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
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... Railway . In December 1942 British Railway Telegraph Companies and Indian Line of Communication Units worked to build a line from Ahwaz to Tehran , and a battalion of Frontier Force Rifles was sent to protect them from local saboteurs ...
... Railways Engineering Corps that operated an armoured train equipped with First World War machine guns between Colombo and Mount ... Railway Personnel detachment . There was also a military role for the employees of the excise department ...
... railway to Mandalay and Lashio , and then the Burma Road opened by the British in 1937 - was the only supply line between Chiang Kai - shek's Chinese government and the outside world . The Japanese wanted to occupy Burma to sever this ...