Indian armed forced in World War - I

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

The First World War (WW-I) was an event of far-reaching consequences, as it reshaped the map of the world forever. The embers of the war reached India as well. A dependent India agreed to share the burden of Imperial defence as the British joined WW-I on August 4, 1914. Indians saw an opportunity in it - a dominion status. Hence, full support was extended to the British in men, materials and money.

Very little is known about the immense contribution and the sacrifices made by the Indians during this Great War. By 1919, 13 lakh Indians had served overseas of which about 75,000 were killed. They earned about 10,000 decorations, including 11 Victoria Crosses, for exceptional bravery in the battlefield. India also made a substantial contribution in terms of money towards the expenses of WW-1, which amounted to 146.2 million pounds by the end of 1919-20. It is notable that the war impacted various facets of the life of the people including the military, political, economic and social. In fact, a new India was born after the war.

It was a chance happening that during the 'Centenary commemoration of First World War (WW-I)' at the British High Commission in New Delhi on October 30, 2014, the then Defence Minister of India learnt that no authentic account on the role of Indian Army in World War-I has so far been compiled. He proposed that an official history of the WW-I highlighting the role of the Indian Army may be compiled. The Ministry entrusted the task to the History Division. In the process, we encountered some hurdles in collecting the related source material from different archives and libraries in India and abroad. We also made efforts to utilise the range of primary sources including online records available at India Office Library and British Archives, London.

The primary aim of compiling this history of WW-I is to place on record the facts related to the participation of the Indian Army in the Allied war effort, as not many people know that about 13 lakh Indians, combatants and non-combatants, participated in this war on various fronts spread over the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe.

The book contains 14 chapters with well-documented accounts of all aspects of WW-I related to Indian contribution. Photographs intersperse the text with a view to illustrate the written word. To understand and analyse the contents more clearly, maps of the areas of operations and appendices have also been included. The work of compiling this history was started by the then Director Dr. Reva Dhanedhar and carried forward by her successor Shri Om Shanker. The chapters of the book have been contributed by Maj. Gen. Sunil Chandra, Lt.Col. Gautam Das, Lt.Col. Rohit Agarwal, Dr. Narender Yadav, Dr. Maroof Ahmad and Shri Bikram Bora. The Research Assistants Dr. Hemant Chauhan and Shri Anand Kumar have also assisted in the compilation of the book. The draft has finally been edited by Dr. U.P. Thapliyal, the General Editor. I am indeed grateful to all of them.

It is hoped that the book would prove beneficial to researchers as well as the general readers.

**Contents and Sample Pages**