World War II--Chronology

1939 1 September--German troops invade Poland at dawn 3 September--Britain and France declared war on Germany 3 September--The Battle of the Atlantic was a struggle between the Germans and the Allies that lasted for six years. During this extended period of time the Canadian navy was a major player in evacuating forces, landing military troops, protecting approaches to Britain, fending off submarine attacks and rescuing survivors from torpedoed merchant ships. 7 September--The Canadian Parliament met in a special war session. 9 September--Parliament approved support to Britain and France. 10 September--Canada declared war on Germany. 30 November--Russian troops invaded Finland. December--Units of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division sailed for Britain 1940 9 April--Germany attacked Denmark and Norway. 10 May--Germany launched her blitzkrieg against Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France. It was also on this day that Winston Churchill became the Prime Minister of Great Britain. 15 May--Most of Holland was overrun by German forces. 27 May--Belgium surrendered to German forces. 27 May-4 June--France collapsed and the British were forced to withdraw from Dunkirk. While almost 35,000 men were evacuated the loss of weapons and equipment was a major disaster for the Allies. Britain lost six destroyers, twenty-four small craft, and 24,000 tons of merchant shipping. France lost seven destroyers and one supply ship. Thirty thousand men were also lost. 10 June--Italy declared war on Britain and France. 10 June--Canada declared war on Italy. 22 June--France surrendered to Germany in the railway car in the Compiegne Forest where Germany had surrendered in 1918. 4 August--Italy invaded British Somaliland. Mussolini's forces are defeated by May 1941. 12 August-10 May, 1941--On August 12 the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, began bombing British airfields and radar stations. Beginning on September 7, the Germans blasted London nearly every night. By the middle of 1941, after failing in her attempt to conquer Britain, Germany's attacks became less frequent. Great Britain survived the blitz. 13 September--Mussolini, the Italian dictator, invaded Egypt to gain control of the Suez Canal. 28 October--Italian troops swept into Greece. 20 November--Hungary joined the Axis. 23 November--Romania joined the Axis. 1941 5 January--British soldiers invaded Ethiopia and by May 1941 Britain had defeated the Italians in this area of eastern Africa. 1 March--Bulgaria joined the Axis. 6 April--Germany invaded Greece and Yugoslavia. 13 April--Japan and Russia signed a non-aggression pact. 8 June--British and French forces invaded Syria. 22 June--Russia is invaded by Axis forces. Hitler sent in approximately 3 million troops to attack his former ally. Despite their initial successes, by December the German advance was halted by the severe Soviet weather. 7 August--The Atlantic Charter was announced. 16 November--The Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers arrived in Hong Kong. 7 December--The Japanese attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. 8 December--The United States declared war on Japan. 8 December--The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Canada also declared war on Japan. 9 December--China declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan. 11 December--Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The U.S. declared war on Germany and Italy. 18 December--On December 8 the Japanese attacked the Lai Tak airport and inflicted severe damage on all RAF aircraft. Ten days later they attacked Hong Kong and on Christmas Day the British surrendered. By the time of the surrender, 290 Canadian soldiers were killed and 493 had been wounded. Many more later died in Japanese prison camps. 1942 2 January--Manila fell to Japanese forces. 15 February--Singapore surrender to invading Japanese forces. 27 February--The Allies lost the Battle of Java Sea. 18 April--U.S. carrier-based aircraft bombed Tokyo. 24 April--Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King called for a plebiscite concerning conscription. 27 April--By a ratio of 3 to 1 the Canadian people voted for conscription. However, the government did not immediately introduce conscription. 4-8 May--The Allies won the Battle of the Coral Sea. 2-6 June--The Battle of Midway ended Japan's eastward expansion. 5 June--The United States declared war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. 21 June--German troops seized Tobruk in North Africa. 19 August--The attack upon Dieppe involved 4,963 Canadians along with British commandos and a few American Rangers. This major raid on France was a disaster which resulted in the death of 907 Canadian soldiers. In total there were 3,367 casualties including 1,946 prisoners of war. 16 September--German forces entered Stalingrad in Russia. 7-8 November--Allied forces landed in North Africa and within five days captured Tobruk from the Germans. 19 November--The Russians counter-attack at Stalingrad. 1943 2 February--The last Germans surrendered at Stalingrad. 2-5 March--The Allies defeated the Japanese naval force in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. 13 March--Japanese troops retreated across the Yangtze. 13 May--Axis forces in northern Africa surrendered. 4 July--Germany opened an assault near the Soviet city of Kursk. 10 July--Allied forces invaded Sicily and forced the withdrawal of German troops towards Messina. By the end of the first week in August, after nearly a month of fighting, the Canadians had suffered 2,310 casualties including 562 deaths. 25 July--Mussolini fell from power in Italy. 3 September--Italy secretly signed an armistice with the Allies. 3 September--The British Eighth Army, including the 1st Canadian Division, landed in Italy. 9 September--British airborne troops landed at Toronto and British and American forces landed at Salerno, Italy. While most of the initial advances were rapid, the Allies failed to pierce German defences at the Hitler Line south of Rome. 3 October--Italy declared war on Germany. 6 November--The Russians captured Kiev. 1 December--The 1st Canadian Infantry Division began to take control of the bridgehead on the Sangro River, Italy. 4 December--The 1st Canadian Infantry Division reached the Moro River after crossing the Sangro. 5 December--An attack launched by the 1st Canadian Infantry Division on San Leonardo failed. However, an attack on the 7th was successful and San Leonardo fell two days later. 21 December--The 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade attacked the town of Ortona, Italy and forced the Germans to pull out on the night of December 27th. 1,372 Canadian soldiers died during the week of fighting. 1944 27 January--The Russians broke the siege of Leningrad. 19 March--German troops invaded Hungary. 15 May--The campaign designed to assault the Hitler Line and take Rome began in the Lira Valley. 23 May--The 1st Canadian Corps launched a major attack on the Hitler Line, about 120 km south of Rome. The Germans were defeated and on May 31 the Canadian campaign in this area came to a close. 4 June--Rome was taken by the Americans. 6 June--The Allies landed in Normandy in the D-Day invasion of northern France. Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen participated in the landings. In total, about 15,000 Canadians landed at Normandy. During the weeks of fighting, Canada suffered 359 fatal casualties and 715 non-fatal casualties. 13 June--The first V-1 guided missile fell on London. 19-20 June--U.S. forces won the Battle of the Philippine Sea. 25 August--Romania declared war on Germany. 4 September--British troops captured the Belgian city of Antwerp. 9 September--Bulgaria declared war on Germany. 10 September--Finland signed an armistice with Russia. 12 September--After British troops captured Antwerp, the Canadians were to clear the Scheldt. On September 12 the task began. By November, after a combined effort involving the First Canadian Army, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division and the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, the Scheldt battle was concluded. The first allied vessel reached the port of Antwerp on November 28th. 22 September--The 1st Canadian Corps breached the Gothic Line, The Germans' major defensive barrier in northern Italy, after a month of fighting. The victory cost the Canadians 2,511 casualties. 23-26 October--The U.S. Pacific Fleet crushed the Japanese fleet in the Battle for Leyte Gulf. 22 November--The Canadian government agreed to dispatch conscripts overseas. 16 December--The Germans began the Battle of the Bulge as a means of striking back at United States troops. 27 December--The Allies halted the German offensive. 1945 9 January--Allied troops invaded the Philippines. 11 January--Russian soldiers entered Warsaw, Poland. 21 January--Hungary declared war on Germany. 8 February-10 March--Following the Battle of the Scheldt, the Canadians were told to hold the line along the Nijmegen Salient and push into the Rhine. After launching two separate assaults the Canadians were successful. By March 10th the Germans crossed the Rhine and all enemy resistance west of the Rhine River was eliminated. In total, 5,304 Canadians were killed, wounded, or declared missing in action. 13 February--Russian forces occupied Budapest. 19 February--United States marines stormed Iwo Jima Island. 1 April--United States troops landed on Okinawa Island. 13 April--Vienna fell to invading Russian forces. 22 April--The Russians reached the suburbs of Berlin. Berlin surrendered on May 22. 2 May--German troops in Italy surrendered. 7 May--Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies 26 July--The Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration. 6 August--The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. 8 August--The Soviet Union declared war on Japan. 9 August--The United States dropped a second, larger bomb, on Nagasaki. 10 August--Japan opened peace negotiations. 14 August--Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender.