Thousands of forgotten Punjabi WW1 soldiers recognised for first time
The update corrects decades-old omissions after researchers traced the soldiers through handwritten registers preserved in Lahore.
- On Monday, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission added 9,909 British Indian Army names to its official casualty records, marking the largest database update in more than eight decades.
- UK-Based Punjab Heritage Association volunteers spent years digitizing fragile handwritten registers preserved at the Lahore Museum, uncovering thousands of names previously missing from official commemoration records.
- British Indian Government rules had denied war graves status to soldiers who died of injuries away from battlefields; newly recognized servicemen include about 40 per cent Muslims, around 25 per cent Sikhs, and 25 per cent Hindus.
- Families have gained closure after researchers contacted descendants like Sunney Palahey, who discovered his great-grandfather Kesar Singh in the records, while Jasmin Basra identified her great-great-grandfather.
- Around 1.4 million men from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh served in the British Indian Army, and the CWGC update now preserves their memory as part of the wider history of the British Empire.
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In the United Kingdom, the names of nearly 10,000 soldiers will be added to the official register of deaths for the homeland during the First World War. These are Punjabi soldiers who come from a region now divided between India and Pakistan, but who belonged to the British Empire at the time.
9,909 forgotten WWI Indian Soldiers Commemorated in UK - The Tribune
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has added 9,909 men previously omitted from commemoration records, recognising them as casualties of the First World War who died of injuries away from the battlefield.
Thousands of forgotten Punjabi WW1 soldiers recognised for first time in landmark update of war records
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has undertaken its most significant records update in more than eight decades, adding nearly 10,000 British Indian Army soldiers who died during the World War One to its official casualty database.A total of 9,909 servicemen from pre-partition India will now receive formal recognition after researchers uncovered their names in historical documents.The discovery represents the largest expansion of CWGC recor…
The Economic Times
National HeraldThousands of forgotten World War I Indian soldiers commemorated in UK
A research project has officially recognised 9,909 Indian soldiers missing from World War I records. These servicemen from pre-Partition India, who fought for the British Indian Army, were previously uncommemorated due to historical omissions. This initiative, a collaboration between CWGC, UK Punjab Heritage Association, and the University of Greenwich, ensures that the fallen soldiers are now acknowledged.
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