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History of rail transport in Great Britain
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This article is part of the history of rail transport by country series.
Rail Passengers in Great Britain from 1829-2016
Class 87 electric locomotive and Mark 3 coaches franchised by Virgin Trains.
The railway system of Great Britain, the principal territory of the United Kingdom, is the oldest in the world. It was started with the building of local isolated wooden wagonways starting in 1560s. The system was later built as a patchwork of local rail links operated by small private railway companies in late 18th century. These isolated links developed during the railway boom of the 1840s into a national network, although still run by dozens of competing companies. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, these amalgamated or were bought by competitors until only a handful of larger companies remained (see railway mania). The entire network was brought under government control during the First World War and a number of advantages of amalgamation and planning were revealed. However, the government resisted calls for the nationalisation of the network. In 1923, almost all the remaining companies were grouped into the "big four", the Great Western Railway, the London and North Eastern Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway. The "Big Four" were joint-stock public companies and they continued to run the railway system until 31 December 1947.
From the start of 1948, the "big four" were nationalised to form British Railways. Though there were few initial changes to the service, usage increased and the network became profitable. Declining passenger numbers and financial losses in the late 1950s and early 1960s prompted the closure of many branch and main lines, and small stations, under the Beeching Axe. Passenger services experienced a renaissance with the introduction of high-speed inter-city trains in the 1970s. The 1980s saw severe cuts in rail subsidies and above-inflation increases in fares and the service became more cost-effective.[citation needed] Railway operations were privatised during 1994-1997. Ownership of the track and infrastructure passed to Railtrack, whilst passenger operations were franchised to individual private sector operators (originally there were 25 franchises) and the freight services sold outright. Since privatisation, passenger levels have since increased to their highest ever level, but whether this is due to privatisation is disputed. The Hatfield accident set in motion the series of events that resulted in the ultimate collapse of Railtrack and its replacement with Network Rail, a state-owned, not-for-dividend company.
Contents
[hide]
1 Before 1830: The pioneers
2 1830 – 1922: Early development
3 1923 – 1947: The Big Four
4 1948 – 1994: British Rail
5 1995 onwards: Post-privatisation
6 See also
7 References
8 Sources
8.1 General
8.2 Pre-1830
8.3 1830–1922
8.4 1923–1947
8.5 1948–1994
Before 1830: The pioneers[edit]
Main article: History of rail transport in Great Britain to 1830
A wagonway was used by German miners at Caldbeck, Cumbria, England, perhaps from the 1560s.[1] A wagonway was built at Prescot, near Liverpool, sometime around 1600, possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, the line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to a terminus about half a mile away.[2]
Another wagonway was Sir Francis Willoughby's Wollaton Wagonway in Nottinghamshire built between 1603 and 1604 to carry coal.[3]
As early as 1671 railed roads were in use in Durham to ease the conveyance of coal; the first of these was the Tanfield Wagonway.[4] Many of these tramroads or wagon ways were built in the 17th and 18th centuries. They used simply straight and parallel rails of timber on which carts with simple flanged iron wheels were drawn by horses, enabling several wagons to be moved simultaneously.
Although the idea of wooden-railed wagonways originated in Germany in the 16th century, the first use of steam locomotives was in Britain. Its earliest "railways" were straight and were constructed from parallel rails of timber on which ran horse-drawn carts. These were succeeded in 1793 when Benjamin Outram constructed a mile-long tramway with L-shaped cast iron rails. These rails became obsolete when William Jessop began to manufacture cast iron rails without guiding ledges - the wheels of the carts had flanges instead. Cast iron is brittle and so the rails tended to break easily. Consequently, in 1820, John Birkenshaw introduced a method of rolling wrought iron rails, which were used from then onwards.
The first passenger service was at Oystermouth in 1807
The first passenger-carrying public railway was opened by the Swansea and Mumbles Railway at Oystermouth in 1807, using horse-drawn carriages on an existing tramline.
In 1804, Richard Trevithick designed and built the first (unnamed) steam locomotive to run on smooth rails.[5]
Salamanca of 1812
The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Salamanca, built in 1812 by John Blenkinsop and Matthew Murray for the 4 ft (1,219 mm) gauge Middleton Railway.[6] Salamanca was a rack and pinion locomotive, with cog wheels driven by two cylinders embedded into the top of the centre-flue boiler.
In 1813, William Hedley and Timothy Hackworth designed a locomotive (Puffing Billy) for use on the tramway between Stockton and Darlington.[7] Puffing Billy featured piston rods extending upwards to pivoting beams, connected in turn by rods to a crankshaft beneath the frames which, in turn, drove the gears attached to the wheels. This meant that the wheels were coupled, allowing better traction. A year later, George Stephenson improved on that design with his first locomotive Blücher,[8] which was the first locomotive to use single-flanged wheels.
That design persuaded the backers of the proposed Stockton and Darlington Railway to appoint Stephenson as Engineer for the line in 1821. While traffic was originally intended to be horse-drawn, Stephenson carried out a fresh survey of the route to allow steam haulage. The Act was subsequently amended to allow the usage of steam locomotives and also to allow passengers to be carried on the railway. The 25-mile (40 km) long route opened on 27 September 1825 and, with the aid of Stephenson's Locomotion No 1, was the first locomotive-hauled public railway in the world.
1830 – 1922: Early development[edit]
Main article: History of rail transport in Great Britain 1830–1922
In 1830 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened. This set the pattern for modern railways. It was the world's first inter-city passenger railway and the first to have 'scheduled' services, terminal stations and services as we know them today. The railways carried freight and passengers with also the world's first goods terminal station at the Park Lane railway goods station at Liverpool's south docks, accessed by the 1.26 mile Wapping Tunnel. In 1836, at the Liverpool end the line was extended to Lime Street Station in Liverpool's city centre via a 1.1 mile long tunnel.
Many of the first public railways were built as local rail links operated by small private railway companies. With increasing rapidity, more and more lines were built, often with scant regard for their potential for traffic. The 1840s were by far the biggest decade for railway growth. In 1840, when the decade began, railway lines in Britain were few and scattered but, within ten years, a virtually complete network had been laid down and the vast majority of towns and villages had a rail connection[citation needed] and sometimes two or three. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, most of the pioneering independent railway companies amalgamated or were bought by competitors, until only a handful of larger companies remained (see Railway Mania).
The period also saw a steady increase in government involvement, especially in safety matters. The 1840 "Act for Regulating Railways"[9] empowered the Board of Trade to appoint railway inspectors. The Railway Inspectorate was established in 1840, to enquire into the causes of accidents and recommend ways of avoiding them.[10] As early as 1844, a bill had been put before Parliament suggesting the state purchase of the railways; this was not adopted. It did, however, lead to the introduction of minimum standards for the construction of carriages[11] and the compulsory provision of 3rd class accommodation for passengers - so-called "Parliamentary trains".
The entire network was brought under government control during the First World War and a number of advantages of amalgamation and planning were revealed. However, the Conservative members of the wartime coalition government resisted calls for the formal nationalisation of the railways (first proposed by William Ewart Gladstone as early as the 1840s) in 1921.
