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Our War: How the British Commonwealth Fought the Second World War
Never heard before real stories of soldiers who fought in WW2
'Extraordinary ...If they had not made our war their war also, victory might not have come in 1945' DAILY TELEGRAPH
In this powerful and moving narrative, Christopher Somerville skilfully links personal testimonies to present an epic which embraces comedy and tragedy, pride and degradation, close comradeship and stark racial prejudice, devotion to the benign Mother Country and a burning desire to see the back of her.
Many of the veterans had never previously talked of their experiences, even to close loved ones. They cover such topics as attitudes to Britain before and after the war, why Commonwealth citizens offered to fight, and how some volunteers were inspired by their wartime service while others were thoroughly disillusioned. The result is a rare and faithful memoir to the five million Commonwealth citizens who fought for the Allies and the 170,000 who died or went missing.
'Extraordinary ...If they had not made our war their war also, victory might not have come in 1945' DAILY TELEGRAPH
In this powerful and moving narrative, Christopher Somerville skilfully links personal testimonies to present an epic which embraces comedy and tragedy, pride and degradation, close comradeship and stark racial prejudice, devotion to the benign Mother Country and a burning desire to see the back of her.
Many of the veterans had never previously talked of their experiences, even to close loved ones. They cover such topics as attitudes to Britain before and after the war, why Commonwealth citizens offered to fight, and how some volunteers were inspired by their wartime service while others were thoroughly disillusioned. The result is a rare and faithful memoir to the five million Commonwealth citizens who fought for the Allies and the 170,000 who died or went missing.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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30 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Somerville
85 books14 followersChristopher Somerville is a travel writer & 'Walking Correspondent' of The Times. His long-running ‘A Good Walk’ series appears every Saturday in the Times Weekend section. He has written some 40 books, many about his travels on foot in various parts of the world
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 2, 2023
I read the Kindle edition of this book, and I think it’s worth me mentioning that it contains quite a lot of typing errors. Normally I accept one or two typos, but the number that were present in this edition gave the impression of a shoddy piece of work. To provide just one example, on two occasions the word “burns” was mistyped as “bums”, which was a little unfortunate. Not really the author’s fault though.
Another aspect that struck me was that the author seemed a little hazy on the legal status of the six white-ruled “Dominions” – Australia, Canada, Éire/The Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa – during the inter-war period, variously describing them as “largely autonomous” or as “fully autonomous communities with the Empire”. The 1931 Statute of Westminster had recognised these six countries as equal to Britain and to each other, and that no law enacted at Westminster applied to them. They were all members of the League of Nations in their own right. Most historians would argue that Canada, Éire, and South Africa were independent nations after 1931, though the position was slightly more complicated with the other three. There were other historical interpretations in the book that I disagreed with, though in fairness this book is intended more as an oral history, related by participants in the conflict.
The author comments that around 5 million people from the Empire and Commonwealth served in WW2, compared to around six million from Britain itself, so there can little doubt about the importance of the contribution. Much of the text is taken with up with descriptions of combat experience. Whilst always vivid reading, these descriptions don’t differ from other wartime accounts. What interested me were the particular viewpoints brought by the Empire and Commonwealth citizens. There are contributions in this book from veterans from Canada, Australia, NZ, SA, India, and various colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean.
The author comments that many of the Dominion citizens had a “hazily romantic” view of Britain prior to 1939, usually given to them by British born parents and grandparents, or other relatives. Curiously to modern readers, even those who volunteered from the dependent colonies seemed to have viewed themselves as part of a family of nations, and in most of the Empire there seems to have been respect for the British Royal Family.
We all know that the Empire was already starting to fall apart by the 1930s, but the author contends that the stresses of the war blew it apart altogether. In this it followed the pattern of many wars, in hastening changes that would have happened anyway, but more slowly. Partly this came from Britain’s greatly weakened economic situation after the war, partly from the loss of prestige caused by catastrophic defeats such as that at Singapore. The racial discrimination of the period also came under pressure. Soldiers from the African colonies had poorer pay and conditions than their British counterparts, but serving in the war gave those troops a sense of injustice, that their sacrifices entitled them to equal treatment. It took less than 20 years from the end of the war for the British Empire to disappear almost entirely.
I found this a decent though not an exceptional book.
Another aspect that struck me was that the author seemed a little hazy on the legal status of the six white-ruled “Dominions” – Australia, Canada, Éire/The Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa – during the inter-war period, variously describing them as “largely autonomous” or as “fully autonomous communities with the Empire”. The 1931 Statute of Westminster had recognised these six countries as equal to Britain and to each other, and that no law enacted at Westminster applied to them. They were all members of the League of Nations in their own right. Most historians would argue that Canada, Éire, and South Africa were independent nations after 1931, though the position was slightly more complicated with the other three. There were other historical interpretations in the book that I disagreed with, though in fairness this book is intended more as an oral history, related by participants in the conflict.
