This is a list of World War II battles encompassing land, naval, and air engagements as well as campaigns, operations, defensive lines and sieges. Campaigns generally refer to broader strategic operations conducted over a large bit of territory and over a long period. Battles generally refer to short periods of intense combat localised to a specific area and over a specific period. However, use of the terms in naming such events is not consistent. For example, the Battle of the Atlantic was more or less an entire theatre of war, and the so-called battle lasted for the duration of the entire war. Another misnomer is the Battle of Britain, which by all rights should be considered a campaign, not a mere battle.
| Surprise Japanese attack destroys almost all the US Pacific Fleet. | ||
| Failure of Japan's second attempt to take Changsha in China. | ||
| Japanese 11th Army attacked the headquarters of the Chinese 19th Army | ||
| Japan invades and occupies Thailand. | ||
| Japan captures the British colony of Hong Kong. | ||
| Japan captures the American territory of Guam. | ||
| Japan captures the atoll of Wake Island. | ||
| • Malayan Campaign | ||
| Japanese defeat British naval forces. |
| • Battle of Bataan | ||
| First direct engagement between Slovenian partisans and German occupying forces. | ||
| Japanese aircraft raid an American and Dutch convoy. | ||
| • Battle of Singapore | ||
| Japanese forces destroy an Allied naval squadron. | ||
| Outnumbered Japanese forces defeat an Allied night-time naval attack. | ||
| Japanese forces invade the island of Java | ||
| • Indian Ocean raid | Allied naval forces and shipping suffer many losses during Japan's Fast Carrier Strike Force sortie. | |
| The Japanese occupy Christmas Island unopposed. | ||
| Philippines lost to Japan. | ||
| Burma lost to Japan. | ||
| • Battle of Nanos | Eight hundred Italian soldiers lay siege to fifty Slovene partisans. | |
| • Doolittle Raid | First air raid on Tokyo. | |
| First aircraft-carrier vs. aircraft-carrier battle | ||
| German offensive in the desert south of Tobruk anticipated and nearly defeated but ends with many losses to British armour, forcing a withdrawal. In a surprise strike, Tobruk was taken in a day. Rommel exploited the success by pursuing the British into Egypt, denying them time to recover from the defeat but was checked at El Alamein. | ||
| • Battle of Midway | Defeat of Japanese naval forces in the Pacific; the Japanese lose four aircraft-carriers. | |
| • Convoy PQ 17 | A convoy of thirty-five ships leaves Iceland on June 17, bound for Murmansk. Eleven arrive on July 5. | |
| • Battle of the Aleutian Islands | Japanese invade and occupy two islands of Alaska's Aleutian archipelago as part of a feint to cover the Imperial Fleet's intended trap at Midway | |
| Japanese midget submarines attack Sydney harbour. | ||
| British Eighth Army stops Rommel's Axis forces invading Egypt. | ||
| Montgomery's Eighth Army forces Rommel out of Egypt. | ||
| Captured by Germans after eight-month siege. | ||
| Chinese claim victory over Japanese. | ||
| Australians and U.S. for the first time in World War II stop a Japanese offensive (against Port Moresby) | ||
| Beginning of Allied action in Solomon Islands. | ||
| Japanese sink four US cruisers. | ||
| • Battle of Dieppe | Operation Jubilee was an Allied amphibious raid on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in France. A tactical disaster for the Allies. Lessons learned applied to later amphibious operations including D-Day. | |
| City besieged by Paulus' German Sixth Army; from November 23 the Sixth Army is surrounded and destroyed by Soviets; bloodiest battle in history, 1.8 million dead approx. | ||
| • Battle of the Eastern Solomons | Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō sunk. | |
| • Battle of Milne Bay | First time Japanese landing force had been driven back into sea. | |
| Australians and U.S. defeat Japanese on north coast of New Guinea. | ||
| near Guadalcanal | ||
| near Guadalcanal, sunk. | ||
| • Operation Torch | Allied landings in North Africa and putsch by French Resistance in Algiers to prevent Vichy forces opposition. | |
| US defeats Japan, a turning point. | ||
| off Guadalcanal | ||
| Failed Soviet attempt to retake Kharkov. | ||
| Second Sino-Japanese War | ||
| • Battle of Madagascar | Allies capture Madagascar from Vichy France. |
| About 2,000 Germans massacred all 69 men and women of the Pohorje Battalion. Germans lost 19 men dead and had 31 wounded. | |
| Japanese bombers sink a cruiser. | |
| Germans retake Kharkov. | |
| Battle between US and German armored forces in Tunisia. | |
| • Battle of Neretva | German Army offensive in southern Bosnia. Offensive launched to encircle and destroy Yugoslavian Communist Partisan forces. Supporting the German forces in this effort were Italian, Ustaše and Serbian Royalist Chetnik units. The partisans were badly mauled but managed to escape encirclement. |
| Naval engagement between US and Japan in the Bering Sea. | |
