Manta Singh joined the Indian Army from school in 1907. Promoted to Subedar, the equivalent of captain, he served in the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs alongside an English officer, Lieutenant George Henderson. In August 1914 Singh and his friend Henderson, like thousands of others, were sent to France. On March 10th 1915, they joined the first […]
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 […]
In the 1930’s, for many young middle-class men from undivided India, a career in the Army was seen as an opportunity for advancement. Even when war broke out and the hostile nature of the climate in Burma and the challenges fighting the Japanese Imperial Army were understood, men still volunteered to serve. Men such as […]
By mid-1945, the war in Europe had ended but for those fighting Imperial Japan, the war waged on. For the thousands of prisoners of the Japanese, some captured as early as 1942, harsh treatment, malnutrition and poor living conditions had taken a devastating toll. Muhammad Ismael Khan, a Muslim Baluchi, captured with his men during […]
In 1963 conflict erupted between Indonesia and the new state of Malaysia. British troops, including Gurkhas, were deployed. In August 1965 men of the Gurkha Rifles fought against Indonesian troops near the border district of Bau. During the engagement, 26-year-old Lance Corporal, Rambahadur Limbu’s actions would win him a Victoria Cross. The citation for his […]
Mark Khan was born in Guildford to an Indian father and a British mother. He grew up in South Devon before joining the Royal Artillery as a teenager in the 1970’s and serving in Germany and Northern Ireland. My father was born in central India and joined the RAF in 1940, becoming the first Indian […]
After the Second World War, many Indian troops who had been part of the British-Indian Army continued their military service under the flag of a newly independent India. When hostilities erupted in Korea in 1950, the British Army once more called on the support of allied nations. The 27th ‘Commonwealth’ Infantry Brigade was one such […]
Rao Abdul Abdul Hafiz Khan was born on 4th September 1925 in the village of Kalanaur, Punjab. He joined the 9th Jat Regiment of the British Indian Army before the Second World War. In April 1944, the 9th Jats found themselves north of Imphal, as Allied forces battled the Japanese Army. On the 6th of […]
In January 1944 as the war was raging across the globe, a ground-breaking new organisation was formed which offered the women of undivided India a chance to play a key role in the Second World War. Officially named the Women’s Royal Indian Naval Service, but known as the WRINS, the women who joined its ranks […]
Karun Krishna Majumdar was born on the 6th of September 1913 in Kolkata, West Bengal. In 1932 he went to England to join the Royal Air Force Flying College at Cranwell earning the nickname “Jumbo”, due to his large personality and being over 6ft tall. After graduating as a pilot, he returned to India joining […]
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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