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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... Naval Volunteer Reserve RNZAF Royal New Zealand Air Force RNZN Royal New Zealand Navy RNVR RWAFF SAAF SANF Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve RNVR - SA Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve South Africa RPC Royal Pioneer Corps Royal West African ...
... naval task forces , and plans were made to base British soldiers in Australia and RAF bombers on Okinawa so that ... naval operations and was a major naval battlefield by virtue of its vital sea routes . These connected Britain to ...
... naval disarmament followed the Armistice . The Western Front millions , and their comrades who had fought in imperial theatres such as East Africa and the Sinai peninsula , went back to civvie street and the British Army returned to its ...
... naval disarmament saw the size of warships limited and their numbers cut , the RAF was by the 1930s being prioritized by politicians increasingly concerned about the potential of enemy bombers to wreak havoc on Britain's major ports and ...
... naval base . This was a huge problem , because , although militarily it had slipped down the ranks , Britain was still the major imperial power in the region and had the biggest commercial and financial stake there . This waning of ...
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 |