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Indian Army in World War I and II Module - III

Military History of the
petroleum oils and foodstuffs were supplied. A total of 2,737,862 tons of items such
Colonial Era
as rice, flour, atta, ghee, sugar, tea, tinned meat, grain and hay for animals, jam, biscuits
and firewood were shipped from India up to March 1919. You can see the huge effort
that is required to maintain troops in war. More importantly, India had all these even in
those times and could proudly give to the countries that needed them.

Intext Questions 12.1 Note

1. Which incident in Sarajevo in Bosnia started the WW I?
2. Name any three countries which were part of an Alliance in World War I?
3. Approximately how many Indian soldiers took part in World War I?

12.2 Major Battles of World War I

Let us now see the battles in which the Indian soldiers were deployed. These are given
in a chronological order of month and year. Indian forces were deployed during the
War. There were 7 forces, created to fight in different parts of Europe and Africa. The
Indians managed to either win in attack operations or defend effectively a given area
of ground. The war had new weapons, new tactics of fighting from a trench which is
also called Trench warfare. Imagine if enemy is sitting inside a dug out and you have to
attack and capture him. The attacker is exposed and the defender is well protected
inside the trench. That is why sheer bravery was required to win a battle. But it also
caused huge casualties in the form of death and injuries. What is Victoria Cross? It is
the highest medal given for an act of exceptional courage shown in battle. It is an
award given by the Government of Britain. 11 Indian soldiers were awarded the Victoria
Cross for their courage and bravery in battle during the Fist World War.

(i) Role in YPRES (BELGIUM)
The first major battle in which Indian troops took part was the First Battle of
Ypres, a small market town in Flanders bordering present day Belgium. In Ypres,
Belgium, the allies consisting of British Expeditionary Force(BEF), French and
Belgium troops took part in the attack against Germans. There were five battles
fought in Ypres and the Indian army now called BEF fought in all the battles.
Troops of the Indian Corps were fully committed there and suffered heavy
causalities.

On 22nd April 1915 the second Battle of Ypres began with the first gas attack in
the history of warfare. Again the British Indian Corps was called upon to fill the
gap in the lines. Among the British Indian troops the warning was spread.
In those days there was no gas mask to defend against such gas attacks. The
Indian army gave a good display of fighting skills and brave actions enabled the

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