India in World War II
India, officially the Indian Empire, declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939.[1] The Provinces of British India, being imperial colonies of the United Kingdom, were by default a part of the Allied nations and sent over two million troops to fight against the Axis powers. Additionally, several Indian Princely States provided large donations to support the Allied campaign during the War.
The British Indian Empire was declared as a belligerent against the Axis powers by the United Kingdom without consulting prominent Indian leaders.[1] Several leaders of the Indian independence movement, including Mahatma Gandhi, expressed strong opposition against Nazism and Fascism but termed Britain's "war to save democracy" as hypocrisy since it was denying democratic rights and individual liberties to Indians.[2] Additionally, some leaders of the revolutionary Indian independence movement collaborated with the Axis powers to overthrow the British Raj. With Japanese assistance, the Indian National Army was formed which fought against the Allied nations. Other notable examples of such military alliances with Axis nations included the Legion Freies Indien in Nazi Germany and the Battaglione Azad Hindoustan in Fascist Italy.
Despite the popular resentment against the British Raj, Indian participation in the Allied campaign remained strong. The financial, industrial and military assistance of India formed a crucial component of the British campaign against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.[3] India's strategic location at the tip of the Indian Ocean, its massive production of armaments, and its huge armed forces played a decisive role in halting the progress of Imperial Japan in the South-East Asian theatre.[4] The Indian Army during World War II was one of the largest Allied forces contingents which took part in the North and East African Campaign, Western Desert Campaign and the Italian Campaign. At the height of the World War, more than 2.5 million Indian troops were fighting Axis forces around the globe.[5] After the end of the World War, India emerged as the world's fourth largest industrial power and its increased political, economic and military influence paved the way for its independence from the United Kingdom in 1947.[6]
The Indian stance
The Indian National Congress, led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Maulana Azad, took a strong stance against Fascism and Nazism.[7] Gandhi, in an open letter to Adolf Hitler, touted tolerance and viewed Nazism as a source of violence.[7] Several other Indian leaders and politicians expressed concerns over the rise of Fascism and Nazism and supported the British cause.
However, Jawaharlal Nehru pointed out the inherent contradiction in the British argument of going to war with Nazi Germany for the sake of freedom, since India was denied that same freedom.[8] He pointed out that Nazism and the British Raj represented the two core ideologies the Congress was fighting against — imperialism and racism.[9] It was because of this perceived hypocrisy of the British Government, that the Congress refused to align with Britain's fight against the Axis Powers until India was granted independence.[8]
Supporters[who?] of the British Raj argued that Great Britain could not afford to have to go through the trouble of decolonisation at such a difficult time. It was believed that losing India, the most prized crown colony, would put tremendous pressure on Britain especially when it was facing war on all fronts. So, in 1939, the British Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow declared India's entry into the War without consulting prominent Indian congress leaders who were just elected in previous elections.[1]
Another school of thought led by Subhash Chandra Bose of the Indian National Army (INA) allied itself with the Axis based on the principle that "An enemy's enemy is a friend". Bose led the Indian National Army and the Provisional Government of Free India, a government-in-exile based in Singapore, that was recognised by the Axis powers.
Indian Army involvement
At the outbreak of World War II, the Indian army numbered 205,000 men. Later during World War II the Indian Army became the largest all-volunteer force in history, rising to over 2.5 million men in size.[10] These forces included tank, artillery and airborne forces. Indian soldiers earned 30 Victoria Crosses during the Second World War.
The Middle East and African theatre
The British government meanwhile sent Indian troops to fight in West Asia and northern Africa against the Axis. India also geared up to produce essential goods such as food and uniforms. Pre-Independence India provided the largest volunteer force (2.5 million) of any nation during World War II.
The 4th, 5th and 8th Indian Divisions took part in the North African theatre against Rommel's Afrika Korps. Furthermore, the 4th and 5th Indian Divisions took part in the East African campaign against the Italians in Somaliland, Eritrea and Abyssinia.
In the Battle of Bir Hacheim, Indian gunners played an important role by using guns in the anti tank role and destroying tanks of Rommel's panzer divisions. Maj PPK Kumaramangalam was the battery commander of 41 Field Regiment which was deployed in the anti tank role. He was awarded the DSO for his act of bravery. Later he became the Chief of Army Staff of independent India in 1967.
