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6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews
http://www.bbc.com/news/worldasiaindia33105898?ref=yfp 1/16
India
HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?ByYasminKhanHistorian
7hoursago India
MorethantwomillionIndiansoldiersparticipatedinWorldWarTwo
Thenumbersarestaggering:uptothreemillionBengaliswerekilledbyfamine,morethanhalfamillionSouthAsianrefugeesfledMyanmar(formerlyBurma),2.3millionsoldiersmannedtheIndianarmyand89,000ofthemdiedinmilitaryservice.
SouthAsiawastransformeddramaticallyduringthewaryearsasIndiabecameavastgarrisonandsupplygroundforthewaragainsttheJapaneseinSouthEastAsia.
Yet,thispartoftheBritishEmpire'shistoryisonlyjustemerging.BylookingbeyondthestatisticstothestoriesofindividuallivestheIndianroleinthewarbecomestrulymeaningful.
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6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews
http://www.bbc.com/news/worldasiaindia33105898?ref=yfp 2/16
HasthemassiveSouthAsiancontributiontotheWorldWarTwobeenoverlooked?
Insomeways,ithasn't.
EveryonehasheardoftheGurkhasandmanypeoplehaveheardsomethingoftheroleofIndiansoldiersatmajorbattleslikeTobruk,MonteCassino,KohimaandImphal.
TheFourteenthArmy,amultinationalforceofBritish,IndianandAfricanunitsturnedthetideinAsiabyrecapturingBurmafortheAllies.ThirtyIndianswonVictoriaCrossesinthe1940s.
Untoldstories
Increasingly,forboththeWorldWarOneandTwo,thecontributionofsoldiersfromacrosstheEmpireCommonwealthhasbeencomingtolight.
Butwhataboutalltheotherpeoplewhowerecaughtupinthewar?
NumerousotherSouthAsianpeoplesweatedbehindthescenestosecuresupplylinesandtosupporttheAllies.
Therewerenoncombatantslikecooks,tailors,mechanicsandwashermen,suchasabootmakertotheIndianarmynamedsimplyasGhafurwhodiedatthebattleofKereninpresentdayEritreaandwhosegravecanstillbeseentheretoday.
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6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews
http://www.bbc.com/news/worldasiaindia33105898?ref=yfp 3/16
SoldiersfromPunjabfoughtinthewar
WhatdoweknowaboutthethousandsofwomenwhominedcoalforwartimeinBiharandcentralIndia,workingrightupuntilchildbirth?OrthegangsofplantationlabourersfromsouthernIndiawhotravelledupintothemountainsofthenortheasttohackoutroadstowardsMyanmarandChina?Orthelascars(merchantseamen)suchasMubarakAli,rememberedsimplyas"abaker"whodiedintheAtlanticwhentheSSCityofBenareswastorpedoed?
ThereweremillionsofotherSouthAsiansworkingtowardstheimperialwareffortandweneverhearaboutthem.
Itwasn'tglamorouswork:"coolies"loadingandunloadingcargoatimperialportsorclearinglandforaerodromesdidnotsharetheprestigeoffighterpilots.
Buttheirworkcouldbeverydangerous.
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6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews
http://www.bbc.com/news/worldasiaindia33105898?ref=yfp 4/16
ThousandsofAsianlabourersdiedbuildingtreacherousroadsathighaltitude,includingtheLedoRoadbetweenChinaandIndia,workingwithbasicpickaxesandfallingpreytomalariaandothertropicaldiseases.
Harbouraccident
OthersdiedinindustrialaccidentstherewasanincredibleexplosioninBombayharbourin1944,whenashiploadedwithexplosivesandcottoncaughtalight,blewwarshipstosmithereensandmadeover80,000homeless.
FactoryworkersanddockworkersalsosufferedfromaerialbombardmentofficialfiguressuggestseveralthousanddeathsfromJapanesebombsonIndia'seasterncoastline.
ThemenandwomenwhokepttheimperialwareffortgoinginSouthAsiadidnotwritediariesandmemoirs.
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6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews
http://www.bbc.com/news/worldasiaindia33105898?ref=yfp 5/16
AnIndianairforcepilotfromPunjabinEngland
Oftenforthemitwasjustajob,awayofearningenoughmoneytoeat.
Theydidnotseeitasbelongingtoaheroicpartofworldhistory,worthyofinclusioninhistorybooks.Theilliterateleftlittletraceoftheirservice.Andoftentheirworkhardandpoorlypaidwastoughanddangerouswhetheritwaswartimeornot.
BritishofficerswrotehundredsofaccountsoftheirtimeinSouthAsiabutthereisnotasinglewrittenmemoirbyanIndianrockbreaker,roadbuilderorminer.
Quickprofits
It'snotasimplestoryofheroismorpatriotismmanyoftheseworkersweremoremotivatedbytheneedforbreadthanbytheneedtodefeattheAxis.
Andit'snotastraightforwardcaseofimperialexploitationmanyeliteSouthAsiansmadequickprofitsinthewarandtransformedtheirownfortunes.
Experiencesofthe1940sdependedoncaste,class,vantagepointandregion:aPunjabisoldiercouldseethingsverydifferentlytoametropolitanstudentinMumbai(formerlyBombay)orafactoryownerinKolkata(Calcutta).
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6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews
http://www.bbc.com/news/worldasiaindia33105898?ref=yfp 6/16
LocalsfleefromtheBombaydocksin1944afteranaccident
AsianlabourersdiedbuildingtheLedoRoadbetweenChinaandIndia
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6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews
http://www.bbc.com/news/worldasiaindia33105898?ref=yfp 7/16
OftenthosewhoworkedtowardsthewarwereAngloIndians,adivasis[tribespeople],ParsisandChristiansandtheirhistoriesslippedbythewaysideduringthewritingofpostindependencenationalistmyths.
ThepeoplewhomadeupthewareffortsoonhadtheirlivesshapedagainbythePartitionof1947andthecarvingupofnewcountries.
ThiswartimehistorybelongstoNepal,SriLanka,BangladeshandPakistanasmuchastoIndia.
Intherushtowritenewhistoriesofnationstatesafter1947,muchofthehistoryofthe1940swaslockedoutfromofficialmemory.Talesofthefreedomstruggletookprecedence.AndinBritainandtheUS,theemphasiswasplacedonrememberingmilitarycontributionstomajorbattles,notontheeverydaylivesofanonymousworkers.
Asonereportputitatthetime,thiswasnotthe"forgottenarmy",butthe"unknownarmy".PerhapsnowwecanfinallystarttoappreciatethefullestextentofWW2.
YasminKhanisanassociateProfessorofHistoryattheUniversityofOxford.Herbook,TheRajatWar:APeople'sHistoryofIndia'sSecondWorldWarwillbepublishedinJulybyRandomHouse.
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