During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

divided its operations around the world into four

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

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

European Theater of Operations campaigns

US Army

The 16 officially recognized US Army campaigns in the European Theater of Operations are: * North Africa campaigns: **

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

: 11 June 1942 – 12 February 1943, American participation in the Western Desert campaign **

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

French Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prot ...

: 8–11 November 1942, the

allied landings in North Africa Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while al ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

: 17 November 1942 – 13 May 1943, the

Tunisian campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) 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 from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. Th ...

* Italy campaigns: **

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

: 9 July – 17 August 1943, the allied invasion and liberation of Sicily **

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

: *** Air: 18 August 1943 – 21 January 1944 *** Ground: 9 September 1943 – 21 January 1944, from the

Allied invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign of World War II. The operation was undertaken by General Sir Harold Alexander's 15th Army ...

to the

Winter Line The Winter Line was a series of German and Italian military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt and commanded by Albert Kesselring. The series of three lines was designed to defend a western section ...

battles **

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and '' comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Isl ...

: 22 January – 24 May 1944, the landing and battle at Anzio **

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

–

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a ...

: 22 January – 9 September 1944, from the landing at Anzio to the arrival at the

Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German defensive line of the Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence along the summits of the northern part of ...

** Northern Apennines: 10 September 1944 – 4 April 1945, the Gothic Line battles **

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

: 5 April – 8 May 1945, the allied spring offensive 1945 * Western Europe campaigns: ** Air Offensive Europe: 4 July 1942 – 5 June 1944, from the first American bombing mission over enemy-occupied territory in Europe to the night before

D-day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

: 6 June – 24 July 1944, the allied landings in Normandy ** Northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

: 25 July – 14 September 1944, from Operation Cobra to the beginning of

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...

: 15 August – 14 September 1944, the allied landings in Southern France **

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

: 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945, from Operation Market Garden to the start of the allied invasion of Germany **

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

: 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945, the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

: 22 March – 11 May 1945, the allied invasion of Germany

US Navy

The nine officially recognized US Navy campaigns in the European Theater of Operations are: * North African occupation:

* Sicilian occupation: allied landings in Sicily * Salerno landings: allied landings in Southern Italy * West Coast of Italy operations (1944): allied landing at Anzio and subsequent supply of the Anzio beachhead * Invasion of Normandy: allied landings in Normandy * Northeast

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

operation * Invasion of Southern France: allied landings in Southern France * Reinforcement of Malta: allied convoys to supply besieged Malta * Escort, antisubmarine, armed guard and special operations

Pacific Theater of Operations

Operational commands were the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

and

South West Pacific Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million as of ...

US Army

The 16 officially recognized US Army campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations are: * Pacific Ocean Areas Command: ** Central Pacific: 7 December 1941 – 6 December 1943, allied landings on Tarawa and Makin during the

Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign were a series of battles fought from August 1942 through February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan. They were the first steps of the drive across the cent ...

** Air Offensive Japan: 17 April 1942 – 2 September 1945 **

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...

: 3 June 1942 – 24 August 1943, the Aleutian Islands campaign ** Northern Solomons: 22 February 1943 – 21 November 1944, part of the

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, ...

** Eastern Mandates: 31 January – 14 June 1944, allied landings on Kwajalein and

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with i ...

during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign ** Western Pacific: 15 June 1944 – 2 September 1945, the

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 du ...

Ryukyus The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

: 26 March – 2 July 1945, the allied landings on Okinawa * South West Pacific Areas Command: **

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

: 7 December 1941 – 10 May 1942, the Japanese conquest Philippines ** East Indies: 1 January – 22 July 1942, Japanese conquest of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...

** Papua: 23 July 1942 – 23 January 1943, part of the

New Guinea campaign The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Australian-administered Mandated Territory of New Guinea (23 Jan ...

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the se ...

: 7 August 1942 – 21 February 1943, the

Guadalcanal campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

: 24 January 1943 – 31 December 1944, the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

: 15 December 1943 – 27 November 1944 **

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

: 17 October 1944 – 1 July 1945, allied landings and liberation of Leyte **

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

: 15 December 1944 – 4 July 1945, allied landings and liberation of Luzon ** Southern Philippines: 27 February – 4 July 1945, allied liberation of the Southern Philippines during the Philippines campaign

US Navy campaigns

The 43 officially recognized US Navy campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations are: * Pearl Harbor:

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...

