” “Juno,” and “Gold,” and in the west (right flank), two…
When July 5–16, 1943 Where The area around the Russian city of Kursk (dead center in map), an important railroad junction nearly 280 miles southwest of Moscow Who Elements of Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge’s (1892–1944) Army Group Center and Field Marshal Erich von Manstein’s (1887–1973) Army Group South faced Gen. Konstantin Rokossovsky’s (1896–1968) Central…