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World War I through Sikh
Soldiers’ Letters
Bhupinder
Singh Holland
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To mark the occasion of 200 years of Anglo-Sikh relations, World
Sikh News brings this well-researched chronicle of letters which
should amaze the young generation into applause for the sheer
determination of the Sikh soldiers in Europe during World War
I.
The letters of Sikh soldiers project their courage, loyalty,
will to win the war or die like Sikh heroes, following the Sikh
tradition of martyrdom to fight against oppression. The letters
narrate the conditions in which the Sikh soldiers and their
compatriots had to fight. Sikh soldiers laid down their lives
thousands and they lie buried all over Europe. Significantly,
most of the letters were detained and never reached their
destinations. The transcripts of the original letters are kept
in the India Office Library at the British Library, London.
For the
last two decades, Bhupinder Singh Holland has been tracking the
history of the Sikhs in Europe, particularly of the Sikh
soldiers in the two World Wars of the last century and has
written three books, two of which are on the same subject. This
article is based on the work of Omissi David, entitled -Indian
voices of the Great War. Soldier’s letters, 1914-18, London,
1999. |
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 In
Europe, the Sikhs fought in Belgium-Flanders at
Ypres
twice from 22 October 1914 till 31 October 1914 and from
22 April 1915
till 1st of May 1915 and in France at La Bassee, Neuve Chapelle from
10 to 13
March 1915,
Auber’s Ridge, Festubert, Loos on 25 September 1915,
Givenchy and
Somme
from July 1916 to November 1916.
Guru Gobind
Singh (1666-1708) the 10th master of the Sikhs revealed Khalsa in
1699. Khalsa was to be a “politically and spiritually sovereign”
entity, in direct line of Waheguru, the Supreme Sovereign. Khalsa is
the direct subject of Akal Purakh (God). Hence the sovereignty of
Khalsa is both temporal and transcendental. Guru Gobind Singh
prescribed Khanday di Pahul (Khalsa initiation ceremony) for
those who wished to join Khalsa (the sovereign subjects of God)
brotherhood. Thousands of Sikhs gave their lives under this spirit
of the Khalsa during the times of the Guru Gobind Singh and later on
it was this spirit that Khalsa fought the great Moguls in 17th and
18th century and established Khalsa Rule (Raj) under the leadership
of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab.
The British had
fought 8 wars against the Sikhs and they knew very well the martial
spirit, war tactics and supremacy of the Khalsa army in all the
battlefields. Though the Khalsa Army was banned after the close of
the Second Anglo – Sikh War and the subsequent annexation of the
Punjab in 1849 by unfair means (read History of the Sikhs by Dr.
Harjinder Singh Dilgeer) but Sikh Army was reorganised again in 1858
and took part in all the major wars of the British including 1st and
2nd World Wars.
Love and
regards for the family of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
“And my friend,
this is the photo of our King’s granddaughter – he who was King of
the Sikhs, Ranjit Singh. She has distributed her photo amongst Sikh
brethren at the depot (Milford) on the evening of the 23rd February
at five o’ clock.”
Written on
the back of a photo of a lady friend, signed Sophia A. Duleep Singh
1916)
by Kartar Singh (Sikh, 15th Sikhs) to Gurdit Singh, Raswind,
Punjab
from Milford –on –Sea on 24th February 1916 via letter number
253 in Gurmukhi.
Chardikala of
Sikh soldiers
“You say that
you have heard that the entire Indian Army has left France. This is
not so. The infantry have left but the cavalry is still upholding
the honour of the Government here. By the Grace of God the cavalry
are flourishing like fields of Sarson (rape seed) in the spring. At
the present time much rain and snow are falling and consequently the
cold is very severe. The snow accumulates all day….. Sirdar Buta
Singh of
Rawalpindi
has sent a copy of the Granth Sahib. He has conferred a great favour
on us, since we can have worship celebrated during our sojourn in a
foreign land.”
--Letter of
Mohan Singh (Sikh) to Sirdarni Bishan Devi,
Lyallpur District, Punjab.
The letter number 254 is written in Urdu
on 25th February
1916 from
6th
Cavalry, France.
France
–the land of cold, milk and a golden future
“Here (France)
is very cold at present. It snows much. The little discomfort that
we experience is due to cold and rain. Otherwise the country is like
heaven. It rains frequently. You are, no doubt, astonished at what I
say and wonder how this country can be heaven. Listen to one little
thing. Here no one drinks water. When they desire to drink, either
at meals or any other time, they drink the juice of apples. So many
apples are produced that the people press the juice and store it in
barrels, (from) which they drink throughout the year. They let us
have a bottle full for two pica (paisa). All the men drink it. There
is no prohibition – you may bring as much as you like inside the
house. Barrels upon barrels are full of it. Moreover there are barns
full of apples.