1923 – 1947: The Big Four[edit]
Main article: History of rail transport in Great Britain 1923–1947
On 1 January 1923, almost all the railway companies were grouped into the Big Four: the Great Western Railway, the London and North Eastern Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway companies.[12] A number of other lines, already operating as joint railways, remained separate from the Big Four; these included the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway and the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway. The "Big Four" were joint-stock public companies and they continued to run the railway system until 31 December 1947.
The LNER Class A4 streamlined loco hauled express trains of the 1930s offered a high-speed alternative to road transport
The competition from road transport during the 1920s and 1930s greatly reduced the revenue available to the railways, even though the needs for maintenance on the network had never been higher, as investment had been deferred over the past decade. Rail companies accused the government of favouring road haulage through the construction of roads subsidised by the taxpayer, while restricting the rail industry's ability to use flexible pricing because it was held to nationally agreed rate cards. The government response was to commission several inconclusive reports; the Salter Report of 1933 finally recommended that road transport should be taxed directly to fund the roads and increased Vehicle Excise Duty and fuel duties were introduced. It also noted that many small lines would never be likely to compete with road haulage. Although these road pricing changes helped their survival, the railways entered a period of slow decline, owing to a lack of investment and changes in transport policy and lifestyles.
During the Second World War, the companies' managements joined together, effectively operating as one company. Assisting the country's 'war effort' put a severe strain on the railways' resources and a substantial maintenance backlog developed. After 1945, for both practical and ideological reasons, the government decided to bring the rail service into the public sector.
1948 – 1994: British Rail[edit]
The network recommended by "Beeching II" plans
Main article: History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994
From the start of 1948, the railways were nationalised to form British Railways (latterly "British Rail") under the control of the British Transport Commission.[13] Though there were few initial changes to the service, usage increased and the network became profitable. Regeneration of track and stations was completed by 1954. Rail revenue fell and, in 1955, the network again ceased to be profitable. The mid-1950s saw the hasty introduction of diesel and electric rolling stock to replace steam in a modernisation plan costing many millions of pounds but the expected transfer back from road to rail did not occur and losses began to mount.[14] This failure to make the railways more profitable through investment led governments of all political persuasions to restrict rail investment to a drip feed and seek economies through cutbacks.
The desire for profitability led to a major reduction in the network during the mid-1960s. Dr. Richard Beeching was given the task by the government of re-organising the railways ("the Beeching Axe").[15][16] This policy resulted in many branch lines and secondary routes being closed because they were deemed uneconomic. The closure of stations serving rural communities removed much feeder traffic from main line passenger services. The closure of many freight depots that had been used by larger industries such as coal and iron led to much freight transferring to road haulage. The closures were extremely unpopular with the general public at that time and remain so today.[17]
Passenger levels decreased steadily from the late fifties to late seventies.[18] Passenger services then experienced a renaissance with the introduction of the high-speed Intercity 125 trains in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[19] The 1980s saw severe cuts in government funding and above-inflation increases in fares, but the service became more cost-effective. Following sectorisation of British Rail, InterCity became profitable. InterCity became one of Britain’s top 150 companies operating city centre to city centre travel across the nation from Aberdeen and Inverness in the north to Poole and Penzance in the south.[20]
Between 1994 and 1997, British Rail was privatised.[21] Ownership of the track and infrastructure passed to Railtrack, passenger operations were franchised to individual private sector operators (originally there were 25 franchises) and the freight services sold outright (six companies were set up, but five of these were sold to the same buyer).[22] The Conservative government under John Major said that privatisation would see an improvement in passenger services. Passenger levels have since increased strongly.[23]
1995 onwards: Post-privatisation[edit]
Main articles: History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to date and Impact of the privatisation of British Rail
Rail modal share 1952-2015[24]
The Great Western Railway's London terminus at Paddington
Since privatisation, numbers of passengers have grown rapidly; by 2010 the railways were carrying more passengers than at any time since the 1920s.[25] and by 2014 passenger numbers had expanded to their highest level ever, more than doubling in the 20 years since privatisation. Train fares cost more than under British Rail.[26]
The railways have become significantly safer since privatisation and are now the safest in Europe.[27] However, the public image of rail travel was damaged by some prominent accidents shortly after privatisation. These included the Southall rail crash (where a train with faulty automatic train protection equipment went through a red light),[28] the Ladbroke Grove rail crash (also caused by a train going through a red light)[29][30] and the Hatfield accident (caused by a rail fragmenting due to the development of microscopic cracks).[31]
Following the Hatfield accident, the rail infrastructure company Railtrack imposed over 1,200 emergency speed restrictions across its network and instigated an extremely costly nationwide track replacement programme. The consequential severe operational disruption to the national network and the company's spiralling costs set in motion the series of events which resulted in the ultimate collapse of the company and its replacement with Network Rail, a state-owned, not-for-dividend company.[32]
See also[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Railways of Great Britain.
History of rail transport
Rail transport in Great Britain
Rail freight in Great Britain
List of early British railway companies
History of rail transport in Ireland
British postal system
List of railway lines in Great Britain
List of closed railway lines in Great Britain
British narrow gauge railways
British industrial narrow gauge railways
Railway electrification in Great Britain
British electric multiple units
British railcars and diesel multiple units
History by era
History of rail transport in Great Britain to 1830
History of rail transport in Great Britain 1830–1922
History of rail transport in Great Britain 1923–1947
History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994
History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to date
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Warren Allison, Samuel Murphy and Richard Smith, An Early Railway in the German Mines of Caldbeck in G. Boyes (ed.), Early Railways 4: Papers from the 4th International Early Railways Conference 2008 (Six Martlets, Sudbury, 2010), pp. 52–69.
Jump up ^ Jones, Mark (2012). Lancashire Railways – The History of Steam. Newbury: Countryside Books. p. 5. ISBN 978 1 84674 298 9.
Jump up ^ Hylton, Stuart (2007). The Grand Experiment: the Birth of the Railway Age 1820-1845. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-3172-X.
Jump up ^ Hamilton Ellis (1968). The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Railways. The Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 12.
Jump up ^ Robert Kirkby; Richard Shelton; et al. (October 1990). Engineering in History. New York: Dover Publications Inc. pp. 274–275. ISBN 0-486-26412-2.
Jump up ^ Hamilton Ellis (1968). The Pictorial Encyclopaedia of Railways. The Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 20.
Jump up ^ "Puffing Billy". Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 15 November 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2006.
Jump up ^ "History of the locomotives". Archived from the original on 5 December 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2006.
Jump up ^ 1840 Railway Regulation Act, originally published by HMSO; link is to The Railways Archive
Jump up ^ Hall, Stanley (28 September 1990). Railway Detectives: The 150-year Saga of the Railway Inspectorate. Shepperton: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 0-7110-1929-0.
Jump up ^ 1844 Railway Regulation Act, originally published by HMSO; link is to The Railways Archive
Jump up ^ HM Government (1921). "Railways Act 1921". The Railways Archive. (originally published by HMSO). Retrieved 25 November 2006.
