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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... took part in a battle with Italian forces at Soroppa at the end of March 1941 , and ' A ' company was present at the triumphal entry of British imperial forces into Addis Ababa . The rest of the battalion was employed at the time in the ...
... took place on the Australian island of New Britain in December 1943. In late 1943 landings also took place on Tarawa and Makin atolls in the British Gilbert Islands . American attention then turned to the Marshall Islands in the Central ...
... took place aboard the sloop HMAS Moresby on 11 September 1945. Australian warships were also present at the surrender in Hong Kong , and HMAS Diamantina took the surrender at Ocean Island . Two RAN corvette flotillas , each consisting ...