Art and Culture/Wars and Battles - 20th C

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War Campaign Date Started Date Ended Protaganists Major Battles/Sieges Treaty/Armistice Comments
Year or Date Started Year or Date Ended Location Commanders Victor Date Location
Boer Wars 1st 1880 1881 Britain Boer Republics 28 January 1881 Laing's Neck Sir George Colley British P J Joubert Boers Boers 3August 1881 Pretoria British attack repulsed
27 February 1881 Majuba Hill Sir George Colley British P J Joubert Boers Boers British driven off the hill
2nd 1899 1902 British Empire Boer Republics 13 October 1899 17 May 1900 Mafeking Robert Baden-Powell British Piet Cronje Boers British 31 May 1902 Vereeniging Relieved by combined mounted columns. Use of "concentration" camps borrowed from Cuban War
Orange Free State 15 October 1899 15 February 1900 Kimberley Robert Kekewich British Wessels Boers British Siege broken cavalry division under Sir John French
Transvaal 2 November 1899 28 February 1900 Ladysmith Sir George White British P J Joubert Boers British Siege broken by Sir Redvers Buller
28 November 1899 Modder River Lord Methuen British Piet Cronje Boers British Relief force for Kimberley held up
10 December 1899 (Black Week) Stormberg Sir William Gatacre British J H Olivier Boers Boers British force got lost and attacked a strong Boer position
10 December 1899 (Black Week) 11 December 1899 Magersfontein Lord Methuen British Piet Cronje Boers Boers Relief force for Kimberley turned back
15 December 1899 (Black Week) Colenso Redvers Buller British Louis Botha Boers Boers Buller was replaced by Roberts. Ghandi was a stretcher bearer for British
19 January 1900 24 January 1900 Spion Kop Redvers Buller British Louis Botha Boers Boers Relief force for Ladysmith turned back
18 February 1900 27 February 1900 Paardeberg Lord Roberts British Piet Cronje Boers British Cronje surrendered and his army was destroyed
31 March 1900 Sanna's Post Robert Broadwood British Christiaan De Wet Boers Boers British column destroyed near Bloemfontein
11 June 1900 12 June 1900 Diamond Hill Lord Roberts British Louis Botha Boers British Boer guerrillas driven off from Pretoria
Boxer Rebellion 1900 1900 Foreign Diplomats in Peking Boxers 20 June 1900 14 August 1900 Peking Sir Claude MacDonald Foreign Diplomats Prince Tuan Boxers Foreign Diplomats Siege broken by international relief expedition
Russo - Japanese 1904 1905 Russia Japan 30 April 1904 1 May 1904 Yalu River Alexei Kuropatkin Russia Iwao Oyama Japan Japan 5 September 1905 Portsmouth (USA) First "industrialised" war - trenches, barbed wire, machine guns etc. Japanese crossed river and invaded Manchuria
25 May 1904 Nanshan Alexei Kuropatkin Russia Iwao Oyama Japan Japan Japanese opened way to Port Arthur
1 June 1904 2 January 1905 Port Arthur Anatoli Stroessel Russia Maresuke Nogi Japan Japan Port Arthur surrendered after 6 month siege
25 August 1904 3 September 1904 Liaoyang Alexei Kuropatkin Russia Iwao Oyama Japan Japan Russians withdrew towards Mukden
5 October 1904 17 October 1904 Sha-Ho River Alexei Kuropatkin Russia Iwao Oyama Japan Inconclusive
26 January 1905 27 January 1905 Sandepu Alexei Kuropatkin Russia Iwao Oyama Japan Inconclusive
21 February 1905 10 March 1905 Mukden Alexei Kuropatkin Russia Iwao Oyama Japan Japan Russians forced to withdraw
May 1905 Tsushima Rozhdestvenskiy Russia Togo Japan Japan Russian Baltic fleet defeated after circumnavigation
World War I Western Front 28 July 1914 11 November 1918 Triple Entente Triple Alliance 14 August 1914 23 August 1914 Lorraine Noel de Castenau France Pince Rupprecht Germany Germany 11 November 1918 Versailles French elan failed to overcome German firepower and Plan XVII (invasion of Germany) failed
Brittish Empire Germany 23 August 1914 Mons Horace Smith-Dorrien Britain von Kluck Germany Britain British checked but failed to halt German advance