Jump up ^ Her Majesty's Government (1947). "Transport Act 1947". The Railways Archive. (originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office). Retrieved 25 November 2006.
Jump up ^ "British Railways Board history". The National Archives. Archived from the original on 14 October 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2006.
Jump up ^ British Transport Commission (1963). "The Reshaping of British Railways - Part 1: Report". The Railways Archive. (originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office). Retrieved 25 November 2006.
Jump up ^ British Transport Commission (1963). "The Reshaping of British Railways - Part 2: Maps". The Railways Archive. (originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office). Retrieved 25 November 2006.
Jump up ^ "Did Dr Beeching get it wrong with his railway cuts 50 years ago?".
Jump up ^ The UK Department for Transport Archived 17 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine. (DfT), specifically Table 6.1 from Transport Statistics Great Britain 2006 Archived 8 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine. (4MB PDF file)
Jump up ^ Marsden, Colin J. (1983). British Rail 1983 Motive Power: Combined Volume. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1284-9.
Jump up ^ "The fall and rise of Britain's railways". Rail Staff News. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
Jump up ^ Her Majesty's Government (1903). "Railways Act 1993". The Railways Archive. (originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office). Retrieved 26 November 2006.
Jump up ^ "EWS Railway - Company History". Archived from the original on 2006-12-12. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
Jump up ^ The UK Office of Rail Regulation Archived 9 November 2008 at the UK Government Web Archive (ORR), specifically Section 1.2 from National Rail Trends 2006-2007 Q1 Archived 7 November 2008 at the UK Government Web Archive (PDF file)
Jump up ^ "Department for Transport Statistics: Passenger transport: by mode, annual from 1952".
Jump up ^ "Growth of 6.9% in 2010 takes demand for rail travel to new high levels". Association of Train Operating Companies. February 2011. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
Jump up ^ "Train fares cost 0.6% more than under British Rail". Daily Telegraph. 1 December 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
Jump up ^ "Britain's railways now safest in Europe".
Jump up ^ Professor John Uff (QC FREng) (2000). "Investigation The Southall Rail Accident Inquiry Report". The Railways Archive. (Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office). Retrieved 30 November 2006.
Jump up ^ The Rt Hon Lord Cullen (PC) (2001). "The Ladbroke Grove Rail Inquiry: Part 1 Report". The Railways Archive. (Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office). Retrieved 30 November 2006.
Jump up ^ The Rt Hon Lord Cullen (PC) (2001). "The Ladbroke Grove Rail Inquiry: Part 2 Report". The Railways Archive. (Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office). Retrieved 30 November 2006.
Jump up ^ Railway Safety; Standards Board (2004). "Hatfield Report and Recommendations". The Railways Archive. (Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office). Retrieved 30 November 2006.
Jump up ^ "Network Rail - Our History". Network Rail website. Retrieved 30 November 2006.
Sources[edit]
General[edit]
Simmons, Jack; Biddle, Gordon (eds.). The Oxford Companion to British Railway History: From 1603 to the 1990s (2nd ed. (1999) ed.).
White, H. P. (1986). Forgotten Railways. Newton Abbot, Devon: David St. John Thomas. ISBN 0-946537-13-5.
Westwood, John. Illustrated History of the Railroads. Brompton Books.
Pre-1830[edit]
Hadfield, Charles.; Skempton, A. W. (January 1979). William Jessop, Engineer. Newton Abbot: M.& M.Baldwin. ISBN 0-7153-7603-9.
Schofield, R.B. (October 2000). Benjamin Outram, 1764-1805: An Engineering Biography. Cardiff: Merton Priory Press. ISBN 1-898937-42-7.
Ransom, P.J.G. (July 1989). The Victorian Railway and How It Evolved. London: William Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-98083-8.
"The History of the Railway in Britain". Historic Herefordshire Online. Retrieved 24 November 2006.
"The Old Times - History of the Locomotive". Archived from the original on 5 December 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2006.
Dendy Marshall, C.F. (1929). "The Rainhill Locomotive Trials of 1829". Transactions of the Newcomen Society. 9.
Dowd, Steven (May 1999). "The Liverpool & Manchester Railway". Journal of the International Bond & Share Society. Archived from the original on 8 October 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2006.
"The Broad Gauge Story". Journal of the Monmouthshire Railway Society. Summer 1985. Retrieved 24 November 2006.
1830–1922[edit]
McKenna, Frank. "Victorian Railway Workers," History Workshop (spring 1975) #1 pp. 26–73 in JSTOR
Ransom, P.J.G. (July 1989). The Victorian Railway and How It Evolved. London: William Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-98083-8.
Science Museum (November 1972). The Pre-grouping Railways: Their Development and Individual Characters: Part 1. London: The Stationery Office Books. ISBN 0-11-290153-0.
Christine Heap; John Van Riemsdijk (November 1980). The Pre-grouping Railways: Their Development and Individual Characters: Part 2. London: The Stationery Office Books. ISBN 0-11-290309-6.
Christine Heap; John Van Riemsdijk (November 1985). The Pre-grouping Railways: Their Development and Individual Characters: Part 3. London: The Stationery Office Books. ISBN 0-11-290432-7.
(No Author) (1980). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3.
1923–1947[edit]
R. Tourret (November 2003). GWR Engineering Work, 1928-1938. Tourret Publishing,. ISBN 0-905878-08-6.
O.S. Nock (1967). History of the Great Western Railway Volume Three 1923-48. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0304-1.
Nock, O.S. (1982). A History of the LMS. Vol. 1: The First Years, 1923-1930. George Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-04-385087-1.
Nock, O.S. (1982). A History of the LMS. Vol. 2: The Record Breaking 'Thirties, 1931-1939. George Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-04-385093-6.
1948–1994[edit]
Henshaw, David (1994). The Great Railway Conspiracy: The Fall and Rise of Britain's Railways Since the 1950s (2nd ed.). Hawes, North Yorkshire: Leading Edge Press. ISBN 0-948135-48-4.
Gourvish, Terry (2002). British Rail: 1974-97: From Integration to Privatisation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-926909-2.
"British Railways Board history". The National Archives. Archived from the original on 14 October 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2006.
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British Empire in World War II
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This article is incomplete. This is because numerous grammatical errors, incomplete information, lack of citations. Please help to improve it, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (April 2018)
Propaganda poster promoting the joint war effort of the British Empire and Commonwealth, 1939.
