SIKH WARRORS IN GREAT WAR
The ferocious battles during the Anglo-Sikh Wars of 1845-46 and 1848-49 defined for all time, if indeed this was ever necessary,
the indomitable fighting prowess and spirit of the Sikh warrior. During the ensuing occupation of the Punjab by the expanding colonists, the Khalsa soldiery was sought to be disbanded and indeed the process had begun when the British administration were confronted by the stark reality of policing and defending the turbulent northwest frontier region with Afghanistan.
Thus, without much ado but certainly some trepidation, the British resurrected the erstwhile Sikh soldiery, albeit as ‘irregular’ forces for service on the frontiers. This was in fact the beginning of the famed PIFFERs even while the first 'pure' Sikh regiments were shortly raised for service in the land of the five rivers. Overwhelmed by the events of 1857, the chastened British administration were soon to massively expand the percentage of Sikhs in the re- organised Indian Army, and these new regiments, infantry, cavalry, sappers and gunners, served with distinction and characteristic gallantry in various parts of India and overseas, in defence of the Empire.
The several 'expeditions' to China, East Africa, Burma, and other outposts of the far flung Empire, however, were to pale into insignificance in August 1914 when India, as part of the British Empire, was drawn into the vortex of the most terrible war mankind had known, after Germany invaded Belgium on 4th August 1914, followed by Britain's declaration of War.
Two days later, the Imperial Government of India declared their commitment, initially sending troops for defence of the Suez Canal, thus freeing regular British troops for service on the Western Front. Remarkably, within just a fortnight, a Corps of two Infantry and one Cavalry Division were embarked on ships which sailed westwards to War.
First Indian combat troops of the 3rd (Lahore) Division sailed from Karachi and Bombay westwards, these being vanguard of the million more who were to follow. Instead of Egypt, however, the Indian Expeditionary Force were diverted to France where the British Expeditionary Force (the "Old Contemptibles") were shattered and exhausted after two months of bitter fighting against the German Army's overwhelming numbers. The situation was perilous and but for the Indian Army, the German Kaiser's grand plan to smash the French and British armies, secure the Channel ports and declare victory by Christmas 1914, would well have been realised.
The rest is history but the following excerpt from the Viceroy's report sums up the incredible fighting actions of the Indians on the western front. The Indian Army Corps was to be pitted against the most powerful military organisation on the globe, against a European enemy who had brought to the highest pitch of sinister perfection both the science and the practice of war, and who was about to plunge not Europe alone, but the entire civilised world, into such a welter of continuous devilry and horror as the mind of man had never imagined and history had never known. The landing of the two Indian Divisions, numbering 24,000 men, on the quays of Marseilles in September and October 1914, was a great event, not merely in the annals of the Indian Army, but in the history of mankind.
Contributing the most volunteers of any of the British Imperial forces that fought in the Great War, were some 1.5 million Indian troops, of which Sikhs constituted large percentage. In fact, at the beginning of the War, Sikh military personnel numbered around 35,000 men of the 161,000 troops of the Indian Army, around 22% of the armed forces, yet Sikhs were less than 2% of the total Indian population. During 1914-18, over 100,000 Sikh soldiers fought on various fronts, from northern France and Flanders, also at the Somme, to Mesopotamia, Palestine and in East Africa.
The Sikh soldier did not need any extraneous cause for his heroic deeds on the battlefield as, once he had sworn to serve, his allegiance was unwavering, his bravery unmatched! First Indian troops to land on the continent of Europe (at Marseilles in France) were in fact the XV Sikhs, part of the Jullundur Brigade which had amongst its other constituent battalions, the 47th Sikhs, 59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force) and 1st Manchesters.
Within days of arriving at the ‘Front’, the Indian troops were faced by the massive (final) German offensive, aimed to drive the British 'thin red line' back to the French Channel ports. They were not intimidated and in fact, not just stopped the offensive but in counter-attacks the next day, recaptured the vital town of Neuve Chapelle, which was held till the end of the War and along with defence of the Ypres Salient, was a defining action of war on the Western Front.
As the British commanding General later exulted, The 47th Sikhs were raised in 1901 and have no battle honours on their colours. Throughout its service in France, this magniicent Regiment never failed to answer all calls. Its reputation would be secure and its right to ight shoulder to shoulder with the best British troops would be established, if based only on the record of Neuve Chapelle, but this action was only one of many in which the 47th distinguished themselves. This history of the Indian Army contains few nobler pages than that of the 28th October 1914.
