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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... units drawn from Northern Rhodesia , Nyasaland , Somaliland and Southern Rhodesia ) . An example of expansion and far - flung deployment may be offered in the form of the 22 ( East Africa ) Infantry Brigade . Formed on 19 September 1939 ...
... units , acted as secu- rity forces in volatile places like Egypt and Palestine , trained as clerks , craftsmen , drivers , medical orderlies , map - makers , firemen and military policemen , built roads , telegraph lines , bailey ...
... units in the Middle East and Southern Europe . From 1941 the War Office and Admiralty took command of locally - raised military and naval units in the colonies , and began to meet their costs . Of the 26,000 Ceylonese enrolled in ...