France Austria-Hungary 26 August 1914 Le Cateau Horace Smith-Dorrien Britain von Kluck Germany Britain British fought out of potential envelopement and withdrew to the South. Smith-Dorrien was a survivor of Isandhlwana
Russia Turkey 29 August 1914 Guise Joseph Joffre France von Kluck Germany France Germans wheeled towards Paris prematurely. Also known as St Quentin
Italy 5 September 1914 10 September 1914 Marne (1st) Joseph Joffre Allies von Moltke Germany Allies Germans outmanoeuvred and forced to withdraw to Noyon-Verdun line. Von Moltke replaced by von Falkenhayn
Romania 13 September 1914 27 September 1914 Aisne Joseph Joffre Allies von Falkenhayn Germany Allies Once Allied advance stopped both sides began to entrench
Japan 18 October 1914 30 November 1914 Ypres (1st) Joseph Joffre Allies von Falkenhayn Germany Stalemate The end of the "Race to the Sea" as each side tried to turn the other's northern flank
22 April 1915 25 May 1915 Ypres (2nd) Sir John French Allies von Falkenhayn Germany Stalemate 1st use of gas by Germans in West failed to eliminate Ypres salient
25 September 1915 8 October 1915 Loos Sir John French Allies von Falkenhayn Germany Stalemate 1st use of gas by British. Haig replaced French
21 February 1916 18 December 1916 Verdun Joseph Joffre Allies von Falkenhayn Germany Stalemate Germans failed to take this important fortress with each side suffering over 300,000 casualties
1 July 1916 18 November The Somme Sir Douglas Haig Allies von Falkenhayn Germany Stalemate Allies gained strip of land 20 miles long and 7 miles wide at a cost of over 600,000 casualties
9 April 1917 14 June 1917 Arras, Vimy, Messines Sir Douglas Haig Allies Erich Ludendorff Germany Britain Vimy Ridge captured by Canadian troops. Messines Ridge  was captured after successful mining operation. Nivelle Offensives failed leading to mutiny in French army
31 July 1917 6 November 1917 Ypres (3rd) (Passchendaele) Sir Douglas Haig Allies Prince Rupprecht Germany Stalemate Allied offensive stalled in heavy mud and ended with the capture of Passchendale ridge and village
20 November 1917 3 December 1917 Cambrai Sir Douglas Haig Allies Erich Ludendorff Germany Stalemate 1st use of tanks. Early gains not exploited and untimately lost
21 March 1918 13 June 1918 Ludendorf Offensives Sir Douglas Haig Allies Erich Ludendorff Germany Allies "Michael", "Georgette", "Blucher" and "Gneisenau". Progressively desparate attempts by the Germans to use troops released from Russian front to finally break Allied lines before arrival of United States
30 May 1918 17 June1918 Chateau Thierry Denis Duchene Allies von Bohn Germany Allies Counter-attack by US Divisions threw Germans back over The Marne
15 July 1918 7 August 1918 Marne (2nd) Ferdinand Foch Allies Erich Ludendorff Germany Allies French counter-attack against 5th Ludndorff Offensive ("Marneschutz-Rheims") forced Germans to retreat
8 August 1918 11 August 1918 Amiens Ferdinand Foch Allies Erich Ludendorff Germany Allies Massed tank attack achieved progressive breakthrough. Ludedorff described 8 August as "The Black Day of the German Army"
12 September 1918 16 September 1918 St Mihiel Ferdinand Foch Allies Erich Ludendorff Germany Allies 1st major action by US troops under Pershing
26 September 1918 11 November 1918 Meuse-Argonne Ferdinand Foch Allies Erich Ludendorff Germany Allies Allied advance reached Sedan
27 September 1918 17 October 1918 Hindenburg Line Ferdinand Foch Allies Erich Ludendorff Germany Allies German defences breached
Eastern Front 20 August 1914 Gumbinnen Pavel Rennenkampf Russia von Prittwitz Germany Russia Early succes for Russians led to replacement of Prittwitz by Paul von Hindenburg
26 August 1914 30 August 1914 Tannenberg Alexnader Samsonov Russia von Hindenburg Germany Germany Russian Second Army destroyed.
