Decolonizing Narratives of South Asian Soldiers in the World Wars

Words by Sonia Gulzeb Abbasi

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The first flight that ever resembled what we now know as cargo service was back in 1911 when aircraft was used to transport only mail. However, after WW1 Britain wanted to build a cargo plane that can transport soldiers and equipment. The Vickers Vernon aircraft (shown in the images and poster) was delivered to the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1921 but it wasn't until two years later that the aircraft was deployed to transport 280 Sikh troops  from Kingarban to Kirkuk in Iraq, helping to quash a Kurdish uprising against the British mandate in the region. This was the first time in the regiment's history that troops had been deployed by air and therefore the  first ever military airlift operation. Their journey received worldwide attention. Here is a poster of the front page of the French newspaper Le Petit Journal from May 6, 1923 which features the first British air trooping operation. (Available as print)

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Decolonizing Narratives of South Asian Soldiers in the World Wars

In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose,” which means “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Few days ago, I went to see a newly curated South Asian Gallery at Manchester Museum. 

It is a joint collaboration between The British Museum and Manchester Museum which opened  to the public in Feb' 2023. At the entrance, you are greeted by a screen displaying flickering images, bearing the words 'South Asia Gallery' in Urdu, English, and Hindi. The space is embellished with a collection of images representing Mughal and Indian art. One of the first pictures that immediately captured my attention was the one depicting Queen Victoria with the Koh-e-Noor diamond. It's difficult to put into words, but the sight of the Koh-e-Noor Diamond made me reflect on the words of Jean-Baptiste. Almost, as if the Queen was mocking us, her colonized subjects, with a message that things haven't really changed. 

Indian infantry in the trenches, prepared against a gas attack [Fauquissart, France]. Photographer: H. D. Girdwood. Crown Copyright, via British Library

There are six themes in the gallery – ‘Past and Present’, ‘Movement & Empire’, ‘Lived Environments’, ‘Innovation & Language’, ‘Sound, Music and Dance,’ and ‘British Asian Identities.’ I explored all the themes with deep curiosity, hoping to come across an image or story that would convey one of the many traumatic events from South Asia's colonial history.

For context, when Britain arrived on India’s shores, India’s share of the world economy was 23 percent. By the time the British left, it was down to below 4 percent. Britain’s rise, for two hundred years, was financed by its depredations in India. In fact Britain’s industrial revolution was actually premised upon the deindustrialization of India.

There it is, I found an image which reads word ‘exploitation’ and the description was as follows;