Why I remember on this Remembrance Day
I remember growing up in England, where we used to wear a Poppy in November and pay respect to soldiers who fought and sacrificed their lives during the World Wars. I used to read the phrase ‘Lest We Forget’ to remember the contribution made by millions of valiant soldiers for a better future. As a child, I used to watch war movies and loved seeing the soldiers fight at various campaigns; however, I felt disconnected and disheartened at not seeing anyone from my part of the world in the movies or illustrations. While living in India, we used to visit ‘India Gate’ and I recall seeing thousands of names etched on the imposing structure. I casually used to read the names; however, never realized the importance of the memorial as far as our history was concerned and how it may have been related to India’s contribution to the Great War. I vividly remember reading countless names with the last name ‘Singh’ and wondered, if the Army was composed of a single community. Coming to Canada in my youth and till about a dacade ago, ‘Remembrance’ Day seemed to be another day, when we paid tributes to Caucasian soldiers and I never felt any personal connection to this event as we were commemorating individuals foreign to us, with whom we had no intimate connection. This indifference in my attitude changed after I started casually reading about history of the Indian Army.
My interest in reading about the Indian Army started when I read short articles on the Internet. This culminated my interest to learn more and I started reading books on Indian Military History by various authors, which opened the doors to a vast knowledge I have been acquiring and continue to learn on a daily basis. Succulently, When the First World War broke out in August 1914, India was the only commonwealth country that could provide combat ready forces to assist the British in the Western Front. King George V made an appeal to his Indian citizens to contribute and defend the Empire against hostile German invasion. India, answered to the call of the King and considered its foremost duty to help Britain in the time of need, regardless of the injustices, racial and oppressive policies on its citizens. The Indian Army ultimately raised 1,440,037 Volunteers and sent seven Expeditionary Forces to various theatres of World War 1. The Indians were the first to arrive in France two months after the deployment of the British Expeditionary Force. In the four years, India lost 74,000 men killed in action and 67,000 wounded — many were to die later of wounds. If Indians were unable to hold the lines and assist the allies while forces arrived next year from other commonwealth countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germans would have easily occupied France and England.
The Indian Corps in France, at the First and Second battles of Yepres, Festubert and Neuve Chapelle fought non-stop for over a year. The larger Indian commitment was to the Middle East, the Suez, Mesopotamia, Palestine against the Turks, where 588,717 men battled for the duration of the war, of which 93,003 were killed or wounded”.
In the Western Front, Indian soldiers were able to hold off Germans at key positions till other members of the commonwealth forces/allies arrived. Indians saw action at Neuve Chapelle, Ypres, Flanders, La Basse, Givenchy (1914), Aubers, Bazentin, Morval, Messienes (1914), Gheluvelt, Loos, Delville, Wood, Armentiers, Festubert. St Julian, Somme (1916), and Cambrai (1917). The Indians won their first Victoria Cross within a month after their arrival with a total of 11 Victoria Cross. At the Western Front 4,742 Indians lost their lives.
Personally I would like to pay my respect to my friend’s Grandfather Sowar Arjan Singh of the 2nd Lancers, Indian Army who volunteered to take part in the First World War. Sowar Arjan Singh was son of Prem Singh from village Agner, Distt. Ludhiana. The 2nd Lancers (Gardner’s Horse) is one of the oldest and highly decorated armoured regiments of the Indian Army. It was originally raised in 1809. The regiment arrived in France in November 1914 and the soldiers were armed with swords and lances. When they arrive in the cold weather of Europe, they were dressed in their cotton uniforms, fought in freezing temperatures while in trenches and faced the enemy under the most trying conditions.
Sowar Arjan Singh stayed and fought in Europe for the next 3 years at the Battle of the Somme, Battle of Bazentin, Battle of Flers–Courcelette, the Advance to the Hindenburg Line and the Battle of Cambrai. This battle saw the use of tanks for the first time in significant numbers. Also, due to the infancy of this technology and mechanical issues, the cavalry played an important role in supporting the new mechanized units. Both the Canadian and Indian cavalry took part in this battle. Both armies fought bravely and with distinction. During this battle, soldiers from both Canadian and Indian cavalry each won a Victoria Cross.
In 1917, Sowar Arjan Singh along with his regiment left France for Egypt and Palestine, where under General Allenby it helped to defeat the Turkish Army in one of the greatest cavalry advances in history. After conclusion of the War, the regiment stayed in Palestine and Syria and returned to India in 1920, after six years of field service. Sowar Arjan Singh continued to serve with the regiment and retired soon after India attained Independence in 1947.
The descendants of Sowar Arjan Singh shared the war stories of their ancestor and narrated them to me over the course of our discussions. I have been fortunate to have heard these war stories, seen his pictures from the period along with post cards and now I feel a personal, tangible connection to the Remembrance Day event. It is an honour for me to pay my tributes to the brave soldiers like Sowar Arjan Singh, who sacrificed their youth for the service of their nation with honour and integrity. ‘Lest We Forget’.
Image 1 — Sowar Arjan Singh is 1st from Right
Image 2 — Sowar Arjan Singh is standing 1st from Left
