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Amphibious operations of World War II

  • Invasion of the Kuril IslandsThe decision to invade the Kuril Islands emerged from a sudden shift in Soviet military strategy during August 1945. Planners initially targeted Hokkaido…
  • Soviet invasion of South SakhalinIn 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth divided Sakhalin Island along the 50th parallel north. The Russian Empire kept control of the northern half while the…
  • Allied invasion of SicilyThe Casablanca Conference in January 1943 brought together political leaders and military Chiefs of Staff from the United States and Britain to discuss…
  • Normandy landingsThe decision to invade Normandy in 1943 began a complex web of military deception known as Operation Bodyguard. Allied planners needed to convince Adolf…
  • Dunkirk evacuationGermany invaded Poland in September 1939, triggering a declaration of war from France and the British Empire. The British Expeditionary Force landed at…
  • Battle of OkinawaThe island of Okinawa became the stage for Operation Iceberg, a massive military campaign that began on the 1st of April 1945.
  • Allied invasion of ItalyBritish Prime Minister Winston Churchill called Italy the soft underbelly of the axis in November 1942. He argued that invading would remove Italy from the…
  • Battle of Guam (1941)Guam is the southernmost part of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It covers an area of 225 square miles with rugged interior terrain.
  • Philippines campaign (1941–1942)On the 6th of November 1941, General Hisaichi Terauchi created the Southern Expeditionary Army Group to seize raw materials in Malaya and the Netherlands…
  • Operation TorchThe United States entered the Second World War in December 1941. British and American leaders met at the Arcadia Conference in Washington D.C.
  • Battle of Iwo JimaIn March 1944, the Japanese military reevaluated their position after American forces captured the Marshall Islands and attacked Truk Atoll.
  • Operation DragoonGeneral George Marshall proposed the invasion of Southern France in 1942. Joseph Stalin supported this plan at the Tehran Conference in late 1943.
  • Guadalcanal campaignOn the 7th of December 1941, Japanese forces attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack killed almost 2,500 people and…
  • Battle of AnzioWinston Churchill lay recovering from pneumonia in Marrakesh when he conceived Operation Shingle in December 1943. The British Prime Minister wanted to land…
  • Battle of MadagascarDiego-Suarez is a large bay with a fine harbour near the northern tip of Madagascar. It has an opening to the east through a narrow channel called Oronjia…
  • Battle of Wake IslandIn January 1941, the United States Navy began construction of a military base on the atoll. On the 19th of August, the first permanent military garrison…
  • Dutch East Indies campaignJapan lacked native oil sources and could not produce enough to meet even 10% of its needs. The Dutch East Indies stood as the fourth-largest exporter of oil…
  • Operation WeserübungBy the spring of 1939, the British Admiralty began to view Scandinavia as a potential theatre of war in a future conflict with Nazi Germany.
  • Battle of CreteHitler signed Directive 28 on the 25th of April 1941, ordering an invasion of Crete. The German Army High Command remained preoccupied with finalizing…
  • Operation Sea LionAdolf Hitler issued a directive on the 16th of July 1940 that set in motion preparations for a landing operation against Britain.
  • Battle of Rabaul (1942)Rabaul lies on the eastern end of New Britain, an Australian Territory in 1942. The town served as capital for the region since Germany lost control there in…
  • Dieppe RaidOn the 19th of August 1942, the Allied amphibious attack on Dieppe began as a desperate gamble to satisfy Soviet demands for a second front.