HISTORY
Why were Indian troops involved in the two World Wars?
When the British Government declared war on Germany, both in August 1914 and in September 1939, it was not just the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the British Isles that they were committing to war but all military troops of what was then known as the British Empire. This included the Dominions of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, and the many British territories scattered across the globe including, of course, India from where many of the Muslim soldiers were recruited.
World War I (1914-1918)
It is important to remember that on the outbreak of World War I the then British Army, which had fought regular colonial campaigns, was in no sense a major European land power – British supremacy around the world was largely projected by the enormous Royal Navy – and so the British Army that deployed to the western front was simply too small for the task at hand. In the first months of the war it took a severe knock. The Dominions of Australia, New Zealand, Canada (including Newfoundland which, at that time, was counted separately) and South Africa also maintained small armies. India had the largest trained and operationally effective army of the Empire, numbering some 150,000, and so provided a ready source of much needed experienced manpower, especially in the early months of the war until the UK and the Dominions could increase and train their own armies.
For the Indian Army this was a truly global contribution and its regiments and personnel served with distinction in all theatres of war and on all fronts – France, Belgium, Aden, Arabia, East and West Africa, Somalia, Gallipoli, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Persia, Salonika, Russia and China.
In Europe the majority of Indian troops were only kept long enough for the UK to recruit and train sufficient men to put into that theatre. After about one year the Indian infantry were sent to other theatres of war though the cavalry units remained in France until early 1918 and the Labour Corps for even longer than that - in August 1919 there were still 15,000 ILC volunteers in France.
Numbers of Indian troops sent overseas up to 31 December 1919:
Theatre
France
E. Africa
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Gallipoli
Salonica
Palestine
Aden
Persian Gulf
Totals
Indian Officers &
Warrant Officers
1,923
848
9,514
2,204
90
132
4
480
967
16,162
Indian Other
Ranks
87,412
33,835
317,142
107,742
3,041
6,545
1
19,936
29,408
605,062
Non-Combatants
49,273
13,021
348,735
34,047
1,819
3,254
28
5,786
18,823
474,789
Indian totals
138,608
47,704
675,391
143,993
4,950
9,931
33
26,205
49,198
1,096,013
These figures only account for the number of troops sent overseas. Others were required for service in India so that the sub-continent’s total commitment was 1,440,437.
Comparison table of Dominion troops:
Country
British Isles
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa *
Newfoundland
Other Colonies **
Numbers sent overseas
458,218
331,814
112,223
76,184
6,173
Total number of troops
5,704,416
628,964
412,953
128,525
136,070
134,837
* (includes sent to East Africa but not to German South-West Africa)
** (including West Indies)
World War 2 (1939-1945)
India’s entry into World War 2 was announced by the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, without any consultation, and certainly without the consent of any of the Indian political parties or peoples’ representatives. Given the broken promises regarding India’s political situation following the end of World War I, and lack of any firm commitments by the British in the run-up to World War 2, the Congress Party declined to give its support to the war effort while the Muslim League quickly assured the political leaders of their support. The line taken by the Congress Party certainly had an adverse influence on the recruitment of officers.
A soldier of 15th Punjab Regiment by Harry Sheldon, war artist
Despite an initial inertia during which neither mobilisation of reserves nor fresh recruitment took place, India rose to the occasion and the part played by the Indian Armed Forces throughout the war was outstanding. This included the arrival of 11th (Ahmednagar) Indian Infantry Brigade in Egypt in August 1939, just prior to the outbreak of war with Germany; four animal transport companies of the RIASC in France, the only Indian troops in that theatre, three of whom were subsequently evacuated from Dunkirk; deployments in Persia and Iraq in 1941; the part played by Indian troops in East Africa in 1940/41, North Africa in 1942/43 – Montgomery counted the 4th Indian Division among his finest troops; their involvement in Italy from 1943 to the surrender of German troops in May 1945 including the role of 4th Indian Division in the attack on Cassino 16 February - 24 March 1944; and, of course, the significant contribution to the war in Burma and the Far East.
The principal battle grounds of the Indian Army can be drawn in a line running from Italy and Greece on one side of the Mediterranean and North Africa on the other side, through Eritrea on the Red Sea and through Syria, Iraq and Iran in the Middle East, through India itself and on to Burma, Malaya/Singapore, Hong Kong, British and Dutch Borneo and the Netherlands East Indies, a total of 27 different countries.
Sources
Big Ideas Community Interest Company Resource Pack. The Unremembered. World War One’s Army of Workers. The Indian Story. 2017
1
Official. Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire during the Great War 1914-1920 - Section 7 – India’s Military Contribution during the war (January 1920). The War Office, March 1922, reprinted The Naval & Military Press, 1999. Heathfield, 1999, p777. British Officers and Other Ranks serving with Indian Army units have been excluded from this table.
2
Ibid., p.363 and p.756
3
At the outbreak of the war there were fewer than 500 Indian commissioned officers in the Indian Army.
4