RurThe Rur or Roer (Rur ʁuːɐ̯; Dutch and Roer, ˈruːr, ˈʀuːʀ˦; Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse (Maas). About 90 percent of the river's course is in Germany. It is not to be confused with the rivers Ruhr and Röhr, which are tributaries of the Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Rur rises in the High Fens, near the high Signal de Botrange in Belgium at an elevation of above sea level.
Conscription Crisis of 1944The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service for men in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but not as politically damaging. Military history of Canada during World War II Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King had been haunted by the way the Conscription Crisis of 1917 had fractured the Liberal Party between its English-Canadian and French-Canadian members.
Maginot LineThe Maginot Line (Ligne Maginot, liɲ maʒino), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force them to move around the fortifications. The Maginot Line was impervious to most forms of attack. Consequently, the Germans invaded through the Low Countries in 1940, passing it to the north.
DunkirkDunkirk (UKdʌnˈkɜːrk , USˈdʌnkɜːrk ; Dunkerque dœ̃kɛʁk) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgian border. It has the third-largest French harbour. The population of the commune in 2019 was 86,279. The name of Dunkirk derives from West Flemish dun(e) 'dune' or 'dun' and kerke 'church', thus 'church in the dunes'. A smaller town 25 km farther up the Flemish coast originally shared the same name, but was later renamed Oostduinkerke(n) in order to avoid confusion.
GeneralfeldmarschallGeneralfeldmarschall (from Old High German marahscalc, "marshal, stable master, groom"; general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to Feldmarschall) was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsgeneralfeldmarschall); in the Habsburg monarchy, the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, the rank Feldmarschall was used. The rank was the equivalent to Großadmiral (Grand Admiral) in the Kaiserliche Marine and Kriegsmarine, a five-star rank, comparable to OF-10 in today's NATO naval forces.
Amphibious warfareAmphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted using ship's boats as the primary method of delivering troops to shore. Since the Gallipoli Campaign, specialised watercraft were increasingly designed for landing troops, material and vehicles, including by landing craft and for insertion of commandos, by fast patrol boats, zodiacs (rigid inflatable boats) and from mini-submersibles.
Operation OverlordOperation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune). A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.
