Do not think that this is war. This is not war. It is the ending of the world.
When Indian soldiers fought across the world during the Great War, they witnessed and were victim to the worst form of warfare ever devised. From fighting in the trenches to starving in the deserts, to being struck with chemical gas attacks by their own government, Indian soldiers were at the frontline of the Great War at its very worst.
In the weeks leading to and from Remembrance Day on November 11, across the United Kingdom, a sea of poppies bears testimony to the war that took place nearly a century ago. But in India, little commemorates this event that over a million Indian soldiers bore witness to – and that claimed the lives of more than 74,000 in battle.
An international survey conducted by the British Council revealed many misconceptions about the war worldwide. The presence of troops from Commonwealth countries doesn’t seem to have registered, with very few respondents associating India with World War I. Even within India, under half of all respondents believed that India fought against the Allies during the war.
Fighting for Empire, South Asian soldiers from modern-day India, Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka and Nepal were present at the site of the Allies greatest victories and most staggering defeats. At a lonely monument in the middle of Bangalore’s busiest shopping street, at Brigade Road Junction, is a World War I memorial commemorating the 350 soldiers of the First Madras Pioneers. Most of the places named were those of military success for the regiment. But the first name below the Rondel – Kut Al-Amara (1917) reminds us how terrible loss can be.
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