Forgotten Heroes: The Indian Army in the Great War

As part of Radio 2's Festival of Remembrance, Sarfraz Manzoor tells the largely forgotten story of the 1.27 million men from the Indian Army who took part in the Great War, through the letters that soldiers sent home from front lines, which were saved by military censors and survive to this day.

The Asian contribution to the First World War has been overlooked by many, despite the fact that Indian soldiers fought alongside British troops in every major battle from Ypres to Gallipoli. Soldiers from unpartioned India, which is today India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as Gurkhas from Nepal, joined the war in the opening weeks. They helped to prevent the Germans from reaching the ports of the English Channel and many continued to fight into 1919 as the war continued to rage in the Middle East.

The programme traces the Indian involvement in the conflict, from shock and disbelief at the carnage of trench warfare in the first weeks of the war to the struggle to survive the inhospitable desert conditions in Mesopotamia. We hear how the British army helped soldiers observe a diverse range of diets and rituals in accordance with their religious beliefs. And back in India, Sarfraz learns how the war took its toll on those who were left behind.

Interviews include Major Gordon Corrigan, author of 'Sepoys in the Trenches', Squadron Leader Rana Chhina of the United Service Institution of India, Dr Santanu Das of King's College London, Dr Kristian Coates Ulrichsen of Rice University, Texas, Military and Community Historian Jahan Mahmood and politician Baroness Flather.

An excerpt from 'Subterranean Sepoys' is courtesy of Avin Shah and Tara Arts. The folksong performance is by Mazhar Tirmazi and the readers are Sagar Arya and Pooja Ghai.