World War 2 Battles
World War 2 saw a large number of battles fought across much of the globe. Major battles occurred between the Axis and Allied powers across North Africa, Europe, Asia and more with the war being referred to by the Allied Powers as the European and Pacific fronts. Strategically, the United States agreed with Great Britain to place Europe as a Strategic priority while holding in the Pacific. Despite this fact, each of the war fronts concluded in less than six months of each other in 1945.
WWII Battle Map
Contents
WWII Battles
Africa, Mediterranean and Middle East Campaigns and Battles
Syria and Lebanon
Persia
East Africa
Italy
Mediterranean Naval battles
Battles of Fort Capuzzo: June 1940-November 1942
Italian conquest of British Somaliland: August 1940
Operation Compass: December 1940-February 1941
Battle of Keren: February 1941-April 1941
Siege of Tobruk: April-November 1941
Operation Brevity: May 1941
Operation Skorpion: May 1941
Operation Battleaxe: June 1941
Battle of Gondar: November 1941
Operation Crusader: November-December 1941
Battle of Gazala: May-June 1942
Battle of Bir Hakeim: May-June 1942
Battle of Madagascar: May-November 1942
First Battle of El Alamein: July 1942
Battle of Alam el Halfa: August-September 1942
Second Battle of El Alamein: October-November 1942
Battle of El Agheila: December 1942
Operation Torch: November 1942
Operation Terminal
Battle of Casablanca
Tunisia Campaign: November 1942-May 1943
Battle of the Kasserine Pass February 1943
Battle of Sidi Bou Zid
Battle of Medenine
Operation Pugilist
Battle of El Guettar
Operation Vulcan
World War 2 Battles Video
Mediterranean Front and Battles
Siege of Malta: June 1940-December 1942
Battle of Yugoslavia: April 1941
Battle of Greece: April 1941
Battle of Crete: May 1941
Battle of Sicily: July-August 1943
Allied invasion of Italy: September 1943
Battle of Naples: September 1943
Volturno Line: October-November 1943
Barbara Line: October-November 1943
Air Raid on Bari: December 1943
Bernhardt Line: December 1943-January 1944
Moro River Campaign: December 1943
Battle of Monte Cassino: January-May 1944
Battle of Anzio: January-June 1944
Trasimene Line: June-July 1944
Battle of Ancona: June-July 1944
Gothic Line: August-December 1944
Spring 1945 offensive in Italy: April-May 1945
European Western Front Battles
Operation Weserübung: April-June 1940
Battle of Denmark
Norwegian Campaign
Battles of Narvik
Battle of the Netherlands: May 1940
Battle of Zeeland
Battle of The Afsluitdijk
Battle of Fort Eben-Emael
Battle of the Grebbeberg
Battle for the Hague
Battle of Maastricht
Battle of Belgium: May 1940
Battle of Hannut
Battle of Gembloux
Battle of France: May-June 1940
Battle of Sedan
Battle of Arras
Siege of Calais
Siege of Lille
Operation Paula
Battle of Britain: July-October 1940
St. Nazaire Raid: March 1942
Dieppe Raid: August 1942
Operation Overlord: June-August 1944
Battle of Normandy (1944)
Invasion of Normandy (1944)
Battle for Caen
Operation Perch
Battle of Carentan
Battle of Cherbourg
Battle of Villers-Bocage
Operation Epsom
Operation Windsor
Operation Charnwood
Operation Jupiter
Battle of Normandy Video
Second Battle of the Odon
Operation Goodwood
Operation Atlantic
Battle of Verrières Ridge
Operation Spring
Operation Cobra
Operation Totalize
Operation Lüttich
Operation Tractable
Battle of Hill 262
Falaise pocket
Battle for Brest: August-September 1944
Operation Dragoon: August-September 1944
Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine: August-September 1944
Operation Market Garden: September 1944
Battle of Arnhem
Lorraine Campaign: September-December 1944
Battle of Metz: September-December 1944
Battle of Nancy: September 1944
Battle of Moerbrugge: September 1944
Battle of Hürtgen Forest: September 1944-February 1945
Battle of Overloon: October 1944
Battle of Aachen: October 1944
Battle of Crucifix Hill
Battle of the Scheldt: October-November 1944
Battle of the Bulge: December 1944-January 1945
Battle of St. Vith
Battle of Kesternich
Losheim Gap
Elsenborn Ridge
Operation Bodenplatte
Operation Nordwind: January 1945
Colmar Pocket: January-February 1945
Operation Veritable: February-March 1945
Operation Plunder: March 1945
Operation Varsity: March 1945
Ruhr Pocket: March-April 1945
Battle of Groningen: April 1945
Battle of Berlin, April-May 1945
European Eastern Front Battles