South-East Asian theatre
The British Royal Indian Army was the key British Empire fighting presence in the Burma Campaign. The Indian Air Force's first assault mission was carried out against Japanese troops stationed in Burma. The British Indian Army was key to breaking the siege of Imphal when the westward advance of Imperial Japan came to a halt.
The formations included the Indian III Corps, IV Corps, the Indian XXXIII Corps and the Fourteenth Army. As part of the new concept of Long Range Penetration (LRP), Gurkha troops of the Indian Army were trained in the present state of Madhya Pradesh under their commander then krishnasamy (later Major General) Orde Charles Wingate.
These troops, popularly known as Chindits, played a crucial role in halting the Japanese advance in South-East Asia.[11]
Capture of Indian territory
By 1942, neighbouring Burma was invaded by Japan. By then it had already captured the Indian territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. As a major possession of the United Kingdom, Japan looked to invade India, as it provided natural resources and could possibly be used as a staging post for an advance into the Middle East and the British oil fields in Persia and Iraq. Japan ceded the Andaman and Nicobar islands to the Provisional Government of Free India on October 21, 1943. In March 1944, Japan initiated an offensive into India and advanced as far as Kohima in Nagaland.
Recapture of Axis-occupied territory
Meanwhile the Japanese were facing stiff resistances in the Pacific front. This therefore took preference over the war in Burma. As the Imphal offensive failed, harsh weather and disease and withdrawal of air cover (due to more pressing needs in the Pacific) also took its toll on the INA and the withdrawing Japanese and remnants of the Burma National Army. In 1945, a resurgent United Kingdom recaptured the INA occupied lands. Later that year Japan surrendered.
The invasion of Italy
Indian forces played a significant part in liberating Italy from fascism. The British Army of India contributed the 3rd largest Allied contingent in the Italian campaign after the US and British forces. The 4th, 8th and 10th Divisions and 43rd Gurkha Infantry Brigade were involved, notably the former two at the famous Battle of Monte Cassino and all of them in the torrid fighting on the Gothic Line in late 1944 and 1945.:)
Collaboration with the Axis powers
Several leaders of the radical revolutionary Indian independence movement refused to support the cause of the United Kingdom during World War II. Subash Chandra Bose, one of the most prominent leaders of the revolutionary independence movement, termed Britain's opposition to Nazism and Fascism as "hypocrisy" since it was itself violating human rights and denying individual liberties in India.[12] Moreover, he argued that it was not the Axis powers but the British Raj which posed the most significant threat to India since the British were over-exploiting Indian resources for War purposes.[12] Bose claimed that there was little possibility of India being attacked by any of the Axis powers provided it did not fight the War on Britain's side.[12]
Nazi Germany was of the opinion that if the British Raj was dissolved, then India could emerge as a valuable ally of the Axis powers and help it gain dominance in the Indian Ocean area. Therefore, the Germans and the Japanese actively provided support to revolutionary Indian independence movement leaders.[13]
The Indian National Army (INA), formed first by Mohan Singh Deb consisted initially of prisoners taken by the Japanese in Malaya and at Singapore who were offered the choice of serving the INA by Japan. Later, after it was reorganized under Subhas Chandra Bose, it drew a large number of civilian volunteers from Malaya and Burma. Ultimately, a force of under 40,000 was formed, although only two divisions ever participated in battle. Intelligence and special services groups from the INA were instrumental in destabilizing the British Indian Army in the early stages of the Arakan offensive. It was during this time that the British Military Intelligence began propaganda work to shield the true numbers who joined the INA, and also described stories of Japanese brutalities that indicated, falsely, INA involvement. Further, the Indian press was prohibited from publishing any accounts whatsoever of the INA.
As the Japanese offensive opened, the INA sent its first forces into battle. The INA's own strategy was to avoid set-piece battles for which it lacked arms, armament as well as man-power.[14] Initially, it sought to obtain arms as well as increase its ranks from British Indian soldiers expected to defect to patriotic cause. Once the Japanese forces were able to break the British defenses at Imphal, the INA would cross the hills of North-East India into the Gangetic plain, where it was to work as a guerrilla army and expected to live off the land, garner support, supplies, and ranks from amongst the local populace to ultimately touch off a revolution.
Prem Kumar Sahgal, an officer of the INA once Military secretary to Subhas Bose and later tried in the first Red Fort trials, explained that although the war itself hung in balance and nobody was sure if the Japanese would win, initiating a popular revolution with grass-root support within India would ensure that even if Japan lost the war ultimately, Britain would not be in a position to re-assert its colonial authority, which was ultimately the aim of the INA and Azad Hind.
