WWII: War in North Africa and Europe

Question 1

Main American Commanders:
__: US Army Chief of Staff
__: Commander of the European Theatre of War

Answer 1

George Marshall

Dwight D Eisenhower

Question 2

Two major decisions:

1) Give priority to defeating __ and let all out war with __ wait; a) Germany might crush __ and then cut off __. b) If Germany isn’t __, it would send troops to help __
2) Accept only unconditional __ of __ and __

Answer 2

Hitler
Japan
USSR
Britain
defeated
Japan
surrender of Japan and Germany

Question 3

Groups of merchant ships in the Atlantic that carried troops and supplies, and sent protective support ships

Answer 3

Convoys

Question 4

1942: seen from Newfoundland to New Orleans

Answer 4

Wolf packs

Question 5

Describe tactics used

Answer 5

tighter air and sea patrols; brown outs along the coast

Question 6

From Iceland around North Cape of Norway above Arctic Circle to USSR; dangerous, Germans had base in Norway

Answer 6

Polar Bear Route

Question 7

What was a turning point in the East?

Answer 7

Battle of Stalingrad

Question 8

Summer of 1942:
Hitler is stalled at __ and __ so he attacks __; Hitler needs __ found in the mountains around __; Hitler lays siege to the city for __; __ to __ fighting

Answer 8

Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad
oil, Stalingrad
3 months
street to street

Question 9

Winter comes and __ launches a counterattack

Answer 9

USSR

Question 10

USSR winter counterattack:

USSR moves one army from the __ and one from the __; weather was __ degrees below zero

Answer 10

North, South

44

Question 11

Describe the Germans in the winter around Stalingrad

Answer 11

tanks will not start, rifles misfire, food is as hard as stone

Question 12

What happens in February 1943?

Answer 12

Germans surrender: 91000 troops (all that is left from 330000); soviets lose 1250000 (more than the US will lose in entire war); USSR will continue to move west

Question 13

Invasion of western North Africa

Answer 13

Operation Torch

Question 14

What happens in November 1942?

Answer 14

Allies land at Casablanca and Algiers; there is token resistance from Italian troops fortified by Germans

Question 15

Generals in the Battle for North Africa

Answer 15

British General: Montgomery

German General: Rommel- the Desert Fox

Question 16

El Alamein (1942):
Rommel's \_\_ \_\_ defeated by Montgomery; Allies plan to trap Rommel as he retreats from \_\_ \_\_ to \_\_; If Allies are successful, the \_\_ can be used to ship material to the \_\_; Montgomery closes in from the \_\_ while Eisenhower closes in from the \_\_

Answer 16

Afrkia Corps
El Alamein, Tunisia
Mediterranean, USSR
east, west

Question 17

What happens on May 13, 1943?

Answer 17

Rommel’s Afrika Corps surrenders; Axis lose control of Africa and the Mediterranean; Now the Allies can focus on crossing the Mediterranean to Sicily and Italy

Question 18

Describe the Italian Campaign

Answer 18

Soft underbelly of Europe; September 1943: Salerno, Italy; Bloody Anzio: January 1944 (some of the hardest fighting to date for US); Germans are driven out of Italy in January 1945; Mussolini captured in April 1945 (shot and body hung in Milan)

Question 19

What happened on June 6, 1944?

Answer 19

Operation Overlord (Normandy) D-Day