Text : Christian Defrance 17

Indians Unheralded heroes

RHAM, the Association de (28 October and 2 November 1914, then Recherches Historiques, from 10 to 13 March 1915), (23 AArchéologiques et Militaires, and 24 November 1914, and 16 ), and its president, Dominique Faivre are Givenchy (19 to 22 December 1914), Aubers

hugely knowledgeable when it comes (9 May 1915), and Moulin de Piètre (25 Photo: ARHAM collection to the Indian presence in Northern September 1915). “Butchery, slaughter, during the Great War – a courage, heroism”, says Dominique Faivre. presence that left its mark both as a “From Fauquissart to Givenchy-lès-la- result of fighting and of soldiers being Bassée, they spent a year in the muddy billeted in the region. trenches, enduring frozen feet and pneu- monia. At Festubert, Darwan Singh Negi With their dark skin, turbans, hair buns, was decorated with the Victoria Cross, beards and exotic cuisine, the Indians made the highest British military decoration, a striking impression on local inhabitants. which George V awarded him perso- “When I was very little I used to listen nally in Saint-Omer on 9 December.” to my grandmother from Saint-Venant In the soldiers’ quarters around the villages talk about the Indians.” By listening to of , and Aire-sur-la-Lys life the older generations reminisce about these re-assumed some semblance of normality: soldiers, Dominique developed a soft spot “I know that in England there are five for this unique army, taking advantage of hundred unpublished photos of the daily a long period of illness in 2004 and 2005 lives of Indian soldiers in Saint-Floris.” to accumulate documents and research A war reporter wrote the following descrip- British regimental journals. “The subject tion in the magazine Le Flambeau in 1915: is hugely complex: this was a skilled “They made themselves at home in our army which undoubtedly based its ope- farms as if they had been born there, and ration around that of the British army, our brave peasants were amazed to see but with the added aspect of numerous them wander around their farmyards ethnic and religious groups”. This local with such ease. As for the Indians, historian had to familiarise himself with nothing surprised them. Provided that the customs of Sikhs, Gurkhas, Balochs, the British Supply Corps provided them Dogras, Garhwalis, Jats, Pathans, Rajputs with plentiful quantities of ghee (clari- and Punjabis before delving further into fied butter), goat meat – a ritual abat- their battles. The first Indian troops arrived toir was set up in Aire – or, failing that, in Marseille in late September 1914, heading mutton, and red pepper, they accepted north in October via the Cercottes camp near their lot with the unconcerned attitude ARHAM has purchased some magnificent lithographs by Paul Sarrut on the internet. This French Orléans. “Indians arrived at the railway that is so typical of Eastern cultures.” liaison officer “wandered” around the camps of Indian troops in Warnes, , , stations of Arques and on Its regiments bled dry and deprived of Erny-Saint-Julien etc in order to capture real-life images of these fascinating soldiers and the night of 19 to 20 October; the 47th reinforcements, the Indian Corps left the officers. Sikhs were billeted in the Abbaye de north and the Pas-de- to be sent to ”, Dominique adds. From the 23rd, Mesopotamia at the end of September 1915, Erny-Saint-Julien, the children who observed hugely therapeutic”. At some stage he will the Ferozepore Brigade headed down into with only two cavalry divisions left behind. from near or far the “rest time” taken by delve further into the story of the Sikhs and the trenches around Messines, to be followed In a little more than a year, the Indian Corps these extraordinary soldiers will never forget Gurkhas in our region, perhaps at the time by a true baptism of fire a few days later – suffered 34,000 losses, taking into account them. Dominique Faivre reasserts the fact when “all the correspondence that was events which engaged the Indian Corps the dead (7,000), wounded and prisoners of that during a difficult period in his life, censored and archived in England” will fully during the battles of Neuve-Chapelle war. In Saint-Floris, Saint-Hilaire-Cottes and “my research into the Indian Corps was be become freely available to the public. “The“The unfortunateunfortunate Indians...”Indians...” Photo: Alain Jacques documentary collection In a book published in 1993, “Mon devoir de mémoire” (My Duty of Remembrance), Paul Raoult, the son of the It was at a place known as La Bombe, between primary schoolteacher in Saint-Floris, also remembered Neuve-Chapelle and Richebourg, once a cross- “the unfortunate Indians”. “They had great difficulty roads and now a roundabout, that the Meerut adapting to our weather. They suffered from the Division attacked in March 1915, and it is here cold in the harsh winter of 1914, both in the trenches that two stone tigers stand at the entrance to the and in the barns in their billets. One of them, who Indian Memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker showed particular kindness towards me, knocked and inaugurated on 7 October 1927 in the presence on our window one evening. We hesitated as to of Marshal Foch, the Maharajah of Kapurthala, whether to let him in: “Maman”, he said, addressing the novelist Rudyard Kipling and other dignita- my grandmother who was with us at the time, “Moi ries. The marshal reminded those attending that Maman, beaucoup froid”, and he coughed deliberately “over a million Indian troops fought on the to emphasize the fact. In the end my mother let him French front and in the Dardanelles”. The in. He came in the kitchen and stood quietly by the memorial pays tribute to 4,843 men, listed accor- stove, dressed in his large tunic buttoned at the ding to their unit. “France will never forget shoulder and covering him down to his knees. Once those who rushed from all parts of the globe he had warmed up, he bowed to thank us then went to fight against force and tyranny”, added the on his way, but not before handing me a small jar of Minister of the Colonies. In 1964, a bronze plaque Chesebrough vaseline, the prophylactic qualities of was added bearing the names of 206 Indian sol- which I was unaware of, and a few cigarettes that diers who had died in Germany, where they were my mother took no time at all in confiscating.” prisoners of war.