3 September 1914 11 September 1914 Rava Russkaya Nikolai Ivanov Russia von Hotzendorff Austria Russia Austrian defeat led them to ask for German assistance
9 September 1914 14 September 1914 Masurian Lakes Pavel Rennenkampf Russia von Hindenburg Germany Germany Russian First Army forced to retreat into Russia
29 December 1914 3 January 1915 Sarikamesh Vorontsov-Dashkov Russia Enver Pasha Turkey Russia Turkish invasion of Russia through the Caucasus thwarted
2 May 1915 27 June 1915 Gorlice-Tarnow Nikolai Ivanov Russia von Falkenhayn, von Hotzendorff Austria Austria Combined Austro-German army recovered lost ground and turned war on Eastern Front. Tsar repleced Grand Duke Nicholas with himself as overall commander
18 March 1916 14 April 1916 Lake Narotch Alexei Kuropatkin Russia von Hindenburg Germany Stalemate Massive Russian attack requested by French to relieve pressure on Verdun was a failure
4 June 1916 20 September 1916 Brusilov Offensive Alexei Brusilov Russia von Hotzendorff Austria Russia Most successful Russian operation brought the collapse of both the Austrian and its own Empires closer
1 September 1917 5 September 1917 Riga Klembovsky Russia Oskar von Hutier Germany Germany Riga captured by Germans
Italian Front 23 June 1915 15 September 1917 Isonzo (11 battles) Luigi Cadorna Italy von Hotzendorff Austria Stalemate Constant pressure by the Italians brought few gains but forced the Austrians to seek German aid
15 May 1916 17 June 1916 Asiago Luigi Cadorna Italy von Hotzendorff Austria Stalemate Austrian gains retaken by Italian reinforcements
24 October 1917 7 November 1917 Caporetto Luigi Cadorna Italy Archduke Eugen Austria Austria Italians routed and forced back to Piave. Erwin Rommel 1st distinguished himself at Caporetto
15 June 1918 22 June 1918 Piave Armando Diaz Italy Arz von Straussenburg Austria Allies Austrians forced to abandon attempt to cross the Piave
24 October 1918 4 November 1918 Vittorio Veneto Armando Diaz Italy Arz von Straussenburg Austria Allies Austrians decisively defeated and an armistice signed
Turkish Front 25 April 1915 9 January 1916 Gallipoli Sir Ian Hamilton Allies von Sanders Turkey Turkey Good strategy ruined by terrible execution. Allies forced to evacuate after 8 months
22 November 1915 25 November 1915 Ctesiphon Sir Charles Townshend Britain Nur-ed-Din Pasha Turkey Britain British advance on Baghdad stalled followed by withdrawal to Kut-al-amara
8 December 1915 26 April 1916 Kut-al-Amara Sir Charles Townshend Britain Khalil Pasha Turkey Turkey British army starved into surrender. 1st attempt to supply a besieged garrison by air
3 August 1916 5 August 1916 Romani Sir Archibald Murray Britain Kress von Kressenstein Turkey Britain Turkish forces pushed into Sinai
13 December 1916 11 March 1917 Baghdad Sir Frederick Maude Britain Khalil Pasha Turkey Britain British forces captured Baghdad
28 October 1917 7 November 1917 Gaza (3rd) Sir Edmund Allenby Britain von Falkenhayn Turkey Britain Turkish line broken and Jerusalem captureed
18 September 1918 31 October 1918 Megiddo Sir Edmund Allenby Britain Liman von Sanders Turkey Allies One of the most complete victories in the history of warfare. Three Turkish armies destroyed
Naval 31 May 1916 Jutland Jellicoe Britain Scheer Germany Britain Only major naval engagement of the war
Russo-Polish 1920 1921 Russia Poland 16 August 1920 25 August 1920 Warsaw Tukhachevsky Russia Pilsudski Poland Poland March 1921 Riga Red Army defeated by Polish counter-attack
