na gotta disagree, U.S was fighting a diffent war, u guys were fighting the pacific war, as for do they teach us history here? yeah, i studied WW2 for 3 years through GCSE, to A-Level. Hitler's troubles started compounded by a Russian counterattack in June that drove 300 miles west to Warsaw and killed, wounded or captured 350,000 German soldiers. By the end of August they had taken Bucharest, Estonia followed within months and Budapest was under siege by the end of the year. One glimmer of light came in the Ardennes, where a German counteroffensive in December - the Battle of the Bulge - killed 19,000 Americans and delayed the march into Germany.1945 saw the Soviet liberation of Auschwitz and the revelation of the sickening obscenity of the Holocaust, its scale becoming clearer as more camps were liberated in the following months. The Soviet army continued its offensive from the East, while from the West the Allies established a bridge across the Rhine at Remagen, in March.
While the bombing campaigns of the Blitz were over, V1 and V2 rockets continued to drop on London. For its part, Allied bombing raids on Dresden devastated the city in a huge firestorm while the Western Allies raced the Russians to be the first into Berlin. The Russians won, reaching the capital on 21st April. Hitler killed himself on the 30th, two days after Mussolini had been captured and hanged by Italian partisans. Germany surrendered unconditionally on the 7th May and the following day was celebrated as VE day. The war in Europe was over. Hitler killing himself destroyed the entire moral of the german army.
In the Pacific, however, it continued to rage. The British advanced further in Burma, and in February the Americans invaded Iwo Jima. The Philippines and Okinawa followed and Japanese forces began to withdraw from China. Plans were being prepared for the invasion of Japan but fears of fierce resistance and massive Allied casualties prompted Harry Truman - the new American President following Roosevelt's death in April - to use the Atomic Bomb, which had been in development from 1942. On 6th August a bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Three days later another was dropped on Nagasaki. The Japanese surrendered on the 14th August.
The biggest conflict in history had lasted almost six years. 100 million people had been militarised and 50 million killed: 15 million soldiers, 20 million Russian civilians, six million Jews and over four million Poles.
dont feel it is fair for anyone to take all the credit .... the UK fought fucking hard, 90% of the older generation speak only of the war ... the home front, they but their backs into it, blood sweat and tears. Normally i dont give a shit about the war etc, but i dont think it is just to say.
Not flaming anyone here people, both our ancestors thought well, and we should both be equally proud of them, our culture & heritage. Regardless of who won the war, any soilder willing to die for his country deserves our respect. Take it easy people
Jeet
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