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. |
From inside the book
Results 6-10 of 72
... Iraq , New Zealanders attempted to repel German paratroops in Crete , Scottish troops looked out upon Japanese positions on the Chinese main- land , Canadian seamen hunted U - boats off Iceland , and Basotho muleteers brought wounded ...
... Iraq and Iran were inde- pendent countries that Britain invaded in order to strengthen its position against the Germans , to defend essential oilfields and refineries , and to enable Anglo- American supplies to reach Russia . Apart from ...
... Iraq and the Japanese in Burma , before occupying Malaya and disarming the Japanese garrison on Java . Australian and New Zealand troops served in the Pacific and the Middle East . South Africans fought in the Middle East and East ...
... Iraq Command and South East Asia Command . Established in 1939 , MEC was an overarching structure uniting the commands in Egypt , Palestine , Jordan and the Sudan . It was also responsible for Malta and Cyprus . It was then extended to ...
... Iraq , Egypt , Aden , India , Palestine , Singapore and elsewhere , but early in the war the squadrons there consisted of largely obsolete aircraft . In the inter - war period , the RAF had been seen in some quarters as a cheap way 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 |