60 lakh Jews were killed by the Nazis.
2 crore Chinese were killed by the Japanese.
87,000 Indian soldiers were killed while serving the British on battlegrounds.
Let me first put in a nutshell all that we were taught about World War II in school.
WW II was the deadliest war in the history of mankind, notorious for its whopping number of casualties and was fought between Sep 1939- Sep 1945. The war put an end to 3% of the world’s population and some economies took about 10 years to crawl back out of the havoc created. The war was fought between two power holders that were equally strong knots- Axis and Allied.
The Axis nations consisted of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan and their small allies while the Allied nations consisted of Britain and its commonwealth nations, USA, USSR.
The Axis nations were defeated and the era of European Colonialism ended.
As a child studying in India, our history books never gave us details of India’s participation during World War 2. The contributions of the India soldiers do not figure in any popular narrative of both the World Wars.
Did we know that undivided India was the largest supplier of soldiers for the British Empire?
25 lakh young men were set to war; out of which, around 87,000 died. India was termed as the “Largest Volunteering Force in History”.
Indian soldiers of war were dispatched to every theatre of war that the British were involved in and the Indian soldiers distinguished themselves with feats of exemplary courage.
These numbers and figures might still not be able to convince us because we are under the perception that how can India; which was struggling for freedom in its land, contribute to WWII?
Underfed and not as well-armed, yet the regiments of Indian Army, termed as the “British Indian Army” brought in astounding victories for the Allies.
The Regiment “Fourteenth Army” was a multinational force of British, Indian and African units, but the majority of the army was built around the British Indian Army, which was stated to be the largest all-volunteer army in history with 2,50,000 men out of the millions.
The Fourteenth Army turned the tide in Asia by recapturing Burma for the allies from the Japanese onslaught.
Indian soldiers of the “Eighth Army” regiment, comprising of British commonwealth units, played a key role in liberating Italy from the Fascists.
India contributed the 3rd largest Allied contingent in the Italian campaign after US and British forces. The 4th, 8th and 10th Divisions and 43rd Gurkha Infantry Brigade led the advance, notably at the gruelling Battle of Monte Cassino. They fought on the Gothic Line in 1944 and 1945.
Indian soldiers were the forefront in the battle against Germany in Europe.
India not only supplied the Allies with soldiers but with its financial resources, industrial resources and manpower and emerged as the “World’s Fourth-Largest Industrial Power”. Behind the scenes, Indian cooks, mechanics tailors… all assisted the Western soldiers. India contributed agricultural produce to feed the allies.
Having sung the heroism of India, the question arises: what was the motivation for India to fight for the British Army under the shadow of the mighty British Regiment at all?
British rule in India was plagued by crises during the WW II and India's support was essential to the British cause. The demands of the war effort however put great strain on India. The then Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow dragged India into WW II without consulting Indian leaders. This infuriated the Indian leader and The Indian National Congress opposed the war during the early 1940s. To bring India on Britain’s side, in 1942, Stafford Cripps offered the choice of Dominion status or secession after the war in exchange for Indian cooperation.
The greed for dominion status and freedom after WW II led more and more Indians into fighting for the British.
By the end of the Second World War, several factors had weakened Britain's will and ability to sustain its Indian Empire. The cost of the war had reduced Britain's military and economic power, while defeat at Singapore in 1942 had undermined its strategic position in the east. The war had also reversed the traditional economic relationship between imperial power and colony - the British government was now India's debtor.
After all this, why does the world, let alone Britain, fail to recognise India’s pivotal contribution in World War II?
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