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the forgotten Indian soldiers of the First and Second World Wars. Their stories deserve to be told not merely as military history, but as stories of courage, sacrifice, duty and humanity.
Millions of Indians served far from home, in lands whose languages they did not speak, fighting in wars being waged by the British Empire. Many never returned. Others came home with wounds that the world could scarcely see. Yet their names and contributions are often missing from popular accounts of the two World Wars.
THE FORGOTTEN INDIAN SOLDIERS OF TWO WORLD WARS They crossed oceans for wars fought far from home. Some never returned. Many names were forgotten.
When we speak of the First and Second World Wars, we remember the great generals, the European battlefields and the millions of lives lost. But how often do we remember the Indian soldier who stood in the freezing trenches of France, fought in the deserts of North Africa, endured the jungles of Burma, or died on foreign soil thousands of kilometres from his village?
These men came from the villages and towns of undivided India. They included Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Christians, drawn from different regions, languages and communities. They served in the British Indian armed forces at a time when India was still under British rule.
Their contribution to world history deserves to be remembered.
The First World War: India goes to the battlefields
When the First World War broke out in 1914, Indian troops were sent to Europe to reinforce the Allied forces. They fought in France and Flanders, including at Ypres and Neuve-Chapelle. Others served in Mesopotamia, East Africa, Gallipoli and the Middle East.
Imagine a young soldier from Punjab or the Himalayan foothills suddenly facing the freezing European winter. His clothing might be inadequate, the landscape unfamiliar, and the weapons of modern trench warfare unlike anything he had encountered before.
Yet he stood his ground.
Approximately 1.3 million Indian personnel served during the First World War, and more than 74,000 Indian soldiers lost their lives. Their service extended far beyond Europe, across several continents and campaigns.
The Second World War: An extraordinary contribution
The Second World War brought an even larger Indian military effort.
By its end, the British Indian Army had grown to more than 2.5 million volunteers, making it the largest volunteer army of the war. Indian troops fought in North Africa, Italy, Greece, the Middle East, Malaya, Singapore and Burma.
The campaign in Italy offers a remarkable example. More than 50,000 Indian soldiers served in the Italian campaign. They suffered heavy casualties, and six Indian soldiers received the Victoria Cross during this campaign.
In Burma and India's northeastern frontier, Indian forces fought through difficult terrain, monsoon rains, disease and supply shortages. Battles at Imphal and Kohima became turning points in the campaign against Japanese forces.
More than 89,000 Indian soldiers died during the Second World War.
These were not merely numbers in a military report. Every number represented a human life: a son who might have been expected home, a husband whose wife waited for news, or a father whose children grew up without him.
The discovery that brought forgotten names back to life
Perhaps the most moving chapter in this story is unfolding even now.
In July 2026, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission announced that 9,909 Indian Army servicemen who died during the First World War had been added to its casualty records, following a major historical research project.
Their names had been missing from the official commemorative records for more than a century.
The project, involving the University of Greenwich and the UK Punjab Heritage Association, examined historical documents known as the Punjab Registers, preserved at Lahore Museum.
Think about what this means.
For generations, some families may have known that an ancestor went away to war and never returned, without knowing precisely what happened to him or where his sacrifice had been recorded. Historical research has now helped restore recognition to thousands of these men.
History is not always forgotten because people deliberately erase it. Sometimes, names disappear in the gaps between records, institutions and generations. Recovering them is an act of justice to the past.
Their memorials stand across the world
Indian soldiers who died in the two world wars are commemorated in cemeteries and memorials across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
At Neuve-Chapelle in France, a memorial honours Indian soldiers who died on the Western Front and elsewhere without known graves. In Italy, memorials recall Indian troops who fought in the liberation campaign. In India, the names of the fallen are remembered at sites including India Gate and war cemeteries in the northeast.
Some graves bear names. Others commemorate men whose remains were never identified.
Every memorial tells us something important: courage does not belong to one nation, and sacrifice is not made less meaningful because the world takes time to recognise it.
Remembering them today
We must also remember the historical context. These soldiers served under British command while India was still a colony. Their participation did not mean that all Indians supported British rule, nor did it erase the struggle for independence.
Their service and India's freedom movement are both important parts of our history. We can acknowledge the political realities of the time while honouring the courage, suffering and humanity of the individual soldiers.
Perhaps the most meaningful tribute we can offer is to learn their names, preserve their stories and pass them on to the next generation.
Somewhere in the world, a memorial may carry the name of an Indian soldier whose descendants have never seen it. Somewhere, a village may still hold a fragment of a story about a young man who crossed the seas and never came home.
Let us remember them.
They were sons of India. They were part of world history. And they deserve a place in our collective memory.
Lest we forget.
Indian soldiers won the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy, in both World Wars. Their bravery was recognised even though they served an empire that ruled their own country.
Khudadad Khan — The soldier who refused to abandon his gun
In Belgium in October 1914, Khan continued operating his machine gun despite being wounded, helping hold off a German attack. He became the first Indian soldier to receive the Victoria Cross.
