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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... responsibility and thus a part of the Colonial Empire . This Colonial Empire consisted primarily of Crown Colonies and ... responsible for maintaining numerous ' British ' interests in areas such as Burma , the Persian Gulf , Nepal and ...
... responsible for secu- rity , recruitment , military formations and military infrastructure in Abyssinia , British Somaliland , Eritrea , Italian Somaliland , Kenya , Northern Rhodesia , Nyasa- land , Tanganyika , Uganda and Zanzibar ...
... responsible for training his special forces . His outfit , known as Gideon Force and comprising about 1600 men from the Frontier Battalion of the SDF , assorted British personnel and Abyssinian regulars and irregulars , succeeded in ...