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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... ports . The Arabian Sea was one of the most popular venues for enemy submarine activity , for the waters off Aden were traversed by important sea lanes for vessels bound to and from Indian ports , and from the Red Sea and the Persian ...
... ports by land operations were intercepted , troops were ferried along the African coast or transported to and from ports like Berbera and Aden , and a special Red Sea Dhow Patrol was constituted to counter contraband smuggling in the ...
... ports became central to the import of goods either no longer available from eastern sources , or unable to use eastern ports because of their proximity to the enemy . With the Bay of Bengal dominated by the Japanese , more of the supply ...