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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... serving at the peak of the region's mobiliza- tion . East African troops were to the fore in the East Africa campaign and blockaded French Somaliland . 46,000 East Africans served in the Burma theatre , including units from Northern ...
... served across the world during the war , 7000 alone serving aboard Royal Navy vessels . New Zealand's two cruisers , HMNZS Achilles and Leander , formed the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy , though in October 1941 the Royal New ...
... served as officers in the unit . By the end of the war 11,000 out of the total population of 220,000 Fijians had served in the armed forces , including about 1900 Europeans . The peak strength was reached in August 1943 , when there ...