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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... theatres by imperial forces , all of which were dependent upon sea power and Britain's capacity to move food , goods , munitions and troops from one side of the world to the other . The campaigns in the Mediterranean and in Malaya were ...
... theatre . The territories of the Empire and Commonwealth played a notable part in fighting the Japanese and aiding ... theatres , the British had every intention of returning to * When considering the ethnic composition of the ' British ...
... theatres . The Dutch contributed significantly , if vainly , to the defence of Malaya and British Borneo ; Polish servicemen fought in Iran , Iraq , West Africa and the Western Desert , as well as in the Battle of Britain ; and Free ...
... theatre commanders . * Generals like Alan Brooke , Claude Auchinleck , Bernard Mont- gomery , William Slim and Archibald Wavell had decades of imperial service between them , as had admirals Andrew Cunningham , Dudley Pound and James ...
... theatre had to make do with Hurricanes battered in the fighting over Britain and France . By 1939 there was an alarming lack of armed force to protect what was still the largest conglomeration of political and economic interests and ...
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 |