6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews

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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

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HasthemassiveSouthAsiancontributiontotheWorldWarTwobeenoverlooked?

Insomeways,ithasn't.

EveryonehasheardoftheGurkhasandmanypeoplehaveheardsomethingoftheroleofIndiansoldiersatmajorbattleslikeTobruk,MonteCassino,KohimaandImphal.

TheFourteenthArmy,amultinationalforceofBritish,IndianandAfricanunitsturnedthetideinAsiabyrecapturingBurmafortheAllies.ThirtyIndianswonVictoriaCrossesinthe1940s.

Untoldstories

Increasingly,forboththeWorldWarOneandTwo,thecontributionofsoldiersfromacrosstheEmpireCommonwealthhasbeencomingtolight.

Butwhataboutalltheotherpeoplewhowerecaughtupinthewar?

NumerousotherSouthAsianpeoplesweatedbehindthescenestosecuresupplylinesandtosupporttheAllies.

Therewerenoncombatantslikecooks,tailors,mechanicsandwashermen,suchasabootmakertotheIndianarmynamedsimplyasGhafurwhodiedatthebattleofKereninpresentdayEritreaandwhosegravecanstillbeseentheretoday.

6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews

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SoldiersfromPunjabfoughtinthewar

WhatdoweknowaboutthethousandsofwomenwhominedcoalforwartimeinBiharandcentralIndia,workingrightupuntilchildbirth?OrthegangsofplantationlabourersfromsouthernIndiawhotravelledupintothemountainsofthenortheasttohackoutroadstowardsMyanmarandChina?Orthelascars(merchantseamen)suchasMubarakAli,rememberedsimplyas"abaker"whodiedintheAtlanticwhentheSSCityofBenareswastorpedoed?

ThereweremillionsofotherSouthAsiansworkingtowardstheimperialwareffortandweneverhearaboutthem.

Itwasn'tglamorouswork:"coolies"loadingandunloadingcargoatimperialportsorclearinglandforaerodromesdidnotsharetheprestigeoffighterpilots.

Buttheirworkcouldbeverydangerous.

6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews

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ThousandsofAsianlabourersdiedbuildingtreacherousroadsathighaltitude,includingtheLedoRoadbetweenChinaandIndia,workingwithbasicpickaxesandfallingpreytomalariaandothertropicaldiseases.

Harbouraccident

OthersdiedinindustrialaccidentstherewasanincredibleexplosioninBombayharbourin1944,whenashiploadedwithexplosivesandcottoncaughtalight,blewwarshipstosmithereensandmadeover80,000homeless.

FactoryworkersanddockworkersalsosufferedfromaerialbombardmentofficialfiguressuggestseveralthousanddeathsfromJapanesebombsonIndia'seasterncoastline.

ThemenandwomenwhokepttheimperialwareffortgoinginSouthAsiadidnotwritediariesandmemoirs.

6/17/2015 HasIndia'scontributiontoWW2beenignored?BBCNews

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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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LocalsfleefromtheBombaydocksin1944afteranaccident

AsianlabourersdiedbuildingtheLedoRoadbetweenChinaandIndia

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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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