Germans would shell British trenches and the British soldiers would be ready for the attack. The aim of this battle was to ease pressure the Germans had put on the nearby village of Verdun, using the battle as a distraction. They relied heavily on the ‘New Army’ – the civilian recruits brought in by Lord Kitchener’s advertising campaign. These thousands upon thousands of men had absolutely no battle experience and insufficient training. At 7:30 am on the 1st of July, the British began a massive attack against German forces.
The operation also called for the armoured relief division to rapidly move onward and was spearheaded by 30 Corps. If delayed, the paratrooper forces would be left to be slaughtered by the German army. By the morning of September 25, the British 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem was significantly overwhelmed. Their armoured divisions remained miles away near the Nijmegen Bridge. Near the Waal River, the British paratroopers had been headed off from the rest of the Market-Garden operation for over a week.
The Great Escape: Dunkirk January 27, 2011 World History since 1900’s On May 27, 1940, one million allied soldiers were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk. With the Nazi forces breathing down their neck, Britain pulled a miracle out of their hat. The evacuation of the troops on the beaches of Dunkirk was a victory for the allies and a major mistake for the Nazi regime. This essay will examine how Britain rescued 1/3 of a million troops, how the Nazis let 1/3 of a million troops go and why Sir Keith Park and the Royal Air force were major benefactors to the Dunkirk escape. Without these contributions, the miracle of Dunkirk would have been the tragedy of Dunkirk.
His greatest military achievement came in the Battle of the Bulge, where his tactical leadership and logistical genius helped him turn around his main forces to drive back the German’s final counter-offensive. General Patton successfully utilized mission command through understanding, visualizing, leading, and directing while commanding the biggest and bloodiest battle during World War II. To understand how General Patton utilized mission command to win the Battle of the Bulge, we must first understand the summary of events leading up to the Battle of the Bulge. World War II in Europe began in September 1939 and can be summarized into several main segments. The first being the German defeat of Polish and the surprisingly easy occupation of most of Western Europe.
The reading, “The Biggest Decision: Why We Had to Drop the Bomb,” by Robert James Maddox, explains the process taken in for the Americas to decide to drop the two newly discovered atomic bombs over the Japanese homeland cities of Hiroshima and three days later Nagasaki. Americans should be well informed on this information. This is a perfect article for this class because it marks a very important milestone in our nation’s history. The Japanese were a strong powerful enemy of the US during the end of WWII. “The Japanese had more than 2,000,000 troops in the home lands, and were training millions of irregulars” pg.
Joe Marinaccio Mrs. McCarthy English 10 21 March, 2015 The Flag Raising at Iwo Jima World War II was one of the greatest and bloodiest wars in world history. When characterizing it, one normally thinks of Hitler’s domination and the Nazis. Although, that was a major part of the war, the war on the Pacific was as significant, yet unrecognized to the public today. The Great Depression was in full effect in the US when World War II began, giving many unemployed men a job in the army. This resulted in a surge of patriotism and national pride.
We had used 250 heavy guns and 2500 shells aiming at the enemy positions. As part of our plan, we placed microphones through no-man’s land to hear sound waves from the guns. We became lucky as a snow storm began to blow in the faces of the Germans. All our Canadian troops felt a sense of pride and accomplishment as we won the battle of Vimy Ridge. However it causes me great sorrow that we have lost 3500 of our own men.
The German high command halted as the army was about to go for the kill (on orders from Hitler who at times would lose his nerve temporarily). Goering promised to destroy them with the Luftwaffe but despite the intense attack by the German air force, thousands of British soldiers escaped to fight another day. It was a psychological victory for England because it showed they were down but not out. Germany had won the day for sure, but despite the bloody beating England received, she was still standing.
Campbell formed his men into a line (rather than into square, which was the accepted way for infantry to face a cavalry charge) and the Russian advance was driven off with volleys of RIFLE fire. This action became known as the ‘Thin Red Line’. The bulk of the British army was armed with muzzle loading rifles (MLR). With the army’s adoption of the Minie rifle only a few years before the war began, which had an effective range of up to 1,000 yards, and a rate of fire of around two shots a minute. As for accuracy, its impact was immediately felt, for at the battles of Alman and Inkerman, one bullet in sixteen took effect, whereas at the battle of waterloo in 1815, one bullet in 459 was able to find a target.
The Battle of Somme The most catastrophic day the British forces ever faced, the 1st of July marked the beginning of the Battle of Somme taking the life of more than 57,470 casualties in a single day. Amongst them, the greatest losses were suffered by the Newfoundland Regiment with 255 dead, 386 wounded and 91 listed missing. “Following the attack, only 68 men out of 801 answered the roll call (Martin, Battle of Somme, Introduction page)”. Many heart ceased to thump but not much was conquered. “The Battle of Somme marked the beginning of modern warfare (Martin, Battle of Somme, Introduction Page).” Tanks came into action in the war grounds alongside armed battalions on their feet.