100 years ago the Indian Army was thrown into the frozen trenches of the Western Front to fill a gap that would not have otherwise been filled. By November 1914 every third British trooper was an Indian. Between 23 and 27 December 1914, exactly one hundred years ago this Christmas, they began to be relieved by units of the British I Corps: The Indians had been in line for two months, for most of the time still in their tropical uniforms. They had suffered severe casualties without sufficient reinforcement and were in any case expected to hold the same length of Front as a British corps but with only about two thirds of the manpower, reducing to about half by the end of December. (Gordon Corrigan, Sepoys in the Trenches). For our tomorrow they gave their today. Happy Christmas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rakhange Yad Asi Auhna Nu - We Will Remember Them Join up as a Citizen Historian and help us tell the story of the Sikhs of World War One empirefaithwar/citizen-historian Empire, Faith & War is a project by the UK Punjab Heritage Association and is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 13:14:54 +0000
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