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. |
From inside the book
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... Merchant Cruiser ANZAC AOC APC Australia and New Zealand Army Corps Air Officer Commanding African Pioneer Corps APL Aden Protectorate Levies ARP Air Raid Precautions BAAG British Army Aid Group BEATS British Empire Air Training Scheme ...
... merchant marine was depleted , consumers were severed from sources of supply , and overseas assets were liquidated . All of the Axis powers had imperial ambitions . Japan's shopping list included the Dutch East Indies , the Philippines ...
... Merchant Navy and the Royal Navy , criss - crossing the world's oceans and steaming into the ports upon which the very survival of the British cause and the independence of the British people rested . In 1939 most Britons saw the Empire ...
... Merchant Navy and transported goods around the Empire , and nearly forty American - built escort carriers loaned to the Royal Navy gave Britain a surfeit of vessels in that class by the end of the war . In all America supplied Britain ...
... merchant vessels worked alongside British forces before December 1941 , for example in patrolling the Atlantic and in shipping supplies around the Cape to the ports of the Sudan and Egypt . American forces took over the operation of air ...
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 |