The Indian Army on the Western Front The Indian army fought on the western front with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from 1914 to 1918. The traditional interpretations of its performance have been dominated by ideas that it was a failure. This book offers a radical reconsideration by revealing new answers to the debate s central questions, such as whether the Indian army saved the BEF from defeat in 1914, or whether Indian troops were particularly prone to self-inflicting wounds and fleeing the trenches. It looks at the Indian army from top to bottom, from generals at headquarters to snipers in no man s land. It takes a global approach, exploring the links between the Indian army s 1914 18 campaigning in France and Belgium and its pre-1914 small wars in Asia and Africa, and comparing the performance of the Indian regiments on the western front to those in China, East Africa, Mesopotamia and elsewhere. studied history at the University of Oxford before becoming a barrister. He lives in London, and this is his first book.
Cambridge Military Histories Edited by Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War, University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford Geoffrey Wawro, Professor of Military History, and Director of the Military History Center, University of North Texas The aim of this series is to publish outstanding works of research on warfare throughout the ages and throughout the world. Books in the series take a broad approach to military history, examining war in all its military, strategic, political and economic aspects. The series complements Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare by focusing on the hard military history of armies, tactics, strategy and warfare. Books in the series consist mainly of single-author works academically vigorous and groundbreaking which are accessible to both academics and the interested general reader. A full list of titles in the series can be found at: /militaryhistories
The Indian Army on the Western Front India s Expeditionary Force to France and Belgium in the First World War B.A., M.St., University of Oxford
32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013 2473, USA Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: /9781107027466 C 2014 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2014 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Morton-Jack, George. The Indian Army on the Western Front : India s Expeditionary Force to France and Belgium in the First World War /. pages cm. (Cambridge military histories) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-107-02746-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. World War, 1914 1918 Participation, East Indian. 2. India. Army History World War, 1914 1918. 3. World War, 1914 1918 Campaigns Western Front. I. Title. D547.I5M67 2014 940.4ʹ0954 dc23 2013040679 ISBN 978-1-107-02746-6 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents Acknowledgements Note on Names and Places page ix xi Introduction 1 1 The Army in India 28 2 Small Wars and Regular Warfare 42 3 Strengths 53 4 Weaknesses 115 5 To Flanders 134 6 Saving the BEF 148 7 Climate, Casualty Replacements and Departure 154 8 Self-Inflicted Wounds and Fleeing the Trenches 171 9 Old Tactics 187 10 New Tactics 220 11 Commanders and Staff 257 12 Administration 281 Conclusion 299 Bibliography 307 Index 325 vii
Acknowledgements Without Hew Strachan s constant encouragement and advice, this book might well not have appeared. I am also deeply indebted to Michael Watson for his editorial guidance. Together they have been a dynamic duo, saving me from many a mistake and suggesting better ways forward. I am very grateful for Chloe Dawson s support at Cambridge too. I have depended on the kindness and co-operation of numerous others, historians or otherwise, and I thank them all, in particular Niall Ferguson, Gary Sheffield, Jon Stallworthy, Santanu Das, Heather Jones, Douglas Porch, Ian Beckett, Alexander Watson, Jim Beach, Gordon Corrigan, Didy Grahame, Gerhard Keiper, Barnaby Blacker, Siward Atkins, Tom Hiddleston, Sam Hutchison, Dominik von Bohlen und Halbach, Andrew Prentice, Jonathan Benthall, Tom Coghlan, Jan Pieńkowski, Lois Cordelia and the late DeWitt C. Ellinwood Jr. ix
Note on Names and Places I have used the names of cities and countries that were current in English in 1914 Calcutta (not Kolkata), Peking (not Beijing), Persia (not Iran), and so on. In dealing with British India s North-West Frontier Province, I have generally used NWFP to refer to the British-administered or Indian settled districts of the province that were under direct Indian government rule. For the Indian regiments between the 1890s and 1918, I have used their titles from the reformed regimental lists of 1903. Further, I have abbreviated the titles of the Indian and British regiments that had more than one battalion each, for instance referring to the 1st Battalion, 39th Royal Garhwal Rifles as the 1st/39th Garhwals, or the 1st Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment as the 1st/Northamptons. xi