Thousands of forgotten Punjabi WW1 soldiers recognised for first time
Summary
For the first time in over 80 years, nearly 10,000 soldiers from the British Indian Army who fought and died in World War One are being officially recognized. Their names have been added to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission casualty database after volunteers digitized records from Punjab, which was then part of India but now split between India and Pakistan.Key Facts
- About 1.4 million people from what are now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh served in the British Indian Army during World War One.
- Researchers found 9,909 names of soldiers who were missing from official casualty records.
- These names came from detailed hand-written registers created in Punjab after the war.
- The Punjab region was divided between India and Pakistan in 1947 after independence.
- Volunteers from the UK Punjab Heritage Association digitized and studied these fragile records over several years.
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has updated its database to include these soldiers for the first time since World War Two.
- Many newly recognized soldiers died of wounds away from battle and were not included before because of old rules.
- Around 25% of the newly added soldiers are Sikhs, 25% Hindus, and 40% Muslims, reflecting the diverse makeup of the army.
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