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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... Captain Waite , renowned a few years later for his part in organizing the Berlin Airlift . Nassau was transformed from the ghost town that had so appalled the Duke and Duchess upon their arrival in 1940 to one humming with the bustle of ...
... Captain Ralph Bagnold's long - range Royal Tank Regiment patrols , which were to lead to the formation of the LRDG in June 1940 . Preparations mounted throughout Egypt . New workshops and ammunition and supply dumps were built around ...
... Captain Cook , had endured intrusion and sub - imperial expansion in the wake of missionaries , runaway convicts and deserters , labour - seekers , whalers and traders . Towards the end of the nineteenth century the British government ...