List of military engagements of World War II

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This is a list of military engagements of World War II encompassing land, naval, and air engagements as well as campaigns, operations, defensive lines and sieges. Campaigns generally refer to broader strategic operations conducted over a large bit of territory and over a long period of time. Battles generally refer to short periods of intense combat localised to a specific area and over a specific period of time. However, use of the terms in naming such events is not consistent. For example, the Battle of the Atlantic was more or less an entire theatre of war, and the so-called battle lasted for the duration of the entire war. Another misnomer is the Battle of Britain, which by all rights should be considered a campaign, not a mere battle.

Contents 1 European Theatre 2 Asian and Pacific Theatre 3 Middle East Theatre 4 African Theatre 5 Battles 5.1 1939 5.2 1940 5.3 1941 5.4 1942 5.5 1943 5.6 1944 5.7 1945 6 Sieges 7 Naval engagements 8 Major bombing campaigns 9 Operations 9.1 Raids 10 Defensive lines 11 Contemporaneous wars 12 See also

[edit] European Theatre

• Blitzkrieg - war conducted with great speed or force by Germans early in the war
  • Invasion of Poland - German Case White (Fall Weiss) - see Timeline of the Polish September Campaign
  • Battle of the Atlantic - the campaign that pitted the German Navy's (Kriegsmarine’s) surface raiders and U-boats against Allied convoys from North America and the South Atlantic to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union - the convoys were protected mainly by the British Royal Navy and Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force - both the United Kingdom and Canada were later aided by ships and aircraft of the United States. The German U-boats were joined by Italian submarines after Italy entered the war in June 1940.
  • Phony War - period of little activity on Western Front between the Invasion of Poland and the Battle of France - also known comically as "Sitzkrieg"
  • Norwegian Campaign - see also Timeline of the Norwegian Campaign
    • German Weser Exercise (Unternehmen Weserübung) - German invasion of Denmark and Norway
    • Allied campaign in Norway - British, French, and Polish occupation of Norway to counter the German invasion
  • Invasion of Iceland - British Operation Fork
  • Battle of France - German Case Yellow (Fall Gelb)
  • Battle of Britain - German invasion of Britain from the air and by the sea
    • Operation Sealion (Unternehmen Seelöwe) - planned amphibious invasion of Britain
• Mediterranean Theatre
  • Battle of the Mediterranean - A series of battles between the Italian Navy and the Commonwealth forces.
  • Balkans Campaign
    • Greco-Italian War - Italian invasion of Greece from Albania and Greek counter-offensive which drove the Italians back into Albania
    • Invasion of Yugoslavia - German "Directive Number 25" (Directive n. 25)
    • Invasion of Greece - German Operation Marita (Unternehmen Marita)
    • Battle of Crete - German Operation Mercury (Unternehmen Merkur).
    • Yugoslavian Front - civil war between Communist Yugoslavian Partisans and the Royalist Yugoslavian Army in the Fatherland (Chetniks) - with both sides also confronting forces from Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia
    • Dodecanese Campaign
  • Southern France Campaign - Allied Operation Dragoon
  • Italian Campaign
    • Allied invasion of Sicily - Airbourne invasion of Sicily.
    • Allied invasion of Italy
• Eastern Front
  • Invasion of the Soviet Union - German Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) - the invasion of the Soviet Union and Soviet-held territories by the forces of Germany, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Italy, Slovakia, and Croatia
  • Continuation War - The Russo-Finnish continuation of the Winter War
• Western Front
  • Battle of Normandy (Operation Overlord, ETO: Normandy Campaign)
  • Northern France Campaign
  • Battle of the Siegfried Line (ETO: Rhineland Campaign, Ardennes-Alsace Campaign)

[edit] Asian and Pacific Theatre

• China
  • Second Sino-Japanese War- Japanese invasion of mainland China.
• Indochina
  • First Invasion of French Indochina - was an attempt by the Empire of Japan, to prevent China from importing arms and fuel.
  • French-Thai War - was fought between Thailand and Vichy France over certain areas of French Indochina that had once belonged to Thailand.
  • Second Invasion of French Indochina
• Pacific Theater of Operations
  • Pacific Ocean Areas
    • Attack on Pearl Harbor - The Japanese surprise air attack on the U.S Pacific fleet which drew the U.S into WW2.
    • Solomon Islands Campaign
    • Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign
  • South West Pacific Area
    • Battle for Australia
    • Borneo Campaign
• South-East Asian Theatre
  • American-British-Dutch-Australian Command
  • Burma Campaign
• Operation August Storm - Soviet invasion of Japanese-held Manchuria.
• Japan Campaign - Series of air attacks on the Japanese navy and planned invasion of Japan.

