Rethinking Indian Soldiers and the First World War. Dr Gajendra Singh

Event

Monday 14 December 2015, 12:30 - 23:59

Organised by National Army Museum

'In the First World War, 1.7 million sipahis (or ‘sepoys’) were mobilized, recruited and shipped overseas to fight for the British Crown. The Indian Army was the chief imperial reserve for an Empire under threat. In South Asia and in Britain, popular memory of these soldiers has been rekindled as centenary commemorations are performed and re-imagined. But, while their presence has been acknowledged their experiences of War in France and the Middle East remain effaced or only partially recognized. This paper will talk of some of the everyday, lived realities of Indian soldiers in the First World War.