"Indians at Gallipoli" Topic

A hitherto under reported aspect of the Gallipoli campaign now rightfully highlighted:

link

In 1915 about 15,000 Indian troops – two or three times as many as previously thought – served in the dramatic and doomed eight-month Gallipoli campaign. Their part in the invasion of Gallipoli has lain largely unknown since the publication of long disregarded regimental histories and forgotten British officers' memoirs.

Force G, as it came to be known, included Sikhs, Hindus and Punjabi Musalmans (as Muslim soldiers were called) and four battalions of Gurkhas. They served in an infantry brigade, a mountain artillery brigade, in medical units and in a large contingent of mule drivers, who perhaps made the Indians' most important contribution to the campaign.

About 1,600 of the Indians who served on Gallipoli died, in actions at Gurkha Bluff and Hill 60. They took part in terrible, failed attacks, at Gully Ravine and Gully Spur and in the climactic attempt in August to seize the summit of Sari Bair – one of the Gurkhas' most cherished battle honours.

Though commemorated on the great memorial to the missing at Cape Helles (because most Indians' bodies were cremated or, actually, lost) they are practically invisible on Gallipoli today.

Thanks for that piece of historical reporting. I had not been aware that there were so many Indians at Gallipoli.

Thanks, I, too, hadn't realized the Indians had been that involved at Gallipoli specifically. I figured they were more heavily and notably in action in Mesopotamia.

Sad, too, is the fact that much of the Indian troops' good works in WW2 are, while slightly more prevalent, being related by those outside the Indian Subcontinent. IMHO a bit of misplaced nationalistic pride is holding them back from acknowledging service under the Crown, in some cases preferring to honor Subhas Chandra Bose, who tried to garner Indians to fight _for_ the Axis _against_ the British Empire. I'll withhold my personal feelings on his efforts at this time, except to say that it was a ringingly flawed, ill-conceived, and massively-failed effort, besmirching their peoples' otherwise tremendous and effective response to counter fascism.

I believe the eventual numbers were 20,000 or so (many of whom were ex-PoWs keen to escape the tender mercies of Bose's Japanese friends), compared to the 2.5 million who volunteered to serve the Crown on top of the hundreds of thousands already serving. This made the Indian Army of the Raj the largest all-volunteer military force in human history.

During the 1997 celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of India's independence, there was a massive outcry (by Indians) at their government's decision to put Bose's survivors at the head of military parades whilst completely ignoring all the Raj veterans. The government also bought up a stack of VCs on the cheap, telling their owners that the medals were worthless, and promptly stuck them on public display in museums and other institutions.

This is worth a look:-

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29186508

If you are interested in Indians on Gallipoli I suggest you get Peter Stanley's new book "Die Battle Do Not Despair". Bookdepository has it.