Germany Invades Greece and Yugoslavia - April 6, 1941

On April 6, 1941, German troops advanced into Greece and Yugoslavia. Greece was already at war with Italy.

Britain gave Greece one small batch of reinforcements, and then left them alone, leaving the Greek army unfortunately outnumbered. Thus, the Bulgarian defensive line in North-East Greece was quickly overrun. The Germans then outflanked Greek forces on the North-Western Greek-Albanian border. The Greek forces were quickly forced to surrender.

However, some British-Empire forces remained, and these held the German advance at bay, allowing ships to prepare for the Allied evacuation. Starting on April 24, Allied troops began evacuating. The evacuation continued until the 27th, when German troops took Athens. On the 30th, the Germans reached the Southern shore of Greece and captured approximately 7,000 Allied troops.

Meanwhile, German, Italian, and Hungarian soldiers advanced rapidly into Yugoslavia, meeting little resistance. The invasion was completed with the unconditional surrender of Yugoslavian troops on April 17. Yugoslavia was then occupied and divided between Axis powers.

The island of Crete fell by June 1, but with heavy German casualties.

Sources: Battle of Greece | Wikipedia, Invasion of Yugoslavia | Wikipedia

August, 1940 - The War in Africa Begins

Following the fall of France, the Italian navy sat supposedly unopposed in the Mediterranean sea, while 300,000 Italian troops faced a mere 75,000 British in Africa.

Italian forces drove into  British Somaliland, which they occupied between August 5, and 19th, 1940. Meanwhile, more Italian forces invaded Northern Egypt. However on December 9, British Commander-in-Chief, Sir Archibald Wavell lead his troops into Egypt and drove the Italians back into Libya. This success encouraged Wavell to continue advancing  into Libya, which He did, in early January of 1941. The British forces captured the coastal city of Tobruk, and then continued to the small coastal village of Beda Fomm.

Now, with Northern Africa out of the way, Britain turned it's attention to the East. On January 19, British forces marched into Eritrea, and slowly fought the difficult terrain, and hot weather, not to mention some Italian troops. After nearly 3 months of bitter fighting, the vital port of Massawa fell to the British, on April 8.

During this time, three British divisions advanced into Italian Somaliland, and took the capital, Mogadishu,  by February 25. This force then continued on, and drove into Ethiopia, until it entered the town of Jijiga, without opposition.

Hardly giving the Italians time to think, another British force landed at Berberra, a coastal city in British Somaliland, and retook the country. Part of this force then joined the troops at Jijiga.

From Jijiga, the British forces moved west, and found themselves facing a formidable force of Italians at Harar. However, by March 29, both Harar and it's neighbor city, Dire Dawa had fallen to the British. This opened a path to the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

Finally, on April 6, Addis Ababa fell to British and Commonwealth forces. The Italian defenders retreated to a Amba Alagi, a mountain stronghold in northern Ethiopia.

The fighting raged until May 19, when the Italian commander realized that his situation was hopeless, and surrendered. The British troops continued cleaning up until November.

This campaign made sure that the Red sea, an important supply route, was controlled by the Allies.

Sources: The Historical Atlas of World War II | Alexander Swanston and Malcolm Swanston,

The Blitz...and Retaliation - 1940

Following the Battle for Britain, Germany continued to bomb England, but in a different manner. In the Battle for Britain, Germany had tried to thwart Britain's ability to fight a war, by targeting airforce and industrial targets. After this failed, Germany attempted a bombing strategy that was psychological and economical. This strategy targeted 9 primary cities, the foremost being London. 18,000 tons of explosives were dropped on London in 1940.

Over the course of the nearly one year period in between September 1940, and May 1941, the Luftwaffe raids killed roughly 40,000 British civilians, and wounded perhaps as many as 140,000 civilians. More than 1,000,000 houses were destroyed in London alone.

However, British morale remained strong. It wasn't long before British returned fire, and began bombing Germany.

On September 1, U.S. president, Franklin Roosevelt called for a restraint of bombing civilian targets. Britain and France agreed, but later, Britain would bomb German civilian targets.

Britain's main targets were Luftwaffe bases, aircraft factories, but later in the war she would target civilian areas, also. The strategic bombing of Germany continued until the end of the war, though it failed to ever deliver a fatal below to German morale or economy.

Sources: The Historical Atlas of World War II | Alexander Swanston and Malcolm Swanston, The Blitz | Wikipedia, Strategic Bombing During World War II | Wikipedia

July 16, 1940 - Germany Prepares to Invade Britain

On July 16, 1940 Hitler ordered the beginning of Operation Sealion, a destruction of the British Air force, which, if successful, would lead to a complete invasion of Britain.

Germany had expected for Britain to sue for peace, after the fall of France. However, Churchill and the British people would hear no such talk. They were committed to bringing about victory.

The German air force was significantly more advanced than that of Britain. Germany had nearly 3,000 aircraft, compared to Britain's approximately 1,000. In addition to this, Germany's planes were far better, and her pilots were, over all, more experienced.

But, what Britain did have was a very well planned radar structure, which allowed her to concentrate her fighters at key areas. Also, the German fighters were only able to accompany the bombers about 20 minutes over Britain, making the bombers and easy target.

The Luftwaffe began attacking convoys, radar stations, and other targets on the Southern coast, in July. However, the British defense structure was highly effective, putting fighters where they needed to be, when they needed to be there.

By mid August, Britain was producing twice as many aircraft as Germany, despite the Luftwaffe's attempts at destroying British industry.

The Battle of Britain continued until September, when Operation Sealion was cut short. The Luftwaffe had failed to gain its objective. This was the first major defeat of Germany, and it was crucial to the turning point of the war.