Graeco - Turkish 1920 1922 Greece Turkey 10 January 1920 30 March 1920 Inonu (1st and 2nd) Papoulas Greece Ismet Pasha Turkey Turkey 24 July 1923 Lausanne Greek advances halted
24 August 1921 16 September 1921 Sakaria River King Constantine Greece Kemal Ataturk Turkey Turkey Narrow Turkish victory
Spanish Civil War 1936 1939 Nationalists Republicans 8 March 1937 16 March 1937 Guadalajara Moscarda Nationalists Pavlov Republicans Republicans Nationalist offensive defeated
1 April 1937 18 June 1937 Bilbao Mola Nationalists Encomienda Republicans Nationalists Guernica bombed by German squadron 25 April 1937. Republican "Ring of Steel" broken
Sino-Japanese 1937 1945 China Japan April 1938 Taierchwang Li Tsung-jen China ? Japan China First Japanese defeat in modern history
World War II Western Front 1 September 1939 16 September 1945 Allies Axis 10 May 1940 25 June 1940 France, Belgium and Holland Maurice Gamelin France Walter von Brauchitsch Germany Germany Operation "Sichelschnitt" (Sickle-Cut). Germany invaded France via Holland and Belgium thus cutting off BEF.
British Empire Germany 21 May 1940 Arras H E Franklyn Allies Erwin Rommel Germany Germany Allied counter-attack failed but did allow breathing space for Dunkirk evacuation
United States Italy 26 May 1940 4 June 1940 Dunkirk Lord Gort Allies Gerd von Rundstedt Germany Germany Successful evacuation of 400,000 allied troops from envelopment
France Japan 11 November 1940 12 November 1940 Taranto Cunningham Allies ? Italy Allies Air attack which crippled the Italian fleet in harbour. Blue print for Pearl Harbor
Russia Finalnd 28 March 1941 Cape Matapan Cunningham Allies Iachino Italy Allies Italian fleet routed in Mediterranean
Poland 19 August 1942 Dieppe H F Roberts Allies Konrad Hasse Germany Germany Apparently an expensive failure but achieved political objective of persuading Stalin that a 2nd Front was not yet possible
6 June 1944 D-Day Bernard Montgomery Allies Erwin Rommel Germany Allies Operation "Overlord" secured beach-head in Normandy. "Utah", "Omaha", "Gold", "Juno" and "Sword"
7 June 1944 25 July 1944 Caen Bernard Montgomery Allies Erwin Rommel Germany Allies Montgomery employed attritional tactics to allow US armour to perform breakout
17 September 1944 25 September 1944 Arnhem Bernard Montgomery Allies Walter Model Germany Germany A bridge too far. Airborne assault failed to capture objectives. Operation "Market Garden"
4 October 1944 1 December 1944 Aachen Omar Bradley Allies Walter Model Germany Stalemate Siegfried Line breached but Allied offensive abandoned in face of strong German resistance
9 October 1944 8 November 1944 Scheldt Estuary Bernard Montgomery Allies Walter Model Germany Allies Cleared the shipping lanes and opened Antwerp to Allied shipping
13 August 1944 21 August 1944 Falaise Gap Dwight Eisenhower Allies Gunther von Kluge Germany Allies German armies in Normandy destroyed
16 December 1944 16 January 1945 The Bulge Dwight Eisenhower Allies Gerd von Rundstedt Germany Germany Operation "Christrose" or "Wacht am Rhein" enjoyed initial surprise but soon bogged down
8 February 1945 3 March 1945 Reichswald Bernard Montgomery Allies Johannes Blaskowitz Germany Allies Clearing of left bank of the Rhine prior to crossings. Operations "Veritable" and "Grenade"
7 March 1945 31 March 1945 Rhine Crossings Dwight Eisenhower Allies Albrecht Kesselring Germany Allies Capture of Bridge at Remagen precipitated final battles in the West after which German armies were a spent force
