World War II

World War II. Events of 1938 - 1944. , 1938: Hitler annexes Austria, occupies Czechoslovakia , 1939: Germans Blitzkrieg of Poland, Russia invades Finland , 1940: Germany seizes, Denmark, Norway, France, Balkans , 1941: Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. Germany invades Russia. , 1942: Germany takes on Eastern Europe all the way to Stalingrad , 1943: Heavy fighting in North Africa; Allies invade Sicily and Italy , 1944: General Eisenhower is made Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, and is given the following task:

"You will enter the Continent of Europe and undertake operations aimed at the heart of Germany and the destruction of her armed forces." , (Note the simple, straightforward language).

, In June 1944, Germany maintained a strangle hold on most of Europe, controlling the area shown. The USA and its Allies mounted the largest invasion force the world has ever seen (2,876,000 men), assembling it along the southern coast of England. The world watched as the Allies prepared to bring all the hopes and power of free people the world over to one point , one stretch of sandy beaches, one moment in time. The event was truly one of historic and heroic proportions., Weather, tides, moonlight for airborne drops , all played a role in determining which day would become "D-Day" , the most famous invasion date in history. Weather caused a delay on 5 June, but shortly before midnight that same evening, Eisenhower gave the nod, and the first Airborne units took off for their scheduled assaults on the Normandy Coast between 0100 and 02200 on June 6, 1944., Hollywood has captured the brilliant Allied diversions and the subsequent invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 in movies such as "The Longest Day" and Saving Private Ryan."