[show]
v
t
e
British Empire Campaigns
of World War II
Campaigns fought exclusively or largely by British Empire forces
Europe
Arctic
Battle of the Barents Sea
Evacuation of Norway
Occupation of Iceland
Evacuation of Spitsbergen
Occupation of Faroe Islands
Balkan Campaign
Reinforcement of Greece
Battle of Crete
Battle of the Mediterranean
Siege of Malta
Malta Convoys
Western Europe
British Expeditionary Force
Dunkirk evacuation
Battle of Britain
The Blitz
Evacuation of Gibraltar
Invasion of Normandy
Clearing the Channel Coast
Liberation of Belgium
Liberation of Netherlands
Africa
East Africa Campaign
Conquest of British Somaliland
Capture of Italian Somaliland
Recapture of British Somaliland
North African Campaign
Italian invasion of Egypt
Occupation of Libya
Southern Africa
Occupation of Madagascar
West Africa
Battle of Dakar
Far East
Defence of Hong Kong
Malayan Campaign
Fall of Singapore
India
Japanese conquest of Burma
Invasion of India
Recapture of Burma
Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean disaster
Indian Ocean retreat
Evacuation of British Somaliland
Japanese occupation of the Andaman Islands
Indian Ocean strike
Middle East
Invasion of Iraq
Invasion of Southern Iran
Invasion of Lebanon
Invasion of Syria
Americas
Battle of the Atlantic
Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence
Newfoundland Escort Force
Mid-Ocean Escort Force
Western Local Escort Force
Western Approaches Escort Force
When the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany at the outset of World War II it controlled to varying degrees numerous crown colonies, protectorates and the Indian Empire. It also maintained unique political ties to four semi-independent Dominions—Australia, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand[1]—as part of the Commonwealth.[2] In 1939 the British Commonwealth was a global superpower, with direct or de facto political and economic control of 25% of the world's population, and 30% of its land mass.
The contribution of the British Empire and Commonwealth in terms of manpower and materiel was critical to the Allied war effort. From September 1939 to mid-1942 Britain led Allied efforts in almost every global military theatre. Commonwealth forces (United Kingdom, Colonial, Imperial and Dominion), totalling close to 15 million serving men and women, fought the German, Italian, Japanese and other Axis armies, air forces and navies across Europe, Africa, Asia, and in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Commonwealth forces fought in Britain, and across Northwestern Europe in the effort to slow or stop the Axis advance. Commonwealth airforces fought the Luftwaffe to a standstill over Britain, and its armies fought and destroyed Italian forces in North and East Africa and occupied several overseas colonies of German-occupied European nations. Following successful engagements against Axis forces, Commonwealth troops invaded and occupied Libya, Italian Somaliland, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Madagascar.
The Commonwealth defeated, held back or slowed the Axis powers for three years while mobilizing their globally integrated economy, military, and industrial infrastructure to build what became, by 1942, the most extensive military apparatus of the war. These efforts came at the cost of 150,000 military deaths, 400,000 wounded, 100,000 prisoners, over 300,000 civilian deaths, and the loss of 70 major warships, 39 submarines, 3,500 aircraft, 1,100 tanks and 65,000 vehicles. During this period the Commonwealth built an enormous military and industrial capacity. Britain became the nucleus of the Allied war effort in Europe, and hosted governments in exile in London to rally support in occupied Europe for the Allied effort. Canada delivered almost $4 billion in direct financial aid to the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand began shifting to domestic production[clarification needed] to provide material aid to US forces in the Pacific. Following the US entry into the war in December 1941, the Commonwealth and United States coordinated their military efforts and resources globally. As the scale of the US military involvement and industrial production increased, the US undertook command of many theatres, relieving Commonwealth forces for duty elsewhere, and expanding the scope and intensity of Allied military efforts.[3][4][5]
However, it also proved difficult to co-ordinate the defence of far-flung colonies and Commonwealth countries from simultaneous attacks by the Axis Powers. In part this was exacerbated by disagreements over priorities and objectives, as well as the deployment and control of joint forces. The governments of Britain and Australia, in particular, turned to the United States for support. Although the British Empire and the Commonwealth countries all emerged from the war as victors, and the conquered territories were returned to British rule, the costs of the war and the nationalist fervour that it had stoked became a catalyst for the decolonisation which took place in the following decades.
Contents
[hide]
1 Pre-war plans for defence
2 Declaration of war against Germany
3 Empire and Commonwealth contribution
3.1 Finances
4 Crisis in the Mediterranean
5 Fall of Singapore
6 India
7 Victory
8 Aftermath
9 Military histories of the British Empire, Colonies and Dominions
10 See also
10.1 Homefront
10.2 Major military formations and units
11 References
12 Bibliography
13 Further reading
13.1 Army
13.2 Royal Navy
13.3 Air war
14 External links
Pre-war plans for defence[edit]
From 1923, defence of British colonies and protectorates in East Asia was centred on the "Singapore strategy". This made the assumption that Britain could send a fleet to its naval base in Singapore within two or three days of a Japanese attack, while relying on France to provide assistance in Asia via its colony in Indochina and, in the event of war with Italy, to help defend British territories in the Mediterranean.[6] Pre-war planners did not anticipate the fall of France: Nazi occupation, the loss of control over the Channel, and the employment of French Atlantic ports as forward bases for U-boats directly threatened Britain itself, forcing a significant reassessment of naval defence priorities.
During the 1930s, a triple threat emerged for the British Commonwealth in the form of right-wing, militaristic governments in Germany, Italy and Japan.[7] Germany threatened Britain itself, while Italy and Japan's imperial ambitions looked set to clash with the British imperial presence in the Mediterranean and East Asia respectively. However, there were differences of opinion within the UK and the Dominions as to which posed the most serious threat, and whether any attack would come from more than one power at the same time.
Declaration of war against Germany[edit]
Sir Robert Menzies broadcasting to Australia the news of the outbreak of war, 1939
On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, on 3 September, after a British ultimatum to Germany to cease military operations was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Britain's declaration of war automatically committed India, the Crown colonies, and the protectorates, but the 1931 Statute of Westminster had granted autonomy to the Dominions so each decided their course separately.
Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies immediately joined the British declaration on 3 September, believing that it applied to all subjects of the Empire and Commonwealth. New Zealand followed suit simultaneously, at 9.30 pm on 3 September (local time), after Peter Fraser consulted the Cabinet; although as Chamberlain's broadcast was drowned by static, the Cabinet (led by Fraser as Prime Minister Mickey Savage was terminally ill) delayed until the Admiralty announced to the fleet a state of war, then backdated the declaration to 9.30 pm. South Africa took three days to make its decision (on 6 September), as the Prime Minister General J. B. M. Hertzog favoured neutrality but was defeated by the pro-war vote in the Union Parliament, led by General Jan Smuts, who then replaced Hertzog. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King declared support for Britain on the day of the British declaration, but also stated that it was for Parliament to make the formal declaration, which it did so one week later on 10 September. The Irish Free State, which had been a dominion until 1937, remained neutral[8]
Empire and Commonwealth contribution[edit]
British Empire and Commonwealth forms of government and production c 1940
Kenya Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 1945
While the war was initially intended to be limited, resources were mobilized quickly, and the first shots were fired almost immediately. Just hours after the Australian declaration of war, a gun at Fort Queenscliff fired across the bows of a ship as it attempted to leave Melbourne without required clearances.[9] On 10 October 1939, an aircraft of No. 10 Squadron RAAF based in England became the first Commonwealth air force unit to go into action when it undertook a mission to Tunisia.[10] The first Canadian convoy of 15 ships bearing war goods departed Halifax just six days after the nation declared war, with two destroyers HMCS St. Laurent and HMCS Saguenay.[11] A further 26 convoys of 527 ships sailed from Canada in the first four months of the war,[12] and by 1 January 1940 Canada had landed an entire division in Britain.[13] On 13 June 1940 Canadian troops deployed to France in an attempt to secure the southern flank of the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium. As the fall of France grew imminent, Britain looked to Canada to rapidly provide additional troops to strategic locations in North America, the Atlantic and Caribbean. Following the Canadian destroyer already on station from 1939, Canada provided troops from May 1940 to assist in the defence of the British Caribbean colonies, with several companies serving throughout the war in Bermuda, Jamaica, the Bahamas and British Guiana. Canadian troops were also sent to the defence of the colony of Newfoundland, on Canada's east coast, the closest point in North America to Germany. Fearing the loss of a land link[clarification needed] to the British Isles, Canada was also requested to also occupy Iceland, which it did from June 1940 to the spring of 1941, following the initial British invasion.[14]
From mid-June 1940, following the rapid German invasions and occupations of Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, the British Commonwealth was the main opponent of Germany and the Axis, until the entry into the war of the Soviet Union in June 1941. During this period Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa provided dozens of ships and several divisions for the defence of the Mediterranean, Greece, Crete, Lebanon and Egypt, where British troops were outnumbered four to one by the Italian armies in Libya and Ethiopia.[15][16] Canada delivered a further 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, pilots for two air squadrons, and several warships to Britain to face a possible invasion from the continent.
