Curated playlist
Battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom
- Allied invasion of SicilyA corpse helped Allied forces invade Sicily in 1943. Fake papers on it pointed German forces toward Greece.
- Operation OverlordStorms nearly stopped the D-Day invasion of Normandy before it began.
- Italian invasion of EgyptItaly's 1940 invasion of Egypt began with a marshal who thought it could not succeed.
- Dunkirk evacuationThe Dunkirk evacuation aimed to save 45,000 men, but more than 338,000 got home.
- Italian invasion of British SomalilandChurchill's fury over losing British Somaliland helped end General Wavell's career.
- Battle of FranceIn 1940, France fell within six weeks despite having more tanks than Germany.
- Allied invasion of ItalyA loudspeaker on an Italian beach told landing American soldiers to give up. They landed anyway.
- Borneo campaignAustralian soldiers paddled handmade folboats toward Tarakan island on the 1st of May 1945.
- German invasion of Belgium (1940)German gliders landed on top of Belgium's Fort Eben-Emael on the 10th of May 1940. Explosives disabled its defenses.
- German invasion of GreeceHitler invaded Greece partly to protect Romanian oil from British bombers.
- German invasion of the NetherlandsOn the day Germany invaded in 1940, the Netherlands had zero modern tanks.
- Western Allied invasion of GermanySeven German soldiers surrendered at Nierstein, then paddled themselves back across the Rhine.
- Battle of BritainThe Battle of Britain was named before it began. Churchill announced it on June 18, 1940, weeks ahead of the start.
- Siege of Malta (World War II)Malta began World War II with six obsolete biplane fighters. It still survived more than two years of siege.