They Stood on the Beaches Too: Brown Soldiers in WWII France

Words by Areeha Mahal

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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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Gold Inheritance: the Quiet Feminism of South Asian Women

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They Stood on the Beaches Too: Brown Soldiers in WWII France

Indian troops in France during World War II. Credit: Culture Club/Getty Images

Indian Soldiers And Their Service To The British Army 

The British narrative of World War II, with its sixty million dead on all sides, is regularly perceived as a series of heroic and notable efforts by the British. However, within this narrative lie forgotten stories beyond Eurocentric points of reference — the untold contributions by the British colonies. As noted by Yasmin Khan, Professor of History at Kellogg College Oxford, in a The New York Times op-ed, "Britain did not fight the Second World War, the British Empire did." 

During World War I, the Indian Army put forth a considerable number of divisions to the European, Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres of war. Over one million Indian soldiers served in the first World War, with over 74,000 losing their lives. When looking at World War II, this number grew to over two million Indian soldiers serving in the British Army, with approximately 89,000 dying in military service. These staggering numbers made the Indian Army during World War II the largest volunteer military ever in history.