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 4
... camps in Galle , Clodagh and Trincomalee , with headquarters at Kandy and a supply depot at Colombo . Ceylon did not ... prison guards their prey ; on 23 February 1942 many left on board the P & O ship Orcades , and the grossly ...
... prisoner and native , endured three years of Japanese occupation . A small number of civil servants were recalled to ... prison camps in Kuching . They were joined in August 1945 by Chinese- Canadian SOE operatives who spoke Cantonese ...
... POW Camp in Cowra , New South Wales , in August 1944 ) . Perhaps a million of Australia's seven million inhabitants served in some kind of military role , from part - time civil defence volunteers to professional soldiers , and many of ...