THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Military Station, Pangode, observed the 100th anniversary of World War I and the role played by Indian soldiers in the war by organising an exhibition of photographs and a documentary screening on Saturday.
A hundred years after the Great War, few remember the role played by 1.3 million Indian soldiers. The military station here had conducted a series of lectures at various colleges and schools in Thiruvananthapuram over the past year to raise awareness about their contribution.
‘’The Indian story has to be told because it rarely happens that one nation’s war is fought by another’s armies. We were the largest voluntary force in history at that time, significantly bigger than the combined troops of Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Indian troops suffered heavy casualties as they fought in the frozen trenches of Europe, in the bloody campaigns of the Middle East, the Dardanelles and the Mediterranean, and East Africa,’’ a defence spokesperson said.
‘’The Indian Expeditionary Forces lost 74,187 in the war and 69,214 returned home wounded. Once the war ended, the British were in no hurry to appease India. So, the returning army seemed to Indians like the Empire’s instrument of oppression,’’ the spokesperson added.
Thiruvananthapuram happens to be one of those cities which has a memorial to the soldiers who fought and died in the Great War. The memorial, opposite the College of Fine Arts, was recently renovated and opened to the public.
Saturday’s event at the military station was jointly inaugurated by the Station Commander, Brigadier Samir Salunke, and his wife Swapna Salunke. Lieutanant General (Retd) Thomas Mathew spoke briefly on the war. The exhibition featured photographs on the Indian operations during the war.