The Great War was to continue over the next four years and many battalions of the Sikh Regiment, indeed other Indian Corps, fought with gallantry and distinction in other theatres. One such was at Gallipoli in the Dardanelles where the XIVth Sikhs of the 29th Brigade were involved in ferocious action against the defending Turks. The Commander-in-Chief later recorded: The history of Sikhs affords many instances of their value as soldiers, but it may be safely asserted that nothing iner than the grim valour and steady discipline displayed by the XIV Sikhs on the 4th June 1915 has ever been done by soldiers of the Khalsa.
A century later, in October 2014, were commemorated several of those great battles, with heirs to those magnificent soldiers gathering first in France and then in England to remember the heroic deeds of their ancestors. On the battlefields of Neuve Chapelle in northern France and Ypres in Flanders,
there are numerous memorials to the gallantry of the soldiers that fought and died one hundred years earlier. The Indian Army memorial at Neuve Chapelle not only witnessed dignified ceremonies and evocative speeches, but had the gracious presence of the Jathedar Keshgarh Sahib from the Punjab, to conduct the ardaas and bless those who so gallantly gave up their lives in battle. The Sikh community of Paris served langar to the many hundreds of those gathered on that cold and windy morning in this remote part of France.
In England, during mid-June 2015, an emotional commemoration service was held at an iconic church in the heart of London, where the large congregation of Sikhs and Christians prayed together while British Sikh girls sang a shabad by Guru Arjan Dev ji which began with the words:
He alone is called a warrior in this world, Who is coloured in the Lord’s Love… Through the Perfect
True Guru,
He conquers His own mind,
And then all else comes under His control, Sing the Praises of the Lord,
With the love of your heart, Those who seek His Sanctuary,
And meditate on his qualities attain the peace of union with Him and live in His presence,
At the feet of such (in their company) with them abiding in My heart my body is made pure,
Grant me the dust of their feet oh gracious one, Nanak craves only this peace.
Later, in the environs of the beautiful English countryside, the family of a Sikh soldier who had saved the life of the renowned British General, 'A Subaltern of the Sikhs’, were welcomed during a poignant service in the village Chapel where, too, resounded the war cry Deg Teg Fateh !
This great story of the Sikhs in the Great War is summed up with the inspiring words etched in stone at the Indian Army memorial at Neuve Chapelle:
God is One, His is the Victory.
The ferocious battles during the Anglo-Sikh Wars of 1845-46 and 1848-49 defined for all time, if indeed this was ever necessary,
the indomitable fighting prowess and spirit of the Sikh warrior. During the ensuing occupation of the Punjab by the expanding colonists, the Khalsa soldiery was sought to be disbanded and indeed the process had begun when the British administration were confronted by the stark reality of policing and defending the turbulent northwest frontier region with Afghanistan.
Thus, without much ado but certainly some trepidation, the British resurrected the erstwhile Sikh soldiery, albeit as ‘irregular’ forces for service on the frontiers. This was in fact the beginning of the famed PIFFERs even while the first 'pure' Sikh regiments were shortly raised for service in the land of the five rivers. Overwhelmed by the events of 1857, the chastened British administration were soon to massively expand the percentage of Sikhs in the re- organised Indian Army, and these new regiments, infantry, cavalry, sappers and gunners, served with distinction and characteristic gallantry in various parts of India and overseas, in defence of the Empire.
The several 'expeditions' to China, East Africa, Burma, and other outposts of the far flung Empire, however, were to pale into insignificance in August 1914 when India, as part of the British Empire, was drawn into the vortex of the most terrible war mankind had known, after Germany invaded Belgium on 4th August 1914, followed by Britain's declaration of War.
Two days later, the Imperial Government of India declared their commitment, initially sending troops for defence of the Suez Canal, thus freeing regular British troops for service on the Western Front. Remarkably, within just a fortnight, a Corps of two Infantry and one Cavalry Division were embarked on ships which sailed westwards to War.
First Indian combat troops of the 3rd (Lahore) Division sailed from Karachi and Bombay westwards, these being vanguard of the million more who were to follow. Instead of Egypt, however, the Indian Expeditionary Force were diverted to France where the British Expeditionary Force (the "Old Contemptibles") were shattered and exhausted after two months of bitter fighting against the German Army's overwhelming numbers. The situation was perilous and but for the Indian Army, the German Kaiser's grand plan to smash the French and British armies, secure the Channel ports and declare victory by Christmas 1914, would well have been realised.
