World War II, Part IV, 1944 - 1945

Study to find the reasons why the Allies finally gained the upper hand against Germany and Japan in 1944 and how

the war was brought to an end in 1945.

Y19

By 1944, the war in both theaters had begun to turn for the Allies, although

there were many months of hard fighting and terrible losses ahead.

In the Pacific, the Navy and Marines continued their “Island Hopping”

campaign, inching closer towards the island of Japan. As a result, Allied planes

were able to bomb Japan, just as they were doing in Germany.

In Europe, the fighting continued at a heavy price for both sides. After invading and capturing North Africa and the island

of Sicily, the Allies had invaded the mainland of Italy, coming ashore at

Salerno in September of 1943. It was here that the British and Americans would fight

the hardest.

In the Italian campaign, the fighting would last for months as the Allies pushed up the peninsula, battling the Germans, the weather, and the terrain. Some of the hardest fought battles of the war were at places like Anzio and Monte Cassino.

Bridge

On January 22, 1944, a large American and British force was landed at Anzio in the hopes of catching the Germans in Italy by surprise. The plan did not work and the Allies were pinned down on the beachhead for months, with heavy fighting taking place. By May, however, the Allies broke through the Germans lines both at Anzio

and at Cassino. The Allies then took the ancient capital of Rome in June.

Japanese-American soldiers in

World War II

Nisei

The 442nd Infantry, formerly the 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army, was an Asian American unit composed of mostly

Japanese Americans who fought in Europe during the Second World War.[2] The families of many of its soldiers were subject to internment. The 442nd was a self-sufficient fighting force, and fought with uncommon distinction in Italy, southern France, and Germany. The unit became the most highly decorated regiment in the history of the United States Armed Forces, including 21 Medal of Honor recipients.

Brave

1. In this lesson you learned about the Nisei-Japanese soldiers of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Despite being put into internment camps and suffering persecution back home, the 442nd became the most decorated unit in the United

States Army. Why do you think this is so and why would these Japanese-American soldiers fight so hard?