Eastern Front 9 September 1939 15 September 1939 The Bzura Smigly-Ridz Poland Brauchitsch Germany Germany Poles failed to break out of double envelopment
30 November 1939 13 February 1940 Mannerheim Line Timoshenko Russia Carl Mannerheim Finland Russia Russians suffered massive casualties but drove Finns to sue for peace
11 December 1939 6 January 1940 Suomossalmi Semyon Timoshenko Russia Carl Mannerheim Finland Finland Russian army destroyed
25 June 1941 30 June 1941 Brody-Dubno Mikhail Kirponos Russia Gerd von Rundstedt Germany Germany Russians slowed but could not stop Operation "Barbarossa"
17 July 1941 5 August 1941 Smolensk Semyon Timoshenko Russia Fedor von Bock Germany Germany Russian army trapped in pocket. Hitler began to use this tactic to detriment of forward momentum of invasion
1 September 1941 27 January 1944 Leningrad L A Govorov Russia Ernst Busch Germany Russia City relieved after siege lasting 900 days
9 September 1941 26 September 1941 Kiev Semen Budenny Russia Gerd von Rundstedt Germany Germany Over 600,000 Russioan troops trapped in pocket and captured
5 October 1941 20 October 1941 Vyazma-Bryansk Semyon Timoshenko Russia Fedor von Bock Germany Germany Closing of Vyazma and Bryansk pockets
8 October 1941 30 April 1942 Moscow Josef Stalin Russia Adolf Hitler Germany Russia Failure to capture Moscow and Russian counter offensive can be seen as turning point of the war
29 October 1941 3 July 1942 Sevastopol Semyon Budenny Russia Gerd von Rundstedt Germany Germany Sevastopol captured and Crimea occupied
12 May 1942 22 May 1942 Kharkov (1) Semyon Timoshenko Russia Ewald von Kleist Germany Germany Major Russian defeat with 250,000 troops captured in pocket
19 August 1942 2 February 1943 Stalingrad Andrei Yeremenko Russia Freiherr von Weichs Germany Russia von Paulus in command of the German 6th Army was trapped and forced to surrender
16 February 1943 15 March 1943 Kharkov (2) Filipp Golikov Russia Erich von Manstein Germany Germany Russian attempt to recapture Kharkov thwarted by German counter-attack. Last major German victory on the Russian Front
5 July 1943 17 July 1943 Kursk Georgi Zhukov Russia Erich von Manstein Germany Russia Largest tank battle in history. German attempt to eliminate the Kursk Salient. Operation "Zitadelle"
22 June 1944 27 August 1944 "Bagration" I K Bagramyan Russia Ernst Busch Germany Russia Byelorussia recaptured and German Army Group Centre destroyed
1 August 1944 2 October 1944 Warsaw Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski Poland Erich von Bach-Zelewski Germany Germany Polish Home Army uprising ruthlessly put down by the SS
20 August 1944 30 August 1944 Jassy-Kishinev Rodion Malinovsky Russia Johannes Freissner Germany Russia German 6th Army isolated by double envelopment
16 April 1945 2 May 1945 Berlin Georgi Zhukov Russia Adolf Hitler Germany Russia Berlin isolated by double envelopment. Hitler committed suicide
North Africa 9 December 1940 12 December 1940 Sidi Barrani Archibald Wavell Allies Rudolfo Graziani Italy Allies Italian forces routed
3 January 1941 5 January 1941 Bardia Richard O'Connor Allies Bergonzoli Italy Allies Comprehensive defeat for Italian army in North Africa
21 January 1941 22 January 1941 Tobruk (1) Richard O'Connor Allies Pitassi Mannella Italy Allies Major Italian defeat
5 Febraury 1941 7 Febraury 1941 Beda Fomm Richard O'Connor Allies Rodolfo Graziani Italy Allies Italian 10th Army trapped and destroyed
20 May 1941 1 June 1941 Crete Freyberg Allies Alexander Lohr Germany Germany Airborne invasion captured island. Operation "Merkur"