The author comments that around 5 million people from the Empire and Commonwealth served in WW2, compared to around six million from Britain itself, so there can little doubt about the importance of the contribution. Much of the text is taken with up with descriptions of combat experience. Whilst always vivid reading, these descriptions don’t differ from other wartime accounts. What interested me were the particular viewpoints brought by the Empire and Commonwealth citizens. There are contributions in this book from veterans from Canada, Australia, NZ, SA, India, and various colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean.
The author comments that many of the Dominion citizens had a “hazily romantic” view of Britain prior to 1939, usually given to them by British born parents and grandparents, or other relatives. Curiously to modern readers, even those who volunteered from the dependent colonies seemed to have viewed themselves as part of a family of nations, and in most of the Empire there seems to have been respect for the British Royal Family.
We all know that the Empire was already starting to fall apart by the 1930s, but the author contends that the stresses of the war blew it apart altogether. In this it followed the pattern of many wars, in hastening changes that would have happened anyway, but more slowly. Partly this came from Britain’s greatly weakened economic situation after the war, partly from the loss of prestige caused by catastrophic defeats such as that at Singapore. The racial discrimination of the period also came under pressure. Soldiers from the African colonies had poorer pay and conditions than their British counterparts, but serving in the war gave those troops a sense of injustice, that their sacrifices entitled them to equal treatment. It took less than 20 years from the end of the war for the British Empire to disappear almost entirely.
I found this a decent though not an exceptional book.
July 29, 2013
Our War by Christopher Somerville offers a refreshing and different view of the Second World War. For most people of the British Commonwealth be it Australians like myself or from the far flung reaches of Africa most accounts concentrate on England, America, German, Japan or Russia. I would think that many people who read this book would be surprised at the number of Countries of the old Empire/Commonwealth who supplied men and women to help in the war effort.
The author also attempts to show how racism reared its ugly head at times and the effects on the men involved. I throughly enjoyed this book, it had accounts from sailors, airmen, soldiers and female volunteers from many varied and different countries of the Commonwealth.
I was surprised by some of the nations who supplied men to fight in Italy and in the skies above England and Europe. The book also made me sad at times, for the lives lost and wasted in this terrible conflict. I would recommend this book for anyone of the old Commonwealth who would like to see what their country-men did for their nation during WW2 or for any reader who enjoys a good book on the Second World War. An excellent account!
The author also attempts to show how racism reared its ugly head at times and the effects on the men involved. I throughly enjoyed this book, it had accounts from sailors, airmen, soldiers and female volunteers from many varied and different countries of the Commonwealth.
I was surprised by some of the nations who supplied men to fight in Italy and in the skies above England and Europe. The book also made me sad at times, for the lives lost and wasted in this terrible conflict. I would recommend this book for anyone of the old Commonwealth who would like to see what their country-men did for their nation during WW2 or for any reader who enjoys a good book on the Second World War. An excellent account!
September 23, 2021
A very interesting part of the war's history I knew very little about . Many history books seem to brush aside the important part the commonwealth countries played in the outcome of the war & this book brings it back into focus . well worth a read .
November 26, 2024
Interesting book; some the narrative history is lacking and based in cliché from what I can tell, but the oral history is where this book shines. This is a monumental work that opened my eyes in a lot of ways to things that are simply not talked about enough. The testimonies were moving and altogether I learnt a lot. The biggest takeaway is that “it’s complicated”, as with most things I suppose.
The contribution of African and Caribbean soldiers and airmen particularly stuck with me; I had no idea there were Jamaican bombardiers and pilots with the RAF, for a start. I knew that Africans fought extensively, particularly in Burma, but that is brushed over considerably by British people. Strikingly, it feels like the multiethnic nature of the Commonwealth/Empire’s WW2 experience was brushed under the rug after the war only to be rediscovered very recently. Unfortunately many in Britain (and Australia it seems) don’t seem to understand that.
I was also struck by a little note in an anecdote, of a Canadian POW who spent the war in Hong Kong saying he was told by an Australian commando that they had slaughtered every surrendered Japanese soldier in the city. This is something I want to know more about; if it is a misunderstanding of what I read (or what this Canadian was told) or a war crime, who knows?
The contribution of African and Caribbean soldiers and airmen particularly stuck with me; I had no idea there were Jamaican bombardiers and pilots with the RAF, for a start. I knew that Africans fought extensively, particularly in Burma, but that is brushed over considerably by British people. Strikingly, it feels like the multiethnic nature of the Commonwealth/Empire’s WW2 experience was brushed under the rug after the war only to be rediscovered very recently. Unfortunately many in Britain (and Australia it seems) don’t seem to understand that.
I was also struck by a little note in an anecdote, of a Canadian POW who spent the war in Hong Kong saying he was told by an Australian commando that they had slaughtered every surrendered Japanese soldier in the city. This is something I want to know more about; if it is a misunderstanding of what I read (or what this Canadian was told) or a war crime, who knows?
June 18, 2022
12/20.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews