WW II Events

Kathryn Mary Doody was a nurse at an army hospital in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Read Kathryn Mary Doody's account of the events of December 7, 1941. Then answer the question.

Pretty soon the night nurse came off duty, and she said to us, "Girls, you know what's happening?" And we said, "No, what's happening?" She said, "The island of Oahu has been attacked by the enemy, Japan." And I said, "Shut up." Because she was a person that always had the greatest stories to relate. And she said, "Don't pay any attention to me. Go turn your radios on." So I went in the room and turned the radio on and that's exactly what they were repeating, over and over again.. . .So I thought, "That means war. What's war going to be like?"

Kathryn Mary Doody learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor when she heard the news from a nurse and then heard it on the radio.

Americans were shocked about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They were unprepared for an attack.

Over 2,400 people died during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Most of these people were in the United States military. A few were people who lived in the area. Nearly 20 ships and over 160 planes were also destroyed in the attack.

The United States responded to the bombing of Pearl Harbor by declaring war on Japan.

What did the president say about the bombing of Pearl Harbor?

After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a speech to Congress. Americans also listened to the speech on the radio. The president said the following words:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

infamy: bad or evil reputation

deliberately: on purpose

After the president's speech, Congress voted to declare war on Japan. Only one member of Congress voted against going to war.

During the summer and fall of 1940, the German air force attacked Great Britain. Britain's air force fought back. This conflict was known as the Battle of Britain.

Horace Basham was a young man at the time. He lived in London with his parents, brothers, and sister. Read Horace Basham's memories of the Battle of Britain. Then answer the question.

I experienced the intensive bombing of London just as millions of other Londoners. Even today I start whenever a loud bang of noise comes unexpectedly.

start: get startled

The Battle of Britain so loud and scary for Londoners because of the bombs dropping.

What happened during the Battle of Britain?

The bombing from the German blitzkrieg did a lot of damage. Many buildings in Great Britain were destroyed, and many people were killed or wounded.

In the end, Britain's air force defeated Germany's air force. The Germans were unable to take over Great Britain.

Radar and the Battle of Britain

Radar helped Great Britain win the Battle of Britain. Radar is a way of using echoes from radio waves to find things like airplanes, ships, and even storms.

The British used radar to listen for echoes of airplanes that were far away. Radar helped the British learn where German airplanes were in the sky. That way, the British military could prepare for an attack.

The Battle of Bataan took place in the Philippines in 1942. The Philippines was a United States territory in the Pacific Ocean. During the battle, American and Filipino troops fought against Japanese troops.

After three months of heavy fighting, the American and Filipino troops surrendered to the Japanese. It was the largest group of soldiers to surrender in American history. Japanese troops took more than 70,000 American and Filipino soldiers as prisoners of war.

Some of the captured soldiers escaped. The other Filipino and American soldiers were forced to march for 60 miles without food or water through the hot sun. Thousands of soldiers died or were killed along the way.

Filipino: from the Philippines

After the Battle of Bataan many American and Filipino troops died or were killed during a long march.

What was the Bataan Death March like?

The march was a horrible experience. American and Filipino soldiers had to walk 60 miles in the hot sun without food or water. So many soldiers died that today it is called the Bataan Death March.

Sometimes Filipino civilians, or people who were not soldiers in the war, would give food or water to captured American and Filipino soldiers on the march. If Japanese soldiers caught these civilians, they might shoot them and the soldiers they were trying to help.

The Battle of Midway was fought in 1942 on islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Battle of Midway was an important battle because it was a big American navy victory over Japan.

The American military knew in advance that Japan was planning an attack at Midway. This knowledge led to the United States' victory.

The United States learned about Japan's plan by cracking a secret Japanese code.

How did the United States crack the Japanese code?

American codebreakers knew that the Japanese were planning an attack. But they weren't sure where the attack would be. The Japanese were using a code name for their target: "AF."

American codebreakers guessed that the target was Midway Island. To test this idea, they sent a radio message about water problems at Midway. Later, codebreakers picked up a Japanese message about the water problems. The problems were at "AF." The codebreakers were right!

In the winter of 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent these words to Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union. Read President Roosevelt's words. Then answer the question.

I congratulate you on the brilliant victory at Stalingrad of the armies under your supreme command. The 162 days of epic battle for the city [of Stalingrad] and the decisive result, which all Americans are celebrating today, will remain one of the proudest chapters in this war of the peoples united against Nazism.

