PM Modi at the War Memorial in France 
🌷The INDIANS land in France in World War I
And liberate Neuve Chapelle
(Clippings from THE DAILY MIRROR, London October 2, 1914)
🌷On April 11, 2015 Prime Minister #NarendraModi paid tribute to the Indian Martyrs who laid down their lives for the liberation of France!
🌷The Indian Corps, which was composed of the 3rd (Lahore) and 7th (Meerut) divisions, went on to fight in some of the bloodiest battles of the first year of the war.
🌷At Neuve Chapelle, from 10–13 March 1915, Indian soldiers made up half of the attacking force and despite suffering very heavy casualties succeeded in capturing important sections of the German line,” says the citation for the battle
🌷So why wasn’t I taught this in school?
🌷After nearly three days of bloody fighting, the British-Indian forces broke the stalemate and overran the German forces on a 1,500 metre-front and Neuve Chapelle was captured on the morning of March 13.
🌷Approximately 40,000 Allied troops participated in the battle, of which there were 7,000 British casualties and 4200 Indian casualties.
🌷So why wasn’t I taught this in school?
🌷Soldiers of the Indian Corps would go on to make a name for themselves at Ypres Salient, Aubers Ridge, Festubert, and Loos on the Western Front before some of them were deployed once again to fight wars in the Middle East.
🌷So why wasn’t I taught this in school?
🌷”The Indian Cavalry Corps remained on the Western Front until the spring of 1918 and Indian labour companies, which had begun arriving in France in 1917, performed vital and often dangerous logistical work behind the lines until after the Armistice,” adds the citation
🌷So why wasn’t I taught this in school?
🌷 In all, from 1914 to 1918, around 90,000 combat and non-combat men fought for the freedom of France and Belgium, serving under the Indian Army and the Imperial Service Troops,” wrote François Richier, former Ambassador of France to India in a 2014 article extolling India’s contribution.
🌷 So why wasn’t I taught this in school?
🌷Along the way, many Indian soldiers were honoured with gallantry awards from the British Crown, but the ultimate tribute would come from the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces and French general Marshal Ferdinand Foch during the unveiling of the memorial for the slain Indian soldiers at Neuve Chappelle in 1927.
🌷”The Indian Troops were thus among the first to show the way to a victorious offensive. It is only right that a Memorial should perpetuate the glorious memory of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the Indian Army at the very spot where later on a general attack by the Allied troops was to bring the decisive victory in sight,” he said.
🌷Now why wasn’t I taught this in school?
