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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... Singapore - can't quite understand why we are doing so badly ' , wrote the Chief of the Imperial General Staff ... Singapore naval base from which they were supposed to operate in order to see off the enemy , the whole point of the ...
... Singapore . He was to go as an observer and report on the situation and what could be done to improve it . It has been suggested that he was sent to Singapore as a political exile , keeping him out of the way at a time when Churchill ...
... Singapore strategy and the fall of Singapore . Two of the latest are Alan Warren , Singapore , 1942 : Britain's Greatest Defeat ( London , 2002 ) , and Colin Smith , Singapore Burning : Heroism and Surrender in World War Two ( Lon- don ...