So, which was the decisive battle or when was the real turning point? Numerous operations and battles have been referred to as the “Turning point” of WWII. Which one do you consider to be the most crucial? Dunkirk. Not our finest victory, but not our worst defeat either. It did allow the recovery of over a quarter of a million fighting men who would serve as the backbone of the rebuilt British Army. The Battle of Britain. RAF Fighter Command backed up by the rest of British industry and so many others held the enemy threat at bay proving that “Blitzkrieg” was stoppable and preventing the invasion of the British mainland. Operation Barbarossa. When Hitler did the one thing that he should never have done; open a war on two fronts and the reason why he wanted to occupy Britian. War on two fronts was a recipe for disaster. Was this the point when his fate was sealed? Pearl harbour. The attack which drew the Americans into the war. Without American assistance any thoughts of the “Overlord” invasion would have been just “pie in the sky”. The Battle of El-Alamein. The prelude to the destruction of the Afrika Korp and the removal of axis forces in North Africa which ultimately opening the way to the allied invasion of Sicily and Italy; the “soft underbelly of the axis” as it was called. As Churchill said at the time. “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end; but it is perhaps the end of the beginning.” On the Russian front, was it: Stalingrad When the Russians finally stopped the German advance, with the help of the weather and superior weight of numbers. The battle of Kirsk The largest tank battle in history and the start of the Russian push towards Germany. In the Far East and the Pacific Imphal and Kohima. Where the 14th Army finally stopped the Japanese advance towards India. The Battle of the Coral Sea When the American Pacific Fleet stopped the Japanese advance towards Port Moresby and Northern Australia. The Battle of Midway The first major fleet engagement involving carrier against carrier action and naval aviation, resulting in the loss of one American and four Japanese carriers; a blow from which the Japanese Navy would never recover. I have left out many other battles and operations from this list, such as D-Day, the Falaise gap, Operation Market Garden, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Monte Cassino, the RAF Battle of the Ruhr, where so many bravely laid down their lives because in my opinion by the time these operations took place the turning point had been passed. What would you consider to be the major turning point of the Second World War?
Hello Brian, thou all of the battles you mention had there own importance to winning WW2, i have to go with Stalingrad. Before this defeat the Germans believed they were invincible, Stalingrad brought home the realisation that the war for the Germans was coming to an end. Great post btw.
Without doubt not one incident can claim the turning point during WWII, but combined they each had a big role in the outcome. Pearl Harbour and the Americans joining the war was a big thing, and one that all of the Allies were hoping for. As Stalin says, Stalingrad was a huge victory for the Russians who never looked back after this, and which many say was the beginning of the end for Hitler. D-Day and Midway also are in among battles that can claim big parts in changing how the war was going and how it actually finished.
