Microsoft Word maps-in-time doc

Part of a weekly resume tracking the naval, military and air situation shows 
merchant shipping losses for Britain and the Allies between September 1939 
and October 1942. 
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/maps-
interactive/resource-downloads/cab66-31-wp42-521
.jpg
 
The weekly resume reveals the sharp decline in losses suffered by British and 
Allied merchant shipping in the closing months of the war. 
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/maps-
interactive/resource-downloads/cab66-65-cp44-595.jpg 
The Desert War 1942 
Fighting in the North African desert provided Britain with its first chance to 
strike back against Axis forces on land. The British soon defeated the Italian 
forces, but the German ‘Africa Korps’ proved a tougher opponent as the 
fighting raged across hundreds of miles of desert. After the Anglo-American 
invasion of French North Africa, and the British and Imperial forces’ victory at 
El Alamein, the Allies started an advance that expelled the Axis forces from 
North Africa. 
Images 
A map of the El Alamein area where Allied forces beat back Axis troops forcing 
them westwards. 
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/maps-
interactive/resource-downloads/cab66-28-wp42-406.jpg 
Battle of Stalingrad 1942 
The city of Stalingrad was the site of a fierce battle between German and 
Soviet forces, and was arguably the key turning point in the Second World 
War. Lying on the River Volga and blocking German access to the Caspian Sea 
and the natural resources of the Caucasus, Stalingrad was attacked by German 
forces in September 1942. The Germans came close to taking the city, but the 
Soviet army resisted. As winter approached, German support lines became 
increasingly stretched. A major Soviet counter-attack in November cut off the 
German 6th Army around Stalingrad from its supply lines and the rest of the 
German forces. The 6th Army held out until January, when it surrendered after 
having suffered huge losses. Over one million German troops were killed, 
injured or taken prisoner during the Stalingrad offensive. It was the first major 
defeat for Hitler’s army on the Eastern Front.

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Images 
By November 1942 the German front line stretched southwest from Leningrad 
towards Stalingrad where the battle for the city had begun. This was a battle 
of huge strategic and psychological importance for both sides.