In December 1941, Japan launched, in quick succession, attacks on British Malaya, the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, and Hong Kong.
Substantial financial support was provided by Canada to the UK and Commonwealth dominions, in the form of over $4 billion in aid through the Billion Dollar Gift and Mutual Aid and the War Appropriation Act. Over the course of the war over 1.6 million Canadians served in uniform (out of a prewar population of 11 million), in almost every theatre of the war, and by war's end the country had the third-largest navy and fourth-largest air force in the world. By the end of the war, almost a million Australians had served in the armed forces (out of a population of under 7 million), whose military units fought primarily in Europe, North Africa, and the South West Pacific.
The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (also known as the "Empire Air Training Scheme") was established by the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK resulting in:
joint training at flight schools in Canada, Southern Rhodesia, Australia and New Zealand;[17]
formation of new squadrons of the Dominion air forces, known as "Article XV squadrons" for service as part of Royal Air Force operational commands, and;
in practice, the pooling of RAF and Dominion air force personnel, for posting to both RAF and Article XV squadrons.
Finances[edit]
Britain borrowed everywhere it could and made heavy purchases of munitions and supplies in India and Canada during the war, as well as other parts of the Empire and neutral countries. Canada also made gifts. Britain's sterling balances around the world amounted to ₤3.4 billion in 1945 or the equivalent of about $US 200 billion in 2016 dollars.[18] However, Britain treated this as a long-term loan with no interest and no specified repayment date. Just when the money would be made available by London was an issue, for the British treasury was nearly empty by 1945. [19]
Crisis in the Mediterranean[edit]
Second Officer Kalyan Sen and Chief Officer Margaret L Cooper, Women's Royal Indian Naval Service, 1945
In June 1940, France surrendered to invading German forces, and Italy joined the war on the Axis side, causing a reversal of the Singapore strategy. Winston Churchill, who had replaced Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister the previous month (see Norway debate), ordered that the Middle East and the Mediterranean were of a higher priority than the Far East to defend.[20] Australia and New Zealand were told by telegram that they should turn to the United States for help in defending their homeland should Japan attack:[21]
Without the assistance of France we should not have sufficient forces to meet the combined German and Italian navies in European waters and the Japanese fleet in the Far East. In the circumstances envisaged, it is most improbable that we could send adequate reinforcements to the Far East. We should therefore have to rely on the United States of America to safeguard our interests there.[22]
Commonwealth forces played a major role in North and East Africa following Italy's entry to the war, participating in the invasion of Italian Libya and Somaliland, but were forced to retreat after Churchill diverted resources to Greece and Crete.[23]
Fall of Singapore[edit]
Main article: Fall of Singapore
The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in South East Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East". The fighting in Singapore lasted from 31 January 1942 to 15 February 1942.
It resulted in the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, and the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.[24] About 80,000 British, Australian and Indian troops became prisoners of war, joining 50,000 taken by the Japanese in the Malayan campaign. Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the ignominious fall of Singapore to the Japanese the "worst disaster" and "largest capitulation" in British history.[25]
India[edit]
Further information: British Raj
Serious tension erupted over American support for independence for India, a proposition Churchill vehemently rejected.[26][27] For years Roosevelt had encouraged Britain's disengagement from India. The American position was based on principled opposition to colonialism.[28] The politically active Indian population was deeply divided.[29] One element was so insistent on the explosion of the British, that it sided with Germany and Japan, and formed the Indian National Army (INA) from Indian prisoners of war. It fought as part of the Japanese invasion of Burma and eastern India. There was a large pacifist element, which rallied to Gandhi's call for abstention from the war; he said that violence in every form was evil.[30] There was a high level of religious tension between the Hindu majority and the Muslims minority. For the first time the Muslim community became politically active, giving strong support for the British war effort. Over 2 million Indians volunteered for military service, including a large Muslim contingent. The British were sensitive to demands of the Muslim League, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, since it needed Muslim soldiers in India and Muslim support all across the Middle East. London used the religious tensions in India as a justification to continue its rule, saying it was needed to prevent religious massacres of the sort that did happen in 1947. The imperialist element in Britain was strongly represented in the Conservative party; Churchill himself had long been its leading spokesman. On the other hand, Attlee and the Labour Party favoured independence and had close ties to the Congress Party. The British cabinet sent Sir Stafford Cripps to India with a specific peace plan offering India the promise of dominion status after the war. Congress demanded independence immediately and the Cripps mission failed. Roosevelt gave support to Congress, sending his representative Louis Johnson to help negotiate some sort of independence. Churchill was outraged, refused to cooperate with Roosevelt on the issue, and threatened to resign as prime minister of Roosevelt pushed too hard. Roosevelt pulled back. In 1942 when the Congress Party launched a Quit India Movement of non-violent civil disobedience, the Raj police immediately arrested tens of thousands of activists (including Gandhi, holding them for the duration. Meanwhile, wartime disruptions caused severe food shortages in eastern India; hundreds of thousands died of starvation. To this day a large Indian element blames Churchill for the Bengal famine of 1943.[31] In terms of the war effort, India became a major base for American supplies sent to India, and Lend Lease operations boosted the local economy. The 2 million Indian soldiers were a major factor in British success in the Middle East. Muslim support for the British war effort proved decisive in the British decision to partition the Raj, forming of the new state of Pakistan.[32]
Victory[edit]
Main articles: Victory in Europe Day and Victory over Japan Day
The front page of The Montreal Daily Star announcing the German surrender. May 7, 1945
On 8 May 1945, the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not until 9 May 1945. On 30 April Hitler committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin, and so the surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany Karl Dönitz. The act of military surrender was signed on 7 May in Reims, France, and ratified on 8 May in Berlin, Germany.
