Any questions abouy the British Empire ask me

[Brit Fan]

If you want any questions about the British Empire any wars before the turn of the century then ask me and I will try and answer them for you in the quickest possible way thankyou!

[Musashi]

If you want any questions about the British Empire any wars before the turn of the century then ask me and I will try and answer them for you in the quickest possible way thankyou!

Could you write about British-Zulu war(s)?


Best regards.

[Robert Rojas]

Greetings to both citizen Brit Fan and the community as a whole. Sir, when the time avails itself, please peruse a thread entitled as WHICH COUNTRY GAVE THE BEST SOLDIERS which is located under the POLLS section of the forum. More specifically, the entry in question was posted on Wednesday - January 29, 2003 - 12:39pm and its author goes by the nom de plume of citizen Krasnaya Zvevda. I rather suspect your Anglophilic perspective will do far more justice to Mr. Zvevda's inquiry about historical role of the GURKHAS (both past AND present) than my efforts ever will. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. In anycase, I would like to bid you a wonderful day over in merry old England.

Best Regards,
Uncle Bob

[Brit Fan]

Hi Robert and thankyou for visiting my new topic. You are concerned about the role in which the Gurkhas played during this century and the present day. The Gurkhas come from the remote region of the Punjab and they are a special branch of the Army and are used in sucessful campaigns over this century also they have contributed alot to this formation of the British Empire. The Gurkhas were formed in the 1800's because there wasn't as many troops in Idnia as there was people so the British created the Indian regiments and the Gurkhas who fought along side British troops in such memorable wars as WWII and the campaign in Iran when the British with the help of the Gurkhas helped persuade the Shah that it was in his best interest to fallstall the Russians from entering the saliant of Afganistan and if they did this would threaten India. They took part in the campaign in Burma against the Japanese. They took part in the recent campaign against the Al quieda. Special operations was there speciality in the Gulf War against the Iraqi's eventhough the Empire days are long gone they still serve in the British army with rigid efficiency and disciplin.

[Javier Acuña]

They were involved in Falklands too.

[Lord Styphon]

Can you name the point that the British Empire started to go into decline?

[Robert Rojas]

Greetings to both citizen Brit Fan and the community as a whole. Building upon brother Lord Styphon's general inquiry of Thursday - February 06, 2003 - 5:55am, yours truly is also curious when and how Great Britain technically devolved from Empire into Commonwealth. I am also curious how the Commonwealth functions within the context of the contemporary European Union. This inquiry was inspired by a thread entitled as NOSTALGIA which is located within THE LOUNGE section of the forum. The author goes by the nom de plume of citizen Lord Gort and its creation date is Friday - June 21, 2002 - 2:29pm. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. I bid you a wonderful day over in merry old England - or is it merry new Euroland?

Best Regards,
Uncle Bob

[Brit Fan]

In reply to the questions asked by Robert I think that the era when the British Empire was going into decline was after WWI. The reason for this is that in the instance of the Indian Sub-continent when the British first took over the country they felt it was best that the native people be tought the proper English way and in doing this they set in motion their doom. After WWI the colonies had made a sacrifice for there mother land in the way of man and industrial power which was untapped untill the war came about. Ever since the British had acquiered an Empire they came to find out that the Empire cost more to maintain and therefore had concentrate more trade to those areas. So after WWII the first colony to go was India which under the leadership of Mohat Ma ghandi got there freedom. When the other colonies followed the all formed a commonwealth which would benefit the countries involed and would secure technology and financial aid for the parties.

[Galahad]

Corelli Barnett disagrees. In his classic work, The Swordbearers, he says that the British Empire was already in decline by the time of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and cites considerable evidence to back the statement up.

[FL Jim]

Question:

What contributions to the war effort in World War II were made by Britain's African colonies such as Kenya, Nigeria, Rhodesia, Tangyanika, Sierra Leone, etc. Not only in terms of military manpower but war materiel, natural resources, food.

The reason I ask is that that a few years ago I saw a movie--a murder mystery--that took place in Kenya during World War II (I can't remember the title). The impression it gave was that for most, especially the British who were living in Africa, the war and the suffering of Britain itself was remote and life was much more comfortable---no food rationing, for instance. Was this an accurate picture or just a film maker's own perception?

[Brit Fan]

The African colonies were involed in the war against Italy in Ethiopia and in Eritrea where they were sucessful also some african units were used in the El Alamein with the troops from the other colonies for example Australia and India. I think that the film did portray an acurate picture of what life was like in the colonies, but for one thing they were worked very hard in the way of producing men and material and they contributed alot to the winning of the war.

[Aufklarung]

Brit Fan
How would you estimate the level of complicity, if any, in the English command influence over the Cdns for the Dieppe raid?
Regards
A

[Daniel S.]

'Why did the British use reversed soupbowls instead of helmets in both wars?' someone asked on your other topic.He was refering to ugly design of the British helmet during the WW I&II-why didn't the Brits have a modern designed helmet like Americans or Germans?

Regards,
Daniel

[Brit Fan]

This is regards to the question of the complicity of the British command of the British commandos in the Dieppe RAID. The answer to your question is that yes their was alot of complacency between the commanders of the units in the Dieppe raid its just that the High command didn't know about the strength of the force of the Germans on the ground when they arrived.

[Aufklarung]

So you do not see a British need to go on with the raid with compromised security and not tell the Cdns?
Regards
A