Operation Arctic Fox
Operation Bagration
Battle of Bautzen (1945)
Battle of the Bay of Viipuri
Battle of Białystok-Minsk
Operation Barbarosa
Belostock Offensive
Bobruysk Offensive
Battle of Berlin
Battle at Borodino Field
Operation Braunschweig
Defense of Brest Fortress
Siege of Breslau
Battle of Brody (1941)
Battle of Bryansk (1941)
Battle of Roy
Budapest Offensive
Siege of Budapest
Operation Büffel
Case Blue
Battle of the Caucasus
Concert (operation)
Continuation War
Courland Pocket
Battle of the Crimea (1941)
Battle of the Crimea(1944)
Battle of Debrecen
Demyansk Pocket
Operation Doppelkopf
Battle of the Dnieper
Battle of Drava
Battle of the Dukla Pass
East Pomeranian Offensive
East Prussian Offensive
Operation Frühlingserwachen
Gumbinnen Operation
Battle of Halbe
Battle of Hel
Heiligenbeil Pocket
Operation Iskra
Jassy-Kishinev Operation
Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket
Kaunas Offensive
Battle of the Kerch Peninsula
Kerch-Eltigen Operation
Battle of Stalingrad Video
First Battle of Kharkov
Second Battle of Kharkov
Third Battle of Kharkov
Fourth Battle of Kharkov
Occupation of Kharkov
Battle of Kiev (1941)
Battle of Kiev (1943)
Battle of Kolberg
Battle of Königsberg
Operation Konrad
Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket
Battle of Krasny Bor
Operation Kremlin
Battle of Kursk
Operation Kutuzov
Battle of Lenino
Lower Silesian Offensive
Lublin–Brest Offensive
Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive
Lötzen decision
Operation Margarethe
Battle of Memel
Minsk Offensive
Mogilev Offensive
Moonzund Landing Operation
Battle of Moscow
Malaya Zemlya
Operation Mars
Nagykanizsa–Kermend Offensive
Battle of Narva (1944)
Battle for Narva Bridgehead
Battle of Tannenberg Line
Nevsky Pyatachok
Battle of Nikolayevka
Operation Nordlicht
Battle of the Oder-Neisse
Siege of Odessa (1941)
Osovets Offensive
Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh Operation
Operation Panzerfaust
Operation Platinum Fox
Polotsk Offensive
Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda
Battle of Porkuni
Battle of Poznań (1945)
Prague Offensive
Pripyat swamps (punitive operation)
Battle of Prokhorovka
Battle of Radzymin (1944)
Battle of Raseiniai
Operation Renntier
Riga Offensive (1944)
Battle of Rostov
Battles of Rzhev
Operation Saturn
Defense of Schwedt Bridgehead
Sea of Azov coastal advance
Battle of the Seelow Heights
Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942)
Shyaulyay Offensive
Silesian Offensives
World War 2 Video (Okinawa)
http://www.youtube.com/embed/v3Lbv0K8gCs
Operation Silver Fox
Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Battle of Smolensk (1943)
Operation Solstice
Battle of Someri
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Studzianki
Bombing of Tallinn in World War II
Evacuation of Tallinn (1941)
Tallinn Offensive
Battle of Târgul Frumos
Tatsinskaya Raid
Toropets-Kholm Operation
Battle of Uman
Upper Silesian Offensive
Operation Uranus
Battle for Velikiye Luki (1943)
Vienna Offensive
Vilnius Offensive
Vistula–Oder Offensive
Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive
Battle of Voronezh (1942)
Battle of Voronezh (1943)
Battle of Westerplatte
Operation Wintergewitter
Battle of Wizna
Operation Wotan
Yelnya Offensive
Zemland Offensive
Operation Valkyrie
Pacific War Battles (Asia)
Battle of Rabaul
New Guinea campaign
Battle for Kododa
Battle of Isurava
Battle of Brigade Hill
Battle of Biak
Battle of Buna-Gona
Battle of the Bismarck Sea
Bougainville Campaign
Battle of Driniumor River
Finisterre Range campaign
Huon Peninsula campaign
Battle of Lone Tree Hill (1944)
Battle of Milne Bay
Operation Cartwheel
Operation Mo
Operations Reckless and Persecution
Salamaua-Lae campaign
Battle of Wau
Bombing of Wewak
Attack on Broome
Battle of Pearl Harbor: 7 December 1941
Philippines Campaign (1941–42): December 1941-May 1942
Battle of Bataan
Battle of Hong Kong: December 1941
Dutch East Indies campaign: December 1941-March 1942
Battle of Guam (1941): December 1941
Battle of Midway Video
Battle of Wake Island: December 1941
Battle of Malaya: December 1941-January 1942
Battle of Singapore: February 1942
Battle of Midway: June 1942
Guadalcanal Campaign: August 1942-February 1943
Battle of Savo Island: August 1942
Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands: October 1942
Battle of Tarawa: November 1943
