Miracle of Dunkirk: Indians too were trapped with Allied forces

In 1940, over the course of eight days, the French port city of Dunkirk won itself a place in military history, becoming the site of an ingenious evacuation that ultimately saved over 3,00,000 allied soldiers. An evacuation that sets the backdrop for Christopher Nolan's war epic Dunkirk, which releases this Friday.

The film promises to be a 70mm spectacle that, early reviews say, is among Nolan's best works. What you will probably not see on the silver screen is the little-known tale of the Indian Army troops who were in and around Dunkirk when the historic evacuation was carried out.

The soldiers were part of the first units of the Indian Army to take part in the Second World War. Over the course of the grand war, the Indian Army, which started off with just under 2,00,000 men, grew to more than 2.5 million personnel, becoming the largest volunteer force in history.

The Indian Army's contributions during the latter part of the World War II are well documented. However, the story of four transport companies of Indian Army that sailed from Mumbai and had to be rescued from the beaches of France has mostly skipped the history books.

CORNERED BY THE BEACH

By May 1940, the world had slipped into its second global war. Germany, having invaded Poland, Denmark and Norway, was fighting pitched battles with allied armies in Europe. In France, German forces managed to encircle a large number of allied soldiers near Dunkirk during the Battle for France.

All hope seemed lost, but aided by a controversial German decision to briefly pause the Dunkirk offensive, Britain successfully carried out the Dunkirk evacuation, rescuing 3,38,226 mostly British and French soldiers even as the Germans breathed down their neck.

Operation Dynamo -- code name given to the Dunkirk evacuation -- used 933 ships to pick up the soldiers from the beaches and harbours of the French city. Among the soldiers rescued were a bunch of Indian Army troops who originated from modern-day Pakistan.

INDIAN ARMY IN DUNKIRK

By the time the Second World War began, the British army disbanded its animal transport companies in favour of mechanised vehicles. In October 1939, however, the need was felt for animals that could transport arms, ammunition and other supplies over non-motorable terrain in France.

Britain turned to India (and Cyprus) for help after deciding that all British Expeditionary Force divisions in France must have an animal transport company each. The then Royal Indian Army responded by dispatching four animal transport companies of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps.

The contingent - called Force K6 - sailed from then Bombay and reached Marseille in France sometime towards the end of 1939. According to one estimate, the entire force, which was commanded by Lt Col RRW Hills, consisted of 1,800 men and 2,000 animals (mules or horses). The Indian soldiers were from Rawalpindi in today's Pakistan.

Archival footage hosted by French film production company Pathe shows Indian troops arriving in France along with their own priests and doctors. The footage also has shots of the Indian soldiers cooking and eating rotis.

Soon after Force K6's arrival in France, three of the four Indian Army transport companies -- numbers 25, 29 and 32 -- were dispatched to the French coast in order to aid the British Expeditionary Forces that were fighting against the Germans in the Battle for France. The 22nd company initially stayed back in Marsellies and was later sent to a region a little inland of Dunkirk.

The 25, 29 and 32 companies ended up being part of the allied brigade that was forced to retreat to Dunkirk in face of the rapid German onslaught that saw the troops trapped on northern French coast. Providence in the form of a controversial German decision to briefly pause the offensive allowed most of the allied troops to fall back to Dunkirk.

On May 26, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave the go-ahead to launch Operation Dynamo that employed naval and civilian vessels to transport the trapped troops across the English Channel to mainland Britain.

During the eight days of evacuation, men 25, 29 and 32 of three Indian Army companies were successfully rescued from Dunkirk. They, however, had to leave their animals behind.

The 22 company, on the other hand, was not as lucky, with most of its men getting captured by German forces just short of Dunkirk. They were taken prisoners of war and most of the men are believed to have died in captivity.

AFTERMATH

After being rescued from Dunkirk, the Royal Indian Army Service Corps men were initially stationed in different parts of the United Kingdom. The animals they lost during the Dunkirk evacuation were replaced with fresh horses and they were later joined by three more animal transport companies from back home.

One of the junior officers even received a medal for his bravery in Dunkirk. Jemadar Maula Dad Khan was awarded Indian Distinguished Service Medal, the citation for which, according to the Dunkirk evacuation's online museum, read:

"On 24 May 1940 when approaching Dunkerque, Jemadar Maula Dad Khan showed magnificent courage, coolness and decision. When his troop was shelled from the ground and bombed from the air by the enemy he promptly reorganised his men and animals, got them off the road and under cover under extremely difficult conditions. It was due to this initiative and the confidence he inspired that it was possible to extricate his troop without loss in men or animals."

The Royal Indian Army companies spent a few years in the UK, coming back to India only in 1944. Once back, they were quickly requisitioned for the war in Burma in another theatre of the Second World War.