India’s forgotten soldiers of WW1

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Internationally acclaimed writer and politician Dr Shashi Tharoor explains The Indian army’s key role in the allied military effort in World War One. More than one million men served on the Western Front, at Gallipoli, in the Middle East and in Africa. There were far more Indian soldiers defending the Empire than there were British men in the field. Gandhi encouraged recruits, saying "We are not entitled to self-rule until we come forward and enlist in the army". Home Rule was not granted however, bitter discontent grew and although its history is not well known in India, the war and its aftermath had a huge effect on the country and its role in the British Empire. (Photograph:Indian bicycle troops at a crossroads on the Fricourt-Mametz Road, Somme, France, July 1916) (Credit: Wikicomms - photo taken by UK government and now in the public domain)