From Tunis to Tokyo

CHAPTER 1: 1943

1943 began with Allied armies advancing on all fronts. On the eastern front, Soviet forces celebrate the surrender of the German sixth army at Stalingrad. In the Pacific, US Marines finally secure Guadalcanal. Allied forces in North Africa decisively defeat Rommel’s Afrika Korp and accept their surrender in May. In October, Allied forces invade Italy. In the Pacific, US forces advance up the Solomon Islands chain and land in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands.

CHAPTER 2: 1944

1944 began with the Battle of Monte Cassino. Within months, Rome would be liberated and Allied troops would be landing on the beaches of Normandy. In the Pacific, US forces conquer Saipan and begin the invasion of the Philippines. In December, Hitler gambles the last of his reserves on the Ardennes offensive. It fails as British and American forces beat back the German advance at the Battle of the Bulge.

CHAPTER 3: 1945

1945 sees Allied troops invading Nazi Germany. In May, Soviet troops capture Berlin. US Marines land on Iwo Jima. Okinawa falls. In August the US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The horror of Nazi Germany is exposed as concentration camps are liberated. In the US, Roosevelt dies unexpectedly and is replaced by Harry Truman.