Christopher Nolan's visual masterpiece, war epic 'Dunkirk' has garnered flattering reviews from both, film critics and movie watchers. Set in the backdrop of World War II, the film talks about the evacuation of British soldiers who were cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk in France, between late May and early June 1940. As many as 4,00,000 men of the Allied Forces were pushed to the very edge of land by the Germans.
Called a cinematic showpiece, Nolan uncharacteristically made a massive blunder. His film blatantly overlooks the role played by the Indian army in the events depicted, and the war. A reporter said that there were four companies of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps on Dunkirk's beaches in the time the movie is set. In his piece, John Broich of Slate, wrote, “Observers said they were particularly cool under fire and well organised during the retreat. They weren't large in number, maybe a few hundred among hundreds of thousands, but their appearance in the film would have provided a good reminder of how utterly central the role of the Indian Army was in the war. Their service meant the difference between victory and defeat.”
He added, “In fact, while Britain and other allies were licking their wounds after Dunkirk, the Indian Army picked up the slack in North Africa and the Middle East.”
Manimugdha S Sharma gave a brief timeline of events, saying the British Army was probably the only fully mechanised army in the world. However, the British Expeditionary Force had to rely on animal transport when it went to France. “Unlike the British, the Indian Army was still not mechanised. It had 96 infantry battalions and 18 cavalry regiments with only two being ordered to give up horses for tanks a little before the war. So the pack animals and their handlers had to come from India.”
That was how the Force K-6, four Indian Animal Transport companies, part of the Royal Indian Army Service corps, were dispatched to France in December 1936. The men were mostly Punjabi Muslims and Pathans, from areas that now are a part of Pakistan. Three of the four companies were evacuated, the personnel of one company was however, taken prisoner by the Germans, and are said to have died in their prisoner-of-war camps. Jamadar Maula Dada Khan, who was a Viceroy's Commissioned Officer, was recognised in the form of a citation of Indian Distinguished Service Medal.
Guess Nolan had a little more homework left to do before he got into the works of making the war time gem.