[edit] Middle East Theatre

• Middle East Campaign
  • Anglo-Iraqi War
  • Syria-Lebanon campaign
  • Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran

[edit] African Theatre

• East African Campaign
• North African campaign or "The Desert War"
  • Western Desert Campaign- Allied battles against the Italian colonies.
  • Operation Torch - the British-American invasion of Vichy French-held Morocco and Algeria
  • Egypt-Libya Campaign
  • Tunisia Campaign
• West African campaign
• Battle of Madagascar

[edit] Battles

[edit] 1939

• Invasion of Poland Battle of Bzura Battle of Mława Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski Battle of Kock Battle of Warsaw Battle of Modlin	Poland invaded and partitioned by Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union.
• Saar Offensive	French attack on Saarland.
• Winter War Battle of Tolvajärvi Battle of Suomussalmi	Finland invaded by the the Soviet Union and, initially, resists successfully.
• First Battle of Changsha	First Japanese attempt to take Changsha in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
• Battle of the River Plate	The Admiral Graf Spee chased into Montevideo harbour and later scuttled.

[edit] 1940

• Battle of the Atlantic	Name given to the conflicts in the Atlantic Ocean between 1940 and 1945.
• Winter War Battle of Kollaa Battle of Honkaniemi	The only tank battle during the Winter War.
• Battle of Drøbak Sound	Took place on the first day of the German invasion of Norway.
• Battle of Narvik	Minor Allied victory in Norway.
• Battle of Namsos	Failed Allied attempt to halt the Germans in Norway.
• Battle of the Netherlands	Germany defeats the Dutch in Europe during the opening stages of the first operation of the Battle of France, "Case Yellow" (Fall Gelb).
• Battle of Belgium	Germany defeats Belgium during the continuation of Fall Gelb.
• Battle of France	Germany defeats France and the British Expeditionary Force in the culmination of Fall Gelb. The remainder of France is defeated in the second operation of the Battle of France, "Case Red" (Fall Rot).
• Battle of Dunkirk	Operation Dynamo, the successful evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force.
• Attack on Mers-el-Kébir	Operation "Catapult", the Royal Navy destroys most of the French Navy to avoid ships falling in German hands.
• Battle of Britain	The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) fails to defeat the British Royal Air Force as the precondition for the invasion of Britain.
• British Somaliland	Italian conquest of British Somaliland
• First Battle of French Indochina	The forces of Imperial Japan successfully invade French Indochina but leave the Vichy French forces in control.
• Battle of Dakar	An unsuccessful attempt by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar from Vichy French control.
• Greco-Italian War Battle of Pindus	Italian forces invade Greece from Albania and are repelled. Greek counter-attack drives Italians back into Albania.
• Battle of Gabon	Free French forces under General Charles De Gaulle take Libreville, Gabon, from Vichy French forces.
• Battle of Taranto	British carrier-based planes destroy the Italian fleet in Taranto Harbor.
• Hundred Regiments Offensive	Major offensive by the Chinese Red Army against the Imperial Japanese Army.

