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Total war

First World War

In 1917 a British tank crosses a trench on the Western Front.

The merchant ship 'SS Ardendearg' sinks after being hit by a German submarine.

The Camel Corps, deployed on guerilla operations in Egypt and Palestine in 1918, was made up of diverse commonwealth troops.

Second World War: Britain and Northern Europe

May 1940, British troops await evacuation on the beach at Dunkirk.

Boulton Paul Defiants - fighter aircraft with rear-facing gun turrets. These were used on front-line operations until 1942.

An American B-17 bomber - the Flying Fortress - flies over the burning Focke-Wulf factory at Marienburg (Malbork) in Poland.

Royal Marine commando troops wade ashore in the D-day Normandy landings in June 1944.

Devastation from a bombing raid in Poplar, east London.

Second World War: The Mediterranean and Far East

In April 1942 a Royal Navy cruiser fires at Italian naval vessels. A smoke screen covers the convoy's passage to Malta.

On the first day of the invasion of Sicily, troops from a landing craft dash ashore.

Sikh troops of the 19th Indian Division at Fort Dufferin, Mandalay in March 1945.

Allied Soldier at Yenangyaung oilfields.

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