The links below will help you with translating tools between English and Spanish.
1. Audio of a words in both English and Spanish. Will also translate phrases.
2. Google Search - Espana: The word can be typed in English, and the search finds results in Spanish, including images
3. Also Google Arabic is available.
2. Google Search - Espana: The word can be typed in English, and the search finds results in Spanish, including images
3. Also Google Arabic is available.
Timeline Of Turning Points
Battle Of The Bulge: December 16th, 1944-January 25th, 1945
By the beginning of December, 1944 the Allies had pushed the German Army all the way across Europe almost into Germany itself. The Allies stopped to bring up soldiers who were rested, and to build up huge supplies of food, weapons, ammo, and fuel.
In the mean time the German army was gathering together soldiers, cannons, tanks, and other supplies for one big try to push the Allies back across Europe. They gathered up between 200,000 to 500,000 men. They collected at least 1,800 tanks, and 1,900 cannons. ALL of this was done largely in secret.
On 16 December 1944, at 5:30 a.m., the Germans began the attack with a massive, 90-minute artillery (cannons) attack using 1,600 artillery pieces along a line 80 miles long where the U.S. and British troops were lined up.
It may have sounded like this
At first the Germans had great success, and pushed about 50 miles into Allied territory.
It looked like they were going to get to their goal about 80 miles away in Antwerp, Belgium. They were helped by the fact that the weather was so bad Allied planes could not get up in the air to fight them off.
Their men advanced with confidence that Hitler’s plan would succeed.
This map shows where the Germans came from, and where they went
It looked like they were going to get to their goal about 80 miles away in Antwerp, Belgium. They were helped by the fact that the weather was so bad Allied planes could not get up in the air to fight them off.
You can see the German goal, Antwerp, at the top of the map. The curvy red like shows how far they actually got
Advancing confident German
Then the Allies started to fight back. We sent in our best troops, the 101st Airborne Division of paratroopers to Bastogne.
The Germans needed to capture this town because it was where a lot of roads came together.
They needed these roads so their tanks can go farther on the attack (Tanks can’t drive through hills and forests.).
The Battle of the Bulge happened in December and January. It snowed and was cold
The Germans needed to capture this town because it was where a lot of roads came together.
Bastogne is in the middle. Look at all of the roads going into it from the right, and coming out on the left
They needed these roads so their tanks can go farther on the attack (Tanks can’t drive through hills and forests.).
German tank on roads near Bastogne
The Germans eventually surrounded our paratroopers in Bastogne, and held them there from December 20th to December 27th. It was not an equal fight, because we had only 11,000 soldiers, and the Germans had 120,000. Medical supplies ran out, the men did not have heavy coats and blankets, there was not much food, cannons were limited to firing no more than 10 times a day, and then ONLY when they actually saw a German tank to shoot.
The weather was hard. Heavy snowstorms began. It was the coldest winter in that area in over 50 years. From December 16th, 1944 to January 29th, 1945 the temperature got above freezing only 8 times. It dropped below 15 degrees 10 times, once going as low as 5 degrees.
Tanks had to run their engines every ½ hour to keep from freezing up. Men had to urinate on their rifles and machine guns so they would work in the freezing temperatures.
This shows the temperatures in Bastogne from December 16th (on left) to January 29th (on right)
Tanks had to run their engines every ½ hour to keep from freezing up. Men had to urinate on their rifles and machine guns so they would work in the freezing temperatures.
***
This is what the fighting around Bastogne looked like
The brave men of the 101st were not the only ones there. The 969th Field Artillery (cannons that went with the foot soldiers) provided heavy cannon support for the U.S. soldiers.
They fought bravely under the same conditions, even though they were in a segregated unit because they were African Americans. 11 of their friends had been captured when the German attack began on December 16th, and were murdered in the corner of a cow field. We must never forget the sacrifice these men made so we could enjoy the freedom we have today.
The 969th Field Artillery firing at Germans. They were a segregated African American unit
They fought bravely under the same conditions, even though they were in a segregated unit because they were African Americans. 11 of their friends had been captured when the German attack began on December 16th, and were murdered in the corner of a cow field. We must never forget the sacrifice these men made so we could enjoy the freedom we have today.
