Curated playlist
World War II invasions
- Operation OverlordOperation Overlord was the codename assigned to the Allied liberation of German-occupied Western Europe, beginning on the 6th of June 1944. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on that single day. A 1,200-plane airborne…
- Italian invasion of EgyptThe Italian invasion of Egypt began on the 13th of September 1940, when an army of tens of thousands crossed from Libya into British-held territory with one prize in mind: the Suez Canal. The operation had a name, Operazione E, and a…
- Italian invasion of British SomalilandThe Italian invasion of British Somaliland lasted just sixteen days, from the 3rd to the 19th of August 1940, yet it produced one of the war's sharpest arguments about what a defeat should cost. When it was over, the Royal Navy had taken…
- Battle of OkinawaThe Battle of Okinawa began on the 1st of April 1945, when American forces launched the largest amphibious assault ever attempted in the Pacific Theater of World War II. They called it Operation Iceberg. The island they were storming lay…
- Fall of SingaporeOn the afternoon of the 15th of February 1942, British Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival walked toward the Ford Motor Factory in Singapore bearing a white flag of truce and a Union Jack. He was about to hand over 85,000 soldiers to a…
- Allied invasion of ItalyThe Allied invasion of Italy began at half past three in the morning on the 9th of September 1943. A loudspeaker on the beach at Paestum called out in English: "Come on in and give up. We have you covered." The soldiers of the U.S. 36th…
- Philippines campaign (1941–1942)The Philippines campaign of 1941-1942 opened in the pre-dawn hours of the 8th of December 1941, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when Japanese bombers appeared over Clark Field near Manila and found nearly every American heavy…
- Anglo-Soviet invasion of IranThe Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran began before dawn on the 25th of August, 1941, when Royal Air Force aircraft crossed into Iranian airspace and dropped bombs on Tehran and Qazvin. The attack had a name: Operation Countenance. It would be…
- Operation TorchOperation Torch began at dawn on the 8th of November 1942, when Allied forces waded ashore on three separate coastlines across French North Africa at the same moment. The question hanging over every planner in London and Washington was not…
- Battle of Iwo JimaThe Battle of Iwo Jima began on the 19th of February 1945, when the first wave of Marines landed on the southeastern beaches of a small volcanic island eight square miles in area. What they found was not what American intelligence had…
- German invasion of the NetherlandsThe German invasion of the Netherlands began in the pre-dawn hours of the 10th of May 1940. Within five days, the main Dutch forces had surrendered. The entire country was under German occupation seven days after that. What makes that…
- Japanese invasion of ThailandThe Japanese invasion of Thailand started on the 8th of December 1941, less than five hours before Thai forces agreed to a ceasefire. The assault began roughly two hours ahead of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Because the two events fell…
- Operation DragoonOperation Dragoon began in the predawn hours of the 15th of August 1944, when 1,300 Allied bombers from Italy, Sardinia, and Corsica roared toward the sun-bleached coastline of Provence. By 06:00 that morning, the bombs were falling. By…
- Saar OffensiveThe Saar Offensive begins with a number that tells you almost everything: 110. That was the count of French and British divisions stationed along Germany's western border in September 1939, while the Polish cities burned. Against them…
- Invasion of PolandAt 04:45 on the 1st of September 1939, the old German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on a Polish military depot at Westerplatte, in the Free City of Danzig. Within hours, bombers were striking cities. By morning, three separate…
- Soviet invasion of ManchuriaThe Soviet invasion of Manchuria began at one minute past midnight Trans-Baikal time on the 9th of August 1945, simultaneously on three fronts. Hours earlier, Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov had summoned Japanese ambassador…
- Western Allied invasion of GermanyThe Western Allied invasion of Germany reached its decisive turning point on the 22nd of March 1945, when American troops crossed the Rhine under a bright moon with almost no resistance at Nierstein. Seven startled German soldiers…
- Battle of ImphalThe Battle of Imphal began in March 1944 with a Japanese army crossing the Chindwin River, convinced it could destroy the Allied forces in northeast India and reshape the entire war. The city of Imphal, capital of Manipur, sat at the heart…
- German invasion of Denmark (1940)The German invasion of Denmark on the 9th of April 1940 lasted approximately six hours, making it one of the shortest military campaigns of the Second World War. By the time most Danes had started their working day, their country had…
- Japanese invasion of French IndochinaThe Japanese invasion of French Indochina lasted just four days - from the 22nd to the 26th of September 1940 - yet its consequences stretched across decades of war. Seven and a half hours before a Japanese ultimatum was set to expire, two…
- German invasion of LuxembourgThe German invasion of Luxembourg lasted exactly one day. On the 10th of May 1940, three panzer divisions crossed the border at dawn, and by noon the capital was in German hands. But the speed of the conquest obscures how much preparation,…
- Invasion of YugoslaviaThe invasion of Yugoslavia began on the 6th of April 1941. German-led Axis forces attacked the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in what became known as the April War, or Operation 25. Adolf Hitler ordered it after a Yugoslav coup d'état overthrew a…
- Italian invasion of FranceThe Italian invasion of France lasted fifteen days in June 1940 and yet managed to change the shape of the entire war. On the evening of the 10th of June, Italy declared war on France and Britain. Within hours, Italian troops were moving…
- Operation WeserübungOperation Weserübung began at 05:15 on the morning of the 9th of April 1940, when German forces struck Denmark and Norway in one of the most daring and unconventional military gambits of the entire war. Within a single day, port cities…