The National Memorial Arboretum
Exploring some of the memorials with South Asian connections at the year-round centre for Remembrance.
© South Asian Heritage Trust | All Rights Reserved
Sardar Hardit Singh Malik was born on the 23rd November 1894 in Rawalpindi in West Punjab. Sent to England aged 14, he attended Eastbourne College, before studying history at Oxford, and playing cricket for Sussex.
After the First World War broke out, Hardit applied to join the British Army as a commissioned officer, but racist attitudes precluded black officers commanding white soldiers. Hardit successfully applied to join the French air force but his outraged Oxford tutor, wrote to the commander of the Royal Flying Corps demanding he be allowed to join. Hardit was interviewed and given an “honorary” commission on 5th April 1917.
Hardit became the first Indian in any flying service, wearing a specially designed flying helmet over his turban, he earned the affectionate nickname ‘Flying Hobgoblin’. Joining 28 Squadron under Major Billy Barker, a Canadian Victoria Cross winner. In October 1917 Hardit and his comrades were surprised by German aircraft. Shot in the leg before shooting down his assailant, Hardit flew 40 miles to land, bleeding and exhausted. His plane had been hit by 450 bullets.
Sixty-five years later Hardit said:
“It was the greatest luck. They shot all they had at me but not a single one hit me or any vital part of the plane. I definitely thought I was going to be killed. My mechanic said it was quite amazing how I ever got down. It was like a miracle. My pursuers just did not have the bullet with my name on it.”
Post-war Hardit joined the Indian civil service, from 1938 was trade commissioner to Canada and the U.S., and in 1944 became Prime Minister of the city of Patiala. After Indian independence he became the first Indian High Commissioner to Canada, and later ambassador to France. He died aged 90 in 1985.
Image courtesy of RAF Museum.
Exploring some of the memorials with South Asian connections at the year-round centre for Remembrance.
An aviation enthusiast’s special mission to honour a Second World War agent in occupied France.
The Indian Army Memorial Room stands as a tribute to the rich history and enduring spirit of the Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army.
The story behind the tribute to commemorate the service of Sikh members of the Armed Forces.
The first of the Trust’s projects is the South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM), which first took place in 2020 and runs from the 18th of July to the 17th of August each year.
SAHM seeks to commemorate, mark and celebrate South Asian cultures, histories, and communities.
It seeks to understand the diverse heritage and cultures that continue to link the UK with South Asia.
© South Asian Heritage Trust | All Rights Reserved
