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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... Merchant Navy ( and imperial offshoots like the Royal Australian Navy and the Canadian Merchant Navy ) were inextricably bound up with the British . Empire . This was particularly the case during the Second World War . Previous wars had ...
... merchant shipping because of the threat of the Italian fleet , German U - boats and land - based Axis bombers . The Royal Navy had a naval base of its own at Simonstown , and South Africa's other ports , notably Cape Town and Durban ...
... merchant cruisers . Late in the war Australian naval forces served with the British Pacific Fleet during the closing stages of the assault on Japan . Finally , the surrender of the 3235 - strong Japanese garrison of Dutch Timor took ...