I can’t imagine that many people reading this will not be aware that we are currently marking the centenary of the First World War. The conflict itself lasted for four long years, so there will be lots of opportunities before we get to November 2018, a hundred years after the Armistice that ended the war, to think about that time in our history.
But there will be lots of Asian Voice readers, I suspect, who will wonder if any of this has any great relevance to them today. After all, no one who fought for the Allies back then is still alive. And for many of you, your forebears may well have been living thousands of miles away from the Western Front when all the horrors of trench warfare were taking place.
But as it happens, this week sees the 100th anniversary of a battle that, in a surprising way, is very important indeed to all of us, and in particular the Asian community.
The battle of Neuve Chapelle was the first organised British counter-offensive of the war. In the event, poor communications and insufficient resources led to ghastly casualties on both sides, and resulted in the capture of barely two square kilometres of land.
But it’s the fact that this battle marked the first time that Indian troops served alongside the British on European soil that marks it out as important for me. And I think it’s a real shame that so few people realise that the servicemen who fought and, in too many cases, made the ultimate sacrifice included some 1.5 million soldiers and non-combatants from countries now known as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
And it also needs to be remembered that these were not conscripts, press-ganged into joining up. No, nearly every one of them was a volunteer, willingly signing up to fight thousands of miles from home in the name of a King and an Empire that must have seemed as alien to them as the freezing sleet that welcomed them on their arrival in Europe.
The arrival of the Indian’ Army servicemen – the Sepoys, as they were known – had come at a critical moment for the Allies. So it happened that Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and soldiers of other faiths fought alongside each other and their British comrades in these appalling conditions. To test their mettle further, no one had thought to tell them that the summer outfits they came to the front in were unsuitable for a European winter.
In little more than a week, some 4,200 Indians had been killed or wounded in the fighting.
These are difficult times for Britain’s Asian communities. Mutual respect and understanding on all sides is, I believe, a fitting memorial to the brave Sepoys of Neuve Chapelle today and every day.