[edit] 1941

• Battle of Koh Chang	Vichy French naval victory against naval forces of Thailand during French-Thai War.
• Battle of the Litani River	Australian forces cross the Litani River to begin the Syria-Lebanon Campaign against Vichy French forces.
• Battle of Damascus	Commonwealth and Allied forces take Damascus from the Vichy French.
• Battle of Beirut	Commonwealth and Allied forces take Beirut and the Vichy French surrender all forces in Syria and Lebanon.
• Battle of Keren	Commonwealth and Allied forces defeat Italian forces at Keren in the decisive battle of the East African Campaign.
• Battle of Cape Matapan	British fleet defeats Italian fleet.
• Battle of Denmark Strait	The German battleship Bismarck sinks HMS Hood.
• Invasion of Yugoslavia	Germany and Axis allies invade Yugoslavia via Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Albania.
• Battle of Greece	Germany and Axis allies invade Greece via Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Albania.
• Battle of Crete	German paratroopers capture Crete, but suffer many casualties.
• Operation Barbarossa Battle of Smolensk Battle of Kiev Battle of Moscow	German invasion of the Soviet Union. The German advance is halted, albeit temporarily.   The German Army Group Centre is driven back from Moscow.
• Battle of Gondar	The final defeat of organized Italian forces in Italian East Africa by Commonwealth and Allied forces.
• Attack on Pearl Harbor	Surprise Japanese attack destroys almost all the US Pacific Fleet.
• Battle of Singapore	Japan takes Singapore.
• Second Battle of Changsha	Japan's second unsuccessful attempt to take Changsha in China.
• Battle of Thailand	Japan successfully invades and occupies Thailand.
• Battle of Hong Kong	Japan captures the British colony of Hong Kong.
• Battle of Guam (1941)	Japan successfully capture the American territory of Guam.
• Battle of Wake Island	Japan captures the atoll of Wake Island.
• Battle of Malaya	Japan successfully invades and occupies Malaya.

[edit] 1942

• Battle of Makassar Strait	Japanese aircraft raid an American and Dutch convoy.
• Battle of Dražgoše	First direct engagement between Slovenian partisans and German occupying forces.
• Battle of the Java Sea	Japanese forces wipe out an Allied naval squadron.
• Battle of Badung Strait	Heavily outnumbered Japanese forces defeat an Allied night-time naval attack.
• Battle of Java	Japanese forces invade the island of Java
• Indian Ocean raid	Allied naval forces and shipping incur heavy losses during Japan's Fast Carrier Strike Force sortie.
• Battle of Christmas Island	The Japanese occupy Christmas Island without any resistance.
• Battle of Corregidor	Philippines lost to Japan.
• Japanese capture of Burma	Burma lost to Japan.
• Battle of Nanos	Eight hundred Italian soldiers lay siege to fifty Slovene partisans.
• Battle of the Coral Sea	First aircraft-carrier vs. aircraft-carrier battle. Japan wins tactically, but loses strategically.
• Battle of Bir Hakeim	The First Free French Brigade buys Allied forces enough time to prevent a German breakthrough to the Suez Canal.
• Battle of Midway	Key defeat of Japanese naval forces in the Pacific; the Japanese lose four aircraft-carriers.
• Convoy PQ-17	A convoy of twenty-seven ships leaves Iceland on June 17, bound for Murmansk. Ten arrive on July 5.
•Battle of the Aleutian Islands	Japanese invade and occupy two islands of Alaska's Aleutian archipelago as part of a feint designed to cover the Imperial Fleet's intended trap at Midway. Foreign troops are not expelled from US soil until the following
•Attack on Sydney Harbour	Japanese midget submarines attack Sydney harbour.
•First Battle of El Alamein	British Eighth Army stops Rommel's Axis forces invading Egypt.
•Second Battle of El Alamein	Montgomery's Eighth Army forces Rommel out of Egypt.
•Battle of Sevastopol	Captured by Germans after eight month siege.
•Battle of Changsha	Chinese claim victory over Japanese.
•Kokoda Track Campaign	Australians slow down Japanese offensive against Port Moresby, cause Japanese overextension and attrition losses; drive them back.
•Battle of Guadalcanal	Beginning of Allied action in Solomon Islands.
•Battle of Savo Island	Japanese sink four US cruisers.
•Battle of Dieppe	"Operation Jubilee" was an Allied amphibious raid on the German occupied port of Dieppe in France. A tactical disaster for the Allies. However lessons learned applied to later amphibious operations including D-Day.
•Battle of Stalingrad	City besieged by Paulus' German Sixth Army; from November 23 the Sixth Army is surrounded and destroyed by Soviets; bloodiest battle in history, 1.8 millions dead approx.
•Battle of the Eastern Solomons	Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō sunk.
•Battle of Milne Bay	First time Japanese landing force had been driven back into sea.
•Battle of Cape Esperance	near Guadalcanal
•Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands	near Guadalcanal, USS Hornet sunk.
•Operation Torch	Allied landings in North Africa and successful Putsch of French Resistance in Algiers to prevent Vichyist forces opposition.
•Naval Battle of Guadalcanal	US defeats Japan, a turning point.
•Battle of Tassafaronga	off Guadalcanal
•Second Battle of Kharkov	Failed Soviet attempt to retake Kharkov.
•Battle of Changsha (1942)	Second Sino-Japanese War
•Battle of Madagascar	Allies capture Madagascar from Vichy France.