Battle of Cape Gloucester: December 1943–April 1944
Battle of Saipan: June-July 1944
Battle of Noemfoor: July-August 1944
Battle of Guam (1944): July-August 1944
Battle of the Philippine Sea: September-October 1944
Battle of Morotai: September-October 1944
Philippines Campaign (1944–45): October 1944 – September 1945
Battle of Peleliu: September-November 1944
Battle of Leyte: October-December 1944
Battle of Leyte Gulf: October 1944
Battle off Samar: 25 October 1944
Battle of Luzon: January-August 1945
Battle of Manila (1945): February-March 1945
Battle of Iwo Jima: February–March 1945
Battle of Okinawa: April–June 1945
campaigns in Burma and India
Pacific War Battles in China
The Pacific War, or the Pacific theater of WW2, started on December 7th and 8th, 1941, with the almost simultaneous attacks on Pearl Harbor and the invasion of Thailand by the Empire of Japan. More recently, scholars have considered this a very western slant or view on the start of WW 2 in the Pacific. Many now think of the Pacific theater of WW 2 starting on July 7th, 1937, with the Second Sino-Japanese War kicking off between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China. Others consider the Pacific War starting on September 19th, 1931, when Japan invaded Manchuria. No matter which viewpoint the reader takes, there were significant battles, deaths, etc. that took place as far back as the early 1930s, which would have a significant impact on Japan’s conduct during World War 2 until the country’s surrender on-board the U.S. battleship Missouri on September 2nd, 1945.
Mukden: September 1931
Invasion of Manchuria: September 1931
Jiangqiao Campaign: October 1931
Resistance at Nenjiang Bridge: November 1931
Jinzhou: December 1931
Defense of Harbin: January 1932
Shanghai (1932): January 1932
Pacification of Manchukuo: March 1932
Defense of the Great Wall: January 1933
Battle of Rehe: February 1933
Actions in Inner Mongolia (1933-36)
Suiyuan Campaign: October 1936
Battle of Lugou Bridge (Marco Polo Bridge Incident): July 1937
Battle of Beiping-Tianjin: July 1937
Chahar: August 1937
‘Battle of Shanghai: August 1937
Battle of Shanghai Video
Beiping–Hankou: August 1937
Tianjin–Pukou: August 1937
Battle of Taiyuan: September 1937
Battle of Pingxingguan: September 1937
Battle of Xinkou: September 1937
Battle of Nanjing: December 1937
Battle of Xuzhou: December 1937
Battle of Taierzhuang: March 1938
Northern and Eastern Honan 1938: January 1938
Battle of Lanfeng: May 1938
Xiamen: May 1938
‘Battle of Wuhan: June 1938
Battle of Wanjialing
Guangdong: October 1938
Hainan Island: February 1939
Battle of Nanchang: March 1939
Battle of Xiushui River: March 1939
Battle of Suixian-Zaoyang: May 1939
Shantou: June 1939
Battle of Changsha (1939): September 1939
Battle of South Guangxi: November 1939
Battle of Kunlun Pass: December 1939
1939-40 Winter Offensive: November 1939
Battle of Wuyuan: March 1940
Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang: May 1940
Hundred Regiments Offensive: August 1940
Vietnam Expedition: September 1940
Central Hupei: November 1940
Battle of South Henan: January 1941
Western Hopei: March 1941
Battle of Shanggao: March 1941
Battle of South Shanxi: May 1941
Battle of Changsha (1941): September 1941
Battle of Changsha (1942): January 1942
Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road: March 1942
Battle of Toungoo
Battle of Yenangyaung
Battle of Zhejiang-Jiangxi: April 1942
Battle of West Hubei: May 1943
Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan: October 1943
Battle of Changde: November 1943
Operation Ichi-Go
Operation Kogo Battle of Central Henan: April 1944
Operation Togo 1 Battle of Changsha (1944)
Operation Togo 2 and Operation Togo 3 Battle of Guilin-Liuzhou: August 1944
Battle of West Hunan: April-June 1945
Second Guangxi Campaign: April-July 1945
Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation: August–September 1945
World War 2 Battles References
- HistoryOrb.com World War 2 Timeline, Accessed on March 17th, 2013.
- National World War 2 Museum World War 2 Timeline, Accessed on March 17th, 2013.
- PBS.org Interactive, The Perilous Fight, World War 2 Timeline, Accessed on March 17th, 2013.
- PBS.org Timeline of World War 2, Accessed on April 5th, 2013.
- United States Holocaust Memorial World War 2 Timeline, Accessed on April 7th, 2013.
