03rd July 2022
World War I memorials
Participation of Undivided India in World War I
The Forces of Undivided India played a significant part in both world wars and her 160,000 dead are buried and commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in war cemeteries in 60 countries. India’s army, which by the end of the Second World War with two and half million men was the largest volunteer army the world had ever seen, suffered the heaviest losses but other branches of the Indian services also played their part. They served in many theatres of war from October 1914 when the first units arrived on the Western Front, to help stem the German assault, until the last months of the Second World War when Indian forces played a key role in the Allied victory in the East. In the First World War, they fought in the battles of Neuve Chapelle and the Ypres salient, and the campaigns in Gallipoli, East Africa, and Mesopotamia. They were with the British Expeditionary Force in France in the Second World War and went on to fight in the deserts of North Africa, in Italy, the Malay Peninsula, and Burma. In every theatre of war, they fought with distinction, winning countless decorations, including 40 Victoria Crosses, and were in the words of Field Marshal Auchinleck ‘second to none in soldierly spirit and pride of profession.’
You will find such commemorative stones of War participation all across Pakistani Punjab. I found one such commemorative stone in Bhasin village on the outskirts of Lahore.
The inscription states
"From this village 83 men went to great war 1914- 1919 of these 5 gave up their lives."
The First World War (1914-1918) or the Great War for Civilisation, as it was known at the time, was a watershed event in modern world history. The events of that conflict changed the social and political map of the world forever. Its repercussions reverberate through time and many contemporary conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, trace their roots directly to the fallout of that war. Though a colony at the time, India actively supported the war effort in its bid to gain Dominion status. The overwhelming majority of mainstream political opinion in 1914 was united in the view that if India desired greater responsibility and political autonomy, it must also be willing to share in the burden of Imperial defence. As a result, India contributed immensely to the war effort in terms of both men and material. Her soldiers served with credit and honor in numerous battlefields around the globe: in France and Belgium,
in Aden, Arabia, East Africa, Gallipoli, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Persia, Salonica, Russia, and even in China. By the end of the war, 1,100,000 Indians had served overseas at the cost of 60,000 dead. They earned over 9,200 decorations for gallantry including 11 Victoria Crosses. These figures include the contribution of over 26,000 Imperial Service troops who were a part of the Indian States Forces. Britain entered the war on 4 August 1914 in response to the German violation of the sovereignty of Belgium with whom she had an alliance and sent an Expeditionary Force to fight alongside the French. At this time the only regular forces available to Britain were its own army and the Indian Army. The Indian Army was not organized, trained, or equipped for a major war of the type that was to take place, but it was the only reserve that was immediately available. Mobilization commenced on 8 August 1914 and the Lahore Division embarked at Karachi on 24 August. Initially, this division was meant to proceed to Egypt for the defense of the Suez Canal but in view of the critical situation in France, it was ordered to proceed to Marseilles which it reached on 26 September 1914. After a few days of familiarization, it left for Orleans where it was deployed in the trenches on 24 October 1914. Trench warfare was entirely new to the Indian soldier. The trenches were a continuous line of wet and muddy ditches – a total contrast to the dry hills and scrub of the northwest Frontier where most of the Indian soldiers had received their baptism of fire. Moreover, the Indian troops arrived in their summer cotton uniforms totally unsuited to the winter conditions that they faced on their arrival in France. In the meanwhile, the Meerut Division had also reached France and by 20 October had also moved to the frontline. The two divisions were formed into an Indian Corps under Lieutenant-General Sir James Willcocks. The Corps relieved two British divisions, which held the line from Neuve Chapelle to Givenchy. It remained here for the next fourteen months fighting many battles which were to become world-famous in times to come.
