Q&A
Professor Ashley Jackson explains how Britain’s imperial colonies had their unique experiences of WWII
At the time of World War II, Britain still had a large empire, can these countries be said to have had ‘home fronts’ of their own?
Absolutely. The ‘home front’ is a reified cultural presence in Britain; to ensure the kind of capture of the war’s imperial dimensions that our national history needs, we should extend the concept across the Empire. For example, when we think of the Blitz here in Britain, we might simultaneously think of the destruction visited upon Malta, the decimation of Rangoon, the bombing (by both sides) of British Pacific islands or Singapore, and the enormous civil defence efforts in India, blackout, ARP tin hats, stirrup pumps, and all. We can do this with all sorts of familiar British home front themes – contemplating the rationing that extended across the entire empire, the food demonstration vans helping people adjust to new staples in Kenya or Mauritius, the shortages of non-essential (and sometimes essential) goods. Similarly, the colonial home front featured the regimentation of life, as military service and civilian defence work, hospital work, charitable work for war causes, military construction work and the like affected every territory, along with the presence of armed forces, friend and foe, including in some territories American GIs and airmen, with their money and largesse. Urbanisation was spurred by war. Inf lation, ‘dig for victory’ and ‘careless talk costs lives’ style initiatives and information campaigns, posters, newspapers, and radio propaganda – they were all highly significant on the home front in every British overseas territory. The war touched everything.
How did the conditions in these overseas territories differ from those of the UK? Did they experience rationing for example, or air raids?
There were similarities – rationing, inf lation, cost of living increases, people in uniform on the streets, recruitment for civil and military work even in rural areas. There were evacuations from bomb or bombardment-threatened areas. Gibraltar’s civilian population was moved out; India faced the horror of famine; and Pacific islands were devastated by intense combat and bombing from both sides, spawning all sorts of environmental issues – discarded ordnance, use of coral reefs for runways, introduction of pests, the clearance of trees, and so on.
Did any of these home fronts have situations that were unique to these areas? Can you give me some examples?
Yes they certainly did. Some colonies were conquered by t
