It's 1914 and the Indian Army Is Fighting in France

Indian Soldiers Digging Trenches in France

It was decided in London by 6th August, just two days after the declaration of war, that India would send two divisions to Egypt, and mobilization in India commenced straightaway. Even before the BEF had embarked the destination of the Indian Corps was changed to France. The Corps filled an essential gap until the British Territorial Army began to arrive at the front in the spring of 1915 (just a few regiments came in 1914) and before the New Army (the volunteer army initiated by Lord Kitchener) was ready to take to the field.

When the German Army crossed the Belgian frontier on 4 August 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany, taking with it the member countries of the erstwhile British Empire. Britain’s small regular army, the “Old Contemptibles” that made up the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was exhausted and hard pressed by September 1914 when the Indian Corps arrived in France. In August 1914, apart from Britain, the Indian Army was the only trained regular army ready to take to the field in the entire Commonwealth.

The Indian Army Corps that arrived on the Western Front in the autumn of 1914 would be instrumental in checking the German advance toward the channel ports. The infantry element of two divisions served in France and Flanders till the end of 1915, while the cavalry stayed in France till 1918. Wounded Indian soldiers were treated in hospitals set up in the south of England. This was the first operational deployment of Indian troops in Europe. The exposure to European society had a significant impact upon the soldiers who served in this theatre of the Great War.

Arrival at Marseilles

Indian Soldiers Disembark at Marseilles on 26 September 1914

The Indians received a warm welcome from the inhabitants of Marseilles. The 47th Sikhs’ historian recorded that this “was the result of genuine feeling and not mere excitement over a novel sight.” When Vaughan’s Rifles arrived, the battalion “wended its way through streets lined ten deep with cheering inhabitants who offered a great welcome, and presented, indiscriminately, flowers, wine and tobacco to the men.”

The first to arrive, however, were only there for a few days, as on 30 September they entrained for Orléans, about seventy miles southwest of Paris, where an Indian advanced base camp was established. The large camp at Orléans remained in use throughout the stay of the Indian Corps in France.

Arrival at the Front

Indian Officers, 39th Garhwalis at Estaire, La Bassée Road

When the regiments of the Indian Corps moved up from Orléans to the front, they found themselves immediately thrust into the front line—and into battle—with no time to become acclimatized to shelling or even to learn their way around. The first Indian units to head north, in mid-October, were the 57th Rifles and 129th Baluchis when, at a most critical point in the First Battle of Ypres, they were sent to reinforce Allenby’s Cavalry Corps at Ypres.

Many regiments went into the line without time to reconnoitre their new positions. On 29 October the 2/8th Gurkhas marched up through Festubert to take over front line trenches for the first time. The troops endured almost unimaginable conditions: soaked with water and caked with mud they occupied waterlogged ditches and shell-holes. Because the trenches had been dug for taller men the diminutive Gurkhas could not see over the parapet to fire their rifles.

Under these conditions the Germans launched a series of more or less intensive bouts of shelling and several feint attacks during darkness. In the morning came a severe German attack, which was beaten off, then four hours of concentrated bombardment. German shells obliterated the front line trench, but the Gurkhas held on. Eventually, with Germans working around behind the positions and a grave shortage of British officers there was no option but to retire.

The 58th Rifles detrained near Hazebrouck on 28 October and marched to Gorre, near Béthune. Within 24 hours of its arrival at the front it was involved in the counterattack where the 2/8th Gurkhas had lost their trenches. At 2.30 a.m. on October 31, the 58th was called upon to pass through the troops in front and rush to the trenches. It was a pitch dark night in pouring rain, and no one in the battalion had ever seen the trenches or knew anything of the state of the ground, or how far they were from their objective, but their attack was successful.

In the early days the trenches were primitive and supplies rudimentary. Many of the troops were wearing lightweight khaki drill deep into the first winter of the war. The mud and water in hastily constructed trenches, many of which were adapted ditches, was almost knee deep: there were no duck boards. They were very narrow, with no fire step at first, and by day utterly isolated as there were no communication trenches—nor any latrines. There were frequent alarms and firing; supply arrangements were haphazard, despite the efforts of the Mule Corps. There  was certainly no hot food in the front line.

The First Battle of Ypres

Unloading Officers’ Chargers

The First Battle of Ypres in Belgium was the culmination of the famous “Race to the Sea.” At the most critical point in the battle, during the last week of October and the first days of November, British infantry were so heavily committed that the front from Zandvoorde south to Messines was defended only by Allenby’s Cavalry Corps, fighting dismounted in the fields east of the Ypres-Armentières road. The Cavalry Corps was in touch with probing German forces when two Indian battalions, 129th Baluchis and 57th Wilde’s Rifles, arrived as reinforcements. These battalions were quickly parceled out among the cavalrymen. The 129th Baluchis made the first actual attack by an Indian unit on the Western Front when, on 26 October 1914, they attacked German trenches east of Hollebeke. In this attack, under bleak and darkening autumn skies, two companies advanced side by side on a 600-yard front. Together they were to charge across muddy, open fields and cross a small watercourse before attacking the German trenches after a preliminary bombardment of ten minutes duration. Despite support from its own machine guns at Jardine’s Farm, the battalion could make no real headway and, under sustained rifle and machine gun fire, they were stopped about the natural line of the Roosebeke stream which offered them some protection. With dusk falling, orders were received to fall back to their original trenches. Casualties were seven killed and 40 wounded.

