Page 60 - History of War - Issue 18-15

A Sikh gunner fi res
a Maxim machine
gun in 1915 Gurdwaras, were set up behind the lines,
BURMACAMPAIGN andthesetempleswereusedtoobservethe

customs and traditions of Sikhism. The Sikh
soldiers even earned the nickname ‘the Black
Lions’, which was coined by their Arabic allies in
the Sharifian Army serving in Mesopotamia.
A‘FORGOTTENCAMPAIGN’,SIKHSOLDIERSFOUGHTWITHDISTINCTIONINSOUTH GeneralSirIanHamilton,wholedthe
EAST ASIA AGAINST THE RAMPANT IMPERIAL JAPANESE ARMY Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli,
With the Japanese ploughing through from After 64 days of confl ict, the Axis troops paid noble tribute to the heroism of all ranks
theeastin1944,asmanytroopsascouldbe were beaten back after a stoic rearguard by the of the 14th Sikhs: “In the highest sense of the
gathered were needed to weather the coming British troops. Of the 1 million men employed word, extreme gallantry has been shown by
storm. By the summer, air superiority had been by the Allies in Burma, 700,000 were Indians. thisfinebattalion…Inspiteofthetremendous
achievedbytheRAF,soitwasnowuptothe The Kohima Cremation Memorial in the area is losses,therewasnotasignofwaveringallday.
army to face the Japanese back on the ground. the fi nal resting place for 917 Hindu and Sikh Notaninchofgroundwasgivenupandnota
TheJapanese31stDivisionhadbynowinvaded soldiers. An inscription on the memorial reads: singlestragglercameback…Theendsofthe
theImphalandKohimaregionstothenorth enemy trenches leading into the ravine were
east of British India. At the Battle of Kohima, “Whenyougohome found to be blocked with the bodies of Sikhs
2,500Britishtroopswerebesiegedbyupto andoftheenemywhodiedfightingatclose
15,000 Japanese. Tellthemofus,andsay, quarters, and the glacis slope is thickly dotted
Foryourtomorrow withthebodiesofthesefinesoldiersalllyingon
Below: Troops from the 7th Indian Division theirfacesastheyfellintheirsteadyadvance
observe Japanese movements in the Ngakyedauk on the enemy. The history of the Sikhs affords
Pass in February 1944 Wegaveourtoday”
manyinstancesoftheirvalueassoldiers,butit
may be safely asserted that nothing finer than
the grim valour and steady discipline displayed
by them on 4 June has ever been done by the
soldiers of the Khalsa. Their devotion to duty
and their splendid loyalty to their orders and to
theirleadersmakearecordtheirnationshould
look back upon with pride for many generations.”
WhiletheSikhswereawayinEuropeand
the Middle East, disturbances were common
“DISMAYED AT THE BRITISH

RULE IN INDIA, A NUMBER OF
SIKHS BEGAN THE SINGH SABHA

MOVEMENT, RESULTING IN A
FIVE-YEAR REVOLT AND THE

CREATION OF THE AKALI DAL
SIKH NATIONALIST PARTY”

60