| British strategic bombing of the industrial Ruhr Area, which had coke plants, steelworks and ten synthetic oil plants. Targets included the Krupp armament works (Essen), the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant (Gelsenkirchen), and the Rheinmetal–Borsig plant in Düsseldorf. | |
| U.S. and Royal Australian Air Force planes attack and sink most of a Japanese convoy carrying troops to reinforce Lae, New Guinea. | |
| United States and Japanese navies fight an inconclusive battle. | |
| • Operation Cartwheel | Operation to neutralize the Japanese base at Rabaul. |
| United States troops defeat and drive the Japanese off the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. | |
| 5,000 Jews and 2,000 Germans die, Jews confined. | |
| Another attempt by German forces in Yugoslavia, this time supported by Italian, Bulgarian, and Serbian units, to encircle and destroy the Yugoslavian Communist Partisan forces in southern Bosnia. Again, the partisans were mauled but escaped. | |
| Slovene partisans took the castle guarded by the Slovene village sentries. | |
| • Battle of Kursk | Germans attack Kursk salient at Orel and Belgorod, Russians drive them back. A very big tank battle. |
| Allies take Sicily from the Italians and German armies. | |
| Landings at Calabria, Taranto and Salerno. | |
| • Dodecanese Campaign | Allied and German scramble to occupy the Dodecanese Islands. German amphibious and airborne operation to capture Kos. German amphibious and airborne operation to capture Leros. |
| The Soviets attack 850,000 German troops near Smolensk Fortified Region, drive them back inflicting severe losses. | |
| Kiev retaken by Soviets. | |
| • Raid on Schweinfurt | milestone air battle between the Luftwaffe and the USAAF known as "Black Thursday" |
| another big daylight air battle, first shuttle mission. | |
| • Battle of Berlin | Germany defend Berlin from the British. |
| • Battle of Tarawa | First major American amphibious landing in the Pacific. |
| • Battle of Makin | Americans capture the atoll of Makin Atoll. |
| • Salamaua-Lae campaign | Australian and U.S. forces capture two major Japanese bases at Lae and at Salamaua. |
| • Battle of Wau | Australians defeat Japanese attempts to capture Wau, New Guinea. |
| U.S. 5th Army sustains 16,000 casualties fighting through the Mignano Gap to reach the Cassino defenses. | |
| • Moro River Campaign |
| • Battle of Meiktila | ||
| Four battles in Italy Jan - May. Allies finally breakthrough towards Rome. | ||
| An unsuccessful attempt to break through the Northern Apennines. The battle marked the Brazilian Expeditionary Force's entry into the land war in Europe. | ||
| • Battle of Anzio | ||
| • Battle of Kwajalein | American forces assault the islands of Kwajalein and Roi-Namur. | |
| Japanese attempt a local counter-attack against an Allied offensive. | ||
| • Battle of Eniwetok | Battle between American and Japanese on Eniwetok Atoll. | |
| Attempted Japanese invasion of India fails with heavy losses. | ||
| • U Go offensive | Allied successfully defend Manipur from the Axis | |
| Successful Japanese campaign to capture American air bases in China capable of sending bombers to Japan. | ||
| • Operation Rösselsprung | German attempt to capture Tito using airborne troops. | |
| • Battle of Normandy | Allies invade northern France (Operation Overlord), hard fighting from Cherbourg to Caen, Germans surrounded and destroyed at Falaise. | |
| • Battle of Saipan | The battle was fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands and resulted disastrous for Japanese forces since most died. | |
| • Second Battle of Guam | American forces capture back Guam. | |
| • Battle of Tinian | American forces capture Tinian. | |
| • Operation Bagration | Soviet offensive destroys German Army Group Center on the Eastern Front. | |
| Major carrier battle; US lose 123 planes and destroy 315 Japanese planes. | ||
| Finnish stop Soviet offensive. | ||
| • Warsaw Uprising | 20,000 armed Poles against 55,000 Wehrmacht and SS. 90% of city destroyed, more than 250,000 casualties. | |
| • Operation Dragoon | Allied invasion of Southern France. | |
| • Battle of Debrecen | Soviets gain ground in Hungary but German and Hungarian forces manage to withdraw relatively intact after both sides suffer similar losses. | |
| • Gothic Line offensive | British 8th Army and U.S. 5th Army attempt unsuccessfully to break into the north Italian plains. | |
| • Battle of Arnhem | The major battle of Operation Market Garden; Allies reach but fail to cross the Rhine; British First Airborne Division destroyed. | |
| • Battle of Peleliu | A fight to capture an airstrip on a speck of coral in the western Pacific. | |
| • Battle of Aachen | Aachen was the first major German city to face invasion during World War II. | |
| • Battle of the Scheldt | Decisive Canadian victory, solved the logistical problems of the Allies, and opened the port of Antwerp for supplies directly to the front. | |
| The 18th Infantry, U.S. 1st Infantry Division take Crucifix Hill, a crucial position to help surround Aachen. Cpt. Bobbie E. Brown is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroics. | ||
