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Role of indian army in world war 1

Role of indian army in first world war

India played a vital role in the WW 1 and our soldiers did magnificent work .. they fought battles, but no one remembers them today :
INDIA IN WORLD WAR ONE 1914

There is a lot to read here but its small gesture we can all perform in
gaining an insight into the Indian Army in WW1 and a small gesture of respect.
1] The stories of 1.3 million Indian soldiers who fought the First World War
have been almost forgotten — the narrative of World War One has so far been
predominantly white.
The Indian story had to be told because it rarely happens that one nation's
war is fought by another's armies. But not only did Britain
downplay the contribution of these men but India,
too, chose to ignore them. In fact, the nationalist voices in free India
actively disowned parts of this history.
India however had played a significant part in World War One.
2] When war broke out in 1914, India
was in a state of growing political unrest. However India
rallied to the cause mainly because those with influence within India
believed that the cause of Indian independence would best be served by helping
out Britain in
whatever capacity India
could.
3] Offers of financial and military help were made from all over the
country.
Hugely wealthy princes offered great sums of money, and even areas
outside of British India offered help –
Nepal offered
help and in total sent 100,000 Gurkhas and the Dalai Lama in Tibet
offered 1000 of his troops to the cause.
4] On the 8th August 1914
the first two Indian troops to fight in World War One left India
headed for Egypt
to be held in reserve.
But soon they were required on the Western Front.
In the winter of October 1914 Indians were fed into some of the fiercest
fighting at the Battle of Ypres.
Sikh battalions also fought in Egypt,
Palestine, Mesopotamia,
Gallipoli and France.
The 14th Ferozepore Sikhs were in Gallipoli in April 1915 and fought in a
number of battles in the Gallipoli campaign.
After Gallipoli the battalion was in the Persian Gulf
region and took part in some fierce fighting on the Tigris
River.
The 15th Ludhiana Sikhs were in France
in September 1914 and participated in fighting at Fauquissart and Festubert.
5] In March 1915, Indian troops provided half the attacking force at the
Battle of Neuve Chapelle, which was the costliest in terms of lives.
6] The average Indian battalion had 764 men when it landed; by early
November the 47th Sikhs had only 385 men fit for duty. The fighting came as a
shock to soldiers more used to colonial warfare. One man wrote home 'this is
not war; it is the ending of the world'.
7] The King sent two messages of greeting to troops landing at Marseilles.
The first, to the British troops, said: "I have implicit confidence in
you, my soldiers. Duty is your
watchword, and I know your duty will be nobly done."
The second message, to the Indians, read:
"I know with what readiness my brave, loyal Indians soldiers are
prepared to fulfil their sacred trust in the field of battle, shoulder
to shoulder with comrades from all parts of Empire. I bid you go
forward and add fresh lustre to the glorious achievements, noble
traditions, courage, and chivalry of my Indian army, honour and
fame are in your hands."
8] Indian soldiers frequently expressed a strong sense of personal duty to
the King-Emperor George V, who is mentioned in their letters more often than
anyone else.
A postcard with a portrait of the King was given to all Indian troops as a
New Year's present in January 1917, and the men seem to have appreciated this
gesture.
9] The first Indian divisions, totalling around 24,000 men, arrived at Marseilles
to the cries of 'Vive les Hindus'.
Every road was crowded with excited spectators, crying 'Vive les Hindus' and
struggling to shake hands with the smiling soldiers. The woman gave them fruit
and cigarettes, and girls strewed flowers on the road or pinned them to the
tunics
or turban of the men.
10] The Indian Corps won 13,000 medals for gallantry including 11 Victoria
Crosses.
Khudadad Khan won the Corps first Victoria Cross.
11] It has been well said that Sikh Soldiers are "Warriors by tradition
and descent. They were often used as cannon fodder by allied forces who pushed
them into the killing zone first. A large number of those killed in Neuve
Chappel were Sikhs.
12] The British Indian Army was made of nearly 20% Sikhs, despite the fact
that Sikhs account for only 2% of the population in India.
13] By1918, India
had sent over 1 million soldiers to fight in the War, not including Imperial
Service Troops from the Princely States,
Sailors and Indian Labour Corps.
138, 608 Indian soldiers (two infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions and
four field artillery brigades) saw action on the Western Front.
Here, 7700 Indians died, 16,400 were wounded and 840 went missing or were
taken prisoner.
Of the twelve Victoria Crosses awarded to Indians after the War, six were
for those who had fought on the Western Front.
The main memorial to the Indian Army on the Western Front was that designed
by Sir Herbert Baker, and opened in 1927 at Neuve Chapelle.
14] India's
contribution to the First World War
By the time the war ended in November 1918 India
had sent:
• 138,000 men to France
• 657,000 men to Mesopotamia (most of which is now
contained within modern-day Iraq)
• 144,000 men to Egypt
and Palestine
• Smaller contingents to Aden, East
Africa, Gallipolli and Salonika
The Royal Indian Marine was armed in 1914, some of its ships serving with
the Royal Navy on escort duties and others as coastal minesweepers or
river gunboats in the Mesopotamia campaign.
The role of the Indian merchant services in transportation and supply was no
less essential than that of their comrades in arms.
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service had its origins in the
Indian Army. In 1914 there were around 300 nurses in the QAIMNS. By the
end of the war this had risen to 10,404. The Army nurses served in
