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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... West Africa was directly linked to other regions and theatres of war to the Battle of the Atlantic , to the Middle East and East African theatres and to the war in Burma . West Africa was one of the Empire's most valuable sources of tin ...
... West African troops underwent intensive training in bush and desert conditions along the Kenya- Italian Somaliland border . The first West African unit into battle was the 1st Gold Coast Regiment , in action at El Wak on the Kenya ...
... West Africa , including 5000 at Accra Air Base Camp and 1200 at Kano in Northern Nigeria . The RAF recruited 10,000 West Africans for ground duties on its base installa- tions in the Gold Coast , Nigeria , Sierra Leone and the Gambia in ...