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Well Ruy , The "Establishment" may have regarded them as "Colonials" , but at the grass roots level they were regarded as just Brits living elsewhere .
At the time there were strong ties to the "Old Country" and nationalistic feelings were'nt as strong as they may be today. But Remember that Queen Elizabeth II is not only Queen of the UK & Nth Ireland, but also of Australia , Canada, New Zealand and one or 2 other places.
As a child I lived in Malta for a while and went to school with Australian , New Zealand and other Commonwealth children from service families. We all got on well together.
Churchill saw India as the Jewel in the Crown of the then British Empire - seeing any moves for
independance as a sell out . He also hated the Indian Army - one of the reasons he replaced Auckinleck in the 8th Army was the fact He was from the Indian Army.
When during the War Churchill faced a vote of no confidence , there were plans to replace him if the need arose by Robert Menzies the then PM of Australia
An illustration of how popular Britain still was in those days was when the British Pacific Fleet arrived in Australia . The Yanks already there really got their noses pushed out .
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