18 November 1941 7 December 1941 Tobruk (2) Alan Cunningham Allies Erwin Rommel Germany Allies Relieved Tobruk after fierce fighting. Operation "Crusader"
26 May 1942 21 June 1942 Gazala Claude Auchinleck Allies Erwin Rommel Axis Germany 8th Army defeated and forced to withdraw to Egypt. Tobruk captured
1 July 1942 27 July 1942 El Alamein (1) Claude Auchinleck Allies Erwin Rommel Axis Stalemate Germans unable to break through but British unable to counter-attack
30 August 1942 2 September 1942 Alam Haifa Bernard Montgomery Allies Erwin Rommel Axis Britain Germans unable to break through used up most of their resources in the attempt
23 October 1942 4 November 1942 El Alamein (2) Bernard Montgomery Allies Erwin Rommel Axis Britain Decisive British victory which spelled beginning of end of Axis campaign in North Africa
14 February 1943 22 February 1943 Kasserine Pass Dwight Eisenhower Allies Erwin Rommel Germany Allies Early German success contained and Rommel forced to withdraw
6 March 1943 Medenine Bernard Montgomery Allies Erwin Rommel Germany Allies German counter-attack repulsed and Rommel replaced
20 March 1943 27 March 1943 Mareth Line Bernard Montgomery Allies Giovanni Messe Italy Allies Messe forced to abandon the Mareth Line and retreat to Wadi Akarit
Italy 9 September 1943 18 September 1943 Salerno Harold Alexander Allies Albrecht Kesselring Germany Allies Narrow allied victory in amphibious landing which led to capture of Naples
12 October 1943 14 November 1943 Volturno River Harold Alexander Allies Albrecht Kesselring Germany Allies Allied forces crossed river at heavy cost
17 January 1944 22 May 1944 Cassino Harold Alexander Allies Albrecht Kesselring Axis Allies Allies finally broke through to join up with Anzio beachhead and capture Rome
22 January 1944 23 May 1944 Anzio Mark Clark Allies Albrecht Kesselring Axis Stalemate Attempting to outflank Cassino line, Anzio beachhead quickly contained. Operation "Shingle"
30 August 1944 28 October 1944 Gothic Line Harold Alexander Allies Albrecht Kesselring Germany Allies Allies finally breached line in late Autumn, too late to exploit
Burma, Far East and Pacific 7 December 1941 Pearl Harbor Short Allies Chuichi Nagumo Japan Japan Surprise attack on US Pacific Fleet base which destroyed 12 battleships
8 December 1941 23 December 1941 Wake Atoll Winfield Cunningham Allies Sadamichi Kajioka Japan Japan Massive Japanese operation resisted strongly by small US force
2 January 1942 6 May 1942 Bataan Douglas MacArthur Allies Masahuru Homma Japan Japan Largest capitulation of a US army. Philippines captured
8 February 1942 15 February 1942 Singapore Arthur Percival Allies Tomoyuki Yamashita Japan Japan Worst military disaster in the history of the British Empire
4 May 1942 8 May 1942 Coral Sea Frank Fletcher Allies Shigeyoshe Inouye Japan Allies Tactical Japanese victory but strategic Allied victory. Naval invasion of Port Moresby thwarted
4 June 1942 6 June 1942 Midway Frank Fletcher, Ray Spruance Allies Isoroku Yamamoto Japan Allies Allied victory which saw 4 Japanese carriers destroyed and severely curtailed as an attacking force
7 August 1942 7 February 1943 Guadalcanal Robert Gormley Allies Shigeyoshe Inouye Japan Allies Desperate battle to prevent Japan from building landing strip on Solomon Islands
20 November 1942 22 January 1943 Buna Robert Eichelberger Allies Hatazo Adachi Japan Allies Japanese invasion of Papua New Guinea thwarted and Japanese forces in the area wiped out
