The Forgotten Heroes

Hindus are commonly distinguished as weak so therefore poor soldiers, yet they had been involved in fighting wars for others more than themselves. Among the first foreign forces were Hindus to fight for British on the Western front. In the war, India had hugely supported the British in most areas, these including: Politically, economically and also in military. At a time when majority of Indians were suffering from poverty and malnourishment, they gifted 100 million pounds for them to participate and strengthen the British in war. The support was in exchange also for the British’s understanding in giving India independence, which the British were in no hurry to fulfil. In total, approximately 1,338, 620 Hindus participated in the war. This number easily totals the number of army force from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa by 178,000. Hindu soldiers were involved in lands as diverse as, Palestine, France, Syria and Mesopotamia. Some historians say that it was the Hindu army which changed the course of the war by turning German soldiers at Marne. Hundreds of Thousands of Hindu soldiers lost their lives and no hero’s welcome awaited the survivors.

In the first World War, the Indian corps won 13,000 medals and 12 Victoria crosses and this is something that deserves broad recognition around the globe.

It was Indian jawans (junior soldiers) who stopped the German advance at Ypres in the autumn of 1914, soon after the war broke out, while the British were still recruiting and training their own forces. Hundreds were killed in a gallant but futile engagement at Neuve Chappelle. More than 1,000 of them died at Gallipoli, thanks to Churchill's folly. Nearly 700,000 Indian sepoys (infantry privates) fought in Mesopotamia against the Ottoman Empire, Germany's ally, many of them Indian Muslims taking up arms against their co-religionists in defence of the British Empire.

The most painful experiences were those of soldiers fighting in the trenches of Europe. Letters sent by Indian soldiers in France and Belgium to their family members in their villages back home speak an evocative language of cultural dislocation and tragedy. "The shells are pouring like rain in the monsoon," declared one. "The corpses cover the country, like sheaves of harvested corn," wrote another.

These men were undoubtedly heroes - pitchforked into battle in unfamiliar lands, in harsh and cold climatic conditions they were neither used to nor prepared for, fighting an enemy of whom they had no knowledge, risking their lives every day for little more than pride. Yet they were destined to remain largely unknown once the war was over: neglected by the British, for whom they fought, and ignored by their own country, from which they came.

We made this Poppy OM Brooch to commemorate the sacrifice of all Hindu Soldiers who participated and sacrificed their lives in both World War I and II.