---------------------IN THIS CLOISTER ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF TWENTY THOUSAND AIRMEN WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE. THEY DIED FOR FREEDOM IN RAID AND SORTIE OVER THE BRITISH ISLES AND THE LANDS AND SEAS OF NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE
The Runnymede Memorial
Flanders Indian Memorial
John Sutherland attended the official unveiling of a new Indian War Memorial in Ieper on 12th March on behalf of the Royal British Legion. The Indian Corps, comprising two cavalry and two infantry divisions, arrived in France in October 1914 and provided just enough reinforcement to allow the B.E.F. to hold Ypres against ferocious German attacks
Indian Forces Memorial, Ypres
Indian soldiers carrying wounded officer -WW1
Entrance to the War Cemetery in Belgium honouring soldiers who died fighting in the first World War
Indian troops also served in North Africa, Italy and Greece during World War 2, but the majority of India's 87,000 military war dead fell in the Far East campaigns against the Japanese in Malaya and Burma. The latter contributed to the 1943 Bengal famine, when at least 2 million Indian civilians died and possibly as many as 4 million.
. . . . AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN, AND IN THE MORNING . . . .
The safety, honor and welfare of your country come first always and everytime.
The honor, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next.
Your own ease, comfort and safety comelast, always and everytime--
.
The first group of Indian pilots arrive in the UK, 1940When the RAF advertised to cover the shortage in qualified pilots, 24 Asians answered Britain’s call. 18 successfully passed their training and flew missions in Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancaster bombers. Among them was fighter pilot Mahinder Singh Pujji, who served with both the RAF and Indian Air Force. He flew missions over the English Channel with squadrons 43 and 258 between 1940-1, and also fought in North Africa and Burma. In 1945 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Another notable pilot was Prithipal Singh who is featured below
Prithipal Singh, one of 18 Indian RAF pilots flying with the RAF
Plaque acknowledging Noor Inayat
Noor Inayat Khan of India was the daughter of Inayat Khan, musician and founder of the Sufi order in Europe. In 1942, she was recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret organisation sabotaging the German war machine. She was one of the first female wireless operators infiltrated into occupied France. On arrival she found that her unit had already been betrayed. As the last remaining wireless operator in France she continued to transmit messages to London. In 1943, the Gestapo captured her. Although tortured, she refused to reveal any information. She was executed in 1944. She was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre with Gold Star by the French Republic and in 1949 the George Cross by the British Government. A campaign for a permanent memorial for her is currently underway
39. Sergeant Francis Daggett with a German soldier of only 15 years old. Kronach, Germany. 27.04.1945.
"Aut inveniam viam aut faciam" I will either find a way, or make one. ''--------the gods do not give the same man everything: you know how to gain a victory, Hannibal, but you do not know how to make use of it.
They all fought for their Countries
RIP((1914-2012) - woman, soldier, doctor, role model, .......Capt. Lakshmi Sehgal, INA .The last link with India's revolutionary freedom struggle led by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose is no more. Lakshmi Swaminathan Sehgal who rose to the rank of a Colonel in the Indian National Army (INA) died at the age of 97 on 23July, 2012.
The Indian National Army (INA) or Azad Hind Fauj (Hindi: आज़ाद हिन्द फ़ौज ; Urdu: آزاد ہند فوج) was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to liberate India from occupation with Japanese assistance
.Subhas Chandra Bose (reviewing troops above)...formed a trained army of about 40,000 troops in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia. On Oct. 21, 1943, Bose proclaimed the establishment of a provisional independent Indian government, and his so-called Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj), alongside Japanese troops, advanced to Rangoon (Yangôn) and thence overland into India, reaching Indian soil on March 18, 1944
The other side of the Hill
This side of the Hill
Some say it was taken in Toulon as the French soldiers leave for Africa. Some say it was taken as Nazi tanks rolled into Paris. Others claim it was taken in Marseilles as historic French battle flags were taken aboard ships for protection against the conquering Nazis. No matter what incident prompted him to cry, the French civilian cries across decades from his faded photograph.
This iconic photo depicts the jubilance and relief expressed throughout America when armistice was declared in World War Two. Contrary to popular opinion, the two in the picture were not lovers; the soldier was jubilantly planting kisses on women in Times Square – this lucky nurse was just one of them.
In April 1945 there were 3,881 recorded suicides in Berlin, nearly twenty times the figure for March. Untold numbers of victims of rape by the Soviet Red Army also committed suicide, and news of violence and rape further propelled mass suicides in villages all over Germany. Although the motives was widely explained as the “fear of the Russian invasion”, the suicides also happened in the areas liberated by the British and American troops.
Hitler in Paris, 1940
Taken at the height of World War Two and after Adolf Hitler had taken Paris.
Rita Hayworth’s famous pose in a black negligee quickly made its way across the Atlantic in 1941, as troops brought the picture with them on the way to war. It ended up as the second most popular pinup picture in all of World War II
Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships built for the German Kriegsmarine. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the unification of Germany in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched two and a half years later in February 1939. Work was completed in August 1940, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Bismarck and her sister ship Tirpitz were the largest battleships ever built by Germany, and two of the largest built by any European power.
Günther Lütjens-Capt of Bismark He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Lütjens and the majority of Bismarck's crew were killed in actionduring Bismarck's last battle on 27 May 1941.In November 1938, Lütjens was one of only three flag officers who protested, in writing, against the anti-Jewish "Kristallnacht" pogroms
And now the story of Sgt Reckless , the packhorse---
Reckless was a pack horse during the Korean war, and she carried recoilless rifles, ammunition and supplies to Marines.
Nothing too unusual about that, lots of animals got pressed into doing pack chores in many wars. But this horse did something more..during the battle for a location called Outpost Vegas, this mare made 50 trips upand down the hill, on the way up she carried ammunition, and on the way down she carried wounded soldiers. What was so amazing? Well she made every one of those trips through enemy fire and without anyone leading her. Here''s her story and photos to prove where she was and what she did..
Click
HERE Please note , the photographs and material in the blog is not necessarily original .Material has been obtained from open sources in the net. I am not violating any copy rights law willfully or using the Blog for commercial purposes.If anything is against law, please notify so that it can be removed
