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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... U - boat attack , one between Cape Hatteras in the American state of North ... boats had sunk 330,000 tons of merchant shipping without loss . On 16 ... U - boats until the middle of 1943. This led the USAAF Anti- Submarine Command to ...
... U - boats in the northern Indian Ocean - the Monsoon group - would have a telling effect . Only five of the ten U - boats sent out from Europe reached their destination , however , to take up their positions in September 1943. The ...
... German submarines hunting British merchant vessels in the Arabian Sea would soon need refuelling . In that month Brake , the other German supply ship , rendezvoused with U - 188 , U - 532 and U - 168 , and Eastern Fleet headquarters ...