[edit] 1943

• Battle of Osankarica	Over 200 Germans massacred all 69 men and women of the Pohorje battalion. Germans lost 19 men and had 31 wounded.
• Battle of Rennell Island	Japanese bombers sink a cruiser.
• Battle of Guadalcanal	Allies take the island.
• Third Battle of Kharkov	Germans retake Kharkov.
• Battle of the Kasserine Pass	Battle between US and German armored forces in Tunisia.
• Battle of Neretva	German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) offensive in southern Bosnia. Offensive launched to encircle and destroy the Yugoslavian Communist Partisan forces found there. Supporting the German forces in this effort were Italian, Croatian, Ustaše, and Yugoslavian Royalist Chetnik units. The partisans were badly mauled but managed to escape encirclement.
• Battle of the Komandorski Islands	Naval engagement between US and Japan in the Bering Sea.
• Battle of Bismarck Sea	US sinks Japanese transports.
• Warsaw Ghetto Uprising	5,000 Jews and 2,000 Germans die, Jews confined.
• Battle of Sutjeska	Another attempt by German forces in Yugoslavia, this time supported by Italian, Bulgarian, Croatian, and Cossack units, to encircle and destroy the Yugoslavian Communist Partisan forces in southern Bosnia. Again, the partisans were mauled but escaped.
• Battle of Castle Turjak	Slovene partisans took the castle guarded by the Slovene village sentries.
• Battle of Kursk	Germans attack Kursk salient at Orel and Belgorod, Russians drive them back. Arguably the largest tank battle ever fought.
• Allied invasion of Sicily	Allies take Sicily from the Italians and German armies.
• Allied invasion of Italy	Landings at Calabria, Taranto and Salerno.
• Dodecanese Campaign Battle of Kos Battle of Leros	Allied and German scramble to occupy the Dodecanese Islands. German amphibious and airborne operation to capture Kos. German amphibious and airborne operation to capture Kos.
• Battle of Kiev (1943)	Kiev retaken by Soviets.
• Raid on Schweinfurt	milestone air battle between the Luftwaffe and the USAAF known as "Black Thursday."
• Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission	another major daylight air battle, first shuttle mission.
• Battle of Tarawa	First major American amphibious landing in the Pacific.
• Battle of Makin	Americans capture the atoll of Makin Atoll.
• Battle of the Bernhardt Line	U.S. 5th Army sustains 16,000 casualties fighting through the Mignano Gap to reach the Cassino defenses.

