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
Indra Lal Roy was born in Calcutta on 2nd December 1898. His father was Director of Public Prosecutions in Calcutta, his mother ran their home in Kensington with Indra and his siblings.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Roy a 15-year-old schoolboy, declared he wanted to join up. His brother, Poresh, who at 21 had left Cambridge with a degree in economics, joined the army.
Roy was appointed to a temporary commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps in July 1917 before being sent to 56 Squadron in France in October 1917. In December he was shot down and lay unconscious for three days before he was found. Declared dead and put in a mortuary, he awoke terrifying hospital staff by hammering at the door and shouting for help.
In June 1918 Roy was back with the newly formed Royal Air Force, in 40 Squadron. He began an extraordinary period of flying when on 6th July he shot down his first enemy plane over Arras. Two days later he brought down three German aircraft and by 19th July he had accounted for 10. A feat that made him India’s first, and only, flying ace of the First World War. Three days later, in a dogfight with four enemy fighters, his plane exploded and crashed. He was just 19.
Roy was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), the first Indian to be awarded the honor. Roy’s grave at Estevelles Cemetery, carries a Bengali inscription: Maha birer samadhi; sambhram dekhao, sparsha koro na. The grave of courageous warrior; respect it, do not touch it.
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
