#8236 WWI Indian Infantry

Dated: February 07, 2011

The Indian Army made one of the largest contributions of any part of the British Empire during the First World War. Nearly 1.4 million men from the Indian subcontinent served during the conflict, including both combat troops and non-combatant personnel. Indian soldiers fought not only close to home, but across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, making the Indian Army one of the most widely deployed forces of the war.

Indian infantry arrived on the Western Front in the autumn of 1914, at a moment when the original British Expeditionary Force had suffered severe losses. The Lahore and Meerut Divisions were rushed into the fighting in France and Flanders, where they helped hold the Allied line during the First Battle of Ypres and later fought at Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Festubert and Loos. For many soldiers this meant fighting in a climate and style of warfare very different from anything they had previously experienced.

Box

The Indian Army was extremely diverse. Its regiments recruited from many different regions, communities and military traditions, including Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims, Rajputs, Dogras, Jats, Gurkhas and others. Uniform and headgear therefore varied considerably between regiments. Turbans, kullahs and other forms of traditional headgear were worn alongside khaki service dress, giving Indian units a distinctive appearance even when equipped with standard British weapons and webbing.

Indian infantrymen were generally armed with the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle and fought tactically in much the same way as British infantry. They served in trenches, conducted patrols, defended strongpoints and took part in major infantry assaults. Machine guns, grenades, artillery support and increasingly elaborate trench systems gradually became as important to Indian units as to every other army on the Western Front.

Line drawing

Although the Indian infantry divisions were withdrawn from France in late 1915, Indian troops continued to serve in many other theatres. Large forces fought the Ottoman Empire in Mesopotamia, where Indian units formed the majority of the British-led army for much of the campaign. They took part in the early advance from Basra, the fighting at Ctesiphon, the disastrous siege of Kut and the later offensive that captured Baghdad in 1917. Indian troops also fought at Gallipoli, in East Africa, Egypt and Palestine.

Service conditions differed enormously between these campaigns. Soldiers who had endured mud, freezing rain and snow in France might later face extreme heat, dust, disease and long supply lines in Mesopotamia or East Africa. The Indian Army's ability to operate across such different environments made it indispensable to Britain's global war effort.

Test shot (may go through substantial revisions prior to release.)

This set contains 32 figures in eight poses. The men wear khaki service dress with turbans and standard field equipment and are armed primarily with rifles and bayonets. The poses include troops advancing, firing, kneeling and moving through action, making the figures suitable for both open battle and trench warfare.

Because Indian regiments differed substantially in headgear, dress details and recruiting traditions, painting provides considerable scope for representing different units. The figures can be used for Indian infantry on the Western Front in 1914-1915, in Mesopotamia throughout the war, or in other campaigns including Gallipoli, East Africa, Egypt and Palestine.

They can be combined with our other WWI British and Commonwealth infantry, artillery and heavy-weapons sets to create the multinational armies of the British Empire. Few First World War subjects offer such a wide geographical range, allowing the same set to appear in battlefields stretching from Flanders to Baghdad and from East Africa to Palestine.