2. Premindra Singh Bhagat — The engineer who cleared minefields
During the East African campaign in 1941, this young Indian officer supervised the clearance of minefields under dangerous conditions. His persistence and courage earned him the Victoria Cross.
The historical figures commonly cited are 11 Indian recipients in the First World War and 31 in the Second World War, although totals can vary depending on whether the source counts Indian Army personnel, people from the Indian subcontinent, or all eligible recipients serving in the British Indian forces.
THEY FOUGHT FOR AN EMPIRE, BUT THEY WERE SONS OF INDIA
Remembering the forgotten Indian soldiers of the two World Wars
There is a question that deserves to trouble our conscience.
Between 1914 and 1945, millions of Indians travelled far beyond their villages, crossed oceans and fought in two world wars. They faced machine guns, artillery, freezing winters, scorching deserts, unfamiliar jungles and diseases. Thousands upon thousands never returned home.
Yet, while they were risking their lives on foreign battlefields, India itself was not free.
How do we remember men who fought in wars commanded by an empire that denied their own country independence?
The answer begins by understanding the men themselves.
They were not merely numbers
Imagine a young soldier leaving his village in Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Garhwal or another part of India.
Perhaps his mother stood at the doorway watching him leave. Perhaps his wife had a small child in her arms. Perhaps his father hoped that the money he sent home would help the family survive.
The young man might never have travelled beyond his district. Now he was crossing the seas to France, Mesopotamia, East Africa, Italy or Burma.
He carried his training, his courage, his fears and the memories of home.
He did not know whether he would return.
Behind every casualty figure was a family. Behind every name on a memorial was a life that had once been full of ordinary hopes.
These are the lives we must recover from the pages of history.
The contradiction of colonial India
India was under British rule during both World Wars. Indian soldiers served in the British Indian Army, largely under British command, while Indians at home continued their struggle for political freedom.
Their service must be understood in this historical context.
Some enlisted for regular pay, employment, family support or the traditions of military service. Others were influenced by recruitment pressures and the circumstances of colonial rule. Their individual motives were not all the same.
Nor did their participation mean that every Indian supported the British Empire.
We must resist the temptation to judge every soldier by the political circumstances in which he served. A soldier could be serving under a colonial government and still display extraordinary courage, loyalty to his comrades and a determination to protect the men beside him.
We can question the empire without diminishing the soldier.
Indeed, understanding this contradiction makes their story more important, not less.
The Victoria Cross: Courage that could not be ignored
The Victoria Cross, the highest British decoration for gallantry in the face of the enemy, was awarded to Indian soldiers who performed extraordinary acts of bravery.
Khudadad Khan became the first Indian recipient in 1914. During the Second World War, Indian soldiers continued to earn the decoration through acts of exceptional courage.
Their achievements deserve to be remembered alongside those of soldiers from Britain and every other country that fought in these conflicts.
But we should be precise with the numbers. Claims that Indians won more Victoria Crosses than British soldiers depend on the war, the population being counted and the definition of “Indian” and “British.” Such comparisons should be verified against reliable award records before being repeated.
The point does not need exaggeration. The documented bravery of these men is remarkable enough.
Their sacrifice belongs to world history
Indian troops fought on the Western Front in Europe, in the deserts of North Africa, in Italy, in East Africa and across the difficult terrain of Burma.
Their contribution was not limited to combat. Soldiers, medical personnel, engineers, transport units and other service personnel helped sustain military campaigns across enormous distances.
Their presence reminds us that the World Wars were not exclusively European events. They drew people from across the globe, including millions living under colonial rule.
When we teach these wars to our children and grandchildren, Indian soldiers should not appear as a footnote. They belong within the main narrative.
How do we honour them today?
We can begin with simple but meaningful acts.
First, learn their names. Visit the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and discover the soldiers commemorated in cemeteries and memorials across the world.
Second, tell their stories. A short account of one soldier's life can move a reader more deeply than a page of casualty statistics.
Third, remember the families. The story of war includes those who waited for letters, received devastating news or lived with uncertainty for years.
Fourth, teach the complete history. We should explain both the courage of the soldiers and the colonial circumstances in which they served. Honest remembrance does not require us to conceal uncomfortable truths.
Finally, pass the stories on. Our grandchildren should know that Indian history did not unfold only within India's geographical boundaries. Indians have helped shape the histories of many countries, sometimes at a terrible personal cost.
A remembrance that transcends politics
We need not glorify the British Empire to honour an Indian soldier who served under it. Nor must we overlook the circumstances of colonial rule to appreciate his courage.
We can hold both truths together.
The empire had its interests. The soldiers had their lives, their families, their hardships and their moments of extraordinary bravery.
Today, when we stand before a memorial bearing their names, we can remember them as human beings first.
They came from Indian homes. They carried Indian memories. They served in conflicts that changed the world.
Many never saw their homes again.
Let us ensure that the passage of time does not take away the one thing we can still give them: remembrance.
They may have fought under an empire, but their stories are part of India's history.
Lest we forget.
