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Lost WW1 Indian Soldiers Found in Records
13 Jul
Summary
- Thousands of pre-partition Indian soldiers from WW1 are now officially recognized.
- Nearly 10,000 British Indian Army servicemen added to CWGC database.
- Volunteers spent years compiling names from unique Punjab registers.
A Leicester man expressed amazement upon learning new details about his great-grandfather, Kesar Singh, who perished in World War I. Kesar Singh is among thousands of soldiers from pre-partition India whose sacrifices in the war are now being officially recognized. This recognition comes after decades of being absent from historical records.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) database is set to include nearly 10,000 British Indian Army servicemen. This update represents the most substantial revision to its casualty records since the Second World War. The effort involved UK volunteers who spent years meticulously searching unique registers compiled in the Punjab region shortly after World War I.
Efforts are currently underway to locate and connect with British descendants of these servicemen whose sacrifices are now acknowledged. Sunney Palahey shared his emotional reaction when researchers informed him of the discovery of his great-grandfather's name with BBC Leicester's Rupal Rajani.
