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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... Ocean as imperial losses mounted , large oil stocks being lost , for example , on the surrender of Singa- pore , and oil stocks and future supplies ... Indian Ocean were considered a menace by Churchill and the South THE INDIAN OCEAN 273.
... Indian Ocean islands and in the Middle East , and similar units were also recruited in the Seychelles . Ceylon ... Indian Ocean region existed on the ocean's rim . India Command , and from its creation in 1943 , South East Asia Command ...
... Indian Ocean 1. A. Danchev and D. Todman ( eds ) , War Diaries , 1939–1945 : Field Marshal Lord Alan- brooke , diary entry 14 April 1942 . 2. Alfred North - Coombes , The Island of Rodrigues ( Port Louis , 1971 ) . 3. See Ashley Jackson ...