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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... 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 derived from Enigma decrypts United Kingdom Commercial ...
... political positions that gave them an inti- mate knowledge of its affairs . Politicians from the Dominions were also naturally experienced in the affairs of Empire . Jan Christian Smuts of South Africa , the only Dominions politician to ...
... political cooperation and popular acquiescence on which the Empire had come to rest . It was always likely , once Germany , Italy and Japan attacked Britain's global position simultaneously , that the costs of defending the Empire would ...
... political and economic interests and commitments in the world . In fact there was not one adequately defended base throughout the entire Empire when judged against the scale of likely attack using modern weapons . Yet the maintenance of ...
... political or military prepa- ration , understandably , was made against these seemingly unlikely possibilities - one ... politicians and service chiefs in Britain and the Dominions were well aware of Britain's limited capacity to resist ...
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 |