World War Two In Brief: 1942

FEBRUARY 15th 1942
Singapore Surrenders

The British fortress at Singapore was forced to surrender to the Japanese. The Japanese advanced down through the Malayan pennisula. They crossed onto the island of Singapore on the night of February 7th and forced the more numerous British troops to surrender.

VIDEO: FALL OF SINGAPORE: PART 1




PART 2



PART 3

APRIL 18th 1942

Doolittle's Bomber Attacks Tokyo

An American bomber scored a major psychological victory, when, under the command of General Doolittle, they bombed Japan. Only minor damage was inflicted by the forces of medium bombers. These bombers were specially modified to be launched from Carriers.

VIDEO: DOLITTLE RAID ON JAPAN, 1942

  MAY 3rd 1942

Battle of the Coral Sea

The Japanese were advancing toward Australia, with the intention of assaulting Port Moseby. US task forces engaged a Japanese force in the Coral Sea. It was the first battle in which two naval forces engaged, without ever coming within shooting distance of each other. Japanese planes managed to sink the American carrier "Lexington" and damage the "Yorktown." The Americans sank a Japanese light-carrier and put two Japanese cruisers out of commission. The Japanese advance was halted.

VIDEO: BATTLE OF CORAL SEA

MAY 30th 1942

British Launch 1,000 Aircraft Raid on Cologne

The British launched a 1,000-plane night raid on Cologne. This raid was just one of many night raids visited on German cities.

VIDEO: BRITISH BOMB COLOGNE, MAY 30, 1942

JUNE 4th 1942

Battle of Midway

The Japanese planned to attack the Island of Midway, expanding their hold on the Central Pacific. American intelligence intercepted Japanese plans and knew of the impending Japanese attack. The Americans sent their entire carrier force, including the recently damaged "Yorktown," to intercept the Japanese force. The Americans succeeded in sinking four Japanese carriers, loosing only the "Yorktown." This was the turning point in the Pacific War.

VIDEO: BATTLE OF MIDWAY

AUGUST 19th 1942

Dieppe Raid

The Raid on Dieppe took place on August 19, 1942. Its mission was to test German coastal defenses. It was carried out primarily by Canadian troops. The raid turned into one of the greatest allied fiascoes of the war. The element of surprised was completely lost, and the air force was unable to provide sufficient air support. Of the 4,963 Canadians who took part 3,367 were killed wounded or taken prisoner.

VIDEO: DIEPPE RAID

AUGUST 27th 1942

German Troops Reach Stalingrad

German troops reached the Russian city of Stalingrad, on the Volga, and laid seige to it. German troops advanced on Stalingrad and broke through Russian lines, but did not succeed in taking the city. Hitler would allow no withdrawal from Stalingrad, and the Russian troops gradually wore down the Germans.

VIDEO: GERMANS REACH STALINGRAD

OCTOBER 23rd 1942

British Are Victorious At El Alamein

 German forces, under the command of Rommel, met the British forces, under the command of General Montgomery at El Alamein. Montgomery had a two-to-one advantage in tanks, and was victorious. The victory in El Alamain eliminated the German threat to the Suez Canal and the Middle East.

VIDEO: BRITISH VICTORY AT EL ALAMEIN

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Great Videos

Seventy years in the making, WWII in HD is the first-ever World War II documentary presented in full, immersive HD color. Culled from more than 3000 hours of lost and rare color archival footage gathered from a worldwide search through basements and archives, the film elements have been converted to HD for unprecedented clarity. Gary Sinise, Justin Bartha, Ron Livingston, LL Cool J, Rob Lowe, Josh Lucas, Amy Smart, and Steve Zahn lend their voices to the production, which presents the story of World War II through the eyes of 12 Americans who experienced the war firsthand. We hear the story of Army nurse June Wandrey, who served from the beginning of the war in North Africa to the liberation of the camps in Germany. We meet Shelby Westbrook, a young African-American from Toledo, who became a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen; Jimmie Kanaya, the son of Japanese immigrants, who served in the U.S. Army and was imprisoned in Europe; and Jack Werner, a Jewish émigré who escaped from Austria before the war and wound up fighting not against Hitler and the hated Nazis, but in the Pacific Theater. These and other stories introduce a diverse group of soldiers whose wartime diaries and journals show in visceral detail what the war was really like.
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WW2 IN BRIEF: 1941
WW2 IN BRIEF: 1943
WW2 IN BRIEF: 1944

WW2 In Brief: 1945

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BEST HISTORY BOOKS

(CLICK ON IMAGE TO BUY BOOK)

Beware, this picture book of World war 2 is unsanitized. If you can stand to look at frightening pictures, this book may be for you. 

It reproduces pictures such as a full color photo of a German soldier being comforted by his comrades after his arm was shot off, showing his arm laying on the ground next to him and showing the dazed expression on his face. If you are not too squeamish to look at that, then you may have the stomach for this book. Many pictures of Nazi atrocities are included as well as pictures of amputee refugee children. There are many other types of photos too, such as typical battle scene shots and pictures of the home front. However, for the most part, this book is unvarnished.

We have seen many war pictures showing battle scenes. We have also seen pictures of the wounded in a somewhat unrevealing manner. 

This book does not hold back. If you want to see the horrors of war, buy this book but be prepared to be troubled after looking through it and if you have nightmares afterwards, don't say you were not forewarned.

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