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"India and Burma had no natural assocation with the Empire, from which they are alien by race, history and relihion, and for which assuch neither of them have any natural affection , and both are in the Empire becuse they are conquered countries which have been brouht their by force, kept there by our controls, and which hiterto it has suited to remain under our protection. I suspect that the moment they think that we may lose the war or take a bad knock, their leaders would be much more concerned to mke terms with the victors at our expens than to fight for the ideals to which so much lip service is given ...."
-- Lord linlithgow. Viceroy, May 15, 1941
Asia was an especially important part of the British Empire, the reason that Suez was so important to the British war effort. And the most important was India which at the time included Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Administered separately was Burma. Also important was Malaya (rubber and tin) and Borneo (oil). The naval base at Singapore was believed to be impregnable was built to safe guard Britain's position in Asia. Italy was vital early n the War. It unlikely that Britain could not have held Suez or retaken East Africa without the Indian Army. It was a force in being while Britain was still mobilizing it army to hold the Britain itself (1940). Over 2.5 million soldiers fought in the War. After Pearl Harbor (December 1941), the Indian Army was the largest component of the British 14th Army that defended India and retook Burma as part of the CBI. India was also became the base for American operations to get supplies to China by flying The Hump s the Japanese had cut the Burma Road. Britain had granted India Home Rule in the 1930s. The Indian National Congress, demanded independence before it would help Britain. 【Broad】
Borneo was alarge island sharted with the Netherlands Abtilles . It was imprtant because of oil.
Burma bordered on India, but was administered seoarately
China of curse was not part of the British Empire. Nationalist China had been dismantling the treart port system. his is why the Nationalits wre at first seen as a revoltionary force. By the time of World War II, however,. thissysem had been reduced basically to Hong Kong and Shanghai. This might have been an issue , bu Japanese aggressveness changed British Far Eastern policies, especially after the Japanese sized Manchuria (1931). Abd then after Japan invadd China proper the ports fell to the Japanese. Britain did not see Nationaliost China as a major power as meiva dis, but there was no doubt that Jpanwas bogged down in Chia which severely limited the forces that Japan could deploy to other theaters. And asJapan seized Chines ports and than French Indo-Cgina, the oly way of supoplying Chia wasver the Burma Road.
Asia was an especially important part of the British Empire, the reason that Suez was so important to the British war effort. And the most important was India which at the time included Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. . India was vital early n the War. It unlikely that Britain could not have held Suez or retaken East Africa without the Indian Army. It was a force in being while Britain was still mobilizing it army to hold the Britain itself (1940). Over 2.5 million soldiers fought in the War. After Pearl Harbor (December 1941), the Indian Army was the largest component of the British 14th Army that defended India and retook Burma as part of the CBI. India was also became the base for American operations to get supplies to China by flying The Hump s the Japanese had cut the Burma Road. Britain had granted India Home Rule in the 1930s. The Indian National Congress, demanded independence before it would help Britain. 【Broad】
The British Government refused the demand. Churchill was not looking forward to independence after the War. Congress as a result launched the 'Quit India' (August 1942) Britain imprisoned some of thousands of its leaders. The Indian Army remained loyal. The financial, industrial and military assistance of India formed a crucial component of the British campaign against NAZI Germany and Imperial Japan. 【Weigold】 India's strategic location at the tip of the Indian Ocean, its large production of armaments..
India, while not heavily industrialized, had a substantial industrial sector and a huge light-industrial sector. India as a result produced small arms and armaments in large quantities. India also was a source of a wide range of supplies for British and Commonwealth forces as well as the British home front. India did not only assist the war effort militarily, but also with supplies, including timber, leather, textiles, coal, iron ore, steel and other products. While these supplies were limited compared to American Lend lease, they were substantial, in Empire terms. One source says that Indian shipments to Britain were the largest of any Empire constituent. I thought that Canada was, but do not yet have hard data. Indian shipments to Britain were undeniably substantial given the size of the Indian economy and the low per-capita income. We find that Indians, however, tend to over estimate their material support of Britain, we think a reflection of the prevailing anti-British sentiment in India. One Indian historian writes that during World War II that the "colony's entire output of timber, woolen textiles and leather goods, as well as three quarter of its steel and cement, were diverted to the defense of the British Empire. India was, next to Britain, the largest contributor to the Empire's war. 【Mukerjee】
Also important was Malaya (rubber and tin). a.
The naval base at Singapore was believed to be impregnable was built to safe guard Britain's position in Asia.
Broad, Roger. Volunteers and Pressed Men: How Britain and its Empire Raised its Forces in Two World Wars (Fonthill Media: 2017).
Mukerjee, Madhusree. Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India during World War II. The author here refer's to World War II as 'the defense of the British Empire' and the the 'Empire's War'. There seems to be no recognition of the terrible crimes of the Axis countries and murder in the tens of millions. The liberation of the suffering, starving people of occupied Europe and China and the end of genocide or simply glanced over. Nor does Mukerjee even consider what a NAZI or Japanese occupation of India have meant for the country and ndian people.
Weigold, Auriol. Churchill, Roosevelt and India: Propaganda During World War II (Taylor & Francis: 2008).
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