Sunday, October 03, 2004
How India helped defeat the Nazis
[From Kuldeep Amarnath] A recent BBC article entitled "Hitler's secret Indian army" has been doing the rounds. So, the Indians were basically Nazi collaborators in the Second World War? Not even close. [This post is a spin-off from an earlier comment]
The Indian contribution to the Allied effort against the Axis was tremendous. According to this article from the BBC, '[t]here were over two and a half million Indian citizens in uniform during the war'. Which other countries had more people who served in the War? The USSR had more than 8 million people killed, so no contest there. It is a fair guess that the United States and China had more people who served, but it appears that even Canada and Australia, who were tremendous allies in the Allied war effort, had fewer people who served. I don't know anybody who questions the involvement of the Australians, who were actively involved in the Pacific theater, or that of the Canadians, who after all even participated in the Normandy landing. However, online estimates place the number of Canadians who served at around one million and the number of Australians who served also at around one million.
The Fourth Indian Division also fought in North Africa, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus and then in Italy. Together with the 8th and 10th Division it participated in the taking of Monte Cassino, after which it was moved to Greece. Four men of the Fourth were awarded Victoria Crosses.
Over 36,000 Indian members of the armed forces were killed or went missing in action, and 64,354 were wounded during the war. Indian personnel received 4,000 awards for gallantry, and 31 VCs.
The land of India also served as an assault and training base, and provided vast quantities of foods and other materials to British and Commonwealth forces, and to the British at home. This necessitated the involvement of more millions of men and women in war work and war production.
It is not just the number of military personnel. If you look at the country-by-country civilian death tolls for all countries in the world at the time (and this includes a number of deaths due to secondary causes such as famine), India is number 5.
USSR: 20.0M
China: 10.45M
Poland: 5.8M
Germany: 5.5M
India: 2.15M
I am not able to get accurate numbers for the French involvement in terms of the number of French citizens who served online. As for the British, many of the numbers include people who were part of the Empire, but were not British citizens. They were included when it came to the numbers, but not in certain other respects, it appears.
In all, some 166,500 Africans were involved in helping to defeat the Japanese. They, and most Indian troops, had to serve under British officers, as colonials were not thought to be 'officer material'.
Although Churchill lifted the colour bar, he sent telegrams to every Embassy and High Commission, telling them to find 'adminstrative means' to reject black volunteers. In the US, black pilots and doctors who had offered to volunteer were refused, as a result of this instruction.
That would very likely put India in the top 7 or 8 in terms of the number of people who served from the Allied side, if not in the top 5. The few thousand troops who went with Bose are simply not comparable to the number of Indians who fought against the Axis, and fought well. The courage and sacrifice of the two and half million Indians is to be remembered and honored even as those of the others who fought with them. India's contribution to the Allied effort in the Second World War ranked with the best. Now, that is fair and balanced.
The Indian contribution to the Allied effort against the Axis was tremendous. According to this article from the BBC, '[t]here were over two and a half million Indian citizens in uniform during the war'. Which other countries had more people who served in the War? The USSR had more than 8 million people killed, so no contest there. It is a fair guess that the United States and China had more people who served, but it appears that even Canada and Australia, who were tremendous allies in the Allied war effort, had fewer people who served. I don't know anybody who questions the involvement of the Australians, who were actively involved in the Pacific theater, or that of the Canadians, who after all even participated in the Normandy landing. However, online estimates place the number of Canadians who served at around one million and the number of Australians who served also at around one million.
The Fourth Indian Division also fought in North Africa, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus and then in Italy. Together with the 8th and 10th Division it participated in the taking of Monte Cassino, after which it was moved to Greece. Four men of the Fourth were awarded Victoria Crosses.
Over 36,000 Indian members of the armed forces were killed or went missing in action, and 64,354 were wounded during the war. Indian personnel received 4,000 awards for gallantry, and 31 VCs.
The land of India also served as an assault and training base, and provided vast quantities of foods and other materials to British and Commonwealth forces, and to the British at home. This necessitated the involvement of more millions of men and women in war work and war production.
It is not just the number of military personnel. If you look at the country-by-country civilian death tolls for all countries in the world at the time (and this includes a number of deaths due to secondary causes such as famine), India is number 5.
USSR: 20.0M
China: 10.45M
Poland: 5.8M
Germany: 5.5M
India: 2.15M
I am not able to get accurate numbers for the French involvement in terms of the number of French citizens who served online. As for the British, many of the numbers include people who were part of the Empire, but were not British citizens. They were included when it came to the numbers, but not in certain other respects, it appears.
In all, some 166,500 Africans were involved in helping to defeat the Japanese. They, and most Indian troops, had to serve under British officers, as colonials were not thought to be 'officer material'.
Although Churchill lifted the colour bar, he sent telegrams to every Embassy and High Commission, telling them to find 'adminstrative means' to reject black volunteers. In the US, black pilots and doctors who had offered to volunteer were refused, as a result of this instruction.
That would very likely put India in the top 7 or 8 in terms of the number of people who served from the Allied side, if not in the top 5. The few thousand troops who went with Bose are simply not comparable to the number of Indians who fought against the Axis, and fought well. The courage and sacrifice of the two and half million Indians is to be remembered and honored even as those of the others who fought with them. India's contribution to the Allied effort in the Second World War ranked with the best. Now, that is fair and balanced.