- Midway: 7 December 1941 *

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of T ...

: 8–23 December 1941 * Philippine Islands operation: 8 December 1941 – 6 May 1942 * Netherlands East Indies engagements: 23 January – 27 February 1942 * Pacific raids (1942): 1 February – 10 March 1942 *

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

: 4–8 May 1942 * Midway: 3–6 June 1942 *

- Tulagi landings: 7–9 August 1942 (First Savo) * Capture and defense of Guadalcanal: 10 August 1942 – 8 February 1943 *

Makin Raid The Raid on Makin Island (17–18 August 1942) was an attack by the United States Marine Corps Raiders on Japanese military forces on Makin Island (now known as Butaritari) in the Pacific Ocean. The aim was to destroy Imperial Japanese inst ...

: 17–18 August 1942 * Eastern Solomons 23–25 August 1942 * Buin-Faisi-Tonolai raid: 5 October 1942 * Cape Esperance: 11–12 October 1942 (Second Savo) *

Santa Cruz Islands The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the nation of Solomon Islands discovered by the Spaniards. They lie approximately 250 miles (400 km) to the southeast of the Solomon Islands ...

: 26 October 1942 *

: 12–15 November 1942 (Third Savo) * Tassafaronga: 30 November – 1 December 1942 (Fourth Savo) * Eastern New Guinea operation: 17 December 1942 – 24 July 1944 * Rennel Island: 29-30 January 1943 * Consolidation of Solomon Islands: 8 February 1943 – 15 March 1945 * Aleutians operation: 26 March – 2 June 1943 * New Georgia Group operation: 20 June – 16 October 1943 * Bismarck Archipelago operation: 25 June 1943 – 1 May 1944 * Pacific raids (1943): 31 August – 6 October 1943 *

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

- Bougainville operation: 27 October – 15 December 1943 * Gilbert Islands operation: 13 November – 8 December 1943 * Marshall Islands operation: 26 November 1943 – 2 March 1944 * Asiatic-Pacific raids (1944): 16 February – 9 October 1944 * Western New Guinea operations: 21 April 1944 – 9 January 1945 * Marianas operation: 10 June – 27 August 1944 * Western Caroline Islands operation: 31 August – 14 October 1944 * Leyte operation: 10 October – 29 November 1944 * Luzon operation: 12 December 1944 – 1 April 1945 * Iwo Jima operation 15 February – 16 March 1945 * Okinawa Gunto operation: 17 March – 30 June 1945 * Third Fleet operations against Japan: 10 July – 15 August 1945 * Kurile Islands operation: 1 February 1944 – 11 August 1945 * Borneo operations: 27 April – 20 July 1945 * Tinian capture and occupation: 24 July – 1 August 1944 * Consolidation of the Southern Philippines: 28 February – 20 July 1945 * Hollandia operation: 21 April – 1 June 1944 * Manila Bay-Bicol operations: 29 January – 16 April 1945 * Escort, antisubmarine, armed guard and special operations: 7 December 1941 – 2 September 1945 * Submarine War Patrols (Pacific): 7 December 1941 – 2 September 1945

China Burma India Theater

The

China Burma India Theater China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including U.S. forces) in the CBI was offi ...

served more as an Administrative Command rather than a Theater of Operations and lacked any true Operational Command. The Operational Command was joint Allied

South East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during the Second World War. History Organisation The initial supreme commander of the theatre was General Sir A ...

in the South-East Asian Theater. The American General

Joseph Stilwell Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. An early American popular hero of the war for leading a column walking ...

commanded the operational Northern Combat Area Command and used his other positions to communicate directly with

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

about operational matters. The officially recognized US Army campaigns in the China Burma India Theater are: * Burma campaigns: **

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

1942: 7 December 1941 – 26 May 1942, allied defensive operations during the

Japanese conquest of Burma The Japanese invasion of Burma was the opening phase of the Burma campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, which took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign (December 1941 to mid-1942), ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

-Burma: 2 April 1942 – 28 January 1945, allied operations in Burma 1942–43 and Burma and India 1944 ** Central Burma: 29 January – 15 July 1945, the allied Burma offensive in 1945 * China campaigns: ** China Defensive: 4 July 1942 – 4 May 1945 ** China Offensive: 5 May – 2 September 1945

References

{{WWII-stub Theaters and campaigns of World War II Military units and formations of the United States Army in World War II