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Module - III Indian Army in World War I and II

Military History of the
12.1.2 India's Participation in World War I
Colonial Era
Let us now see the contribution of the Indian troops in World War I. At that time it was
known as the British Indian Army or British Indian troops. The Indian troops were
deployed in war without preparation and without proper clothing in a foreign land, in
winters. Yet they played an important role as part of the allied forces and their
performance in battle was remarkable and praised by all countries. Over 1.5 million
Note soldiers from various parts of India including Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar and Tamil Nadu volunteered to take part in Britain's war effort. They fought
both in the Western Front and in the Eastern theatre of war and continued even beyond
1918 in Afghanistan & Persia (up to 1920). The gallant Indian soldiers earned various
medals and honors for their services. These include: 11 Victoria Cross, 5 Military
Cross, 973 Indian Order Of Merit & 3130 Indian Distinguished Service Medals
during the WW I. As far as the number of regiments that took part in the war is
concerned about 12 Cavalry Regiments, 13 Infantry Regiments & several other units
of other Arms / Services participated in the 13 Campaigns of WW 1. India was
fighting on the British side and the only satisfaction that Indians could have was that the
war served as 'training ground for fighting in a modern warfare'. In 1914, at the outset
of the war, the strength of the British Indian army was 23,000 British and 78,000
Indian soldiers. India sent the following contingents to various theatres at the outset of
war:

France 2xInfantry Divisions; 2xCavalry Divisions

4xArtillery Brigades
Persian Gulf 1xInfantry Division
Egypt 6xInfantry Brigades; 1xCavalry Brigade

India provided Britain with not just men and material, but finances as well to fight
World War 1. India gave £100 million towards the cost of the war. An initial offer of a
lump sum of £100 million was made in 1917. Three quarters of this amount was raised
through War loans or bonds and the rest given by the Government of India. In terms of
direct monetary contribution India gave £146.2 million from its revenues. According
to one account, there were approximately 172,815 animals, which included 85,953
horses, 65,398 ponies and mules, 10,781 camels, 5,061 bullocks, 5,692 dairy cattle
and 369.1 million tons of supplies and stores, which left the ports of India for various
destinations. Within the first few weeks of the war, India supplied 70,000,000 rounds
of small arms ammunition, 6,00,002 rifles, mortars and machine guns. Considerable
quantities of shell cases were manufactured. The Army Clothing Department produced
41,920,223 garments between 1914 and 1918. Raw materials like rough tanned hides;
wool, manganese, mica, salt, timber, bamboo, raw silk, hemp, coir, tea, rubber,

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MILITARY HISTORY