The British Empire and the Second World WarIn 1939 Hitler went to war not just with Great Britain; he also went to war with the whole of the British Empire, the greatest empire that there had ever been. In the years since 1945 that empire has disappeared, and the crucial fact that the British Empire fought together as a whole during the war has been forgotten. All the parts of the empire joined the struggle and were involved in it from the beginning, undergoing huge changes and sometimes suffering great losses as a result. The war in the desert, the defence of Malta and the Malayan campaign, and the contribution of the empire as a whole in terms of supplies, communications and troops, all reflect the strategic importance of Britain's imperial status. Men and women not only from Australia, New Zealand and India but from many parts of Africa and the Middle East all played their part. Winston Churchill saw the war throughout in imperial terms. The British Empire and the Second World War emphasises a central fact about the Second World War that is often forgotten. |
From inside the book
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... Australian troops in the Crusader castle at Sidon , Lebanon , July 1941 17 Australian nursing sisters , New Guinea , December 1943 18 Indian soldiers with men of the 81st West African Division 19 British mortar detachments at the Battle ...
Ashley Jackson. Abbreviations AACC ABDA AFLOC Anglo - American Caribbean Commission Australian - British - Dutch ... Australia and New Zealand Army Corps Air Officer Commanding African Pioneer Corps APL Aden Protectorate Levies ARP Air ...
... Australian Ship His Majesty's Indian Ship His Majesty's New Zealand Ship His Majesty's Ship His Majesty's South African Ship Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Indian Civil Service ILL Indian Independence League INA Indian ...
... Australia and RAF bombers on Okinawa so that Britain could contribute to the invasion of the Japanese home islands . As it ... Australian warships made an important contri- bution , as did South African minesweepers , bombers and fighter ...
... Australian bases and its forward base at Manus . After the First World War the British Army had demobilized rapidly and resumed its traditional imperial defence roles , so that by the 1930s the army was preparing for a war in defence of ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
21 | |
41 | |
5 The Atlantic | 53 |
6 The Caribbean | 77 |
7 The Mediterranean | 97 |
8 Iraq Iran and Syria | 145 |
11 The Islands of the Indian Ocean | 307 |
12 India and Burma | 351 |
13 SouthEast Asia and the Far East | 405 |
14 Australia and New Zealand | 463 |
15 The Pacific | 513 |
16 Epilogue | 525 |
Notes | 535 |
Bibliography | 561 |