Portal:World War II

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The World War II Portal

World War II or the Second World War was a global military conflict, the joining of what had initially been two separate conflicts. The first began in Asia in 1937 as the Second Sino-Japanese War; the other began in Europe in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland.

This global conflict split the majority of the world's nations into opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. It involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history, and placed the participants in a state of "total war", erasing the distinction between civil and military resources. This resulted in the complete activation of a nation's economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort. Over 70 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.

The Allies were victorious, and, as a result, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as the world's leading superpowers. This set the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 45 years. The United Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The self determination spawned by the war accelerated decolonization movements in Asia and Africa, while Europe itself began moving toward integration.

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Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur was a hospital shipactive during World War II, which was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarinein 1943. Of the 332 medical personnel and crew aboard, 268 died. The Scottish-built vessel was launched in 1924 as a combination passenger liner/freighter and operated a trade route between Western Australiaand Singaporevia the island of Java, carrying passengers, cargo, and livestock. Centaur served in both civilian and military capabilities and during her career was involved in towing a damaged Japanese whale-chaserand recovering German survivors of the engagement between HMAS Sydney and Kormoran.Following her early-1943 conversion to a hospital ship, Centaur served with the Second Australian Imperial Force. Before dawn on 14 May 1943, while on her second voyage, Centaur was torpedoedand sunk by a Japanese submarine off North Stradbroke Island, Queensland. The majority of the 332 aboard died in the attack and the 64 survivors had to wait for 36 hours before they were rescued. The attack resulted in public outrage as it was considered to be a war crime. ...Archive/Nominations

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The North American P-51 Mustang was an American long-range single-seat fighter aircraft that entered service with Allied air forces in the middle years of World War II and became one of the conflict's most successful and recognizable aircraft. The definitive version of the single-seat fighter was powered by a single two-stage supercharged V-12-1650 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 machine guns. Mustangs remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s.

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"Fellow Australians

It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain is at war, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war...

There was never any doubt as to where Great Britain stood... There can be no doubt that where Great Britain stands, there stands the people of the entire British world."

— Prime Minister Robert Menzies, 3 September 1939

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Soldiers raising the flag of Soviet Union on the roof of Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany in May 1945.

Credit:Original photograph by TASS correspondent Khaldai, now in the public domain.

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Selected biography

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC (17 November 1887–24 March 1976), often referred to as "Monty", was a British Army officer. He successfully commanded Allied forces at the Battle of El Alamein, a major turning point in World War II, and troops under his command were largely responsible for the expulsion of Axis forces from North Africa. He was later a prominent commander in Italy and North-West Europe, where he was in command of all Allied ground forces during Operation Overlord until after the Battle of Normandy.