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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... Force Northern Rhodesia Regiment MCP MPAJA Malayan People's Anti - Japanese Army NCAC NCO Non Commissioned Officer NEF NMC Native Military Corps NRR NZEF New Zealand Expeditionary Force OB OCT OKW OSS OUT RAAF Royal Australian Air Force ...
... Air Force RCN Royal Canadian Navy RFA Royal Fleet Auxiliary RIAF Royal Indian Air Force RIN Royal Indian Navy RNVR Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve RNZAF Royal New Zealand Air Force RNZN Royal New Zealand Navy RNVR RWAFF SAAF SANF Royal ...
... air and naval forces of the Dominions , India and the Colonial Empire , in supplementing British and American forces ... Force had 30,000 personnel and nine squadrons of fighter aircraft engaged in the war against Japan . The British Empire ...
... Air Force . Elsewhere , American forces and 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 ...
... force and plan for air raid precautions and scorched earth denial schemes , should war ever come to the particular ... air force growing in strength in order to meet the threat of the Luftwaffe . The armed forces of the Dominions were ...
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 |