Flanders, the Mediterranean, the
Balkans, the Middle East and on board hospital ships. Of
the 200 plus army nurses who died on active service, many were Indians.
India also
provided :
• over 170,000 animals
• 3,700,000 tons of supplies and stores
In all, 64,000 troops from Undivided India sacrificed their lives in the
First World War
Over 9,200 decorations were earned, including eleven VCs.
India
pledged £100 million in 1914 to Britain
for the war effort, followed by
annual contributions of £20 million to £30 million.
Such was the cost of the war, that India’s
economy was pushed to near bankruptcy.
Figures from the War office show that by 1919 India
had sent 1, 096, 013 men overseas to fight.
15] Indian War Memorials
The names of all of India's
known war dead are carved on the main memorial
to the Indian Army, the massive arch of India Gate in New
Delhi.
The Indians were also commemorated on the Western Front itself. There are
many Indian names on the Menin Gate at Ypres, but the
main memorial to
the Indian Army on the Western Front was that designed by Sir Herbert
Baker, and opened in 1927 at Neuve Chapelle - the site of the Indian Corps'
most famous, and costliest, action in 1915.
The Port Tewfik Memorial (also known as the Indian War Memorial) was
originally situated at Port Tewfik (or Port Taufiq), now called Suez
Port, on the Suez Canal.
It was unveiled in May 1926 for the Imperial
War Graves Commission (now Commonwealth War Graves Commission) and commemorated
4,000 officers and men of the Indian Army killed during the Sinai and Palestine
Campaign during the First World War.
The memorial was destroyed by retreating Egyptian troops during the Six-Day
War of 1967 and later relocated to the Heliopolis
War Cemetery
on Nabil
el Wakkad Street in the Heliopolis
district of Cairo. Panels bearing the names of the fallen have been mounted in
the entrance pavilions to the War Cemetery.
The Chattri is a memorial built to honour the Indian dead of the First
World War. It stands on the Downs near Patcham at the
place where Hindu
and Sikh soldiers who died in Brighton war hospitals
during 1914-1915
were cremated. It was unveiled by the Prince of Wales on 21st February 1921.
The Pavilion Gateway (unveiled by Bhupinder Singh in 1921).
Unlike the Chattri Memorial which commemorates the service and sacrifice of
the Indian soldiers in the Great War, the Indian Memorial Gateway was
meant as a gift and a ‘thank you’ from the people of India
to the town of Brighton and its
people for their care of the wounded Indian soldiers and their hospitality
during the war.
16] Battle Honours for the troops of Undivided India
"The achievements in combat of these Indian soldiers are noteworthy.
They
have carried on successfully in grim and bloody fighting against a
tenacious enemy helped by terrain particularly favorable for defense. No
obstacle has succeeded in delaying these Indian troops for long or in lowering
their high morale or fighting spirit... The bravery of Indian troops is
attested by
the Battle Honours and Decorations awarded."
Lt.-General Mark W. Clark (U S Army) February
27th, 1945, Italy
Though referring to the Fourth, Eighth and Tenth Divisions under his command
in Italy, Clark's
words only echo what has been said so often about
troops from Undivided India in the course of the First and Second World Wars.
17] The Victoria Cross was introduced in 1856 by Queen Victoria
during the
Crimean War. Indian troops were not originally eligible for the VC,
because they already had a similar award - the Indian Order of Merit. At
the time, the Indian Army was still under the control of the Honourable East
India Company.
In 1860 when Indian soldiers came under Crown control, pressure was exerted
to allow them to receive the VC. It took until 1911 for this measure of
equality to be put into practice.
In the First World War 11 soldiers from Undivided India were awarded the
Victoria Cross.
2 of these awards were posthumous.
Each one of their stories is remarkable and inspiring, no one more deserving
of our admiration than any other.
18] Shahamad Khan was a Naik in the 89th Punjabis, (now 1st Battalion The
Baloch
Regiment, Pakistan Army) serving on the Tigris Front in Mesopotamia,
when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:
"Shahamad Khan was in charge of a machine-gun section 150 yards from
the enemy's position, covering a gap in the New Line at Beit Ayeesa,
Mesopotamia on
12th/13th April, 1916.
After all his men, apart from two belt-fillers, had become casualties,
Shamahad Khan, working the gun single-handed, repelled three
counter-attacks. Under extremely heavy fire, he continued to hold the
gap, whilst it was being made secure, for three hours.
When his gun was disabled by enemy fire, he and the two belt-fillers
continued to hold the ground with their rifles until they were ordered
to retire.
Along with the three men who were sent to his assistance, he brought back to
his own lines, his gun, ammunition and a severely wounded man.
Eventually he returned to remove all remaining arms and equipment,
except for two shovels. But for
his action, the line would undoubtedly have been penetrated by the
enemy."
He later achieved the rank of Subedar.
Shahamad Khan was not the only member of the 89th Punjabis to receive a
gallantry award.
19] A soldier’s kit - Introduction
While a weapon, ammunition, food, water and uniform were obviously a
necessary part of a serviceman’s kit, many carried personalised items
that to them were much more significant. Small luxuries to bring the
soldier or airman good luck were often found tucked into his pack, which could
weigh upwards of 23kg. Along with log books that detailed tales of day to day
bravery
were religious items, photographs of loved ones, books and mascots that provide
an even more compelling insight to the minds of those sent to fight on the
Front Line.
Hopefully you will have gained a glimpse an insight into the roles played by
the Indian Army.
information taken various source.

 

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