Eventually the Germans were pushed back when the Allies brought in as many as 500,000 extra soldiers. The blue arrows show that pushing.
The End Of WW II In Europe – May 8th, 1945
We would keep pushing the Germans, and would not stop until they surrendered to the Allies ( U.S., Great Britain, Canada, France, and The Soviet Union). The last group of Germans surrendered on May 8th, 1945. This was called VE-Day. That means Victory in Europe Day.
Before this happened, the two largest Fascist Dictator in Europe were dead:
- On 27 April 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was captured by a group of Italians who did not support him. He was trying to get to Switzerland and safety. On 28 April, 1945 they executed him.
- On 30 April, as the Germans fought the Soviet soldiers in Berlin, Hitler saw that all was lost. He did not want to die like Mussolini so he committed suicide in his underground safety bunker along with Eva Braun, whom he had married just hours before their joint suicide.
Dropping Of Atomic Bomb: August 6th and 9th, 1945
You remember from our discussion earlier how the Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Then you remember how we defeated the Japanese at the Battle of Midway June 4th-7th, 1942. That was all OK, but to defeat Japan once and for all we had to dig them out of every island and every other country they had captured, and make our way to their Home Islands. They fought our attacks hard, and we had to come up with a plan to defeat them.
That plan came to be called “Island Hopping” because we would attack and capture an island from the Japanese, and then use it as a base to attack another island where the Japanese were. The goal was to get to their main Home Islands, because capturing those islands was thought to be the ONLY way to get the Japanese to give up and surrender.
The green arrows on this map show how the U.S. moved (hopped) from island to island, always moving closer to Japan
Iwo Jima : February 19th – March 26th, 1945
U.S. Marine artillery firing at the Japanese on Mount Suribachi
U.S. Marine artillery firing at the Japanese on Mount Suribachi
As we got closer to the Japanese Home Islands the Japanese soldiers fought harder and harder. At Iwo Jima we had 80,000 men attacking 20,00 Japanese soldiers. Yes, we outnumbered them by A LOT, but they had dug tunnels and caves all over the Island, which helped them defend themselves.
The final death toll among Marines was 5,931 killed in action, died of wounds or missing in action and presumed dead — more than twice as many Marines than had been killed in all of World War One. In all, more than 800 Americans gave their lives for every square mile of Iwo Jima’s black volcanic sand.
U.S. Marine graves on Iwo Jima
Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers present at the beginning of the battle, over 20,000 were killed and only 216 taken prisoner. We began to find out just what it would cost if we DID have to invade their Home Islands. They would fight to the death.
U.S. Marines and a Navy sailor raising the flag on Mount Suribachi Iwo Jima during the battle
Okinawa:April 1st – June 21st, 1945
Okinawa is at the bottom of the map, and shows up in red. See how close is it to Japan? It is only about 340 miles away.
Okinawa is at the bottom of the map, and shows up in red. See how close is it to Japan? It is only about 340 miles away.
The Japanese considered this island almost like it was part of their Home Islands. We knew we would need to bring a lot of force to attack and defeat. We had over 60,000 Marines and Army soldiers to attack. We used over 1,300 ships to fire their big cannons at the Japanese before the soldiers landed.
During the first 24 hours of the attack those ships fired 7,600,000 pounds of cannon shells (That is = 3,800 mid sized SUV’s if each car weighs 2,000lbs.).
During the first 24 hours of the attack those ships fired 7,600,000 pounds of cannon shells (That is = 3,800 mid sized SUV’s if each car weighs 2,000lbs.).
This is a bit long, but it DOES show U.S. artillery hitting the island before our Marines and soldiers went in
When it was all over we had won, gotten closer to Japan for the next step, which would be to attack their Home Islands. But there was a cost:
* 38,000 Americans wounded and 12,000 killed or missing,
* More than 107,000 Japanese and Okinawan soldiers killed of the 117,00 who were alive when the battle started (That is 91% killed)
* 100,000 Okinawan civilians (not army soldiers) killed.
* 38,000 Americans wounded and 12,000 killed or missing,
* More than 107,000 Japanese and Okinawan soldiers killed of the 117,00 who were alive when the battle started (That is 91% killed)
* 100,000 Okinawan civilians (not army soldiers) killed.
