The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945

by The New York Times

  BATTLE OF BERLIN (April 16–May 2, 1945): The last great offensive campaign by the Red Army drove deep into Germany and captured the German capital. Marshals Zhukov and Ivan Konev competed to be the first to get to the center of Berlin; Zhukov won the race. Hitler and Goebbels committed suicide rather than face capture. On May 2 the city was surrendered.

  BATTLE OF BRITAIN (July–October 1940): A series of air battles fought over southern Britain between the British RAF Fighter Command and the Second and Third German Air Fleets, stationed in northern France. The RAF lost 915 aircraft; the Luftwaffe 1,733.

  BATTLE OF THE BULGE (December 16, 1944–February 7, 1945): The German Operation Autumn Mist was a surprise assault against the advancing Allied line to try to reach the port of Antwerp and divide Allied forces. Despite early advances, Allied air power and resources were too great and in February 1945 the German Army ended up right where it had started.

  BATTLE OF FRANCE (May 10–June 17, 1940): German armies invaded the Low Countries and France on May 10, achieving a rapid breakthrough and dividing the Allied line. The Netherlands surrendered on May 15, Belgium on May 28, and France sought an armistice on June 17 after the German capture of Paris.

  BATTLE OF KURSK (July 5–13, 1943): One of the largest set-piece battles on the Eastern Front, Operation Citadel was launched by Hitler to try to eliminate a large Red Army salient around the city of Kursk. After a massive tank attack, the operation bogged down and German forces were then hit by a major Soviet counteroffensive that forced a rapid German retreat.

  BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF (October 23–26, 1944): The last fling of the Japanese Navy. The Japanese naval force was divided in three to try to reach the American invasion of the Philippines at Leyte from a number of routes. In the battles that followed, the Japanese lost 24 warships, the U.S. Navy 6.

  BATTLE OF MIDWAY (June 4–5, 1942): A decisive encounter between the Japanese main fleet and a U.S. naval force under Admiral Frank Fletcher. Four Japanese carriers were sunk and one-third of Japan’s elite naval aviators lost, at the cost of the U.S. carrier Yorktown.

  BATTLE OF THE PHILIPPINE SEA (June 19–21, 1944): The largest carrier battle of World War II (24 carriers in all) resulted in a decisive defeat for Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa’s fleet and the loss of over 400 aircraft in what American naval aviators called the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.”

  BISMARCK SINKING (May 24–27, 1941): The largest German battleship, Bismarck, tried to escape into the Atlantic to prey on Allied shipping. Crippled by a British naval air attack on May 26, the battleship was sunk by naval fire and torpedoes.

  BLITZ (September 7, 1940–May 16, 1941): Beginning with the bombing of the London docks on September 7, the German Second and Third Air Fleets kept up continuous bombing of British ports, food stocks, oil, and the aero-engine industry. More than 43,000 Britons were killed, but the economic effects were limited.

  CASABLANCA CONFERENCE (January 14–24, 1943): A gathering of Churchill, Roosevelt and their military staffs at which it was decided to invade Sicily and Italy before opening a second front in France. The Combined Bomber Offensive was also approved at the Conference.

  CRETE (May 20–June 3, 1941): The Greek island was occupied by British Commonwealth forces as they retreated from mainland Greece. German paratroopers attacked them and captured the main airfield. Although outnumbered, the German troops forced a British evacuation by late May, leaving behind 5,000 prisoners of war.

  DRESDEN BOMBING (February 13–14, 1945): A raid by RAF Bomber Command that created a firestorm and killed an estimated 25,000 people, including German refugees.

  DUMBARTON OAKS (August 21–October 7, 1944): The conference where the groundwork was laid for the United Nations Organization; held outside Washington with representatives of 39 nations. The idea of a General Assembly and a Security Council was approved, but the issue of a veto for Council members was left unresolved.

  EL ALAMEIN (October 23–November 4, 1942): A decisive battle in North Africa in which Axis forces were driven back from the Egyptian frontier after a massive tank battle in the desert. The Axis forces retreated back to Tunisia, where they surrendered on May 13, 1943.

  FALL OF ROME (June 4–5, 1944): The Italian capital fell to an operation by General Mark Clark’s U.S. Fifth Army after long months of stalemate around Monte Cassino.