[edit] 1944

• Battle of Cisterna	Part of Operation Shingle, the 1st, 3rd, and 4th US Army Ranger battalions attempted to capture the town of Cisterna.
• Battle of Monte Cassino	Four battles in Italy Jan - May. Allies finally breakthrough towards Rome.
• Battle of Kwajalein	American forces assualt the islands of Kwajalein and Roi-Namur.
• Battle of the Admin Box	Japanese attempt a local counter-attack against an Allied offensive.
• Battle of Eniwetok	Battle between American and Japanese on Eniwetok Atoll.
• Battle of Imphal and Battle of Kohima	Attempted Japanese invasion of India fails with heavy losses.
• Operation Rösselsprung	German attempt to capture Tito using airborne troops.
• Battle of Normandy	Allies invade northern France (Operation Overlord), hard fighting from Cherbourg to Caen, Germans surrounded and destroyed at Falaise.
• Battle of Saipan	The battle was fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands and resulted disasterous for Japanese forces since most died.
• Battle of Guam	American forces capture back Guam.
• Battle of Tinian	American forces capture Tinian.
• Operation Bagration	Soviet offensive destroys German Army Group Center on the Eastern Front.
• Battle of Philippine Sea	Major carrier battle; US lose 123 planes and destroy 315 Japanese planes.
• Battle of Fontenay
• Battle of Tali-Ihantala	Finnish stop Soviet offensive.
• Warsaw Uprising	20.000 armed Poles against 55.000 Wehrmacht and SS. 90% of city destroyed, more than 250.000 casualties.
• Operation Dragoon	Allied invasion of Southern France.
• Battle of Debrecen	Soviets gain ground in Hungary but German and Hungarian forces manage to withdraw relatively intact after both sides suffer similar losses.
• Gothic Line offensive	British 8th Army and U.S. 5th Army attempt unsuccessfully to break into the north Italian plains.
• Battle of Arnhem	The major battle of Operation Market Garden; Allies reach but fail to cross the Rhine; British First Airborne Division destroyed.
• Battle of Peleliu	A fight to capture an airstrip on a speck of coral in the western Pacific.
• Battle of Aachen	Aachen was the first major German city to face invasion during WW II.
• Battle of the Scheldt	Decisive Canadian victory, solved the logistical problems of the Allies, and opened the port of Antwerp for supplies directly to the front.
• Battle of Crucifix Hill	The 18th Infantry, U.S. 1st Infantry Division take Crucifix Hill, a crucial position to help surround Aachen. Cpt. Bobbie E. Brown wins a Medal of Honor for his heroics.
• Battle of Angaur	American forces capture an island in Palau.
• Battle of Hurtgen Forest	Stubborn German defense, appalling losses to US army.
• Battle of Leyte	American and Filipino guerrillas forces capture Leyte.
• Battle of Leyte Gulf	The largest air-sea battle in history.
• Operation Queen	was a joint British-American operation during World War II at the Western Front between Aachen and the Rur river.
• Battle of the Bulge	German counterattack in Ardennes; General McAuliffe says "NUTS" at Bastogne.
• Battle of Budapest	Soviet encirclement, siege, and capture of the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

[edit] 1945

• Operation Elephant	Allied offensive against a German bridgehead at Kapelsche Veer in the Netherlands.
• Raid at Cabanatuan	US Army Rangers rescue Bataan and Corregidor POWs from Japanese prison camp.
• Battle for the Recapture of Bataan	U.S. and Philippine Forces retake the historic Bataan Peninsula.
• Battle for the Liberation of Manila	City totally devastated after month-long battle between the American, Filipino and Japanese forces. 100,000 civilians killed.
• Battle for the Recapture of Corregidor	Spectacular combined U.S. and Philippine assault retakes island bastion from Japanese forces.
• Raid at Los Baños	U.S. Airborne Task Force rescues more than 2,000 Allied POWs and civilian internees held by Japanese.
• Battle of Mindanao	U.S. Eighth Army together with the Philippine Commonwealth troops completes the recapture of Southern Philippines.
• Operation Varsity	134 Allied gliders land troops in Weisel.
• Battle of the Visayas	U.S. Eighth Army together with the Philippine Commonwealth troops retakes central Philippine islands.
• Battle of Meiktila and Mandalay	Japanese defeated in decisive battle in Central Burma
• Battle of Iwo Jima	After a month, U.S. Forces take main offshore Japanese island.
• Battle of West Henan and North Hubei	Indecisive battle between China and Japan. Japan controls airbases after battle.
• Battle of Halbe	Part of Battle of Berlin, Germans unable to break out.
• Battle of Berlin	Soviet forces encircle and capture German capital; Hitler commits suicide.
• Battle of Triest	British army and Yugoslav capture the city.
• Battle of Tarakan	Allied attack as part of the Borneo campaign.
• Battle of Poljana	Last battle of World War II in Europe.
• Battle of West Hunan	Chinese victory in final battle to expel Japan.
• Battle of Okinawa	US takes Japanese Island in the Ryūkyūs; many casualties to both sides.
• Battle of North Borneo	Australian victory during final stages of World War II in the Pacific.
• Battle of Balikpapan	Allied victory over Japan.
• Battle of Manchuria	Soviet forces liberate Manchuria.

