Category Archive: 1914 sikhs

  1. Saragarhi Day At Sandhurst: A Review

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    When I began researching and writing “Saragarhi: The Forgotten Battle” I did not imagine that a meeting with the British Army would result in the Sikh community marking it’s battle honour day at the heart of the British military.Nor that I would gaze upon more than 300 people enjoying wonderful vegetarian Punjabi food in the Officer’s mess of that most English of institutions.Nor that a troop of 30 British Sikh jawans would march on the historic parade square which has seen the likes of Winston Churchill and Princes William and Harry be passed off.

    Or, dare I say, that I would be stood infront of an audience of military and civilian personnel delivering a speech – then repeating a lighter version of it to school children, and another version to parents in Punjabi!

    I didn’t even imagine that a delegation of serving British officers and soldiers (including Sikhs) would pay their respects at the memorial Gurdwaras built in it’s honour as well as at Sri Harimandir Sahib, Amritsar.

    In 2014, that is what we have achieved.

    The journey to narrate the true meaning and factual details of Saragarhi has seen the British Armed Forces re-embrace the battle as one which has a deep meaning within the UK, connecting Britain and Sikhs as well as shining a light on a period of frontier history often overlooked but highly relevant given the situation we face with jihadists.

    Saragarhi Day has been a phenomenal event, seeing Sikhs and non-Sikhs, military and civillian, old and young, men and women coming together to mark an event that continues to inspire and encourage us all to dedicate ourselves to selfless and public service.  The image at the top of this post shows you just how many people enjoyed the most English of settings.

    The day began, for me, with picking up a rather special guest.  A friend I made from Stockholm through my work on British-Sikh history who flew in especially to attend the event.  Per Haaglund (I know he will appreciate this mention) was the proverbial excited kid in the candy store, through whom I got to see just how this heritage we occasionally take for granted is such an awesome sight for others.

    Technical set up and rehearsals followed, the excellent and professional “Your Army” team had everything in hand and were brilliant at ensuring a smooth operation with the various elements of video and sound being played.

    As the audience filled in, a flutter  came over me.  But sat with my wife, I couldn’t help but feel that this was all very comfortable and feeling right.  Not out of place nor nervousness, but rather excitement at being able to be a part of such an historic moment – a Saragarhi lecture on Saragarhi battle honour day!  Major-General Robert Nitsch (GOC Support Command) proceeded me and was wonderful to speak to.

    My speech, I felt, was well received.  I will endeavour to make another post of it.  The atmosphere of the room was emotive, lights dimmed room packed with people, it lent itself nicely to the themes of my speech and the feelings I wanted to evoke.  Lord Suri read a tribute poem (watch it here) I had discovered during research, which was a fitting way to lead into a minutes silence – which we encouraged via Twitter for others to observe at 1130.  A jaikara/war cry broke the short moment of reflection before I continued on.

    But I was disappointed (in all honesty) to later hear Lord Indarjit Singh rehash the same wikipedia factual inaccuracies I have researched and spent so long to dispell.  (That UNESCO had ranked the battle, that Parliament gave a standing ovation).

    After the speech, I hurried to the theatre room to speak to school children from Khalsa Primary, Slough about the battle and history (left).  They had watched my film Indians in the Trenches, and were excited.  Looking up at the podium I realised I would have to, off the cuff, water down some of the more gory bits for the group of 10 and 11 year olds!  I laughed about this with the headteacher later.  The kids were wonderful, and inquisitively asked some rather interesting questions which made this a pleasure.

    I was then requested to do the same to a group of Punjabi parents – the families of the 1914 Sikhs troop, but in Panjabi!  Looking once again upon my speech I adjusted to deliver it from English to Panjabi.  Not an easy task but once again enjoyable given the people who had come to discover and see this history.

    A break followed during which Punjab Restaurant Covent Garden provided a fantastic vegetarian lunch.  The last event to mark Saragarhi on it’s battle honour day was a luncheon in 1947, so to see the officers mess filled with the smell of Indian food was amazing.

    The day ended with everyone being led outside for a parade by 1914 Sikhs (left) a troop of young Sikhs from the Midlands who were equally impassioned about rekindling the spirit of their forefathers.  They wore their turbans and period uniforms proud, shouted the jaikara loud – and never recited Gurbani/Sikh prayers which was stirring and inspiring.

    The event ended with media interviews, briefing the BBC on factual details and nudging the right people in front of the cameras.

    The immense positive nature of the day, the engagement with the community and between civilians and military was fantastic.  But there were some shenanigans as one unsavoury character provided some scorn in attempting to hustle in on the event for his own purposes (Google search “Harbinder Rana”).

    Nonetheless, the day ended with a lot of positive and a lot of enthusiasm at the historic occasion.

    Here, I would like to turn my attention to another element of the day – indeed the week.  For while we were commemorating the battle honour day at Sandhurst, a group of serving British Army personnel under the command of Brigadier Mark Abraham had spent the week marking Saragarhi in India.