  GERMAN-POLISH WAR (September 1–27, 1939): The German Army and Air Force invasion of Poland resulted in a rapid Polish retreat and a final defense around Warsaw. On September 17 Soviet troops entered and occupied eastern Poland. Poland surrendered on September 27.

  GREEK CIVIL WAR (1946–1949): After the liberation of Greece, wartime tensions between Nationalist and Communist resistance movements flared into open civil war between the new Greek Army and ELAS, the Greek People’s Liberation Army, dominated by the Communist-backed Democratic Army of Greece. With British and U.S. military backing, the pro-Communist forces were finally defeated in 1949.

  GUADALCANAL (August 7, 1942–February 8, 1943): An island in the South Pacific Solomon Islands, occupied by the Japanese, where the first U.S. counterattack took place. After fierce and prolonged fighting, the Japanese garrison abandoned the island in February 1943.

  HAMBURG BOMBING (July 24–August 1943): Hamburg was hit by repeated raids in Operation Gomorrah, which destroyed more than twelve square miles of the urban area and killed an estimated 34,000–37,000 people, half of them in a firestorm on the night of July 27–28.

  HIROSHIMA-NAGASAKI (August 6 and 9, 1945): These two Japanese cities were the targets of the atomic bombs dropped by the USAAF 20th Bomber Command. At least 200,000 people were killed as a result of the explosions and subsequent radiation exposure.

  IMPHAL-KOHIMA (March 7–July 18, 1944): Japan’s last major offensive against the Indian border towns of Imphal and Kohima. Imphal was besieged for four months, but held out until Allied reinforcements drove back the Japanese and opened the way for the reconquest of Burma.

  INDIAN INDEPENDENCE (August 15, 1947): After years of agitation for independence for India, led by Mohandas Gandhi, the post-1945 British Labour government agreed in early 1947 to grant independence and to divide India between a Hindu India and a Muslim Pakistan. Jawaharlal Nehru became prime minister of India and Muhammad Ali Jinnah became governor-general of Pakistan. Independence brought civil war and up to one million deaths in religious clashes. On January 30, 1948 Gandhi was assassinated.

  INVASION OF SICILY (July 9–August 17, 1943): Operation Husky, the invasion of the southern coast of Sicily, was a major amphibious operation involving soldiers and ships from the United States and Britain. The German defenders retreated in good order and largely escaped across the Straits of Messina, but the Italian soldiers surrendered in large numbers.

  IWO JIMA (February 19–March 26, 1945): One of the toughest island battles against Japanese defenders dug into caves and hideouts. Massive U.S. firepower eventually overcame resistance but at a cost of one-third of the U.S. force as casualties. Almost the entire Japanese garrison was killed.

  JULY PLOT (July 20, 1944): The failed attempt by senior German officers to assassinate Hitler at his headquarters. The organizer, Claus von Stauffenberg was shot that same night in Berlin and hundreds of other conspirators were rounded up and executed or sent to camps.

  KRISTALLNACHT (November 8, 1938): Anti-Semitic riots in Germany directed against Jewish shops and synagogues, orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels with Hitler’s tacit approval in revenge for the assassination of a German diplomat in Paris by a Jewish protester.

  LEND-LEASE PROGRAM (March 11, 1941–August 15, 1945): A plan to provide food, materials and weapons to the nations fighting against the Axis, without an immediate requirement for repayment. The United States aided 38 nations through this program but the bulk of aid went to Britain and the Soviet Union. Over the course of the war $42 billion in aid was granted, including $20.6 billion worth of munitions.

  LIBERATION OF PARIS (August 19–24, 1944): As Allied forces raced towa
rd Paris, the French resistance began its own uprising. The German commander eventually abandoned suppression and a day after a French armored division entered the capital on August 24 the Germans surrendered the city.

  MONTE CASSINO (January 17–May 18, 1944): A mountain overlooking the small town of Cassino in Italy, on which stood an ancient monastery. Repeated Allied failure to break the German line around Cassino led to the bombing of the monastery on February 15. The mountaintop was eventually captured by the Polish Second Corps.

  MUNICH CONFERENCE (September 30, 1938): The conference at which the leaders of Germany, Italy, Great Britain and France agreed to the territorial division of Czechoslovakia, granting Germany the German-speaking areas of the Sudetenland, which were occupied from October 1 through the end of the war.

