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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... production for domestic consumption and aim for food self - sufficiency . This was a problem , for like Britain , many colonies were import - dependent . Given the widespread practice of subsistence agriculture in Africa , colonies ...
... Production Committee's were established to encourage Africans to produce more for their own consump- tion . As in ... Production Committees were able to conscript labour , and by the end of 1942 their labour gangs , together with BEATS ...
... production greatly increased during the war , particularly for export to Britain . 28,000 tons of tinned fruit and 25,000 tons of jam arrived on British tables from South Africa's food processing industry . Meat production increased as ...