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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... Operations Executive South Pacific Area SPS Sudan Political Service STS SWPA TJFF UDF ULTRA UKCC USAAF Special Training School ( SOE ) South West Pacific Area Trans - Jordan Frontier Force Union Defence Force Intelligence material ...
... operations launched from little - known imperial bases . The names of Alamein and Malta , Singapore and Tobruk are familiar , but there were also imperial campaigns in Abyssinia , Borneo , Iran , Iraq , Java , Kenya , Mada- gascar , New ...
... operations in neighbouring regions and bases for special forces engaged in espionage , sabo- tage and operations behind enemy lines . Familiar features of the British war effort , such as the intelligence - gathering operations centred ...
... Operational control of all merchant shipping was handed directly to the Admiralty , and responsibility for the ... operations like ' Pedestal ' and its many predecessors were mounted at great cost to keep Malta in the fight and to ...
... Operation Sealion , the invasion of Britain itself . Five immediate imperial rami- fications of the fall of France were ... operations against hostile forces in the Caucasus ; and the use of Indo - China as a base for Japan's attack on ...
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 |