SEPOYS IN THE TRENCHES. The Indian Corps on the Western Front 1914-1915

This is an excellent history of a Corps which has rarely been given the credit it deserved, and it worthy tribute to the old Indian Army.

It is more than eighty years since the record of the Indian Corps on the Western Front was first published, in 1917, with the title The Indian Corps in France, at the behest and under the authority of the India Office; in 1996 the N & M Press produced a facsimile of the 1918 edition of this work. In 1920 the corps commander, General Sir James Willcocks, had his own story published - With The Indians In France - but since then there has been little, if anything, been written about the corps apart from regimental histories and personal accounts. This book, then is a long overdue but most welcome tribute to the men of the Indian Army who provided the only trained regular soldiers available to come to the aid of the hard pressed BEF. By the end of September 1914 the first of the two infantry divisions that made up the corps had arrived in France, and they were to be joined by two cavalry divisions; the infantry had left France for Mesopotamia by the end of 1915, the cavalry remained till the beginning of 1918 when they were sent to Egypt. The figures quoted by the author reveal the extent of India’s contribution: 90,000 combatants and 50,000 non-combatants (Labour companies) served on the Western Front and of the former 8,557 were killed (5,000 have no known graves) with a further 50,000 wounded.
The first history of the Indian Corps was written very soon after the events they recorded, the war was still in progress; but in this fresh look from across the years Gordon Corrigan has been able to draw on extensive, hitherto unpublished material and provide a modern history of a Corps whose men fought in all the major battles of 1914-15, often in appalling climatic conditions to which they were completely unaccustomed (still wearing tropical clothing as winter came on), fighting an enemy of whom they knew nothing, in a cause that was not their own; but they fought for the honour of their race and regiment with total loyalty to the officers who led them. Apart from the accounts of the various battles and engagements the author has given plenty of attention to other aspects of the Corps such as the class system in the regiments with problems of reinforcements, the consequences of an officer strength of only twelve per battalion (compared with 30 in a British battalion), recruiting, clothing and equipment, hospitals, comforts, rations, religion and the Press. This is an excellent history of a Corps which has rarely been given the credit it deserved, and it worthy tribute to the old Indian Army.

Author: by Gordon Corrigan
Format: 1999. HB. xiv + 274pp with 16 b/w photos and nine maps
Product Code No: 4214