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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... Empire ' or ' the Empire ' are used where appro- priate , though the sophistication ' the Empire and Commonwealth ' is used when writing specifically of the Dominions as well as the rest of the Empire . This is for the sake of easy ...
... Empire and Commonwealth also provided 39 per cent of the RAF's aircrew.32 During the war , army commands across the Empire coordinated the fighting and the logistics needed to sustain it on land . This required labour and supplies from ...
... Imperial and Commonwealth History , 18 ( 1990 ) . - , ' The Egyptian Base and the Defence of the Middle East ' , Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History , 21 ( 1993 ) . David Killingray , " " If I Fight for Them , Maybe Then I Can ...