This Remembrance Day marks 100 years since the start of the First World War. This is a perfect moment to reflect upon the tales of those who sacrificed their lives and freedom for their country including 74,000 Indians, protecting liberties that today we easily take for granted. Yet, for decades, the role of these men has been reduced to an occasional mention in history books.
Nearly 1.5 million Indian men, reportedly the largest volunteer force in military history at the time, participated in the World War I, fighting in treacherous conditions in Western Europe, Mesopotamia and East Africa.
To commemorate this event, a sea of ceramic poppies, each representing a British military fatality during the First World War, has been installed in the Tower of London, enchanting tourists as well as proud citizens. These poppies are not mere flowers- they are the symbol of lives lost, families torn apart in the two World Wars, as well as so many other conflicts that generations have witnessed.
British Defence Secretary visits India
The Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon MP visited India on Thursday 30 October 2014. He led the United Kingdom’s commemorations to recognise India’s contribution and sacrifice during World War One, including laying a wreath at India Gate and hosting at a commemorative reception. He also met with his Indian counterpart, Mr Arun Jaitley, Minister for Defence and Finance, and the Indian National Security Advisor, Mr Ajit Doval, reaffirming the UK’s defence and security partnership with India.
The visit had personal significance for the Secretary of State, whose grandfather Captain Harold Spink served in the Indian Army, and formed part of the Indian expeditionary force that fought in Mesopotamia.
In recognition of the huge Indian contribution to the World War I effort and a mark of respect for the Indian servicemen who gave their lives, Mr Fallon laid a wreath at India Gate, before hosting a large-scale commemoration event at the British High Commission in New Delhi.
During the reception, the Secretary of State unveiled Victoria Cross (VC) memorials, commemorating the six VCs that were won by soldiers from the current territory of India. He presented the memorials to the Indian Minister of Defence, along with digitised war diaries of the India Corps that fought in France and Flanders and other commemorative items.
Mr Fallon told Asian Voice, "India and the UK are natural partners. The events I've attended and the discussions I've held today are the clearest possible evidence that this partnership is deep, broad and long-standing.
“In a moving ceremony to mark the enormous contribution made by Indian servicemen during the First World War, Defence Minister Jaitley and I reflected on the common values which India and the UK shared then and still share now. There was, rightly, great pride on both sides.
“We also looked forward, to consider how our countries can work together in tackling the many security challenges threatening global and regional security. And our shared pride at events a century ago stands us in very good stead as we embark together on that work."
Remembering sacrifices made by communities
All across Britain, and worldwide, on Remembrance Sunday, communities will pay homage to the fallen soldiers of World War I, celebrating the centenary.
The beginning of the month has witnessed little poppies pinned to the shirts/coats of people- a special and personal tribute. Muslim women will now be able to go one step further, by wearing a ‘poppy hijab.’ Tabinda-Kauser Ishaq, 24, a student at the London College of Fashion and a British Muslim, has designed a headscarf that is patterned with poppies, and has been created specifically for Remembrance Day this year.
She reportedly told a newspaper, “The idea to do a headscarf came from knowing that many Muslims generally mark Remembrance Day.
“We felt it wasn’t that widely known. The number of Muslim soldiers who fought in World War I was even less known. We wanted to create something that illustrated this history.”
More than 400,000 Muslims fought alongside British troops in 1914, but it is a fact that is little known or talked about. It’s why the Islamic Society of Britain and integration think tank British Future which is selling the hijab online, approached Tabinda to help them find a symbol of Remembrance that would appeal to British Muslims.
In the summer, UK Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA) organised an exhibition called ‘Empire, Faith & War: The Sikhs and World War One’. It was the launch event of a three-year project to reveal the untold story of how one of the world's smaller communities played a disproportionately large role in the ‘war to end all wars’.
The story of Sikhs in World War I was told through original artefacts including unpublished photographs and drawings, newspapers and comics, postcards, stunning works of art, uniforms, gallantry medals, and folk songs sung by the wives left at home. It also featured a unique album of X-Rays of wounded Indian soldiers’ injuries generously lent by Her Majesty The Queen from the Royal Collection.
UKPHA Chair, Amandeep Madra said: “The British Indian Army’s contribution was actually greater than the better-known efforts of the white commonwealth countries of Australia, Canada and New Zealand put together. The non-white Empire’s efforts have largely been forgotten and their heroism and sacrifices omitted from mainstream narratives, or left as somewhat forlorn footnotes of history.
