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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... Ceylon for the use of SOE men destined for Malaya . SOE's fourth main training establishment in the region , an Advanced Operations School , was located on an island near Trincomalee , and SOE stores and ammunition supplies were ...
... Ceylon . Ceylon was a stop - off for troops crossing from Australasia to the Middle East and Europe , and a rest , training and acclimatization base for those destined to fight the Japanese in Burma . Units in Ceylon included the 16th ...
... Ceylon Defence Force ( CDF ) , which had numbered 2300 in 1938 . The CDF was rapidly expanded after Japan entered the war and an attack on Ceylon seemed likely . It included the Ceylon Light Infantry ( five battalions ) , the Ceylon ...