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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... became Governor of Sicily ; Gerneral Sir Henry Maitland Wilson earlier in the war became Military Governor of Cyrenaica . Southern Persia was occupied by the British , and bases were established in territories such as Iceland , the ...
... became springboards for offensive Allied 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 ...
... became war zones . All the stops were pulled out to increase agricultural production , to produce more raw materials and minerals , and to construct the air strips , barracks , bases , hospitals , internee camps , port facilities ...
... became home to hundreds of thousands of American troops , as the war raged in nearby Pacific territories ; and Ceylon became a surprisingly important base for operations in the Indian Ocean and South - East Asia following the loss of ...
... became vital to imperial exchange and military supply , and self - sufficiency became the overriding preoccupation of colonial governments the world over . The shipyards of America , Australia , Britain and Canada worked tirelessly to ...
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 |