  NORMANDY INVASION (June 6–July 24, 1944): Operation Over-lord was the planned invasion of Normandy, designed to place the main Allied ground armies in northern Europe to drive the Germans from France. The landing was successful but got bogged down against tough German resistance. Not until late July was the balance sufficiently in the Allies’ favor to permit a breakout from Normandy and a rapid defeat of German forces in the month that followed.

  NUREMBERG TRIALS (November 20, 1945–October 14, 1946): The first trials of German leaders (the major war criminals) were held in the main courtroom in Nuremberg. Twenty-two were tried (Martin Bormann in absentia) and twelve were condemned to death for crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes and conspiracy to launch aggressive war.

  OKINAWA (March 23–June 30, 1945): Operation Iceberg was designed to capture a major island close to Japan’s home islands. The invasion was on a vast scale, with half a million U.S. forces pitted against 100,000 Japanese, dug into defensive positions. The high cost of this operation (12,520 U.S. dead) boosted support for the argument that the atomic bombing of Japan would save American lives.

  OPERATION TORCH (November 8–10, 1942): This was the first major amphibious operation in Europe, a landing of U.S. and British forces in French Northwest Africa, in Morocco and Algeria. After brief resistance the French garrisons surrendered and the Allied force pressed east toward Tunisia, where Rommel led Axis resistance until May 1943.

  PEARL HARBOR (December 7, 1941): The attack by the Japanese Combined Fleet on the U.S. Pacific Fleet base at Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. Eighteen American ships were sunk or damaged and 347 aircraft lost in the surprise attack.

  POTSDAM CONFERENCE (July 17–August 2, 1945): The last of the major wartime conferences between leaders of the three principal nations. By this time, Truman had replaced Roosevelt and midway through the talks, Clement Attlee replaced Churchill after defeating him in the British election. The Allies discussed Japanese surrender, the future of Europe and the issue of Polish territory. They also approved the terms of the major war crimes trials in Europe.

  SOVIET-FINNISH WINTER WAR (November 30, 1939–March 12, 1940): The Soviet Union launched a war against Finland for refusing to cede territory and bases, demanded to improve Soviet security in the Baltic Sea. Despite heroic resistance, the Finns were worn down by the greater numbers of Soviet forces and sued for an armistice in March 1940.

  STALINGRAD (August 19, 1942–February 2, 1943): The city became a battleground during the German Operation Blue. Fierce Soviet defense prevented the capture of the city and on November 19, 1942 the Germans were encircled and cut off, eventually surrendering at the end of January 1943, although resistance continued in some places for two more days.

  TEHERAN CONFERENCE (November 20–December 1, 1943): The first major conference between the three main Allied leaders took place in the capital of Iran. The key issue for Stalin was obtaining a commitment from the West to open a major second front. It was agreed that invasion of northern France would occur in May 1944.

  WARSAW UPRISING (August 1–October 2, 1944): Polish nationalists organized in the Polish Home Army launched an uprising against the German occupiers as the Red Army approached. The timing was misjudged and no effective help came from the Allies. The uprising was defeated and the Germans took revenge on Warsaw by destroying whatever was still standing.

  YALTA CONFERENCE (February 5–11, 1945): The second of the major summits between the three wartime leaders, Yalta saw Stalin commit to fighting Japan when Germany was defeated, while Roosevelt and Churchill approved the Soviet territorial gains in Poland, which was to be compensated with former German territory.

  Index

  Illustrations are in BOLD

  # | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

  #

  1940 U.S. election, 90, 133, 141

  1944 U.S. election, 349, 431, 447, 473, 480

  3rd Reich. See Germany.

  A

  A-4 rocket. See V-2 rocket.

  Acheson, Dean, 595

  Addis Ababa, battles in, 159

  African Americans, 315, 328–329

  and Armed Forces, 120

  air force, 138, 240

  at Bastogne, 500

  Harlem riots 1943, 363, 364

  pledge unity, 222

  troops, 235, 240, 253

  Afrika Korps, 151, 235, 263, 264, 265, 293

  Aircraft industry cut by 99%, 564

  Alamogordo airbase atomic test, 539

  Albania, invasion by Italy, 3, 133, 140, 144–145

  Aleutian Islands, Alaska, battles, 262, 315, 331–332, 366, 367

  map, 321

  put on alert, 260

  Alexander, A.V., 215

  Alexander, Harold, 511

  Alexandria, Egypt, battle for, 268

  Ali el Galiani, Rashid, 171

  Allies, 86, 92, 93, 95, 99, 103, 106, 193, 359, 364, 368, 383, 499–500

  invasion of Europe proposed, 271

  prisoners, 235, 374–375

  meet at Elbe, 526

  war pact signed, 236

  victories, 285

  Alsace-Lorraine, 453

  American Expeditionary Force, 235

  American Industries Salvage Committee, 289

  American Institute of Public Opinion survey (Gallup Poll), 65, 106–107, 115, 129, 170, 267, 271

