Punjabi soldiers in the First World War

Overview

During the First World War, men from Punjab served in the British Indian Army in several theatres. The National Army Museum records the 33rd Punjabis serving in East Africa, the Middle East and on the Western Front. Their experiences varied: the records below focus on one award, hospital rules and soldiers’ correspondence.[4]

Citation and remembrance

A War Office notice published on 7 December 1914 records the award of the Victoria Cross to Sepoy Khudadad of the 129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis. It places his action at Hollebeke, Belgium, on 31 October. The officer commanding the detachment was wounded and another gun had been disabled by a shell. Khudadad was wounded too, but the citation says he kept his gun working until the other five men of its detachment had been killed. The award concerned expeditionary service. This official recognition describes a particular action; it cannot stand for the whole experience of soldiers recruited from Punjab.[1]

A British High Commission release issued in March 2015 identifies Dab, in Chakwal, as his village. It describes a commemorative paving stone at Staffordshire’s National Memorial Arboretum. That later act of remembrance supplies a named Punjab connection, rather than another contemporary battle report.[2]

Hospital regulation

Andrew Tait Jarboe’s study follows soldiers into hospitals. His Kitchener Indian Hospital account describes increasing restrictions on leaving its grounds. By February 1915, most Indian personnel were confined there. Specified officers had permission to leave, while other outings required passes or supervision. Hospital discipline thus extended beyond treatment into movement. These rules concern Indian hospital personnel; they do not by themselves establish a specifically Punjabi headcount.[3]

Letters home

The correspondence Jarboe examines preserves different responses. A wounded Sikh writing to a brother in Amritsar praised his treatment and urged support for the government. Another letter, sent from Milton to a brother in Punjab, combined comfortable hospital conditions with fear of returning to battle. Such letters survive through military censorship and selection. Their particular destinations and contrasting concerns matter; they do not establish one collective Punjabi opinion about the war.[3]