Top 10 World War 2 Battles
The villains were easily identifiable, worthy adversaries bent on global domination. The resistance to the Axis Powers comprised of Germany, Japan and Italy who pushed their limit in terms of providing soldiers and war material. The epic world war 2 battles on land, in the air and at sea, were waged on two fronts with the voracity unlike any other.
The political fallout from the first world war and the signing of the treaty at Versailles did not bring about the lasting peace that was hoped for. Rather, the outcome of World War I left the German nation a power in Europe that was bitter in defeat. The worldwide effects of the great depression had a major impact on the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany. However, the effects were most notably felt in Germany. This disconnect led to the rise of Adolf Hitler, his Nazi party and the Axis Powers. Determined to establish Germany as the true super power in Europe. The German military sprung into action conquering large amounts of Western Europe before many of the neighboring countries realized what had happened.
At the same time, Italy invaded North Africa, and Japan began to expand its influence by conquering many islands in the Pacific. The effects of World War II cannot be underestimated as they still impact lives and nations to this very day. The political restructuring that occurred following the defeat of the Axis Powers left the world a very different place.
Top Ten World War 2 Battles
How About the Top 13?
- Battle of Britain
- Battle of Normandy (Operation Overlord. D' Day)
- Battle of Stalingrad
- Battle of Kursk
- Operation Market Garden (Battle of Arnhem)
- Battle of Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge)
- Battle of Midway
- Battle of Guadalcanal
- Battle of Iwo Jima
- Battle of Okinawa
- Battle of Tarawa
- Battle of Leyte Gulf
- Battle of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo)
World War 2 Battles: The Battle of the Bulge
Battle of Ardennes
The Ardennes is an area with a large mass of forests, and mountains in Belgium, Luxembourg, and stretching into France.
The German forces launched a surprise attack just before Christmas in 1944. Their goal was to occupy Antwerp and drive a wedge between the Allied Forces (British and United States) in northern France. Germany's ultimate goal was to force the U.S. and Britain into negotiating a peace treaty in favor of the Axis Powers. In order to accomplish their mission, German Forces would need to split the U.S. and British Forces in half, capture Antwerp and destroy the existing Allied Forces.
A highly covert operation was planned by the German Army, however, British Intelligence and the 3rd Army was aware of a possible attack. Even with this information, the Allied Forces were caught off-guard. How could this be you might ask? Poor reconnaissance, over-confident and the fact that Allied Forces were preoccupied with their own offensive plans were the major factors resulting in what amounted to a surprise attack by German units against a weakly defended section of the Allied line.
Even having the element of surprise, Germany's objectives did not materialize and they were left painfully sapped of men and equipment as the survivors retreated back to the Siegfried Line. When it was all over on the 27th day in January, 1945, both U.S. Forces and Germany incurred heavy losses.
Casualty estimates vary widely but an official report by the United States Department of the Army lists 108,347 casualties including 19,246 killed, 62,489 wounded and 26,612 captured and missing. British losses totaled 1,200 with 200 killed in action. The German High Command's official figure for the campaign was 84,834 casualties, and other estimates range between 60,000 and 100,000.
The Battle of the Bulge was the single largest and bloodiest battle that American forces fought in a world war.
World War 2 Battles: The Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid occurred on April 18, 1942, and it was the of the world war 2 battles to take place in the air by striking the Japanese Home Islands during. The purpose of the raid was to show the Japanese Empire that they were not invulnerable to air attacks and it was a first strike back against the Japanese in retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
President Roosevelt was determined to retaliate for the Pearl Harbor bombing as so as humanly possible. He told the Joint Chiefs of Staff to bomb Japan as soon as Possible. The Doolittle Raid was subsequently planned by Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, a famous civilian aviator and aeronautical engineer before world war ii.
The purpose for the Doolittle Raid was two-fold. First and foremost, attacking Japan at home would lead to confusion in the minds of the Japanese people, and hopefully perpetuate doubt and confidence in the Japanese leaders. The people of Japan were led to believe that Allied Forces did not have the technological know-how or the tools to reach the Japanese homeland leaving the Japanese people in a false state of safety and comfort.
The second purpose of the attack was more of a psychological point. The U.S. had not experienced a victory in a world war 2 battle to date although the U.S. did not become actively involved until the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 12/7/41. A victory would lead to a much needed public morale boost.
Sixteen U.S. Army Air Force B-25 bombers were launched from the USS Hornet aircraft carrier from deep within the Western Pacific Ocean. Once the B25s unloaded their bombs above Honshu Japan, they were to continue flying west into China since it was impossible for the B25s to return and land on the aircraft carrier.
Although all B-25s were lost during the raid, all but 11 crewmen returned to the U.S. or to American Forces. Even though the raid only caused negligible material damage, it did succeed in casting doubt on the ability of the Japanese military leaders with the Japanese people. The raid also caused the Japanese military leaders to withdraw its aircraft carrier force stationed in the Indian Ocean and return to defend its homeland islands. Although there were many world war 2 battles that were much larger in scale, none of them were bigger in regards to building confidence than the e Doolittle Raid
World War 2 Movies on DVD
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"We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way-everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want. ... The fourth is freedom from fear."
Without the people in our armed forces, we could never enjoy these freedoms.
- World War 2 Battles: Battle at Midway
- Without help Midway's air defenses get slammed by the Japanese. But the U.S. forces finally catch a break as the Japanese pilots head back to their fleet to rearm and refuel, the American carriers secretly follow them. The American dive-bombers zero in and within six minutes, three Japanese carriers are ablaze and the fourth carrier sinks later the next day.
- World War 2 Battles in the Pacific: Guadalcanal
- In the first U.S. offensive in the Pacific, 11,000 Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal.
After a land, sea and air campaign, more than 17,000 Americans and 30,000 Japanese were killed.
The Allied Victory was a major turning point in the Pacific War.
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