Local defence forces in the Empire

Extract from a Colonial Office pamphlet (1943) called ‘Colonies and the War: Sixty Million of Us’ with a diagram showing strength of local defence forces in the Colonial Empire, Catalogue ref: CO 875/15/12/f34)

Other countries suffered from bombing raids and the threat of invasion during the Second World War. Many countries of the Colonial Empire at that time and other nations associated with the Allies came under attack.

One of the first countries to experience heavy bombing was Malta, a British colony. The Italians and Germans wanted to stop the island from being used as a military base by the Allied powers and started a bombing campaign in 1940. As a tribute to its bravery, the King awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942.

Australia also came under attack from Japan. In February 1942 a force led by Vice-Admiral Kondo attacked the port of Darwin. As a result of attacks like these, many countries thought they could be invaded. To protect themselves they set up local defence forces and other organisations such as Air Raid Precautions units.

Transcript

Local Defence Forces on Guard throughout the Colonial Empire

Bermuda West Indies Central and South America

From Bermuda in the north down to British Guiana on the mainland of South America is a string of British territories which guard the Atlantic approaches to the Panama Canal, one of the focal points of Anglo-American sea power.

East, West and Central Africa

Nigeria and the other territories of British West Africa have become an essential half-way house on the sea-air supply routes linking Britain and the United States with the Middle East. Similarly, the territories of British East Africa form a link between the Union of South Africa and the Mediterranean front, and guard the East African coast fronting the Indian Ocean. Here, Allied sea power will be essential in future attacks upon the Japanese.

Mediterranean and Ceylon

Gibraltar, Malta and Cyprus, hard-pressed points of defence when our hold on the Mediterranean was precarious, are springboards for attack against Germany’s “European fortress.”

Ceylon, a vital strategic point, faces Japan in the East.

Return to Home Front 1939-1945 (part one)