[edit] Sieges

• Siege of Warsaw
• Siege of Leningrad
• Siege of Lwów
• Siege of Modlin
• Siege of Novorossiysk
• Siege of Odessa
• Siege of Sevastopol
• Siege of Tobruk
• Siege of Moscow
• Siege of Budapest
• Siege of Breslau

[edit] Naval engagements

General

• Arctic Convoys
• Second Battle of the Atlantic - the name given to the conflicts in the Atlantic Ocean between 1940 and 1945.
  • see also Timeline of the Second Battle of the Atlantic
• Battle of the Mediterranean
• Battle of the Indian Ocean

Specific
1939

• The Battle of the River Plate

1940

• First Battle of Narvik
• Second Battle of Narvik

1941

• Battle of Cape Matapan
• Battle of Pearl Harbor

1942

• Battle of the Coral Sea
• Battle of Midway
• Battle of Guadalcanal

1943

• Battle of the Komandorski Islands

1944

• Battle of Leyte Gulf

[edit] Major bombing campaigns

General'

• Strategic bombing during World War II
• Strategic bombing survey for the overall impact of the bombing.

Specific'

• Baedeker raids
• Chungking
• Coventry
• Broome - Japanese raid on the town of Broome, targeting the airfield.
• Dresden
• Darwin - Japanese target the harbour.
• Hamburg
• Helsinki - February 1944, was mostly ineffective due to air defence and deception.
• Hiroshima - One nuclear weapon, Little Boy dropped from a B-29, devastating a city.
• Kassel
• London - "The Blitz" and the V1 and V2 campaigns
• Lübeck
• Nagasaki - One nuclear weapon, Fat Man dropped from a B-29, devastating a city.
• Narva - March 1944. Evacuated town was destroyed by Soviet ADD.
• Pearl Harbor
• Rostock - Heinkel Airplane Construction Plant, Seaport, and City
• Rotterdam
• Stalingrad - 23 August 1942
• Tallinn - February - March 1944. Bombed by Soviet ADD. Large-scale damage.
• Tokyo - Several devestating raids.
• Warsaw

[edit] Operations

Main article: List of World War II military operations

[edit] Raids

Small to medium-sized raiding operations were carried out by both Allied and Axis armies during World War II. The modus operandi used included guerrilla attacks by partisans in occupied territory and/or combined operations involving the landing and removal of specialised light infantry, such as commandos, by means of small boats.

• Allied
  • Operation Colossus
    • 10 February 1941
    • Experimental raid by 38 British Commandos on a fresh water aqueduct near Calitri in southern Italy.
  • Operation Claymore
    • 4 March 1941
    • 1000 Men from the British Commandos and belonging to the Norwegian Independent Company 1 destroy fish oil factories on the remote islands off the coast of Norway.
  • Operation Archery
    • 27 December 1941
    • 570 men from the British Commandos and belonging to the Norwegian Independent Company 1 raid and attack German positions on Vågsøy Island in Norway.
  • Battle of Timor
    • 19 February 1942 – 10 February 1943
    • Continuous raids from Australian commandos agaisnt the occupying Japanese.
  • Operation Chariot
    • 28 March 1942
    • 196 Royal Navy and Army Commando units raid and destroy the heavily defended docks of St. Nazaire in occupied France.
  • Dieppe Raid
    • 19 August 1942
    • Over 6,000 infantrymen, mostly Canadian attempted to seize and hold the port of Dieppe.
  • Makin Island raid, 17-18 August, 1942
  • Operation Jaywick, September 1943
  • Operation Jedburgh, 1944
  • Operation Roast, April 1945
• Axis
  • Operation Greif, December 1944

