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
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... effort to reach that pitch of power , led ultimately to the Empire's demise . The British Empire had had opportunities to rehearse for truly global warfare on numerous occasions since the Seven Years ' War , and to develop an adminis ...
... effort of India and the Dominions dominate accounts of the Second World War that give space to the imperial contribution . This is not surprising . Their contribution to the war effort , by virtue of their size and resources , was the ...
... effort , many Amer- icans identified with Britain's cause long before their country entered the war , some to the extent of joining the British armed forces . American pilots were to be found flying in Malta and Singapore as well as in ...
... effort depended . The British government and its web of overseas officials expected the Empire to pull together in one direction , and made every effort to ensure that this was the case . A global strategic awareness was second nature ...
... effort , spreadeagled as its territories and its fighting fronts were . By September 1943 Ferry Command had brought ... effort . Britain had never really contemplated the enormous scale of the war effort that it would demand from the ...
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 |