  American Newspaper Publishers’ Association, 411, 424

  American Red Cross, African-American blood donations, 235, 241

  Ammunition supply to Allies, 483–484

  Amphibious operations, 457–458

  Amsterdam, Netherland, battle for, 91–92

  Angly, Edward, 402

  Antisemitism, 11–12, 13, 23

  Antwerp, battle for, 473

  recapture of, 478–479, 483

  V-2 bombings, 480–481

  Anzio, battle at, 411, 426–427

  “Gusville”, 426–427

  Arab-Israeli War, 586

  peace agreement, 588–589

  Arabs vs Jews, 539, 556, 581, 582

  Arcadia Conference 1941, 235

  Ardennes forest, 85, 463, 473

  Ark Royal (ship) sunk, 215, 216

  Armaments production, 137

  Army Group Center, 493

  Arnhem, Netherlands, battle of, 453, 469, 470, 471

  Arnim, Jurgen von, 332

  Arnold, H.H., 440

  Arnold, Henry “Hap”, 493

  Art in Europe imperiled, 330

  Associated Press war coverage, 90

  Atlantic Charter, 193, 196, 197–198

  Japanese scorn for, 196

  text of, 196–197

  Atlantic theater of war, 63, 315, 316, 321

  Atomic power, 326–327, 539, 544–546, 554, 563, 570–571

  Atomic bombs, 539, 544, 545, 546

  Soviet race for, 554, 563, 570–571, 595

  Attlee, Clement, 539, 584–585

  elected Prime Minister, 543–544

  postwar plans, 553

  Augusta (ship), 193

  Auriol, Vincent, 592

  Auschwitz camp, 443, 535

  libe
rated, 493, 511

  Australia, 216

  at war, 43, 235

  sending supplies, 136

  Austria, coup by Germany, 3, 18

  Auto factories converted, 237, 238

  Axis Powers, 115, 131, 158, 170, 236, 249, 290, 298, 308, 315, 359

  collapse of, 511

  meeting at Brenner Pass, 134

  union with Spain, 130–131

  Axis Sally (Rita Louise Zucca) broadcaster for Nazi’s sentenced, 561

  B

  B-17 (Flying Fortress) bombers, 353

  B-29 bombers, 388, 440, 508, 539

  drop fire bombs on Japan, 540, 541

  Badoglio, Pietro, 354–355, 359, 363, 368, 369

  surrenders, 371–372

  Baghdad, battles in, 164, 171–172

  British in, 176

  Baldwin, Hanson, 85, 175, 181, 193, 235, 335

  ridiculed by Pravda, 419–420

  Baltic republics, invasion by Soviet Union, 58

  Bardia, Libya, siege, 152

  Bari, Italy, bombed by Germany, 399

  Bastogne, 473

  fighting at, 489, 490, 491, 494, 495

  map, 500

  Bataan Death March, 249, 252

  Bataan Peninsula, battle for, 235, 239–240, 246, 249, 250, 252

  Battle of Britain, 115, 122

  Battleship Indiana (U.S.), 119

  Beaverbrook, Max Aitken, Lord, 106, 205

  Beijing, China, 8, 78

  Belgium, aid by Allies, 92–93, 95

  invasion by Germany, 85, 91–93, 95, 101, 102, 103

  liberation by British, 465

  Belgrade falls to Germans, 160

  Belzek camp, 285, 298

  Benes, Eduard, 19–20

  Benghazi, Libya, falls, 235, 242–243

  Benny, Harry, 85

  Berlin Airlift, 563, 588, 589, 590, 592, 593

  Berlin, Germany, blockade of Western Zone by Soviets, 563, 588–590, 592, 593, 594

  compared to Paris, 82–83

  evacuation of children, 137

  fall of, 483, 530

  German army nears, 524–525

  surrender of, 511

  women clearing rubble, 555

  Berlin-Moscow Treaty, 26–27

  Bicycling and women, 238