11 May 1943 15 August 1943 Aleutian Islands Francis Rockwell Allies ? Japan Allies Islands recaptured
20 November 1943 23 November 1943 Tarawa Atoll Chester Nimitz Allies Keichi Shibasaki Japan Allies Capture of Gilbert Islands
1 February 1944 4 February 1944 Kwajalein Atoll Holland Smith Allies Akiyama Japan Allies Capture of part of Marshall Islands
6 February 1944 17 February 1944 Korsun Ivan Konev Russia Stemmermann Germany Russia Stemmermann killed. Some German troops managed to break out of pocket
6 February 1944 25 February 1944 Admin Box A F P Christison Allies Hanaya Japan Allies Heavy defeat for Japanese, first clear-cut British victory
17 February 1944 23 February 1944 Eniwetok Atoll Thomas Watson Allies Yoshima Nishida Japan Allies Capture of remainder of Marshall Islands
25 March 1944 16 April 1944 Kamenets-Podolsk Georgi Zhukov Russia Erich von Manstein Germany Germany First Panzer Army broke through Russian trap
29 March 1944 22 June 1944 Imphal William Slim Allies Masakuzu Kawabe Japan Allies Brilliant Allied victory which marked turning point of war in Burma
5 April 1944 30 May 1944 Kohima William Slim Allies Renya Mutaguchi Japan Allies Japanese failed to prevent the relief of Imphal
15 June 1944 9 July 1944 Saipan Chester Nimitz Allies Hideyoshi Obata Japan Allies Capture of the Marianas Islands
19 June 1944 21 June 1944 Philippine Sea Ray Spruance Allies Jisaburo Ozawa Japan Allies Naval battle and decisive American victory. A further 3 Japanese carriers destroyed
21 July 1944 10 August 1944 Guam Chester Nimitz Allies Hideyoshi Obata Japan Allies Fall of the Marianas. Two survivors of the Japanese garrison surrendered in 1960
24 July 1944 31 July 1944 Tinian Chester Nimitz Allies Hideyoshi Obata Japan Allies Capture of part of the Marianas
15 September 1944 25 November 1944 Pelelieu-Anguar Chester Nimitz Allies Sadai Inoue Japan Allies Capture of the Caroline Islands
24 October 1944 25 October 1944 Leyte Gulf William Halsey Allies Jisaburo Ozawa Japan Allies Greatest naval battle in history. Offensive capacity of Japanese fleet destroyed
20 October 1944 25 December 1944 Leyte Douglas MacArthur Allies Tomoyuki Yamashita Japan Allies Japanese army on the Philippines destroyed
14 January 1945 21 March 1945 Mandalay William Slim Allies Hoyotaro Kimura Japan Allies Tactical masterstroke isolated each Japanese army in Burma and each was destroyed in turn
3 February 1945 4 March 1945 Manila Walter Krueger Allies Tomoyuki Yamashita Japan Allies Last stand of Japanese naval garrison led to destruction of the city
19 February 1945 16 March 1945 Iwo Jima Harry Schmidt Allies Todomichi Kuribyashi Japan Allies US forces secured Bonin islands for use as airstrips for bombing Japan
1 April 1945 22 June 1945 Okinawa Chester Nimitz Allies Mitsuru Ushijima Japan Allies Ushijima committed suicide. Fight put up by Japanese convinced Truman to unleash the atom bombs
Other Theatres 30 April 1941 5 May 1941 Habbaniya H G Smart Allies Rashid Ali Iraq Allies Iraqi rebels defeated
9 August 1945 17 August 1945 Manchuria Alexandr Vasilevsky Russia Yamada Otozo Japan Russia Russians drove Japanese out of Manchuria and imposed communist rule in Northern Korea
Korean War 1950 1953 South Korea North Korea 5 August 1950 15 September 1950 Pusan Perimeter Douglas MacArthur Allies Choe Yong Gun North Korea Allies North Korean Peoples Army virtually destroyed
UN Forces China 15 September 1950 25 September 1950 Inchon Douglas MacArthur Allies Choe Yong Gun North Korea Allies Strategic masterstroke which captured Seoul and isolated North Korean troops
