During the First World War, India being a British colony, contributed a large number of soldiers for the British army to the European, Mediterranean and the Middle East battlefields. The Indian Army fought against the German Empire in German East Africa and also on the Western Front. While some were sent to serve in places such as France and Belgium, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Gallipoli, Palestine and Sinai; others remain in India guarding the North West Frontier and on internal security and training duties.
The Indian army played an inevitable role in the First World War, so much so that Field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from 1942, said that the British “couldn’t have come through both wars [World War I and II] if they hadn’t had the Indian Army.”
Below are a few rare photos of the Indian army getting battle-ready on foreign soil, ,sacrificing their lives for unsung heroism & martyrhood, following orders till their last breath, making the country proud for her brave sons.