As Japan opened its offensive towards India The INA's first division, consisting of four Guerrilla regiments, participated in Arakan offensive in 1944, with one battalion reaching as far as Mowdok in Chittagong. Other units were directed to Imphal and Kohima, as well as to the protect Japanese Flanks to the south of Arakan, a task it successfully carried out. However, the first division suffered the same fate as did Mutaguchi's Army when the siege of Imphal was broken. With little or no supplies and supply lines deluged by the Monsoon, harassed by Allied air dominance, the INA began withdrawing when the 15th Army and Burma Area Army began withdrawing, and suffer the same terrible fate as wounded, starved and diseased men succumbed during the hasty withdrawal into Burma. Later in the war however, the INA's second division, tasked with the defence of Irrawaddy and the adjoining areas around Nangyu, was instrumental in opposing Messervy's 7th Indian Infantry Division when it attempted to cross the river at Pagan and Nyangyu during the successful Burma Campaign by the Allies the following year. The 2nd division was instrumental in denying the 17th Indian Infantry Division the area around Mount Popa that would have exposed the Flank of Kimura's forces attempting to retake Meiktila and Nyangyu. Ultimately however, the division was obliterated. Some of the surviving units of the Army surrendered as Rangoon fell, and helped keep order till the allied forces entered the city. The other remnants began a long march over land and on foot towards Singapore, along with Subhas Chandra Bose. As the Japanese situation became precarious, Bose left for Manchuria to attempt to contact the Russians, and was reported to have died in an air crash near Taiwan.
The only Indian territory that the Azad Hind government controlled were the Indian territories that fell during the Imphal offensive, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. However, the latter two were bases for the Japanese Navy, and the navy never really fully relinquished control. Enraged with the lack of administrative control, the Azad Hind Governor, Lt. Col. Loganathan, later relinquished his authority to return to the Government's head quarters in Rangoon, Burma. After the War, a number of officers of the INA were tried for treason and tortured. However, faced with the possibility of a massive civil unrest and a mutiny in the Indian Army, the British officials decided to release the prisoners-of-war.[15]
Bengal famine
The Indian National Army also captured and controlled Imphal and some parts of Manipore state of India.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c Kux, Dennis. India and the United States: estranged democracies, 1941-1991. DIANE Publishing, 1992. ISBN 1428981896, 9781428981898.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Tidrick, Kathryn. Gandhi: a political and spiritual life. I.B.Tauris, 2006. ISBN 1845111664, 9781845111663.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Churchill, Roosevelt, and India - By Auriol Weigold
- ^ The Greenwood Encyclopedia of International Relations: F-L - By Cathal J. Nolan
- ^ Encyclopedia of the developing world - By Thomas M. Leonard
- ^ The idea of Pakistan - By Stephen P. Cohen
- ^ a b Madhu, Limaye. Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, a historical partnership, 1916-1948. B.R. Pub. Corp., 1990. ISBN 8170185475, 9788170185475.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ a b Dube, Rajendra. Jawaharlal Nehru: a study in ideology and social change. Mittal Publications, 1988. ISBN 8170990718, 9788170990710.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Moraes, Frank. Jawaharlal Nehru. Jaico Publishing House, 1959. ISBN 8179926958, 9788179926956.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Compton McKenzie (1951). Eastern Epic. Chatto & Windus, London. ISBN?., p.1
- ^ {{cite book |last = Peter Liddle, J. M. Bour[[File:, Ian R. Whitehead |title = The Great World War, 1914-45: Lightning strikes twice |publisher = HarperCollins, 2000 |isbn = 0004724542, 9780004724546}}
- ^ a b c Bose, Subash Chandra. Azad Hind: writings and speeches, 1941-43. Anthem Press, 2004. ISBN 9781843310839.
- ^ Horn, Steve. The second attack on Pearl Harbor: Operation K and other Japanese attempts to bomb America in World War II. Naval Institute Press, 2005. ISBN 1591143888, 9781591143888.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Fay 1993, p. 292,298
- ^ Fay 1993
References
- Fay, Peter W. (1993), The Forgotten Army: India's Armed Struggle for Independence, 1942-1945., Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press., ISBN 0472083422.
Further reading
- Hogan, David W. India-Burma. World War II Campaign Brochures. Washington D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 72-5.
