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. |
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... West Indian volunteers give a PT display in England , July 1944 6 Maltese women washing clothes in the ruins of their homes , June 1942 7 The Gibraltar Defence Force man a 3.7 inch AA gun 8 The King's African Rifles collecting ...
... West African Frontier Force South African Air Force South African Naval Force SAS Special Air Service SBS Special Boat Service SCC Somali Camel Corps SDF Seaward Defence Force ( South Africa ) SDF Sudan Defence Force SEAC South East ...
... West Africa and the Western Desert , as well as in the Battle of Britain ; and Free French forces fought with the Eighth Army in the Middle East and the French battleship Richelieu reinforced Britain's Eastern Fleet in Ceylon . Empire ...
... West Africa , necessitating conscription to provide the cotton , food , rubber , sisal , tin and other products that the imperial treasure trove contributed to the global economy in war as in peace . The physical impact of the war also ...
... western Mediterranean ; the establishment of U - boat bases on the Atlantic coast that greatly enhanced Germany's ability to make war on the Atlantic convoys ; the surrounding of poorly defended British West African colonies by hostile ...
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 |