The Thin Khaki Line

The British army emerged from World War I as the world’s premier fighting force. This same army, following two decades of government neglect, entered World War II pitifully small compared to its main rivals and wholly unprepared for the tasks at hand. Despite its sorry state of readiness, the army dutifully went forward to confront enemies of the British realm as it had done so many times before. Soon, it would be fully engaged in a global conflict against three powerful adversaries—the armed forces of Germany, Italy and Japan.

During the war, the British army, along with its Imperial and Commonwealth counterparts, expanded from a force of only a few hundred thousand men to a cumulative strength of over eight million men and 110 field divisions, of which 70 saw combat during the conflict. Suffering a number of early defeats—including in France, Greece, Malaya and at Tobruk—this collective force slowly turned the tide against its Axis assailants. Fighting over an immense area that included Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Southwest Pacific, the British and Commonwealth armies eventually scored a string of stirring victories that avenged their earlier defeats and helped facilitate the demise of the Axis powers. The sheer scope of this accomplishment is reflected in the fact that, during the duration of the war, the British and Commonwealth armies inflicted a staggering four million casualties upon their Axis opponents for a cost to themselves of less than a quarter of this number.

In this groundbreaking new book, Brian E. Walter provides a complete, balanced and detailed account of the contributions made by the British and Commonwealth armies during World War II. The product of over 30 years of meticulous research and analysis, the book is the quintessential, single-volume source on this topic. It provides a comprehensive history of all the major actions in all theatres carried out by the British and Commonwealth armies, both well-known and obscure, and provides unique analysis regarding the effectiveness and relevance of the army’s performance.