World War Two Continues

Dunkirk

Hitler launched an attack on France in May of 1940

Within days, Germany reached the EnglishChannel

The surrounded the Allied forces in the port of Dunkirk

The Allies had two options – surrender or evacuate

Dunkirk

If the Allies surrendered, they would lose the bulk of the British army

It was decided that they must evacuatebefore Germany overwhelmed the town

This was no easy task as the Allies had to cross the Strait of Dover to get to England

Dunkirk

In an act of desperation, the British navy rounded up every boat in the English Channel

Hundreds of fishing boats, ferries and pleasure craft joined the navy and merchant ships to move the soldiers

The evacuation officially began on May 26th

Two days later, Germany began bombing the port of Dunkirk

Dunkirk

Dunkirk

The evacuation officially ended on June 4th 1940

Nearly 340,000 soldiers were rescued

This was thousands more than originally anticipated

Tanks, vehicles and many weapons were left behind

Thousands of French soldiers were also left behind

Dunkirk

The Allies avoided a nearly disastrous defeat

The successful evacuation was seen asa miracle

It helped to boost morale in England

Dunkirk

The German army continued to move through France

France proved to be no match for Germany

On June 22, 1940 France surrendered to Germany

This left Great Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth standing alone against Nazi Germany

Operation Sea Lion

Once France had surrendered, Hitler

then set his sights on Britain

He launched Operation Sea Lion

For any successful invasion of England,

the Royal Air Force must be defeated

Battle of Britain

In July 1940, the German Airforce (the Luftwaffe) began a massive bombing attack on England

Initially, they were targeting harbors andshipping facilities in the south of England

They then began targeting airfields and aircraft facilities

The Blitz

On August 24th Germany bombing several areas of London

There is debate over whether this was an intentional attack or an accident

In response, the RAF bombed Berlin

Hitler did not respond well to this

The Blitz

Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to bomb London and

other major centers

These raids became known as “The Blitz”

Germany had more aircraft then the British, but they

were ultimately unable to defeat the RAF

The British had an advanced radar system that

warned them of incoming Germany planes

The Blitz

The RAF was also reinforced with pilots, planes and supplies from the Commonwealth

For two months, the Germans bombed London day and night

In September, Hitler gave up his planes to invade England

Over 23,000 people died during the Battle of Britain – mostly civilians