“And yet men from British India in particular ensured that the Western Front wasn’t lost in those vital first months, and then went on to fight the war’s forgotten fronts in Mesopotamia, Arabia, Palestine, North Africa and beyond. Their contribution has never adequately been recognised or even told.
“By telling the Sikh story we want to change that and remind the world of this wider undervalued contribution of the non-white British Empire. This is British history and a story that helps explain much about modern Britain as well as filling in a tragically missing piece of First World War history.”
More than 200,000 Gurkhas have fought in the two world wars, and in the past 50 years they have served in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, Cyprus, the Falklands, Kosovo and now in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the two World Wars the Gurkha Brigade suffered 43,000 casualties, and to date it has won 26 Victoria Crosses – 13 by Gurkhas and 13 by British Officers. In the World War II there were no fewer than 40 Gurkha Battalions in British Service, as well as parachute, garrison and training units. In all this total sum amounted to 112,000 men. Side by side with British and Commonwealth troops Gurkhas fought in Syria, the Western Desert, Italy and Greece, from North Malaya to Singapore and from the Siamese Border back through Burma to Imphal and then forward to Rangoon. In Britain's 13 years war with Afghanistan, The Times reported that 40 Gurkhas held off 28 assaults in two weeks at Nawzad; between 2001-2014, the 453 British troop soldiers who were killed included 10 Gurkha soldiers- Rifleman Yubraj Rai, Colour Sergeant Krishnabahadur Dura, Corporal Kumar Pun, Corporal Arjun Purja Pun, Sapper Ishwor Gurung, Rifleman Suraj Gurung, Rifleman Vijay Rai, Rifleman Sachin Limbu, Lance Corporal Gajbahadur Gurung, Lance Corporal Siddhanta Kunwar. It also included Flight Lt Rakesh Chauhan, a British Gujarati and Lance Corporal Martin Joseph Gill, who seem to be of mixed ethnicity.
Remembering Rakesh's contributions, the Leicester city had come to a standstill in end of April, as about 2,000 people lined to honour this 29 years old RAF officer, who died when his helicopter crashed in Afghanistan. Survived by parents and a brother, he was honoured and remembered at the prestigious 14th Asian Achievers Awards in London's Grosvenor Hotel on 19th September.
On Remembrance Sunday, 9th November this year, dignitaries and well-wishers across Britain will fall silent for two minutes in respect to those who laid down their lives in past conflicts. Monarchs, MPs, Peers, Mayors will lay wreaths at different cenotaphs and memorials. Hundreds are expected to line the streets for services and parades held across the county- to remember as the name suggests- a day to recall and pay tribute to those who risked and gave up their precious lives for someone else's safety, peace and independence.
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World War I Centenary
- Kusoom Vadgama
The inscription carved on the centotaph in Whitehall, designed by Edwin Lutyens, the Glorious Dead remains etched on the hearts of all who honour and remember the fallen heroes. Serving soldiers march past the monument and Monarchs lay wreaths while the veterans of the wars, wearing medals and poppies (introduced in 1921) with pride, complete the processions.
This ritual has continued since the first Armstice Day, 11 November 1919. The day remembers and honours those who died in and in the case of India, those who made the supreme sacrifice for the country not theirs. At the time, India's enemy was Britain and not Germany, yet 1.5 million men came to the colours without constrictions and over 60,000 of them died in WWI., leaving their families consumed with grief. Ironically, India was fighting its own war of independence on the home front and the freedom fighters were marched into prisons when at the same time Indian soldiers were lying on the battlefields of Europe, defending Britain. Inspite of it, there was no question of Indian loyalty to Britain's war efforts or to the King Emperor. The war produced heroes like Khudadad Khan, the first ever Indian to be awarded the Victoria cross on 31 October 1914, for his bravery (until 1911, Indians were not eligible for this award).
To mark the Indian contributions to the war, Mrs Sarojini Naidu (1879-1948), wrote a poem 'The Services of Indian Womanhood' which says all about the human sacrifice and the sheer agony of the brutality of war. A talented politician and poet described as the nightangle of India, she was also a brilliant orator.
Indian soldiers who died of their wounds were cremated on the Brighton Downs ie the Sikhs and the Hindus. Muslim soldiers were buried first at the Memorial Gardens and later reburied at the Brookwood Cemetery near Woking.
As we mark the centenary of the war, we pay tribute to all who lost their lives. The monument at Kohima, the capital of Nagaland, scene of fighting in World War II has the following timeless inscription that says all about the debt that we owe to the war dead: “When You Go Home, Tell Them of Us and Say, For Their tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.”