If I return
alive I will tell you all about this country. You shall be staggered
at all I shall tell you. It is real heaven. There is plenty of milk,
but only cow’s milk. The people, however, drink very little milk.
They milk the cows and then they extract the butter at the rate of a
mound (40 kilo) of milk in ten minutes. The skimmed milk they give
to cows, calves and pigs. The people are very honest. There is no
sign of theft. Goods to the value of lakhs (hundred thousands) of
rupees lie in glass houses. No one pays any regard to them. Grain,
potatoes and such like things lie in the fields unguarded.
In short, the
cat plays with pigeons and chicken and the dog plays with the cat
and tends the sheep, churns the butter and draws a cart and guards
it too. When a cow calves, they immediately take away the calf and
do not let the cow see it. They rear it on skimmed milk. They milk
the cow daily – two or three times daily – without the calf being
present. The cows in fact do not know whether they gave birth to a
calf or not. It is the golden age.”
Letter number
255 from Bakhshis Singh (Sikh) of
Sialkot
Cavalry Brigade in Gurmukhi from France
on 27th
February 1916
to Sher Singh, Ferozepur District, Punjab.
A good
opportunity of sacrificing my life…
“The country is
exceedingly pleasant. In it,
India
is forgotten. I do not wish the war to end soon. I should like to
die in this country and I have no intention of returning to
India.
If you want anything, write to me. May the Holy Guru save me from
India? I hope you will answer this quickly, telling me you are well.
I am in great comfort as I am always away from the squadron. Tell
Basant Kaur from me to look carefully after the children and have
them well schooled, fed and clothed. There is no need to think of
the cost. She can spend as much as she likes on them. But I have no
hope of seeing them again – nor do I wish to see them for I have
found a good opportunity of sacrificing my life and I hope to pay my
debt with loyalty.
Letter no.
209 fromSowar Natha Singh (SIKH) to
Sapuran Singh, Lyallpur
District, Punjab
wrote in Urdu
from FPO 19, France on 4th January 1916
…a man who
keeps a dog has to pay five rupees a month to the King
The battle is
being carried on very bitterly. In the Lahore Division only 300 men
are left. Some are dead, some wounded. The division is finished.
Think of it –in taking 50 yards of German trench, 50,000 men are
killed. When we attack they direct a terrific fire on us – thousands
of men die daily. It looks as if not a single man can remain alive
on either side – then (when none is left) there will be peace. When
the Germans attack they are killed in the same way. For us men it is
a bad state of affairs here. Only those return from the battlefield
that is slightly wounded. No one else is carried off. Even Sahib
(English officers) is not lifted away. The battleground resounds
with cries……. Here thing are in a very bad way. In France the news
is that dog churn milk in machines and look after the cattle. A man
who keeps a dog has to pay five rupees a month to the King.
Do not be
anxious about me. We are very well looked after. White soldiers are
always besides our bed – day and night. We get very good food four
times a day. We also get milk. Our hospital is in the place where
the king used to have his throne (Brighton Pavilion). Every man is
washed once in hot water. The King has given strict order that no
trouble be given to any black man in hospital. Men in hospital are
tended like flowers and the King and Queen sometimes comes to visit
them.”
In letter
number 63, Isher Singh (Sikh, 59th Rifles) to a friend (50th
Punjabi,
Punjab)
wrote in Gurmukhi on 1st May 1915
from
Indian General Hospital, Brighton
describing the war of New Chappell.
The spirit of
the Khalsa
The Sikh roars
like a lion on the field of battle,
And yields up his life as a sacrifice
Whoever is
fortunate enough to be born a Rajput
Never fears the foe in battle
He gives up all
thought of worldly pleasure,
And dreams only of the battle field
He who dies on
the field of battle,
His name never dies, but lives in history
He who fronts
the foe boldly in battle,
Has God for his protection
Once a Sikh
takes the sword in Hand,
He has only one aim -Victory.
This poem
marked number 295 was written in Gurmukhi
by Dafadar Nathan Singh
(Sikh) to Sowar Paran Singh of
State Cavalry, Jind State, Punjab
on 18th April 1916
from 2nd Lancers, France.
