The Indian Soldiers Britain Forgot

They helped win Britain’s wars, fighting for freedom they never had

Every November, Britain pauses and falls silent for two minutes. Flags lower, bugles play, and people wear red poppies on their coats - seen as symbols of sacrifice, memory and gratitude. This is Remembrance Day, a time to honour those who gave their lives in war. It marks the exact moment when the First World War ended. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, the guns finally fell silent after four years of bloodshed. A two-minute silence has been observed every year on 11th November at 11 a.m. across the UK - in Parliament, by members of the Royal Family and in offices, public places and schools - with news channels like the BBC now broadcasting the moment live.

But who exactly are we remembering? While the image of the British soldier in his trench coat and steel helmet is familiar, do we also picture the Indian soldiers in it? Behind Britain’s victories stood not just British soldiers but millions from the Indian subcontinent. Men from today’s India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka played a huge role in both World Wars.

When World War I began in 1914, India was still under the British Raj. To support Britain, Indian kings and nawabs such as Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner and the Nizam of Hyderabad offered their soldiers and wealth to the British Crown. The Mysore, Jodhpur, and Kashmir states sent entire regiments to serve abroad. The Indian Army became one of the largest volunteer forces in history. Historians note that in the First World War alone, 1.3 million Indians served and around 74,000 never returned home. Thousands of soldiers sailed from Bombay (Mumbai) and Karachi to Marseilles in France, Egypt and then to the UK.

The first Indian troops arrived in Europe in September 1914, just a month after the First World War began. Most went first to France and Belgium to fight in cold, muddy trenches. Some Indian soldiers were stationed at training camps on Salisbury Plain and in Hampshire and Kent in southern England. They wore khaki uniforms and turbans and often carried their own regimental traditions. There are photographs showing Indian troops attending village tea gatherings or Sunday church events. In their free time, they probably explored the countryside or met local people. Letters from Indian soldiers,

archived in the British Library, show that many struggled with the cold, language barriers, and racism from some officers. These letters also reveal their loneliness and confusion - questioning why they were fighting so far from home.

When Indian soldiers were wounded, some were brought to Brighton in England, where the Royal seaside palace (Brighton Pavilion) was turned into a hospital for them in 1915. The palace was built in an Indo-Islamic style to represent all faiths. They made special arrangements for the Indian troops: separate kitchens for Hindus and Muslims, temples and prayer spaces on site, and cremations or burials according to faith. Some records preserved at the Brighton Pavillion show that British nurses even avoided touching the food or utensils of Hindu patients to respect their beliefs. Letters from soldiers showed gratitude for the care they received and also deep homesickness.

In the Second World War, the Indian Army grew even larger. About 2.5 million men volunteered to fight. Around 87,000 died and 150,000 were wounded. From the Battle of El Alamein in North Africa in 1942 to the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy in 1944, Indian soldiers fought, bled, and died under the Union Jack. At the battles of Kohima and Imphal in 1944, Indian troops - including the Assam Regiment and Gurkhas - fought against the Japanese Army, which was advancing into India from Burma (now Myanmar). The Battle of Kohima was later voted by British military historians as Britain’s greatest battle.

But the irony was stark. When the wars ended, the soldiers returned to a country still under colonial rule. Gail Walters of the Royal British Legion admits that one of the biggest controversies was both moral and political. Millions of Indian soldiers had fought and died to defend freedom and democracy in Europe, yet India itself remained unfree. While Indian troops were shedding blood for the British Crown abroad, the Indian independence movement was fighting for that same freedom at home. It was a contradiction that bred deep resentment later.

Many Indian soldiers came home to poverty, small pensions or no support at all after the wars. The Indian Army Pay Code shows that pay and pensions were usually lower than those for British soldiers of equivalent rank. Historian David Omissi’s research reveals that censorship prevented letters home from mentioning poor conditions, racism or disillusionment. When the world celebrated victory, India’s role was minimised. For decades, textbooks, films and memorials in Britain barely mentioned Indian or other colonial troops. Many families in India never even knew where their sons were buried. That said, the Chattri Memorial was built in memory of the Indian soldiers who died in the First World War and were cremated in Brighton.

After the First World War, Indian leaders had hoped for greater self-government as a reward for loyalty. Instead, Britain imposed new repressive laws like the Rowlatt Acts in India (arrest and imprison people without trial), and in 1919 British troops killed hundreds of peaceful Indian protesters at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. The trust between ruler and ruled was broken. After the Second World War, the same story repeated. Britain again used India’s men and resources without even consulting Indian leaders. While Indian soldiers were fighting against dictatorship abroad, the British government crushed the Quit India Movement at home and jailed leaders like Gandhi. Some Indian soldiers even switched sides, joining Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA) to fight against the British, feeling politically used and ignored.

Recent polling by Focaldata found that half of Britons are not even aware that Indian troops served in World Wars. Even within British Asian communities, four in ten do not know their own family’s wartime history. At a parliamentary memorial event earlier this month, MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi warned against “airbrushing” Asian veterans out of remembrance. The ceremony honoured Havildar Major Rajinder Singh Dhatt MBE, hero of the Battle of Kohima, and Sergeant Mohammad Hussain, who fought at Monte Cassino in Italy. Their grandchildren spoke movingly of duty, unity and the danger of forgetting. Now, a new digital archive - My Family Legacy, backed by the Royal British Legion - is urging British Asian families to reclaim that erased chapter. The project invites people to upload names, photos, and memories of relatives who fought for freedom. History forgot them once. Remembrance must not forget them again.

The Indian soldiers did not fight for glory or gain. They fought because they were called to. Many died nameless, buried in lands they had never seen. Yet the freedom Britain defended was built, in part, on the courage of men from distant Indian states. The story of remembrance on 11th November must therefore be a shared one. True remembrance demands honesty; the honesty to remember not only the victors, but the invisible, the colonised and the silenced. Only then will remembrance be complete.

Note: The author is a Chartered Marketer, writer and contributor to newspapers and magazines covering Britain–India relations.