World War II, part 2: 1941-1944: War in Africa to The Battle of the Bulge
Timeline and Maps
1941-42: War in Africa
- Allied troops are sent to Africa to fend off Germany and Italy's advance on Egypt, first in 1941 and then later in 1942's Operation Torch.
1942: War in Pacific
- Nazi's come up with the Final Solution to the "Jewish problem" and work out the details of the death camps.
- US and Filipino forces surrender and captives are forced to walk 63 miles to a prisoner of war camp. Many die of starvation and disease in the camps.
- US sends a squadron of B-52 bombers over Tokyo.
- US dive bombers sweep down on a huge Japanese fleet near Midway Island in the North Pacific, resulting in huge Japanese losses.
- Meanwhile German armies assault Soviet stronghold of Stalingrad, but Soviet push them back.
- Jews in Warsaw Ghetto begin an uprising, but the rebellion is quickly crushed.
1944: The D-Day Invasion and The Battle of the Bulge
- Allied troops invade German-occupied France, some from ships across the English Channel to the eaches of Normandy and some US paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines, giving the Allies a crucial foothold in Europe. (Our) Life's Adventures has a wonderful series of blog posts about their field trips to Normandy...St. Mere Englise, Point du Hoc and American Cemetery in Normandy.
- A German colonel plants a bomb in Hitler's headquarters, but Hitler survives the blast. Hitler orders the death of 5,000 possible conspirators.
- US returns to the Philippines. Japanese begin the use of kamikaze, or suicide pilots to crash into US ships to sink them.
- While Allied forces regrouped before their advancing into Germany, Hitler orders a counter-attack of a tank offensive through the Ardennes forest in Belgium, surprising the Allies. It punches a bulge in their lines, but the German advance is stopped and is forced to retreat.
Coastal Defense
We went to Fort Miles, Delaware and learned a lot about the coast defense during World War II. The boys learned all about the different types of guns, how they worked and what they were used for.
As a follow-up to the field trip, I had the boys do an activity from World War II for Kids in which they needed to plot how they would defend a coastal land. They were given a list of the guns they had to place and their ranges and angle of fire.
Using a compass and protractor, they shaded the areas that would be covered by the guns.
Battleship
We have been playing Battleship. I used to play this game on graph paper as a kid. We just put an X on the squares we wanted to place our ships.
New Recruits Go Through Basic Training
The Homefront
Victory Garden
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| Putting in a Victory Garden, April 21, 2013 |
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| May 14, 2013 |
books:
sources and inspiration:
- The Cats In Krasinkski Square, Karen Hesse; picture book for grades 2-5 set in Warsaw in 1942
sources and inspiration:
- National Registration Idenity Card and Ration Book from Wiltshire History Quest
- World War II for Kids, Panchyk
- American Kids in History: World War II Days, King
