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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... early stages before American power and resources had been fully mobilized and deployed to the South - West Pacific . Many British territories in the Pacific as well as in South - East Asia fell to the Japanese , and , though tied down ...
... early so that the fleet would be available for dispatch to the Far East if Japan declared war . Unfortunately for the British , although Italy was being destroyed as a political and military power in Africa during the winter of 1940-41 ...
... early 1941 to stiffen Mussolini's forces , had been designed and manufactured for use by a new German colonial army that it was thought would soon be needed when French and British colonies began to fall like ripe fruits from the ...
... early twentieth century the Dominions had become increasingly preoccupied with regional security concerns and Britain's increasing inability to meet them - whatever the promise of battle fleets and fortress bases . Since the end of the ...
... Early in the war these imperial sources of armaments were vital at ' a time when a few million rounds of small arms ammunition from India or Australia meant more to us than all the later billions from North America'.4 Britain , however ...
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 |