During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 divided its operations around the world into four theater

Theater (warfare)

In warfare, a theater, is defined as an area or place within which important military events occur or are progressing. The entirety of the air, land, and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations....

s. Forces from many different Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 nations fought in these theaters. Other Allied countries have different conceptions of the theaters and/or different names for them.

European Theater of Operations

Operational command SHAEF

• Normandy Campaign June 6, 1944–July 24, 1944
• Northern France Campaign July 25, 1944–September 14, 1944
• Rhineland Campaign
  • Lorraine Campaign
    Lorraine Campaign
    Lorraine Campaign is a term used by U.S. Army historians to describe operations of the U.S. Third Army in Lorraine during World War II from September 1 through December 18, 1944. Official U.S. Army campaign names for this period and location are Northern France and Rhineland. The term was...
    
     (unofficial) September 1, 1944–December 18, 1944
• Ardennes-Alsace Campaign
  Battle of the Bulge
  The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
  
   December 16, 1944–January 25, 1945
• Central Europe Campaign
  Central Europe Campaign
  After crossing the Rhine the Western Allies fanned out overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to Austria in the south before the Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945. This is known as the "Central Europe Campaign" in United States military histories.By the early spring of...
  
   March 22, 1945–May 11, 1945

Mediterranean Theater of Operations

Operational command AFHQ

• Algeria-French Morocco Campaign
  Operation Torch
  Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
  
   November 8, 1942–November 11, 1942
• Anzio Campaign
  Operation Shingle
  Operation Shingle , during the Italian Campaign of World War II, was an Allied amphibious landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas and was intended to outflank German forces of the Winter Line and enable an...
  
   January 22, 1944–May 24, 1944
• Egypt-Libya Campaign
  Egypt-Libya Campaign
  The Egypt–Libya Campaign is the name used by the United States military for the US contribution to the Allied Western Desert Campaign, during World War II. From 1942, U.S. forces assisted the British Commonwealth in fighting Axis forces in Egypt and Libya. The U.S...
  
   June 11, 1942–February 12, 1943
• Naples-Foggia Campaign
  Allied invasion of Italy
  The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign...
  
  
• North Apennines Campaign
  Gothic Line
  The Gothic Line formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence in the final stages of World War II along the summits of the Apennines during the fighting retreat of German forces in Italy against the Allied Armies in Italy commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander.Adolf Hitler...
  
  
• Po Valley Campaign
  Spring 1945 offensive in Italy
  The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the Allied attack by Fifth United States Army and British 8th Army into the Lombardy Plain which started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the surrender of German forces in Italy....
  
  
• Rome-Arno Campaign
• Sicily Campaign
  Allied invasion of Sicily
  The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
  
  
• Southern France Campaign
  Operation Dragoon
  Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
  
   (One month after the invasion, command was passed to SHAEF and the European Theater of Operations)
• Tunisia Campaign
  Tunisia Campaign
  The Tunisia Campaign was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African Campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces. The Allies consisted of British Imperial Forces, including Polish and Greek contingents, with American and French corps...
  
  

Pacific Theater of Operations

Operational commands were the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean theater of World War II

The Pacific Ocean theatre was one of four major naval theatres of war of World War II, which pitted the forces of Japan against those of the United States, the British Commonwealth, the Netherlands and France....

 and South West Pacific

South West Pacific theatre of World War II

The South West Pacific Theatre, technically the South West Pacific Area, between 1942 and 1945, was one of two designated area commands and war theatres enumerated by the Combined Chiefs of Staff of World War II in the Pacific region....

.

Pacific Ocean Theater

• Pearl Harbor
  Attack on Pearl Harbor
  The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
  
  
• Doolittle Raid
  Doolittle Raid
  The Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...
  
  
• Coral Sea
  Battle of the Coral Sea
  The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged...
  
  
• Ry
  Operation RY
  Operation RY was the name of the Imperial Japanese plan to invade and occupy Nauru and Ocean islands in the south Pacific during the Pacific conflict of World War II. The operation was originally set to be executed in May 1942 immediately following Operation MO and before Operation MI, which...
  
  
• Midway
  Battle of Midway
  The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
  
  
• Solomons
  Solomon Islands campaign
  The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, during the first six months of 1942...
  
  
• Aleutians
• Gilberts & Marshalls
  Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
  In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, from November 1943 through February 1944, were key strategic operations of the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. The campaign was preceded by a raid on Makin Island by U.S...
  
  
• Marianas & Palau
  Mariana and Palau Islands campaign
  The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Operation Forager, was an offensive launched by United States forces against Imperial Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands and Palau in the Pacific Ocean between June and November, 1944 during the Pacific War...
  
  
• Volcano Is & Ryukyu Is
  Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign
  -Further reading:...
  
  

South West Pacific Theatre

• Guadalcanal Campaign 1942–43
• New Guinea Campaign
  New Guinea campaign
  The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II.Before the war, the island of New Guinea was split between:...
  
   1942-45
• Philippines Campaign 1941-42
• Dutch East Indies campaign
  Dutch East Indies campaign
  The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Forces from the Allies attempted unsuccessfully to defend the islands. Indonesia was targeted by the Japanese for its...
  
   1941-42
• Solomon Islands campaign
  Solomon Islands campaign
  The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, during the first six months of 1942...
  
   1943–45
• Guadalcanal Campaign
  Guadalcanal campaign
  The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II...
  
   1942–43
• Battle of Timor 1942-43
• Philippines Campaign 1944–45
• Borneo campaign
  Borneo campaign (1945)
  The Borneo Campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area, during World War II. In a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July, the Australian I Corps, under General Leslie Morshead, attacked Japanese forces occupying the island. Allied naval and...
  
   1945

China Burma India Theater

This was not a Theatre of Operations and it had no Operational Command, it was an Administrative Command. The Operational Command was joint Allied South East Asia Command

South East Asia Command

South East Asia Command was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during World War II.-Background:...

 in the South-East Asian Theater

South-East Asian theatre of World War II

The South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was the name given to the campaigns of the Pacific War in Burma , Ceylon, India, Thailand, Indochina, Malaya and Singapore. Conflict in the theatre began when the Empire of Japan invaded Thailand and Malaya from bases located in Indochina on December 8,...

 The American General Joseph Stilwell

Joseph Stilwell

General Joseph Warren Stilwell was a United States Army four-star General known for service in the China Burma India Theater. His caustic personality was reflected in the nickname "Vinegar Joe"...

 commanded the operational Northern Combat Area Command

Northern Combat Area Command

The Northern Combat Area Command or NCAC was a mainly Sino-American formation that held the northern end of the Allied front in Burma during World War II. For much of its existence it was commanded by the acerbic General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, and controlled by his staff...

 and used his other positions to communicate directly with Joint Chiefs of Staff

Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...

 about some operational matters.

• Burma Campaign
  Burma Campaign
  The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from...
  
  
  • Burma 1942 Campaign January, 1942–May, 1942
  • Central Burma Campaign
  • China Defensive Campaign July 4, 1942–May 4, 1945
  • China Offensive Campaign May 5, 1945–September 2, 1945
  • India-Burma Campaign