Chur Singh
attains martyrdom
“Chur Singh has
suffered martyrdom in the war. The 47th Sikhs were charging. The
Sahib (English officer) said,” Chur Singh, you are not a Sikh of
Guru Gobind Singh, (you) who sit in fear inside the trench. Chur
Singh was very angry. Chur Singh gave (the) order to his company to
charge. He drew his sword and went forward. A bullet came from the
enemy and hit him in the mouth. So did our brother Chur Singh become
a martyr. No other man was like Jamadar Chur Singh.
A sepoy of
the 47th Sikhs (Sikh) wrote in Letter number 199
to a friend in Punjab
from
Brighton Hospital
in Punjabi language on 14th December
1915.
What is the
news back home?
Here it is said
that men are being forced to enlist by order in India and they also
say that plague is very rife. Write me some news of our country…… so
long as the war goes on, no sound man can return to India – only
those who have lost a limb can return. In my heart I feel that I
shall have to go back to the war.”
Sepoy Gurdit
Singh (Sikh) to his father in Amritsar District,
Punjab
wrote in Gurmukhi from Brighton Hospital
on 6th April 1915
in letter number 48.
Germans are
strong
The German is
very strong. His planes sail the clouds and drop shells from the
sky: his mines dig up the earth and his hidden craft strike below
the sea. Bombs and blinding acid are thrown from his trenches which
are only 100 to 50 yards from ours. He has countless machine guns
which kill the whole firing line when in attack. When he attacks we
kill his men. The dead lie in heaps. England is full of wounded. No
man can return to the Punjab whole. Only the broken – limbed can go
back. The regiments that came first are finished – here and there a
man remains. Reinforcements have twice and three times brought them
up to strength but straightaway they were used up. The German is
very strong.”
Gyan Singh
(Sikh) wrote in letter number 52 to his brother in
Punjab
in Gurmukhi on 15th April from Indian Army Depot Milford–on –Sea.
They don’t
grow weary while caring
They take great
care of us here as no one else would take except a man’s mother, not
even his wife. If a man falls sick at home and remain ill for a
month the whole household grows weary of his illness, but these
people do not grow weary. The arrangements for our food are very
good because men have been selected from the regiments to look after
it and every man is served by his caste–fellows.
First we
suffered that the trenches were ill made but now they are very
strong and there are no losses in the trenches and no hardship. Much
rain falls and if you dig down a little way in the ground you come
upon water. It is very cold but we have plenty of clothing and get
good rations. Our regiment has got the better of all the other
regiments. They agreed to eat biscuits and European bread but our
regiment refused. So now we get atta and the other regiments
get biscuits – and bad (ones) at that. People told us that there was
no atta in this country and we should have to eat biscuits;
but, where there are inhabitants, there atta must be
obtainable. Besides, there are plenty of mills.
Bir Singh
(Sikh, 55th Rifles) to Ganga
Singh
(55 Rifles, Kohat, NWFP) wrote in letter number 98 from a
Hospital
in England
in Gurmukhi on 17th July 1915.
They fight in
the Sky…
What you say in
your letter about not being disloyal to the Emperor and it being the
religion of Sikhs to die facing the foe – all that you say is true.
But if only you yourself could be here and see for yourself!
There is no
fighting face to face. Guns massacre regiments sitting ten miles
off. Put swords or pikes or staves in our hands and the enemy over
us with like arms then indeed we should show you how to fight face
to face! But if no one faces us what can we do? No one stands up to
fight us. Everyone sits in a burrow underground. They fight in the
sky, on the see in battleships, under the earth in mines. My friend,
a man who fights upon the ground can hardly escape. You tell me to
fight face to the foe. Die we must – but alas, not facing the foe!
My friend, the cannons are such that they throw a shell weighing
twelve maunds (12x40 kgs) which destroys the earth five hundred
paces round about where it falls.
We are in
France. It is very cold country….. It is a fair country and the
people are like angels. All they lack is wings….. The fighting is
along a line of 300 miles. England, France, Italy, Belgium, Russia –
these five are on one side; Germany, Turkey, Austria, Hungary,
Bulgaria – these five on the other. The battle sways evenly
balanced. None can kill the other. When it ends there will be peace.
No one knows when this will be.”
A Sikh wrote
in letter number163 in Gurmukhi from FPO. 13,
France
to Mahant Partab Das (Patiala State, Punjab)
on 18th October 1915.
 Born in Amritsar,
Dutch citizen Bhupinder Singh is a persevering researcher and public
leader in the Netherlands
engaging with the Sikh community and Dutch society. A former
Accounting Analyst with IBM Netherlands, he now spends time in
further exploration of Sikh linkage with Europe
in the last century. He may be reached at bsingh@upcmail.nl
29
April 2009
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