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Captain Lasdun briefs troops of the British Army on June 4, 1944, two days before the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day.
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Allied powers

The Allied Powers fought against Nazi Germany and the other Axis Powers in World War II. By March 1945, forty-seven states had signed the Declaration by United Nations. The three main Allied Powers were Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The Allied victory in May 1945 brought an end to the Holocaust. Explore content related to the Allied Powers.

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All Content Tagged 'Allied powers'

Allied troops march in Tunis following Allied success against Axis forces in the African Campaign. Tunis, Tunisia, May 20, 1943.
Article
Allied Military Operations in North Africa
Timeline Event
Allied Nations Issue Statement on Mass Murder
Allied troops board amphibious assault boats off the Algerian coast during Operation Torch. North Africa, November 1942.
Photo
Allied troops board amphibious assault boats during Operation Torch
Barracks in the quarry camp of the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp. Natzweiler, France, after April 7, 1945.
Timeline Event
Allied Troops Encounter Natzweiler-Struthof
The German western campaign in May 1940 decisively defeated the British and French forces arrayed against it. By the end of May, the Allies began the withdrawal of British and French forces from the Continent to prevent their surrender or destruction. The evacuation effort centered on the French coastal town of Dunkirk. As German forces completed their conquest of France, more than 1,000 vessels--including small civilian yachts and fishing boats--ferried Allied forces across the English Channel to Great Britain. While enduring heavy air attacks, this makeshift armada succeeded in rescuing over 200,000 British and 100,000 French troops from the Continent. Britain hailed the evacuation as a victory, despite the decisive German military victory and the French decision to sign an armistice.
Film
Allies evacuate troops from Dunkirk
Smoke billows out from US ships hit during the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941.
Timeline Event
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Axis leaders Adolf Hitler and Italian prime minister Benito Mussolini meet in Munich, Germany, 1940.
Article
Axis Powers in World War II
After the defeat of France in June 1940, Germany moved to gain air superiority over Great Britain as a prelude to an invasion of Britain. Despite months of air attacks, Germany was not able to destroy Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF). In the fall of 1940, the invasion was indefinitely postponed. The German bombing campaign against Britain continued until May 1941. The Germans ultimately halted the air attacks primarily because of preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.
Film
Battle of Britain
A sergeant pilot of the British Royal Air Force sits in the cockpit of his Spitfire in September 1940. Between July 10 and October 31, 1940, Germany and Britain fought for air control of the English Channel in the Battle of Britain. IWM (HU 104502)
Timeline Event
Battle of Britain Begins
As Allied forces approached Germany in late 1944 and early 1945, Bergen-Belsen became a collection camp for tens of thousands of prisoners evacuated from camps near the front. Thousands of these prisoners died due to overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, and lack of adequate food and shelter. On April 15, 1945, British soldiers entered Bergen-Belsen. They found about 55,000 prisoners in the camp, most in a critical condition. This footage shows Allied cameramen filming the condition of the prisoners and the filthy conditions found in Bergen-Belsen after liberation.
Film
Bergen-Belsen after liberation
Soon after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, British soldiers watch as the camp is burned to the ground to prevent the spread of typhus. Bergen-Belsen, Germany, May 21, 1945.
Article
Bergen-Belsen Trial
British troops liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in April 1945. They filmed statements from members of their own forces. In this British military footage, British army chaplain T.J. Stretch recounts his impressions of the camp.
Film
British army chaplain describes Bergen-Belsen upon liberation
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sits in the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street. London, 1940. IWM (MH 26392)
Photo
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (far right) and others view buildings damaged during the Blitz. The Blitz was a German bombing campaign over Britain that lasted from September 7, 1940, to May 11, 1941. London, September 8, 1940. IWM(H 3978)
Photo
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill views damage from the Blitz
British troops land on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, the beginning of the Allied invasion of France to establish a second front against German forces in Europe. Normandy, France, June 6, 1944.
Photo
British troops land on D-Day
Canadian troops of the 'B' Company, North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment take cover on June 6, 1944, or D-Day.
Photo
Canadian troops on D-Day

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