Second World War Timeline

• Aug 1939
  A series of agreements between Germany and the USSR, known as the Nazi-Soviet Pact, carves up Europe between the two states, and both promise not to attack the other.
• 1 Sep 1939
  Nazi Germany invades Poland, starting WWII.
• 3 Sep 1939
  Britain and France declare war on Germany after Hitler's invasion of Poland.
• Oct 1939 - Apr 1940
  The Phoney War, which saw limited direct military engagements between German and Britain and France.
• 1940 - 1941
  The Dowding System of integrated air defence is in operation protecting Britain against German air attacks.
• 26 May 1940 - 4 Jun 1940
  The Dunkirk evacuation ferries 340,000 Allied troops to the safety of Britain.
• 19 Jun 1940
  The port of Cherbourg surrenders to Erwin Rommel.
• 10 Jul 1940 - 31 Oct 1940
  The Battle of Britain (official Air Ministry dates).
• 24 Aug 1940
  German Heinkel He 111 bombers accidentally bomb London when aiming for an oil refinery.
• 25 Aug 1940
  RAF bombers attack Berlin in retaliation for the Luftwaffe's bombing of London the previous night.
• Sep 1940 - May 1941
  The London Blitz when the British capital was repeatedly hit by Axis bombers of Germany and Italy.
• 17 Sep 1940
  Adolf Hitler indefinitely postpones Operation Sea Lion, his planned invasion of Britain.
• 9 Dec 1940 - 7 Feb 1941
  The Allied Operation Compass, which defeated Italian forces during the Western Desert Campaigns.
• Apr 1941 - Dec 1941
  The failed siege of Tobruk by Axis forces commanded by Erwin Rommel.
• 10 May 1941
  Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland to try and make peace with Britain.
• Jun 1941 - Dec 1941
  Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's failed attempt to conquer the USSR.
• Jul 1941 - Sep 1941
  Battle of Kiev during Operation Barbarossa. Axis victory over the USSR.
• Sep 1941 - Jan 1944
  The Siege of Leningrad begins during Operation Barbarossa. USSR victory over Axis forces.
• 8 Sep 1941 - 27 Jan 1944
  Siege of Leningrad (Saint Petersburg). Soviet victory over Axis forces.
• Oct 1941 - Jan 1942
  Battle of Moscow during Operation Barbarossa. USSR victory over Axis forces.
• 27 May 1942
  Czech Resistance fighters attempt to assassinate the top Nazi Reinhard Heydrich in Prague.
• Jul 1942 - Feb 1943
  Battle of Stalingrad (Volgograd). Soviet victory over Axis forces.
• Aug 1942
  Bernard Montgomery is given command of the British Eight Army in North Africa.
• 8 Nov 1942
  Beginning of Operation Torch, the Allied North Africa landings.
• 16 May 1943
  Lancaster bombers carry out Operation Chastise, the 'Dambusters' raid on Ruhr dams in Germany.
• Jul 1943 - Aug 1943
  The combined RAF and USAAF bombing of Hamburg (Operation Gomorrah) resulting in 46,000 deaths.
• Jul 1943 - Aug 1943
  Battle of Kursk. Soviet victory over Axis forces.
• Aug 1943 - Sep 1943
  The Battle of Smolensk. Soviet victory over Axis forces.
• 10 Jun 1944
  The Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre where 643 civilians are murdered by Nazi occupiers during WWII.
• Aug 1944
  Romania, Germany's Axis ally, surrenders.
• 27 Jan 1945
  Armed forces of the USSR liberate the Nazi Auschwitz concentration camps.
• 30 Apr 1945
  Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin bunker.
• May 1945
  Filed Marshal Montgomery is appointed the commander of the British Army of Occupation in Germany.
• 2 May 1945
  The garrison of Berlin surrenders to the Soviet Red Army.
• 6 Aug 1945
  The ‘Enola Gay’, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
• 9 Aug 1945
  The ‘Bockscar’, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.
• Nov 1945 - Oct 1946
  The Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals is held.