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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... example , industry in Palestine was developed to supply Turkey with things such as tents , mess tins , water bottles , leather and army boots ( popularly known as ' Churchills ' ) . UKCC also went into the business of building regional ...
... example , MESC encouraged the expansion of silk production in Lebanon , for purchase by the Ministry of Supply for the manufacture of parachutes . Anti - locust operations were also of great interest to the armed forces in the Middle ...
... example , between mid - 1944 and mid - 1945 oil consumption by the armed forces in India and Ceylon was almost twice its 1943 level . Calcutta was the main oil port for Bengal , as well as the locus of much of the Raj's military ...