Sikhs - Muslims & Ghurkha's in World Wars with Italy Focus

Discussion in 'British Indian Army' started by spidge, Nov 19, 2010.

  1. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    http://www.sikhs.nl/worldwar2.htm#The_Battle_for_Ypres_and_300_Years_of_the_Khalsa

    This is Sikh based although it is predominantly about their involvement in Italy.

    The total Allied casualties killed, wounded and missing were 312,000; of these, 42,000 of the killed belonged to the forces of the Commonwealth in Italy. Gurkhas, Sikhs and Muslims, the traditional warriors has a great history in Italy during that terrible and painful period of war.

    The forces of British India played a major role in both World Wars. Nearly 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth including some 160,000 from the forces of undivided British India died in the 1914-18 and 1939-45 Wars. In the first World War, the strength of the British Indian Army rose to one million and in the 2nd World War with two and half million. During WW-1, it fought in China, France and Belgium ( Flanders ), Mesopotamia against Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Egypt , Palestine, Gallipoli and in East Africa. In 2nd WW, a company of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps was part of the British Expeditionary Force in 1940 campaign which ended in the evacuation from Dunkirk ( France ). Divisions of British Indian Army fought in the Western Desert, in the Middle East, in Eritrea, Ethiopia, they fought in Italy and took part in the liberation of Greece. But against Japan in the east, British Indian Army played its greatest role right through from the reverses of 1942 to the final overwhelming victory of 1945.
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  3. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Following on my blurb promoting the BBC Peoples War Archives and after reading this timely article about the Sikh's contribution to WW2 I visited the BBC site and keyed in "Sikh" into the search box and found this article: BBC - WW2 People's War - My Life as a Sikh Soldier In India

    14 VC s

    Say no more !

    Ron
     
  4. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

  5. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  6. Combover

    Combover Guest

    Tell Bernard Manning that then! If he wearn't dead.
     
  7. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Tell Bernard Manning that then! If he wearn't dead.
    Missed that one!
     
  8. Combover

    Combover Guest

    Manning claimed in an interview on British television some years ago that "there were no Pakis at Dunkirk".
     
  9. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Ignorant twat was shown on TV recently saying that in the Sikh Remembrance prog I mentioned in the 'What's On TV' thread.
     
  10. shahbaaz

    shahbaaz Member

    Following on my blurb promoting the BBC Peoples War Archives and after reading this timely article about the Sikh's contribution to WW2 I visited the BBC site and keyed in "Sikh" into the search box and found this article: BBC - WW2 People's War - My Life as a Sikh Soldier In India

    14 VC s

    Say no more !

    Ron

    Actually of the 40 Vcs awarded to Indian soldiers 1911-47, only 6 were Sikhs. However the community won a disproportionate share of gallantry awards during British rule and an even more disproportionate share in free India. Disproportionate considering their small share in India's population.
     
  11. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

  12. shahbaaz

    shahbaaz Member

    The Germans and Italians on the other hand felt not just nervous but distinctly unsafe with the thought of Gurkhas lurking in the neighbourhood. Their penchant for beheading their enemies with their curved Khukri knives scared their enemies no end !
     

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