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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... fight the war . Malta had been a British colony since the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , and the Mediterranean ... fighting the Japanese and aiding American forces . The Fourteenth Army , which consisted of Indians from every corner ...
... fight both a Euro- pean and an Asian war simultaneously after 1941 , and all of its overseas territories were called upon to help defeat the powers that sought to overturn the interna- tional system of which Britain had been the prime ...
... fight without men from the territories of the Empire and Commonwealth either by their side or forming the vital rear echelon units supporting them - fought major campaigns in regions where the Empire had grown and therefore had to be ...
... fighting and some territo- ries in the Far East endured three years of Japanese occupation . The Indian province of Assam witnessed devastating battles between imperial and Japanese forces in 1944. Senior officers visiting Malta often ...
... fight a global war for national and imperial survival . Unfortunately , this peace - craving country , disarming rapidly for reasons of economy , domestic politics and international stability , was faced in Europe and Asia by three ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
21 | |
41 | |
5 The Atlantic | 53 |
6 The Caribbean | 77 |
7 The Mediterranean | 97 |
8 Iraq Iran and Syria | 145 |
11 The Islands of the Indian Ocean | 307 |
12 India and Burma | 351 |
13 SouthEast Asia and the Far East | 405 |
14 Australia and New Zealand | 463 |
15 The Pacific | 513 |
16 Epilogue | 525 |
Notes | 535 |
Bibliography | 561 |