The War for Europe and North Africa – 25.2 – Flashcards
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
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the commanding U.S. General during Operation Torch
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Tuskegee Airmen
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unit of African-American pilots 99th Pursuit Squadron that fought in Italy; earned 2 Distinguished Unit Citations for outstanding aerial combat against German Luftwaffe
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Bloody Anzio
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one of the hardest battles the Allies encountered in Europe was fought less than 40 miles from Rome; lasted four months-until the end of May 1944--and left about 25,000 Allied and 30,000 Axis casualties
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Operation Overlord
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the code name for the Allied invasion of mainland Europe in WWII, starting with the D-Day invasion June 6, 1944
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Omar Bradley
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the American general who unleashed massive air and land bombardment at St. Lo on July 25, 1944 during Operation Overlord
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D-Day
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on June 6, 194: the first day of the Allied invasion of Normandy, France in WWII
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June 6, 1944
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D-Day
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Battle of the Bulge
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the WWII battle between German and the Allied forces; December, 1944-January, 1945; after recapturing France, the Allied advance became stalled along the German border; in the winter of 1944, Germans staged a massive counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg which pushed a 30 mile "bulge" into the Allied lines; the Allies stopped the German advance and caused them to retreat back across the Rhine River with heavy losses
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George Patton
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the American general of the Third Army; on August 23 reached the Seine River south of Paris; then 2 days later liberated Paris from 4 years of German occupation
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United States and Britain Join Forces
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Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt led these 2 countries in WW II
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Battle of the Atlantic
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the Germans strategy was to prevent food and war supplies from reaching Great Britain and the Soviet Union
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Wolf Pack
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name given to the German U-boats
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Convoys
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groups of ships traveling together for mutual protection
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Battle of Stalingrad
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months of brutal fighting between the Soviets and Germans to gain control of the industrial city from August 1942-January 31, 1943; 1,100,000 Soviet deaths defending the city; 230,000 German deaths; Soviets victorious; marked a turning point in the war - as Soviets then moved westward toward Germany
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Operation Torch
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invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa by the Allies in November 1941; 107,000 Allied troops (majority American) landed in Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers; after months of fighting the Afrika Korps surrendered in May 1943
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General Erwin Rommel
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known as the legendary "Desert Fox"; leader of the Afrika Korps (Axis)
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Italian Campaign
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summer of 1943 - started with the collapse of Sicily; King Victor Emmanuel forced Mussolini to resign on July 25, 1943
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Unconditional Surrender
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enemy nations would have to accept whatever terms of peace dictated
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Buffaloes
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an African-American unit; the 92nd Infantry Division; won 7 Legion of Merit awards, 65 Silver Stars, and 162 Bronze Stars for courage under fire
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Company E
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an all-Mexican-American unit of the 141st Regiment, 36th Division; one of the most decorated in the war
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Purple Heart Battalion
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the 100th Battalion consisted of 1,300 Hawaiian Nisei (American citizens of parents who had emigrated from Japan); this merged into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team - the most decorated in U.S. history
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Calais
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port on the French side of the English Channel (150 miles from real D-Day invasion) where the Allies set up a phantom army invasion plans to fool Hitler into keeping a large army at Calais
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Omaha Beach
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location of one of the Allied landings on D-Day; very brutal German retaliation here
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Elite
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a small and privileged group
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Capitulation
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surrender
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Eva Braun
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woman who married Hitler in his underground bunker on April 29, 1945 and who committed suicide with Hitler the next day (Eva - poison herself, Hitler shot himself)
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V-E Day
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on May 8, 1945 the Allies celebrated "Victory in Europe Day" after General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich
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Harry S. Truman
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the Vice President who became the 33rd U.S. President when FDR died of a stroke, on April 12, 1945 - just before the end of the war in Europe
