World Wars and India’s sacrifice

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, most Commonwealth and other allied nations fall silent for two minutes to honour the fallen of the two World Wars. Not so much in India: wreaths are laid in cantonments, but for most, this is just another day. India has an uneasy relationship with Remembrance Day. However, the idea that the World Wars were something that happened to someone else, somewhere else, could not be further from the truth.

Indian ambivalence over the two World Wars belies its enormous contribution to fighting fascism. Undivided (British) India sent 1.5 million men to fight in World War I, 74,000 of whom never returned home. For WWII, India produced the largest volunteer army of 2.5 million soldiers, with 87,00–89,000 making the ultimate sacrifice. The princely states also sent significant troops.

Whereas the Indians who fought in the Great War were mostly sent to distant lands, in WWII, about 7,00,000 of them were defending Indian territory. The war came home to India when Japan invaded the country in March 1944.