| • Battle of Angaur | American forces capture an island in Palau. | |
| Stubborn German defense, appalling losses to US army. | ||
| • Battle of Leyte | American and Filipino guerrillas forces capture Leyte. | |
| • Battle of Leyte Gulf | The largest air-sea battle in history. | |
| • Operation Queen | was a joint British-American operation during World War II at the Western Front between Aachen and the Rur river. | |
| • Battle of Mindoro | ||
| • Battle of Vianden | The only major open battle fought between the Luxembourgish Resistance against German forces. | |
| • Battle of the Bulge | German counterattack in Ardennes; General McAuliffe says "NUTS" at Bastogne. |
| Allied offensive against a German bridgehead at Kapelsche Veer in the Netherlands. | ||
| • Raid at Cabanatuan | US Army Rangers rescue Bataan and Corregidor POWs from Japanese prison camp. | |
| 1st, 4th, and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts of the Soviet Army crushed the last concentration of German troops (over 1,000,000 men in two army groups) in southeastern Germany and Czechoslovakia. These troops were Army Group Centre and the remnants of Army Group Ostmark. | ||
| The last German offensive of the war, launched around Lake Balaton, in Hungary. | ||
| U.S. and Philippine Forces retake the historic Bataan Peninsula. | ||
| City totally devastated after month-long battle between the American, Filipino and Japanese forces; 100,000 civilians killed. | ||
| The battle where Mexico entered World War II, contributing pilots to help the United States and the Philippines defeat Japan in the South Pacific, with a loss of 37,870 Allied soldiers and 217,000 Japanese soldiers; an Allied victory | ||
| Spectacular combined U.S. and Philippine assault retakes island bastion from Japanese forces. | ||
| • Raid at Los Baños | U.S. Airborne Task Force rescues more than 2,000 Allied POWs and civilian internees held by Japanese. | |
| • Battle of Mindanao | U.S. Eighth Army together with the Philippine Commonwealth troops completes the recapture of Southern Philippines. | |
| • Operation Varsity | 134 Allied gliders land troops in Weisel. | |
| • Battle of the Visayas | U.S. Eighth Army together with the Philippine Commonwealth troops retakes central Philippine islands. | |
| Japanese defeated in Central Burma | ||
| • Battle of Iwo Jima | After a month, U.S. Forces take main offshore Japanese island. | |
| 10th Mountain Division and the Brazilian Expeditionary Force forced the German LI Mountain Corps from their positions in the Northern Apennines, leading to the start of the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy | ||
| Indecisive battle between China and Japan. Japan controls airbases after battle. | ||
| • Battle of Halbe | Part of Battle of Berlin, Germans unable to break out. | |
| • Battle of Berlin | Soviet forces encircle and capture German capital; Hitler commits suicide. | |
| • Battle of Hamburg | British forces capture German city. | |
| • Battle for Castle Itter | Troops of the 23rd Tank Battalion of the 12th Armored Division, Wehrmacht, SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt Siegfried Schrader, and recently freed French prisoners of war defended Itter Castle against an attacking force from the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division. | |
| British army and Yugoslav Partisans capture the city. | ||
| Allied attack as part of the Borneo campaign. | ||
| • Battle of Poljana | (14–15 May 1945) Battle between Yugoslav partisans and HOS (Croatia), German Wehrmacht, Slovene Home Guard... | |
| • Battle of Odžak | Last battle of World War II in Europe. Between Yugoslav partisans and HOS (Croatia) from 19 April to 25 May 1945. | |
| • Battle of West Hunan | Chinese victory in final battle to expel Japan. | |
| • Battle of Okinawa | US takes Japanese Island in the Ryūkyūs; many casualties to both sides. | |
| • Battle of North Borneo | Australian victory during final stages of World War II in the Pacific. | |
| Allied victory over Japan. | ||
| • Battle of Manchuria | Soviet forces liberate Manchuria. | |
| • Battle of Groningen | Canadian forces capture Dutch city from SS troops | |
| • Battle of Otterlo | German forces attempt to break an encirclement by attacking Canadian and British forces |
See main article: Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II.
See main article: Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II.
See main article: Western Front (World War II).
See main article: Eastern Front (World War II).
See main article: Pacific War.
General
Specific
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
General
Specific
See main article: List of World War II military operations.
Small to medium-sized raiding operations were carried out by both Allied and Axis armies during World War II. The modus operandi used included guerrilla attacks by partisans in occupied territory and/or combined operations involving the landing and removal of specialised light infantry, such as commandos, by means of small boats.
Raiding units
Norway
Netherlands
Belgium
United Kingdom
Australia