Raiding units

• Allied
  • Multinational
    • Chindits
    • Devil's Brigade
    • Z Special Unit
    • Popski's Private Army
    • Gideon Force
  • Australia
    • Australian Army Independent Companies
  • France
    • Far East French Expeditionary Forces
    • Intervention Light Corps
  • Greece
    • Sacred Band
  • United Kingdom
    • Long Range Desert Group
    • Special Air Service
    • Royal Marines
    • Special Operations Executive
    • British Army Commandos
      • Layforce
    • British Paratroopers
  • United States
    • Marine Raiders
    • US Army Rangers
    • Alamo Scouts
    • Merrill's Marauders
• Axis
  • Nazi Germany
    • Brandenburger Regiment
    • Waffen-SS (commando force led by Otto Skorzeny).
  • Fascist Italy
    • Decima Flottiglia MAS
  • Empire of Japan
    • Special Naval Landing Forces

[edit] Defensive lines

• Atlantic Wall
• GHQ Line
• Gustav Line
• Maginot Line
• Mannerheim Line
• Metaxas Line
• Siegfried Line
• Taunton Stop Line

[edit] Contemporaneous wars

• Anglo-Iraqi War
• Chinese Civil War
• Greek Civil War
• Second Italo-Abyssinian War
• Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
• Soviet-Japanese Border War (1939)
• Spanish Civil War
• Winter War (Russo-Finnish War), Continuation War, Lapland War

[edit] See also

• World War II
• Campaigns of World War II
• Participants in World War II
• List of operations and projects (military and non-military)
• List of battles 1901-2000
• List of World War II topics

v • d • e World War II
Western Europe · Eastern Europe · Africa · Mediterranean · Asia and the Pacific · Atlantic
Major participants			Timeline		Aspects
To 1945 unless otherwise indicated. Principal co-belligerents in italics.			Prelude • Causes • in Asia • in Europe 1939 • Invasion of Poland • Phoney War • Winter War • Battle of the Atlantic5 1940 • Denmark and Norway • Battle of France • Battle of Britain • Libya and Egypt • British Somaliland • Baltic Occupation • Bessarabia and Bukovina • Invasion of Indochina • Invasion of Greece 1941 • East Africa Campaign • Invasion of Yugoslavia • Invasion of the USSR • Middle East campaign • Siege of Leningrad • Battle of Moscow • Attack on Pearl Harbor 1942 • Battle of Midway • Battle of Stalingrad • 2nd Battle of El Alamein • Operation Torch • Guadalcanal Campaign	1943 • End in Africa • Battle of Kursk • Solomon Islands • Invasion of Sicily • Invasion of Italy5 • Gilbert and Marshall Islands 1944 • Cassino and Anzio • Invasion of Normandy • Mariana and Palau Islands • Operation Bagration • Battle of the Dnieper • Warsaw Uprising • Iassy-Kishinev Operation • Liberation of Paris • Operation Market Garden • Operation Crossbow • Operation Pointblank • Battle of Leyte Gulf 1945 • Battle of Iwo Jima • Battle of Okinawa • Battle of Berlin • Germany surrenders • Hiroshima and Nagasaki • Japan surrenders • List of military engagements	• Attacks on North America • Blitzkrieg • Comparative military ranks • Cryptography • Home front • Military awards • Military equipment • Military production • Nazi plunder • Resistance • Technology • Total war Aftermath /consequences • Effects/Casualties • Expulsion of Germans • Operation Paperclip • Occupation of Germany • Morgenthau plan • Territorial changes • Occupation of Japan • Franco-Vietnamese War • Cold War • in contemporary culture Civilian impact / atrocities • Allied war crimes • German war crimes • Italian war crimes • Japanese war crimes • Soviet war crimes • The Holocaust • Bombing of civilians
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• Allied Leaders • Axis Leaders • Commanders
Resistance movements Austria · Baltic1 · Bessarabia1 Czech lands · Denmark · Ethiopia France · Germany2 · Greece · Italy Jewish2 · Korea · Netherlands · Moldavia1 Norway · Poland · Thailand · Soviet Union Slovakia4 · Ukraine3 · Vietnam Yugoslavia · others
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1 Anti-Soviet. 2 Anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi. 3 Anti-Nazi, anti-Polish, and anti-Soviet. 4 Anti-Magyar, anti-Nazi, and anti-Soviet. 5 Lasted to May 1945.		World War II at Wiktionary  WWII textbooks at Wikibooks      WWII quotes at Wikiquote  WWII source texts at Wikisource       WWII media at Commons  WWII news stories at Wikinews