“TO YOU, WHAT IS THE MOST INTERESTING EVENT OF WORLD WAR II?”
I’m not in the 70+ crowd, but from a family history standpoint, the Northwest Front of the War in the Soviet Union.
Significant Events?
There are so many....
IMO, there are two events with the largest, long-term impact on the War.
1) The Pro-Allied Coup in Yugoslavia, which forced Hitler to delay Barbarossa just long enough to delay reaching the gates of Moscow until mid-December. The 5 week delay this caused the Germans to be delayed by the fall mud.
Imagine a drive on Moscow, and it’s results, if the ground had stayed firm?
2) The Allied Invasion of Sicily- OKW shifted several divisions, many of the new Panther and Tiger tanks, and 1/3rd of the Air Forces planned for Citadel/Kursk in reaction to the invasion of Sicily.
The loss of the Air Forces gave the Russian’s poorly-trained pilots the advantage of numbers at Kursk. In the end, it cost the Germans control of the air in Citadel, and the losses in men and material would never be replaced.
As to (1), it now appears the Yugoslav operation was a minor factor in delaying Barbarossa, if a factor at all. Seems the Spring rains in Russia that year delayed Barbaroosa by making the ground impassable [mud], for the critical period in question. The Germans wouldn’t have jumped even if all their troops had been there, and had to wait for the ground to dry.