Not far away, at Jardine’s Farm the Baluchis’ two machine guns were eventually overrun by the Germans on 31 October after a very severe fight. The farm was smashed by shellfire, and was burning, when one gun suffered a direct hit and was put out of action. The men kept the remaining gun in action until the German assault swept over them, every man being shot or bayoneted at his post except Sepoy Khudadad Khan. Although severely wounded, Khudadad Khan continued to fire his gun until prevented from doing so. Feigning death, he waited until dark then managed to crawl back from the front to find his regiment. He received the first Victoria Cross awarded to an Indian.

Meanwhile, 57th Wilde’s Rifles was the first Indian regiment to hold its own front line trenches and take an active part in the Great War. When the big German attack came on the 30 October, Wilde’s were spread out on a line between Wytschaete and Messines, and all four companies fought hard and suffered severely. The remnants of the 57th regrouped with the 129th Baluchis at Westoutre on 1 November. Both regiments then returned to the Indian Corps in its own sector near Béthune.

Attack on Neuve Chapelle—28 October 1914

On 26 October, the Germans advanced through the Bois du Biez and captured some of the British trenches northwest of the village of Neuve Chapelle, a small and straggling habitation which was to be the scene of a major battle in March 1915.

Two companies of the 47th Sikhs moved up to the front alongside the 9th Bhopals and the last reserves, the 20th and 21st Companies Sappers and Miners, were called in to complete the line by filling in gaps on either side of the Sikhs. These men were highly trained specialists not normally used as infantrymen. Their employment in the counterattack on Neuve Chapelle is indicative of the seriousness of the situation. The 47th Sikhs and the Sappers and Miners, charging shoulder to shoulder, had to cross about 700 yards of open ground to make their attack.

By the time the Indians reached the enemy trenches many of the Germans had already retreated and those left were either bayoneted or captured. The attackers quickly moved into the village where fierce hand-to-hand fighting took place. The fighting in Neuve Chapelle was bitter and disorganized and the Indians struggled to retain their hold on the main street through the village. Against great odds they recaptured the village, but without support had no option but to retire.

This attack showed how the élan of the Indian Corps was sufficient to overcome seemingly insuperable odds to gain an objective. However it also demonstrated that holding on to an objective required a level of manpower and firepower that the British Army simply did not possess at that stage. The Sikhs and Sappers’ appeals for reinforcements went unanswered and as a consequence their fate was sealed. 

Battle of Festubert,  November 1914 

Indian Machine Gun Section

Essentially a defensive action by the Indian Corps consequent on a severe German attack resulting in loss of trenches, it was significant in that it was the first time that they had fought together as a corps.

General Willcocks, recognizing the significance of this battle to the Indian Corps’ reputation, was insistent that trenches lost in the German attack should be recovered. Several counterattacks were launched, but while some portions of the trenches were regained a large part of the line remained in German hands by nightfall. The snow covered ground made the attacking troops very conspicuous and casualties were heavy.

By the morning of 24 November, the Indian Corps had recaptured their lost trenches and had emerged victorious in what the Indian Corps historians referred to as “the most important battle in which the Indian Corps as a whole had hitherto been engaged.” Whilst the battle had undoubtedly demonstrated the fighting prowess of the Indians and their skillful use of artillery, it had also demonstrated the serious shortfalls that existed in the tools of trench warfare.

Givenchy, 16–22 December 1914

18th K.G.O. Tiwana Lancers

In December 1914, the Indian Corps was ordered to adopt an offensive stance. In accordance with this the Ferozepore Brigade undertook an attack on the German lines northeast of Givenchy on 16 December. Although ultimately unsuccessful, the attack, by the 129th Baluchis, was pressed home doggedly and this was reflected in the high number of casualties.

Orders were received the following day for the Indian Corps to participate in a concerted attack with three other corps on the 18th December. Over a period of forty-eight hours on 18 and 19 December various regiments, notably the 2/3rd Gurkhas, 41st Dogras, 1/4th Gurkhas, 59th Rifles, as well as the Sappers and Miners, participated in offensive operations, often reaching and holding portions of the German trenches during fighting in atrocious conditions with heavy casualties.

On the 20th the Germans detonated a series of ten mines under the trenches held by the Sirhind Brigade around Givenchy. The mines were followed by a massive German attack. Vicious hand to hand fighting ensued in the 1/4th Gurkha trenches, with the Gurkhas making good use of their kukris in the confined space. However they were eventually overwhelmed by sheer numbers and superior weaponry and were forced to retire. Heavy fighting continued throughout the day and the Indian units were sorely tired. By the night of the 20th/21st December the Indian Corps had been fighting for some 30 hours and was badly in need of relief. The relief of the Lahore Division was complete by the night of 22 December, although the Meerut Division remained in the line until 27 December. 

Source: "India and the Great War: France & Flanders," Indian Ministry of External Affairs