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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... armed with any big guns or warships it could prevent enemy's ships passing in or out of the Red Sea , just as Gibraltar with its guns and warships can stop ships using the Mediterranean . But Perim has got guns , and they are British ...
... Armed Merchant Cruiser ( AMC ) . All sorts of measures were taken to protect the precious merchant ships : AMCs met an urgent need after the Royal Navy had initially requisitioned fifty cargo and cargo - passenger liners for conversion ...
... armed forces that it wielded . Imperial defence had for long been a recognized subject of political and public debate in Britain , a fact that should not be obscured by the attention lavished in the 1930s on the specific problem of how ...
... armed forces of the Dominions were small and firmly attached to British methods , equipment and strategic thinking ; they were in practice still very much part of a British imperial military structure . Other than providing a measure of ...
... armed force was for home defence and because of the country's role as a springboard for Allied operations against neighbouring enemy territories . Enemy prisoners of war were accommodated in isolated camps and put to work . Ports 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 |