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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... organization came into existence at a time when the shipping crisis had reached a peak . The Ministry of War Transport was responsible for the creation of MESC , a regional system of economic planning with its own bureaucracy and ...
... organization within the OB called the Stormjaers ) . Cutting telegraph wires , inter- fering with railway lines and destroying post offices were means of drawing forces away from the war effort in order to guard strategic positions ...
... Organization : The Mobile Propaganda Unit , East Africa Command ' , African Affairs ( January 1945 ) . Gerald Douds , " " Matters of Honour " : Indian Troops in the North African and Italian Theatres ' , in Paul Addison and Angus Calder ...