The rest is history but the following excerpt from the Viceroy's report sums up the incredible fighting actions of the Indians on the western front. The Indian Army Corps was to be pitted against the most powerful military organisation on the globe, against a European enemy who had brought to the highest pitch of sinister perfection both the science and the practice of war, and who was about to plunge not Europe alone, but the entire civilised world, into such a welter of continuous devilry and horror as the mind of man had never imagined and history had never known. The landing of the two Indian Divisions, numbering 24,000 men, on the quays of Marseilles in September and October 1914, was a great event, not merely in the annals of the Indian Army, but in the history of mankind.
Contributing the most volunteers of any of the British Imperial forces that fought in the Great War, were some 1.5 million Indian troops, of which Sikhs constituted large percentage. In fact, at the beginning of the War, Sikh military personnel numbered around 35,000 men of the 161,000 troops of the Indian Army, around 22% of the armed forces, yet Sikhs were less than 2% of the total Indian population. During 1914-18, over 100,000 Sikh soldiers fought on various fronts, from northern France and Flanders, also at the Somme, to Mesopotamia, Palestine and in East Africa.
The Sikh soldier did not need any extraneous cause for his heroic deeds on the battlefield as, once he had sworn to serve, his allegiance was unwavering, his bravery unmatched! First Indian troops to land on the continent of Europe (at Marseilles in France) were in fact the XV Sikhs, part of the Jullundur Brigade which had amongst its other constituent battalions, the 47th Sikhs, 59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force) and 1st Manchesters.
Within days of arriving at the ‘Front’, the Indian troops were faced by the massive (final) German offensive, aimed to drive the British 'thin red line' back to the French Channel ports. They were not intimidated and in fact, not just stopped the offensive but in counter-attacks the next day, recaptured the vital town of Neuve Chapelle, which was held till the end of the War and along with defence of the Ypres Salient, was a defining action of war on the Western Front.
As the British commanding General later exulted, The 47th Sikhs were raised in 1901 and have no battle honours on their colours. Throughout its service in France, this magniicent Regiment never failed to answer all calls. Its reputation would be secure and its right to ight shoulder to shoulder with the best British troops would be established, if based only on the record of Neuve Chapelle, but this action was only one of many in which the 47th distinguished themselves. This history of the Indian Army contains few nobler pages than that of the 28th October 1914.
The Great War was to continue over the next four years and many battalions of the Sikh Regiment, indeed other Indian Corps, fought with gallantry and distinction in other theatres. One such was at Gallipoli in the Dardanelles where the XIVth Sikhs of the 29th Brigade were involved in ferocious action against the defending Turks. The Commander-in-Chief later recorded: The history of Sikhs affords many instances of their value as soldiers, but it may be safely asserted that nothing iner than the grim valour and steady discipline displayed by the XIV Sikhs on the 4th June 1915 has ever been done by soldiers of the Khalsa.
A century later, in October 2014, were commemorated several of those great battles, with heirs to those magnificent soldiers gathering first in France and then in England to remember the heroic deeds of their ancestors. On the battlefields of Neuve Chapelle in northern France and Ypres in Flanders,
there are numerous memorials to the gallantry of the soldiers that fought and died one hundred years earlier. The Indian Army memorial at Neuve Chapelle not only witnessed dignified ceremonies and evocative speeches, but had the gracious presence of the Jathedar Keshgarh Sahib from the Punjab, to conduct the ardaas and bless those who so gallantly gave up their lives in battle. The Sikh community of Paris served langar to the many hundreds of those gathered on that cold and windy morning in this remote part of France.
In England, during mid-June 2015, an emotional commemoration service was held at an iconic church in the heart of London, where the large congregation of Sikhs and Christians prayed together while British Sikh girls sang a shabad by Guru Arjan Dev ji which began with the words:
He alone is called a warrior in this world, Who is coloured in the Lord’s Love… Through the Perfect
True Guru,
He conquers His own mind,
And then all else comes under His control, Sing the Praises of the Lord,
With the love of your heart, Those who seek His Sanctuary,
And meditate on his qualities attain the peace of union with Him and live in His presence,
At the feet of such (in their company) with them abiding in My heart my body is made pure,
Grant me the dust of their feet oh gracious one, Nanak craves only this peace.
Later, in the environs of the beautiful English countryside, the family of a Sikh soldier who had saved the life of the renowned British General, 'A Subaltern of the Sikhs’, were welcomed during a poignant service in the village Chapel where, too, resounded the war cry Deg Teg Fateh !
This great story of the Sikhs in the Great War is summed up with the inspiring words etched in stone at the Indian Army memorial at Neuve Chapelle:
God is One, His is the Victory.
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