In the afternoon of 15 August 1945, the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II. On this day the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made in Japan, and because of time zone differences it was announced in the United States, Western Europe, the Americas, the Pacific Islands, and Australia/New Zealand on 14 August 1945. The signing of the surrender document occurred on 2 September 1945.
Aftermath[edit]
By the end of the war in August 1945, British Commonwealth forces were responsible for the civil and/or military administration of a number of non-Commonwealth territories, occupied during the war, including Eritrea, Libya, Madagascar, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Italian Somaliland, Syria, Thailand and portions of Germany, Austria and Japan. Most of these military administrations were handed over to old European colonial authorities or to new local authorities soon after the end of the hostilities. Commonwealth forces administered occupation zones in Japan, Germany and Austria until 1955. World War II confirmed that Britain was no longer the great power it had once been, and that it had been surpassed by the United States on the world stage. Canada, Australia and New Zealand moved within the orbit of the United States. The image of imperial strength in Asia had been shattered by the Japanese attacks, and British prestige there was irreversibly damaged.[33] The price for India's entry to the war had been effectively a guarantee for independence, which came within two years of the end of the war, relieving Britain of its most populous and valuable colony. The deployment of 150,000 Africans overseas from British colonies, and the stationing of white troops in Africa itself led to revised perceptions of the Empire in Africa.[34]
Military histories of the British Empire, Colonies and Dominions[edit]
The contributions from individual colonies, protectorates and dominions to the war effort were extensive and global. Further information about their involvement can be found in the military histories of the individual colonies and dominions listed below.
United Kingdom
Aden
Ascension
Australia
Barbados
Basutoland
Bechuanaland
Bermuda
British Cameroons
British Guiana
British Honduras
British Leeward Islands
British Malaya
British Solomon Islands
British Somaliland
British Windward Islands
Protectorate of Brunei
Burma
Canada
Cayman Islands
Ceylon
Cyprus
Dominica
Egypt
Falkland Islands
Fiji
Gambia
Gibraltar
Gilbert and Ellice Islands
Gold Coast
Grenada
Guernsey
Hong Kong
India
Jamaica
Jersey
Kenya
Malta
Mandatory Palestine
Mauritius
Nauru
Nepal
Newfoundland
New Guinea
New Hebrides
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norfolk Island
North Borneo
Northern Rhodesia
Nyasaland
Papua
St Helena
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent
Sarawak
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
South Africa
South West Africa
Southern Rhodesia
Straits Settlements
Sudan
Tanganyika
Tonga Protectorate
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos
Uganda Protectorate
Western Samoa
Zanzibar
British Military Administration (Borneo)
British Military Administration (Eritrea)
British Military Administration of Italian Somaliland
British Military Administration (Libya)
British Military Administration (Malaya)
British Military Administration (Somalia)
See also[edit]
British Empire portal
World War II portal
Homefront[edit]
Australian home front during the Second World War
Christmas Island Mutiny and Battle
Gibraltar evacuation in the Second World War
British home front during the Second World War
Japanese occupation of the Andaman Islands
Japanese occupation of British Borneo
Japanese occupation of Burma
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
Japanese occupation of Malaya
Japanese occupation of Nauru
Japanese occupation of Singapore
German occupation of the Channel Islands
Major military formations and units[edit]
List of British Empire corps of the Second World War
List of British Empire divisions in the Second World War
List of British Empire brigades of the Second World War
East Africa Command
Far East Command
India Command
Malaya Command
Middle East Command
Persia and Iraq Command
West Africa Command
Pacific Fleet
Eastern Fleet
Home Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Reserve Fleet
Bomber Command
Ferry Command
Fighter Command
RAF Squadrons
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
British Commonwealth Occupation Force
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Ireland was also technically a dominion but operated largely as a republic and remained neutral during the war)
Jump up ^ The term was popularised during World War I and became official after the Balfour Declaration in 1926. W. David McIntyre, 1999, "The Commonwealth"; in Robin Winks (ed.), The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume V: Historiography, Oxford University Press, p. 558.
Jump up ^ History of the Second World War (104 volumes), Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1949 to 1993
Jump up ^ Stacey, C P. (1970)
Jump up ^ Edgerton, David (2011)
Jump up ^ Louis, p. 315
Jump up ^ Brown, p. 284
Jump up ^ Brown, pp. 307–9
Jump up ^ McKernan (1983). p. 4.
Jump up ^ Stephens (2006). pp. 76–79.
Jump up ^ Byers, A.R., ed. (1986). The Canadians at War 1939–45. Westmount, QC: The Readers' Digest Association. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-88850-145-5.
Jump up ^ Hague, 2000
Jump up ^ Byers, p.26
Jump up ^ Stacey 1970
Jump up ^ McIntyre pp. 336–7
Jump up ^ Grey (2008). pp. 156–164.
Jump up ^ Brown, p. 310
Jump up ^ See "Pounds Sterling to Dollars: Historical Conversion of Currency"
Jump up ^ Marcelo de Paiva Abreu, "India as a creditor: sterling balances, 1940-1953." (Department of Economics, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, 2015) online
Jump up ^ Louis, p. 335
Jump up ^ McIntyre p. 339
Jump up ^ Brown, p. 317
Jump up ^ McIntyre p. 337
Jump up ^ Smith, Colin (2006). Singapore Burning: Heroism and Surrender in World War II. Penguin Group. ISBN 0-14-101036-3. [page needed]
Jump up ^ Churchill, Winston (1986). The Hinge of Fate, Volume 4. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, p. 81. ISBN 0395410584
Jump up ^ William Roger Louis, Imperialism at Bay: The United States and the Decolonization of the British Empire, 1941-1945 (1978).
Jump up ^ Andrew N. Buchanan, "The War Crisis and the Decolonization of India, December 1941–September 1942: A Political and Military Dilemma." Global War Studies 8#2 (2011): 5-31.
Jump up ^ Kenton J. Clymer, "Franklin D. Roosevelt, Louis Johnson, India, and Anticolonialism: Another Look." Pacific Historical Review 57#3 (1988): 261-284. online
Jump up ^ Yasmin Khan, The Raj at War: A People's History of India's Second World War (2016)
Jump up ^ Arthur Herman (2008). Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry That Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age. pp. 472–539.
Jump up ^ John Hickman, "Orwellian Rectification: Popular Churchill Biographies and the 1943 Bengal Famine." Studies in History 24#2 (2008): 235-243.
Jump up ^ Eric S. Rubin, "America, Britain, and Swaraj: Anglo-American Relations and Indian Independence, 1939–1945," India Review" (Jan–March 2011) 10#1 pp 40–80
Jump up ^ McIntyre, p. 341
Jump up ^ McIntyre, p. 342
Bibliography[edit]
Brown, Judith (1998). The Twentieth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume IV. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924679-3.
Bryce, Robert Broughton (2005). Canada and the cost of World War II. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-2938-0.
