World War 2 - The Call of Duty: A Complete Timeline

As the New Year dawned and the people of Britain faced the introduction of rationing, all eyes turned northwards to Scandinavia, where Adolf Hitler was preparing for a full-scale invasion. U-Boat attacks increased and at Scapa Flow a German Air Raid claimed the first British casualties.

When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the wartime coalition government in May 1940 he pledged his "blood, toil, tears and sweat" and within days of his appointment, he was called upon to honor his promise. As the Low Countries fell to Adolf Hitler, and France was poised to follow suit, rescuing thousands of Allied servicemen from the beaches of Dunkirk was Churchill's top priority. English

With mainland Europe under Hitler's control, the German Führer turned his attention to Operation Sealion, and the Battle of Britain, expecting an easy victory. However, he'd underestimated the enormity of the task and the spirit of a nation inspired by Winston Churchill.

Worldwide, the conflict continued to escalate as Japan made their presence felt as signatories of the Tripartite Pact, giving Hitler's Axis of Evil more power than ever. Britain stood alone as the nightly bombing raids of the Blitz devastated major cities, while overseas British troops joined the Allied campaign for supremacy in North Africa.

The Luftwaffe continued its attempts to bomb Britain into submission, while the German Afrika Korps strengthened its position as Rommel, Hitler's "Desert Fox", took charge. At sea, the naval forces battle each other and the elements, as the Japanese embark upon a spy mission to gather information about the American Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

With Britain failing to fall at Hitler's feet, the Blitz drew to a close, as the Führer turned his attention eastwards. The sinking of the German battleship, the Bismarck, lifted the spirits of the British Navy, and as Hitler's campaign for Russia, code-named Operation Barbarossa, got underway, the course of World War II veered dramatically.

If Hitler had expected a decisive victory in Russia, at speed, he was thwarted at every turn and while the Luftwaffe bombed Moscow and the Siege of Leningrad began, the Soviet Red Army refused to capitulate as they watched and waited for the winter snows. Trouble was also brewing in the Pacific as America took diplomatic action against the Japanese.

As Hitler and the Germans focused on Russia, the situation in the Pacific developed to epic proportions when the Japanese air force attacked the American Naval Fleet, stationed at Pearl Harbor on the 7th of December. This immediately brought the USA into the fray, and back in the European Theatre of War, Hitler now had a great deal more than Russia to worry about.

With Britain no longer facing Hitler alone, the first G.l.s arrived in the UK, while the Japanese took the advantage afforded them by their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. As Singapore fell…..

It was time for the American Navy to get back on course after Pearl Harbor, and in the four-day Battle for the Coral Sea, they claimed victory over the Japanese, before defeating them again in the decisive Battle of Midway. Elsewhere the Luftwaffe went back to targeting more British cities in the Baedeker Raids.