President Roosevelt wrote to Joseph Stalin to praise the Soviet Union for defeating the Nazis in Stalingrad.

The Battle of Stalingrad lasted for more than six months. It was one of the most deadly battles of World War II. It's not clear how many soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured in the battle. Many historians think that the Axis lost 850,000 people to injury, capture, or death. The Soviets probably lost over a million people.

Even though the Soviets lost more people, the Axis armies ran out of food and bullets. They were forced to surrender.

On June 6, 1944, Allied troops launched a major attack on the beaches of Normandy, France. This attack was called D-Day.

The D-Day invasion was a huge event. More than 150,000 Allied soldiers fought in the battle. The victory at Normandy gave the Allies an open path to defeat Germany in the rest of Europe.

What does the "D" in D-Day stand for?

No one is sure! Since 1918, the United States military used the code "D-Day" as a stand-in for the date of a planned attack. The "D" probably referred to "Day." Plus and minus signs were used to show dates before or after the day of attack. For example, D+2 meant two days after a D-Day.

Some people think that the "D" may also stand for something else. It could mean "departed date," "disembarkation," or "decision."

In July 1944, an American soldier wrote a letter home. He described what happened after D-Day and the invasion of Normandy. Read the letter. Then answer the question.

There is a certain cemetery where some of my closest friends in the division lie. I saw it grow.. . . Now it is filled. The graves are neat and trim, each with its cross.

One of the results of D-Day is that many people died.

Many people died during D-Day and the larger invasion of Normandy.

How many soldiers died during D-Day and the larger invasion of Normandy?

No one is sure.

Some historians think that around 4,500 Allied soldiers died on D-Day.

Even more soldiers were killed during the rest of the Battle of Normandy. Some historians think that about 37,000 Allied soldiers and 16,000 people in the Allied air forces were killed. Thousands of German soldiers and French civilians also died.

In February 1945, the American and British militaries attacked the historic city of Dresden, Germany.

The heavy bombing of Dresden led to firestorms that killed over 20,000 German civilians. Nearly the entire city was destroyed.

Here is a picture of the destruction in Dresden.

Some historians say that the Allies needed to bomb Dresden to make progress in the war. Other historians disagree. They say that the bombing was not necessary.

In 1944 and 1945, Allied soldiers began to free prisoners from concentration camps. The kinds of people they freed were:

• Jews

• Romas

• Political individuals against the Nazis

What happened in concentration camps?

The Nazis sent millions of men, women and children to concentration camps. At some concentration camps, prisoners were forced to work. The work was hard and tiring, and prisoners were not often given enough food, clothing, or tools. Many people got sick and died. At other camps, prisoners were killed by the Nazis.

Altogether, many historians estimate that 11 million people died in concentration camps and other camps set up by the Nazis.

In April 1945, American soldiers freed the prisoners in Dachau, a concentration camp. Read the words of James Rose, one of these American soldiers. Then answer the question.

And the time that we come to the gate of the camp, they opened the compound and I seen thousands of people crowding out that looked like skeletons with skin stretched on them. They were dirty, they smelled, and just one look at them, some of them half dead, something happened that we realized that this war was all about, we know now why we were participating in this war.

According to the passage, James Rose saw people who looked close to death when he walked into the Dachau concentration camp.

Liberation of concentration camps

Soviet soldiers were the first Allied soldiers to come across Holocaust survivors in July 1944. American and British soldiers first reached concentration camps in April 1945.

Allied soldiers were shocked by what they saw:

• • thousands of starving and sick people

  • gas chambers where the Nazis murdered innocent people

  • clothing from hundreds of thousands of Holocaust victims

May 8, 1945 is called VE Day when the Allies accepted Germany's surrender. Since Germany surrendered, the Allies won the war in Europe. "VE" stands for Victory in Europe.

In August 1945, the United States used a powerful new weapon. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese people died in attacks on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The atomic bomb was the powerful weapon that caused so much death and destruction.

Beginning in 1939, the United States led a government program to develop nuclear weapons. Over 100,000 people worked on the project. The United States spent $2 billion on the project.

The atomic bomb was far more destructive than any weapon used in the past. One survivor remembers the bombing of Hiroshima like this:

I saw a bright blast, and I saw yellow and silver and orange and all sorts of colors that I can't explain. Those colors came and attacked us, and the ceiling beams of the wooden school along with the glass from the window pane all shattered and blew away all at once.