Butler, J.R.M. et al. Grand Strategy (6 vol 1956–60), official overview of the British war effort; Volume 1: Rearmament Policy; Volume 2: September 1939 – June 1941; Volume 3, Part 1: June 1941 – August 1942; Volume 3, Part 2: June 1941 – August 1942; Volume 4: September 1942 – August 1943; Volume 5: August 1943 – September 1944; Volume 6: October 1944 – August 1945
Chartrand, René; Ronald Volstad (2001). Canadian Forces in World War II. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-302-0
Copp, J. T; Richard Nielsen (1995). No price too high: Canadians and the Second World War. McGraw-Hill Ryerson. ISBN 0-07-552713-8.
Edgerton, David. Britain's War Machine: Weapons, Resources, and Experts in the Second World War (Oxford University Press; 2011) 445 pages
Hague, Arnold: The allied convoy system 1939–1945 : its organization, defence and operation. St.Catharines, Ontario : Vanwell, 2000.
Jackson, Ashley (2006). The British Empire and the Second World War. London: Hambledon Continuum. ISBN 978-1852854171.
Louis, Wm. Roger (2006). Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez and Decolonization. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-84511-347-0.
McIntyre, W. Donald (1977). The Commonwealth of Nations. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-0792-3.
Morton, Desmond (1999). A military history of Canada (4th ed.). Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-6514-0.
Mulvey, Paul. The British Empire in World War II. Academic.edu.
Roberts, Andrew. Masters and Commanders – How Roosevelt, Churchill, Marshall and Alanbrooke Won the War in the West (2008)
Stacey, C P. (1970) Arms, Men and Governments: The War Policies of Canada, 1939–1945 Queen's Printer, Ottawa (Downloadable PDF) ISBN D2-5569
Stewart, Andrew (2008). Empire Lost: Britain, the Dominions and the Second World War. London: Continuum. ISBN 978-1847252449.
Further reading[edit]
Butler, J.R.M. et al. Grand Strategy (6 vol 1956–60), official overview of the British war effort; Volume 1: Rearmament Policy; Volume 2: September 1939 – June 1941; Volume 3, Part 1: June 1941 – August 1942; Volume 3, Part 2: June 1941 – August 1942; Volume 4: September 1942 – August 1943; Volume 5: August 1943 – September 1944; Volume 6: October 1944 – August 1945
Churchill, Winston. The Second World War (6 vol 1947–51), classic personal history with many documents
Edgerton, David. Britain's War Machine: Weapons, Resources, and Experts in the Second World War (Oxford University Press; 2011) 445 pages
Harrison, Mark Medicine and Victory: British Military Medicine in the Second World War (2004). ISBN 0-19-926859-2
Hastings, Max. Winston's War: Churchill, 1940–1945 (2010)
Khan, Yasmin. The Raj at War: A People's History of India's Second World War (2015)
Raghavan, Srinath. India's War: World War II and the Making of Modern South Asia (2016)
Roberts, Andrew. Masters and Commanders – How Roosevelt, Churchill, Marshall and Alanbrooke Won the War in the West (2008)
Army[edit]
Allport, Alan. Browned Off and Bloody-Minded: The British Soldier Goes to War, 1939–1945 (Yale UP, 2015)
Atkinson, Rick. The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943–1944 (2008) excerpt and text search
Buckley, John. British Armour in the Normandy Campaign 1944 (2004)
D'Este, Carlo. Decision in Normandy: The Unwritten Story of Montgomery and the Allied Campaign (1983). ISBN 0-00-217056-6.
Ellis, L.F. The War in France and Flanders, 1939–1940 (HMSO, 1953) online
Ellis, L.F. Victory in the West, Volume 1: Battle of Normandy (HMSO, 1962)
Ellis, L.F. Victory in the West, Volume 2: Defeat of Germany (HMSO, 1968)
Fraser, David. And We Shall Shock Them: The British Army in World War II (1988). ISBN 978-0-340-42637-1
Graham, Dominick. Tug of War: The Battle for Italy 1943–1945 (2004)
Hamilton, Nigel. Monty: The Making of a General: 1887–1942 (1981); Master of the Battlefield: Monty's War Years 1942–1944 (1984); Monty: The Field-Marshal 1944–1976 (1986).
Lamb, Richard. War In Italy, 1943–1945: A Brutal Story (1996)
Thompson, Julian. The Imperial War Museum Book of the War in Burma 1942–1945 (2004)
Sebag-Montefiore, Hugh. Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man (2008)
Royal Navy[edit]
Barnett, Corelli. Engage the Enemy More Closely: The Royal Navy in the Second World War (1991)
Marder, Arthur. Old Friends, New Enemies: The Royal Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy, vol. 2: The Pacific War, 1942–1945 with Mark Jacobsen and John Horsfield (1990)
Roskill, S. W. The White Ensign: British Navy at War, 1939–1945 (1960). summary
Roskill, S. W. War at Sea 1939–1945, Volume 1: The Defensive London: HMSO, 1954; War at Sea 1939–1945, Volume 2: The Period of Balance, 1956; War at Sea 1939–1945, Volume 3: The Offensive, Part 1, 1960; War at Sea 1939–1945, Volume 3: The Offensive, Part 2, 1961. online vol 1; online vol 2
Air war[edit]
Bungay, Stephen. The Most Dangerous Enemy: The Definitive History of the Battle of Britain (2nd ed. 2010)
Collier, Basil. Defence of the United Kingdom (HMSO, 1957) online
Fisher, David E, A Summer Bright and Terrible: Winston Churchill, Lord Dowding, Radar, and the Impossible Triumph of the Battle of Britain (2005) excerpt online
Hastings, Max. Bomber Command (1979)
Hansen, Randall. Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942–1945 (2009)
Hough, Richard and Denis Richards. The Battle of Britain (1989) 480 pp
Messenger, Charles, "Bomber" Harris and the Strategic Bombing Offensive, 1939–1945 (1984), defends Harris
Overy, Richard. The Battle of Britain: The Myth and the Reality (2001) 192 pages excerpt and text search
Richards, Dennis, et al. Royal Air Force, 1939–1945: The Fight at Odds – Vol. 1 (HMSO 1953), official history vol 1 online edition vol 2 online edition; vol 3 online edition
Shores, Christopher F. Air War for Burma: The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia 1942–1945 (2005)
Terraine, John. A Time for Courage: The Royal Air Force in the European War, 1939–1945 (1985)
Verrier, Anthony. The Bomber Offensive (1969), British
Webster, Charles and Noble Frankland, The Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany, 1939–1945 (HMSO, 1961), 4 vol. Important official British history
Wood, Derek, and Derek D. Dempster. The Narrow Margin: The Battle of Britain and the Rise of Air Power 1930–40 (1975) online edition
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Precipitation (chemistry)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the chemical phenomenon. For other uses, see Precipitation (disambiguation).
"Precipitate" redirects here. For other uses, see Precipitate (disambiguation).
