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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... months of that year , seventy - three American tankers had been sunk , a third of them off the eastern seaboard ( in the same period sixty - eight British tankers had gone down in the Atlantic ) . By November 1942 270 ships had been ...
... months before the start of war with Japan . Illustrating the great strategic and economic importance of South - East ... month before the imminent Japanese attack forced his evacuation . He was in Singapore long enough , however , to ...
... months in London hoping to be able to better put Australia's case , though there is little evidence that his presence , though reassuring to the British public , made much difference , except to damage his standing with politicians back ...