27 November 1950 15 December 1950 Chosin Reservoir Oliver Smith Allies Sung Shih-lun China Allies Fighting withdrawal to evacuate UN troops
22 April 1951 30 April 1951 Imjin River James van Fleet Allies Peng The-huai China Allies Allied forces (British/Belgian/US) resisted attempt to capture Seoul
16 April 1953 18 April 1953 Pork Chop Hill Arthur Trudeau Allies Peng The-huai China Allies Contest of resolve by Chinese during peace negotiations
French Indochina War 1946 1954 France Vietnam 20 November 1953 7 May 1954 Dien Bien Phu Christian de Castres France Vo Nguyen Giap Vietnam Vietnam French forced to surrender fortified garrison
Vietnam War 1956 1975 South Vietnam North Vietnam 19 October 1965 26 November 1965 La Drang Valley Harry Kinnard United States Chu Huy Man North Vietnam United States Viet Cong suffered crippling losses
United States China 18 August 1966 Long Tan O D Jackson United States ? Viet Cong United States Serious defeat for the Viet Cong
Australia 22 February 1967 14 May 1967 Junction City William Westmoreland United States ? North Vietnam United States US forces cleared the "Iron Triangle" near Saigon
19 November 1967 23 November 1967 Dak To (Hill 875) Leo Schweitzer United States ? North Vietnam United States Vietnamese army attempt to distract US forces prior to the Tet Offensive
21 January 1968 14 April 1968 Khe San David Lownds United States ? North Vietnam United States US forces resisted siege of fortified camp
31 January 1968 25 February 1968 Hue Ngo Quang Truong South Vietnam Nguyen Trong Dan North Vietnam South Vietnam Hue was captured by the Viet Cong at the start of the Tet Offensive but recaptured after protracted street fighting
Arab-Israeli Wars 1956 1973 Israel Arab States 29 October 1956 5 November 1956 Sinai (1) Moshe Dayan Israel Abd el Hakim Amer Egypt Israel Israeli army overran Sinai and captured Sharm el Sheikh but stopped short of Suez Canal as agreed with British and French
Suez Canal Crisis 5 November 1956 7 November 1956 Suez Canal Landings Hugh Stockwell Allies Abd el Hakim Amer Egypt Stalemate Britain and France were forced to break off operations in face of opposition from UN and US
Six Day War 5 June 1967 8 June 1967 Sinai (2) Yeshayahu Gavish Israel Abd el Mohsen Mortagy Egypt Israel Egyptian army destroyed and defence line esatblished on Suez Canal
9 June 1967 10 June 1967 Golan Heights (1) David Elazar Israel Souedan Syria Israel Israel captured Golan Heights and established a defensible frontier with Syria
6 October 1973 8 October 1973 Suez Canal Crossing Shmuel Gonen Israel Ahmed Ismail Ali Egypt Stalemate Early Egyptian gains from surprise attack on Yom Kippur were subsequently wiped out
6 October 1973 10 October 1973 Golan Heights (2) Yitzak Hofi Israel Hefez al Assad Syria Israel Israel beat off an attempt by Syria to retake the Golan Heights lost in 1967
Falklands War 1982 1982 Britain Argentina 27 May 1982 28 May 1982 Goose Green H Jones Britain Wilson Pedroza Argentina Britain Col H Jones killed
11 June 1982 14 June 1982 Port Stanley Jeremy Moore Britain Mario Menendez Argentina Britain Argentinian defence lines breached and Argentinian commander surrendered
Grenada 1983 1983 United States Grenada 25 October 1983 27 October 1983 Grenada Joseph Metcalf United States Austin Hudson Grenada United States Communists defeated
Gulf War 1990 1991 U N Forces Iraq 24 February 1991 28 February 1991 Kuwait Norman Schwarzkopf Allies Saddam Hussein Iraq Iraqi army in Kuwait destroyed. Operation "Desert Sabre"