    The group visited the Saragarhi Memorial Gurdwaras in Amritsar, Ferozepur and to Fateh Academy.  They had paid their respects at the holiest of Sikh sites, Sri Harimandir Sahib (above), and engaged with Sikh leaders.

    As we begin to descend from the high of achieving such a remarkable and memorable event programme, I reflected to Lt Col John Kendall, who has been instrumental in seeing the potential for Saragarhi to reconnect the British and Sikhs, that this event had been ten times bigger and better than the one we ran in 2013.

    The challenge for us now to continue to mark Saragarhi Day – and to continue to inspire people from all backgrounds to engage with the Armed Forces, involve themselves in public life and to be inspired!

  2. Press Release: Story Of “Indians In The Trenches” Captured On Film For The First Time

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    Young actors have been given a rare opportunity to dress up in British World War One uniforms and re-enact the real life experiences of Sikhs who fought during the conflict for a new film, being released on Friday 4th July 2014.


    “Indians in the Trenches” depicts the real life stories of those from the subcontinent who left their villages in 1914 to fight in a faraway land for the first time.  The film uses the original letters sent from the trenches of France and Flanders to delve into what the Indian soldiers felt and experienced at different key points during the four-year war.

    It’s the first time a Sikh re-enactment has taken place in Britain, and the first time the original writings of those who fought have been enacted and captured on film.  Around 126,000 Sikhs fought during the conflict in every arena of the war – from the western front to Mesopotamia; and their contribution is all the more remarkable when considered that despite being only 2% of the Indian population at the time they made up 20% of the fighting force of the British Indian Army.

    The letters contain a strong belief of their faith and identity.  One Sikh soldier wrote “It was my very good fortune to be engaged in this war.  We shall never get such another chance to exalt the name of race, country, ancestors, parents, village and brothers.” while another Sikh remarked “We are fortunate men to have been able to join in this great war.  We will do our best to uphold the family traditions and the reputation of our tribe.”

    But the experience for the Indians was also very harrowing as they faced the harsh realities of the conflict during the winter of 1914 without proper warm kit.  One Sikh soldier remarked “The guns fire all day like the thunder in Sawan.  The heaven and earth are undistinguishable and at night there is a regular Diwali festival.”

    Speaking about the film, director Jay Singh-Sohal said: “This has been a fantastic way of highlighting the Indian contribution during the war through real life letters and experiences.  The Sikh story itself is inspiring because of the overwhelming contribution this small community made to the war effort, and this is reflected in that a quarter of Indian gallantry awards were given to this martial race.  It’s something people today should not forget.”

    This was the first role for aspiring young actor Pavandeep Singh Sandhu (pictured top), who plays the role of cavalrymen Bhaga Singh says: “It’s been a really exciting opportunity to portray this role, especially as Sikhs made such a dramatic impact during the course of the war.  It makes me feel proud that our forefathers made this sacrifice.  To delve into the psyche of the soldiers enabled me to appreciate what they went through – and be inspired by it.”

    The film is being released on the online film site www.sikhsatwar.infoand broadcast on British television as part of efforts to raise awareness during the centenary commemorations of World War One.

    The team will then be working alongside members of the Armed Forces to create a national memorial to remember the sacrifices of Sikh soldiers.

    ***ENDS***
    Notes to Editors:
    All media bids for interview to be made via:
    07908 22 6667/ dothyphen1@gmail.com
    For more information visit: www.sikhsatwar.info or contact us on Twitter: @SikhsAtWar
    Stills images attached are available for publication, more are available upon request. 

    Please ensure logos are not cropped and accredit “www.sikhsatwar.info”.

  3. BBC World War One At Home

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    The BBC’s series “World War One At Home” has a special episode on “Sikhs In The Trenches.

    You can listen to it via this link here or the image below.

    A special programme on  “The Empire’s Army” will be broadcast on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire on Monday 2nd June at 8.15am and a longer more in depth edition at 11.30am the same day.

  4. Sikhs in the Canadian Expeditionary Force

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    Fellow researcher Marika Pirie (mentioned below) alerted me to this fantastic Library and Archive of Canada website where you can search for those who fought in WW1.

    Over 600,000 men and women enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force – and this surprisingly included some Sikhs!

    Searching for the surname “Singh” I’ve come across 9 – of course not all “Singhs” were Sikh, as it was a surname also used by some Rajput Hindus.  The names are listed below, please do contact me if you know or have any to these soldiers.



    Marika alerted me to one particular soldier:

    Born in Punjab in January 1883, Waryam Singh was a labourer who joined the 38th Battalion of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in Ottawa in May 1915. 

    Being in his 30’s, what he did to get to Canada would be interesting to find out!


    While the first two pages of the Attestation soldiers undertook is now online, more details will be released on the site later this year about each soldier.  It’ll be interesting to find out more about Waryam Singh.

    Update:  click here for an interesting article about another Canadian Sikh who served.