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
Results 1-3 of 86
... military recruitment . The army was able to avoid conscription for all but the least popular military unit , the EAMLS , which contained an estimated 10,000 conscripts in 1943. Its tasks included hard - graft jobs like stevedoring ...
... military recruitment was really a demonstration of settler power in the Legislative Council , for the bottom line was that settlers depended on cheap African labour . Some historians have suggested that East Africans did not join the ...
... military formations for combat , defence and labour tasks . Pacific Islanders also provided invaluable labour for Allied military operations ; and , under occupation , they were called upon to do the same for the Japanese . By mid- 1944 ...