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Chemical Precipitation
Precipitation is the creation of a solid from a solution. When the reaction occurs in a liquid solution, the solid formed is called the 'precipitate'. The chemical that causes the solid to form is called the 'precipitant'. Without sufficient force of gravity (settling) to bring the solid particles together, the precipitate remains in suspension. After sedimentation, especially when using a centrifuge to press it into a compact mass, the precipitate may be referred to as a 'pellet'. Precipitation can be used as a medium. The precipitate-free liquid remaining above the solid is called the 'supernate' or 'supernatant'. Powders derived from precipitation have also historically been known as 'flowers'. When the solid appears in the form of cellulose fibers which have been through chemical processing, the process is often referred to as regeneration.
Sometimes the formation of a precipitate indicates the occurrence of a chemical reaction. If silver nitrate solution is poured into a solution of sodium chloride, a chemical reaction occurs forming a white precipitate of silver chloride. When potassium iodide solution reacts with lead(II) nitrate solution, a yellow precipitate of lead(II) iodide is formed.
Precipitation may occur if the concentration of a compound exceeds its solubility (such as when mixing solvents or changing their temperature). Precipitation may occur rapidly from a supersaturated solution.
In solids, precipitation occurs if the concentration of one solid is above the solubility limit in the host solid, due to e.g. rapid quenching or ion implantation, and the temperature is high enough that diffusion can lead to segregation into precipitates. Precipitation in solids is routinely used to synthesize nanoclusters.[1]
An important stage of the precipitation process is the onset of nucleation. The creation of a hypothetical solid particle includes the formation of an interface, which requires some energy based on the relative surface energy of the solid and the solution. If this energy is not available, and no suitable nucleation surface is available, supersaturation occurs.
Contents
[hide]
1 Applications
2 Representation using chemical equations
3 Precipitate colors
4 Anion/cation analysis
5 Digestion
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
Applications[edit]
Crystals of meso-tetratolylporphyrin from a reflux of propanoic acid precipitate on cooling
Copper from a wire is displaced by silver in a silver nitrate solution it is dipped into, and solid silver precipitates out.
Precipitation reactions can be used for making pigments, removing salts from water in water treatment, and in classical qualitative inorganic analysis.
Precipitation is also useful to isolate the products of a reaction during workup. Ideally, the product of the reaction is insoluble in the reaction solvent. Thus, it precipitates as it is formed, preferably forming pure crystals. An example of this would be the synthesis of porphyrins in refluxing propionic acid. By cooling the reaction mixture to room temperature, crystals of the porphyrin precipitate, and are collected by filtration:[2]
Precipitation may also occur when an antisolvent (a solvent in which the product is insoluble) is added, drastically reducing the solubility of the desired product. Thereafter, the precipitate may easily be separated by filtration, decanting, or centrifugation. An example would be the synthesis of chromic tetraphenylporphyrin chloride: water is added to the DMF reaction solution, and the product precipitates.[3] Precipitation is also useful in purifying products: crude bmim-Cl is taken up in acetonitrile, and dropped into ethyl acetate, where it precipitates.[4] Another important application of an antisolvent is in ethanol precipitation of DNA.
In metallurgy, precipitation from a solid solution is also a useful way to strengthen alloys; this process is known as solid solution strengthening.
Representation using chemical equations[edit]
See also: solubility product
An example of a precipitation reaction: Aqueous silver nitrate (AgNO3) is added to a solution containing potassium chloride (KCl), the precipitation of a white solid, silver chloride (AgCl), is observed. (Zumdahl, 2005)
AgNO 3 + KCl ⟶ AgCl ↓ + KNO 3 {\displaystyle {\ce {{AgNO3}+ KCl -> AgCl (v) + KNO3}}}
The silver chloride (AgCl) has formed a solid, which is observed as a precipitate.
This reaction can be written emphasizing the dissociated ions in a combined solution. This is known as the ionic equation.
Ag + + NO 3 − + K + + Cl − ⟶ AgCl ↓ + K + + NO 3 − {\displaystyle {\ce {{Ag+}+{NO3^{-}}+{K+}+{Cl^{-}}->AgCl(v)+{K+}+NO3^{-}}}}
A final way to represent a precipitate reaction is known as a net ionic reaction. In this case, any spectator ions (those that do not contribute to the reaction) are left out of the formula completely. This simplifies the above equations to the following:
Ag + + Cl − ⟶ AgCl ↓ {\displaystyle {\ce {{Ag+}+ Cl^- -> AgCl (v)}}}
Precipitate colors[edit]
Green and reddish brown stains on a limestone core sample, respectively corresponding to precipitates of oxides/hydroxides of Fe2+
and Fe3+
.
Many compounds containing metal ions produce precipitates with distinctive colors. The following are typical colors for various metals. However, many of these compounds can produce colors very different from those listed.
Gold black
Chromium Deep green, murky green, orange, purple, yellow, brown
Cobalt Pink
Copper Blue
Iron(II) Green
Iron(III) Reddish brown
Manganese Pale pink
Nickel Green
Lead Yellow
Other compounds generally form white precipitates.
Anion/cation analysis[edit]
See also: Qualitative inorganic analysis
Precipitate formation is useful in the detection of the type of cation in a salt. To do this, an alkali first reacts with the unknown salt to produce a precipitate that is the hydroxide of the unknown salt. To identify the cation, the color of the precipitate and its solubility in excess are noted. Similar processes are often used in sequence – for example, a barium nitrate solution will react with sulfate ions to form a solid barium sulfate precipitate, indicating that it is likely that sulfate ions are present.
Digestion[edit]
Digestion, or precipitate ageing, happens when a freshly formed precipitate is left, usually at a higher temperature, in the solution from which it precipitates. It results in cleaner and bigger particles. The physico-chemical process underlying digestion is called Ostwald ripening.
See also[edit]
Coprecipitation
Salting in
Salting out
Effervescence
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Dhara, S. (2007). "Formation, Dynamics, and Characterization of Nanostructures by Ion Beam Irradiation". Critical Reviews in Solid State and Materials Sciences. 32 (1): 1–50. Bibcode:2007CRSSM..32....1D. doi:10.1080/10408430601187624.
Jump up ^ A. D. Adler; F. R. Longo; J. D. Finarelli; J. Goldmacher; J. Assour; L. Korsakoff (1967). "A simplified synthesis for meso-tetraphenylporphine". J. Org. Chem. 32 (2): 476–476. doi:10.1021/jo01288a053.
Jump up ^ Alan D. Adler; Frederick R. Longo; Frank Kampas; Jean Kim (1970). "On the preparation of metalloporphyrins". Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry. 32 (7): 2443. doi:10.1016/0022-1902(70)80535-8.
Jump up ^ Dupont, J., Consorti, C., Suarez, P., de Souza, R. (2004). "Preparation of 1-Butyl-3-methyl imidazolium-based Room Temperature Ionic Liquids". Organic Syntheses. CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) ; Collective Volume, 10, p. 184
Further reading[edit]
Zumdahl, Steven S. (2005). Chemical Principles (5th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-37206-7.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solid precipitation.
Precipitation reactions of certain cations
Digestion Instruments
A Thesis on pattern formation in precipitation reactions
Authority control
NDL: 00573050
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