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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... Dominions of Canada , South Africa , Australia and New Zealand . The Irish Free State was also a Dominion , though not one usually bracketed with Britain and the other Dominions in discussions about imperial defence and imperial policy ...
... Dominions themselves had also acquired League of Nations Mandates following the First World War and the dismemberment of the German Empire . Thus South Africa ruled South - West Africa , and Australia ruled former German territories ...
... Dominion that insisted on remaining neutral throughout the conflict , furnished over 43,000 men for service with British forces , whilst Ulster participated loyally as a part of the United Kingdom . reconquer them . To this end the ...
... Dominions , India and the Colonial Empire , in supplementing British and American forces , also deserve greater attention . Commonwealth airmen formed nearly one half of Bomber Command's strength in Europe . In the Mediterranean ...
... Dominions were also naturally experienced in the affairs of Empire . Jan Christian Smuts of South Africa , the only Dominions politician to whom Churchill paid much attention , was a noted impe- rial statesman . He had been a member 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 |