The Japanese demonstrated they were not going to surrender easily, and that they were not afraid to fight where there were civilians in the way.
Operation Downfall
Operation Downfall was the plan to invade the Japanese Home Islands.
Okinawa showed just how costly it would be. The planners learned that the Japanese Army was giving lunge mine weapons (someone using this weapon would shove the sticks on the end of it to cause the explosion.), and other weapons, to civilians, even young girls, so they could attack the invading Americans. They also had plans to strap bombs onto people who would go blow up U.S. ships, tanks, and soldiers themselves.
We would wind up having to fight ALL Japanese. One Japanese citizen called to prepare for battle was high school girl, Yukiko Kasai. The army gave her a hand spike to use as a weapon.
They told her, "Even killing one American soldier will do. … You must aim for the abdomen.’
Japan is circled in red. Korea and China are to the left.
Okinawa showed just how costly it would be. The planners learned that the Japanese Army was giving lunge mine weapons (someone using this weapon would shove the sticks on the end of it to cause the explosion.), and other weapons, to civilians, even young girls, so they could attack the invading Americans. They also had plans to strap bombs onto people who would go blow up U.S. ships, tanks, and soldiers themselves.
Lunge Mine: The 3 sticks were triggers that would cause the explosion when pressed against something
We would wind up having to fight ALL Japanese. One Japanese citizen called to prepare for battle was high school girl, Yukiko Kasai. The army gave her a hand spike to use as a weapon.
Hand spike to use as a weapon
They told her, "Even killing one American soldier will do. … You must aim for the abdomen.’
The invading forces would be facing at least 900,00 Japanese soldiers and all the civilians who were prepared to fight. The estimates of casualties (killed and wounded) were as follows:
- 1,700,000 to 4,000,000 American killed and wounded
800,000 of those would be killed - 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 Japanese killed
Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Dropping The Atomic Bombs
August 6th and 9th, 1945
August 6th and 9th, 1945
What many did not know was there was another weapon being developed. In October of 1939 Two scientists, Leó Szilárd and Albert Einstein, sent a letter to President Roosevelt. They told the President that it was likely that in the near future it would become possible to use science to cause an explosion that would make and release HUGE amounts of power. They made the point that this technology could be used to produce weapons more powerful than anyone imagined.
The very first nuclear explosion. This was part of the testing we did in preparing to make an actual atmoic bomb.
It was known that Germany was experimenting and trying to develop this technology. So the decision was made to start a program to discover what could be done. It would eventually employ 130,000 people in at least 3 different countries, and cost $2,000,000,000.
It was this weapon that President Truman (Roosevelt had died in April, 1945) decided to drop on Japan in August when they would not surrender.
First Bomb - Dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.
On 6 August 1945, a specially changed B-29 bomber lifted off from an airfield on an island in the Pacific named Tinian. The bomb was dropped from the plane at 31,600 feet.
.jpg)
Enola Gay - The B-29 that dropped The Bomb
The bomb exploded 1,750 feet in the air. The blast was later estimated to be the equal of 13,000 tons of TNT (an explosive) An area approximately 4.7 square miles (a square that has each side equal to 4.7 miles) was completely destroyed. Japanese officials determined that 69% of Hiroshima's buildings were destroyed and another 6–7% damaged. About 70,000 to 80,000 people, or some 30% of the population of Hiroshima, were killed immediately, and another 70,000 injured.
The middle of the place in Hiroshima that was destroyed by the bomb.
This video shows the explosion over Hiroshima
See a movie clip of what it might have been like:
Second Bomb – Dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945
The Japanese did not surrender, even after they witnessed the power of the new weapon we had. President Truman then decided to drop another atomic bomb. It wound up being released over the city of Nagasaki because the weather over the first target city made hard it to see.
Eplosion of the bomb over Nagasaki
Japan surrendered on August 15th, 1945 when Emperor Hirohito made a radio broadcast. It was called VJ Day, which meant Victory over Japan.
The Japanese delegation aboard the USS Missouri, a battleship
The war was over.
Hideki Tojo, the former military leader of Japan, tried to kill himself, but was captured, tried as a war criminal, and then executed on December 23rd, 1948.
