Did you know that during WW2, nearly 2.5 million personnel from the British Indian Army were deployed to help protect Britain at its time of need?
A special Muslim contingent called ‘Force K6’ was a Mule Transport Corps a part of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps (RIASC) from the British Indian Army (BIA). They were made up of 4 companies. The majority of the 200 men, were from the mountainous regions of the North west Frontier of modern day Pakistan. They were required to help with transport of goods to and from the frontline in the muddy terrain in France.
‘Force K6’ sailed under destroyer escort from Bombay in a small convoy of four ships on the 8th December 1939 and arrived in the French Mediterranean port of Marseille on Boxing day on 26th December 1939 in the early part of what was to be a very severe winter. Over the next few months the 4 companies were moved to various areas of Northern France. Eventually one company was captured by the Germans and taken as prisoner of War. This 22nd AT corps was led by Captain Tom Hexley (aka Hex Ali) whose son Colin Hexley from Golspie still has many of his fathers documents including an ‘escape letter’ for the Prisoners of War in order to give them written Hindi transliterated instructions on how to escape. Another company escaped from St. Nazaire and the remaining 2 companies escaped from none other than Dunkirk itself! They escaped with the assistance of the late Lord Paddy Ashdown’s father Captain John Ashdown (who was ordered to abandon not only the mules and equipment but the men also), for which he was court-martialled but later released. This shared historical fact was missed out in the movie ‘Dunkirk’, however their story has recently been documented in Dr Ghee Bowman’s book ‘ The Indian Contingent – The Forgotten Muslim soldiers of Dunkirk’.
Force K6 escaped from Dunkirk & St Nazaire without their mules and equipment. The escaped companies had made their way to Britain during 1940 where they were joined by other animal transport companies from India. They spent the majority of their time in the Brecon Beacon area of Wales in Mountain warfare training joined by a further 3 new mule companies were sent from India to join them. In 1942/43, just over 1700 of these men came to the Highlands of Scotland for further training in the mountainous and snowy regions to help support the Lowlands 52nd Infantry with Mule transport in the Badenoch area. They were also to take part in Operation Jupiter, a ‘mad plan’ by Winston Churchill to take hold of the German airfields in northern Norway, to ‘safeguard the passage of convoys to Russia’, which was actually never put into practice.
During their time in Scotland 14 of them died during 1942/43 with 13 of them buried in various cemeteries in Scotland including the New Kingussie Cemetery where there are 9 of these Muslim soldiers of the British Indian Army buried there. There is also another relic to Force K6 which is the Henry Lamb portrait of a Mule Driver Abdul Ghani (part of Force K6). As part of the NEW ‘GlaswgeAsians exhibition – Contribution of South Asians to WW2‘ this portrait hangs inside the ‘Conflict & Consequence’ gallery within the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum in Glasgow. The exhibition also displays the late WW2 veteran Naik Gian Singhs Victoria Cross medal on display which recently featured on the BBC Antiques Road Show and was evaluated at a staggering £250K!
The external grounds of the museum will soon be home to ‘Scotland’s first National British Indian Army Memorial’. The brick laying memorial ceremony took place during August 2023. This memorial will be built to remember not just Scotland’s connection through Force K6 soldiers but the nearly 4 million soldiers from the British Indian Army mainly from present day Pakistan, India & Bangladesh consisting of various faiths such as Muslims, Sikh & Hindus will all be commemorated.
In September 2022, a permanent ‘Force K6 memorial’ was revealed in Kingussie by local resident Mrs Heather Taylor with the names of the 14 men who died in Scotland engraved in gold leaf. To this day many in the Highlands remember these men and their stories from when they arrived in 1942/43 during WW2. The buried men were all from the Pakistan side of Undivided India (see Appendix 2 of Hamish’s e-booklet link below).
The families of the buried soldiers can take comfort in the fact that a Kingussie local, Isobel Harling BEM selflessly tended to their graves in New Kingussie Cemetery in the Scottish Highlands for over 60 years, tidying around the graves of ‘Her Boys’ as she referred to them as well as cutting the grass and planting flowers around the Muslim graves headstones. She regularly visited their graves many times every year to pay her respects and to remember these soldiers who came to help protect Britain in its time of need. She said ‘These men were far from home and they came to protect us, It’s only right that someone here should always look after them’. Isobel turned 100 years old earlier in April 2023 and for the past many years her family continue to remember these soldiers and tend to the graves. On St Andrews day 2023 she peacefully died with her family surrounding her. She is buried opposite ‘Her Boys’ in Kingussie Cemetery next to her own loved ones. Isobel Harlings’s story was highlighted in many news articles and the Reporting Scotland news programme also.
However for the families of the men that died on Scottish soil, did they ever find out where their loved ones have ended up? What must they have gone through? For their families there forever will remain a corner of Pakistan in Scotland.
If you can help us find the relatives in Pakistan of the buried soldiers then contact us at info@colourfulheritage.com
Colourful Heritage will be building Scotland’s first National BIA Memorial to commemorate all the soldiers of the British Indian Army from modern day India, Pakistan & Bangladesh outside the Kelvingrove Art Galleries in Glasgow. Find out more by clicking here.
Further Information:
1) Find out more about Force K6 in the e-booklet, ‘A Corner of Pakistan in Scotland’ by Hamish Johnston (who’s step grandfather was in charge of the supply section for Force K6 whilst in Scotland).
2) To see a short talk by Hamish Johnston about ‘Force K6’ click here.
3) To find out more about Force K6 visit Dr Ghee Bowmans webpage (author of ‘The Indian Contingent – The Forgotten Muslim soldiers of Dunkirk’)
To find out more about the British Indian Army (BIA) and Force K6 visit: https://www.colourfulheritage.com/british-indo-pak-army/
If you have any enquiries then email: info@colourfulheritage.com
South Asian Heritage Month marked by Sanskruti Centre July 2023 Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence, an arts charity based in the UK marked the South
Getting diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer at the age of 39 was a real shock. I’m a GP, active mother of two and always
‘I am the unlucky one’ I said to the Consultant. I was sobbing away on my own with nobody to hold my hand or support me. Where did I go wrong? What had I done? I always helped everyone – young old, needy and desperate. So why did it have to be ME? I didn’t understand.
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.
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