World War II

History of the War

Family Members who served

Photo Gallery of War

Favorite Links of this War

Norman Rockwell

History of World War II

   The war began on Sep 1, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland which it quickly conquered and the Germans then took control of Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and France.  By only June of 1940, only Great Britain stood in the way of Hitler, who was then joined by Axis power Italy.  

   The Axis was forged in 1936 and included an alliance of these three nations: Germany, Italy and Japan.  These major powers were joined by six smaller countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Thailand.  By contrast, the Allies also consisted of three major powers, Great Britain, United States and the Soviet Union.  Eventually, 46 other countries became part of the Allied front before the war was over.

   Fighting then spread into Greece and northern Africa.   Appearing to be unstoppable, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941.  Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  The events of that "day of infamouny" would bring America into the conflict from which it would emerge as the leader of the free world.

   Neutral countries during this conflict were Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey and Argentina.  We all know how the conclusion of the war came about.  The D-day invasion on June 6, 1944 on the beaches of Normandy, the Allied forces were relentless in their push against the Germans.  Combined with Allied bombing of major German including Hamburg, the Nazis had no place to hide.  Their leader, Adolf Hitler, took his own life and on May 6, 1945, Germany surrendered, which then ended the war in Europe.

   The conflict with Japan was continuing with the Japanese using the kamikaze - suicide planes, and with no definite end in sight, then President Truman resorted to drastic actions.  The U. S. pleaded with Japan to surrender and on Aug 6, 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing sixty thousand people.  Three days later, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an additional thirty thousand soldiers and citizens.  On August 15, 1945, Japan finally surrendered, ending a war that is estimated to have killed over fourteen million people (soldiers and citizens) worldwide.  Truly -- an epic war.

   The Air and Space museum in Washington, D. C. had an exhibit of the Enola Gay and atomic bomb, however it closed in 1998 and is being reassembled in a new museum scheduled to open in 2003.  More on this - visit the Smithsonian web pages here.

Family Members who served

JACK BERTELSEN

DONALD E GIGNAC 

Canadian Air Force

Served in France

More Ralph and WWII

RALPH M GIGNAC

Capt. U.S. Army 

Surgeon

More Bill and WWII

WILFRED L GIGNAC

PFC 67 AA GUN BN CAC

Served in Belgium, Germany

VERNE YOUNGS

S SCT 362 ORD MAINT CO (AA)

Served in Okinawa

Photo Gallery - Etchings

Crossing the Rhine

Excellent WWII slide show - depicting Germany's Rhineland

Okinawa

Same site as above - select Okinawa to view 36 slides of that battle

Canadian Flag

History of the Canadian Flag

American Flag

History of the American Flag - Betsy Ross website

Favorite Links of the War for W W II

Pacific Theater

Many links to WWII - focusing on the war in the Pacific, part of a U of Michigan class syllabus on a course on violence on filmmaking W W II

MI Honor List

Michigan Family History - lots of information here, including MI genealogy, maps etc.

Normandy

Private Ryan