BBC News ...and an email from Philip

*** UPDATE: Watch the BBC report by clicking here ***

On Monday 23rd the story of the thousands upon thousands of Sikhs who fought for Britain during WW1 was featured on BBC regional news - on Midlands Today.

The "Sikhs At War" project was a key part of the special news report.  Earlier in the year we allowed the BBC to follow our work and film our forthcoming "Indians in the Trenches" film.

In turn they did a fantastic job of highlighting our endeavours.  And they raised the question of what is being done to recognise and remember the contributions that these gallant warriors made to a foreign land they had never visited before.


Since that broadcast I've been inundated with messages of thanks and support through email and social media.

The messages all convey one message - thanks for raising awareness of this significant history.


I wanted to share one such email with you - as it sums up nicely the high regard Sikhs continue to be held in and how we contribute to British society.

Here is an email from Philip:

"I would like to express my immense appreciation of the bravery and sacrifice that so many men of your faith made on our behalf in two world wars.

"You stood side by side with us and many many other men of the Commonwealth to overcome a great evil.


When I see the Sikh people, I behold a happy community, happy to be here and happy to be with us. I personally, am more than happy to have you here and wish that I could get to know you better."

[Above: images from the news report including Jay and Juggy filmmaking]

FILM: Chattri Memorial in Brighton

Here's a short film I put together about the Chattri Memorial in Brighton after my first visit there for the annual remembrance day event.

For more information about the monument visit www.chattri.com.

The Story Of Bhaga Singh of 38th Central India Horse

Dot Hyphen Productions presents "Indians in the Trenches" - a new film featuring the real life experiences of soldiers who fought in France and France.

In this second trailer, Pavandeep Singh Sandhu narrates the story of Bhaga Singh of 38th Central India Horse through the letters he sent home to India in July 1917 describing what he saw.

For more films visit www.sikhsatwar.info

Ardaas at Chattri Memorial Service in Brighton

It was a wonderful gloriously sunny day to trek fields the fields of the South Downs in Brighton for a memorial service at the Chattri Memorial yesterday (8th June).

The memorial is where 53 Sikh and Hindu injured soldiers brought over to hospitals in Brighton during the First World War were cremated.

The walk through fields on green is worth the pilgrimage to see this amazing monument which tells such a remarkable story.

An Ardaas was said for those who served and died - before speeches by local dignitaries.

This is a regular annual event, for more information visit www.chattri.com

Faith and War: Sikhs in World War One

Here's a presentation I gave ahead of the first screening of "Indians in the Trenches" at Goldman Sachs, London on 28th May 2014.

In this part, I narrate briefly the Sikh contribution during World War One and why it was so significant.

The trailer is also below - and the film will be released this August.

** If you'd like to host such a presentation contact us via dothyphen1 AT gmail DOT com **

BBC World War One At Home

The BBC's series "World War One At Home" has a special episode on "Sikhs In The Trenches.

You can listen to it via this link here or the image below.

A special programme on  "The Empire’s Army" will be broadcast on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire on Monday 2nd June at 8.15am and a longer more in depth edition at 11.30am the same day.

Sikhs in the Canadian Expeditionary Force

Fellow researcher Marika Pirie (mentioned below) alerted me to this fantastic Library and Archive of Canada website where you can search for those who fought in WW1.

Over 600,000 men and women enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force - and this surprisingly included some Sikhs!

Searching for the surname "Singh" I've come across 9 - of course not all "Singhs" were Sikh, as it was a surname also used by some Rajput Hindus.  The names are listed below, please do contact me if you know or have any to these soldiers.

Marika alerted me to one particular soldier:

Born in Punjab in January 1883, Waryam Singh was a labourer who joined the 38th Battalion of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in Ottawa in May 1915. 

Being in his 30's, what he did to get to Canada would be interesting to find out!


While the first two pages of the Attestation soldiers undertook is now online, more details will be released on the site later this year about each soldier.  It'll be interesting to find out more about Waryam Singh.

Update:  click here for an interesting article about another Canadian Sikh who served.

Comrades of WW1

We get a lot of questions and messages on Twitter via @SikhsAtWar

One such person is Marika Pirie from Canada, who shared with us this rare postcard showing a British and Indian soldier.

The individual on the right is a Sikh, the beard and turban certainly show this to be the case.  But the chakkar on the turban seems more crescent shaped that circular - highly likely a mistake on the part of the artist.

If you have any images you'd like to share with us on this blog - please do so via dothyphen1 @gmail.com

What Indians Wore In The Trenches

We've had fantastic feedback from many of you on our new trailer (above) for our forthcoming film "Indians in the Trenches".  The film depicts the real life experiences of those who fought during World War One - told by amateur actors narrating the real letters sent betweem 1914 - 18.

Telling the story through the actual words written by those who experienced the war was important for us, as it meant we could harness the truth of their emotions and sentiments.  The letters tell us a lot about the state of mind of the soldiers - from those who missed their family and India, to those who were proud of doing their part in the war.  There were also those who saw horrific things and wanted the madness to end.  In depicting the film we wanted it to be as real as possible and the letters enabled us to achieve that in ways that any other type of script could not.

To ensure we did the story justice, the authenticity of the period uniforms was a crucial element of our depiction.  We were pleased to have with us Edwin Field (above) from the Die Hards Re-enactment group who not only curated the look of the soldiers but was a font of knowledge for us to understand more about the kit the soldiers had.

Prior to the shoot, I'd spent quite a lot of time researching what Indians wore in the trenches, but seeing for myself the various items of clothing was important - and I want to share that with you with hopes that you'll be inspired to find out more or utilise this post as a resource.

Indians arrived in France in Khaki Drill.  This is because the soldiers wore KD in India and commanders had thought the Indians would be deployed to Egypt.  But Indian Expeditionary Force A which set out in August 1914 had a different purpose, to help reinforce the defence on the western front and stop the Germans reaching the Cinque ports.

And so Indians arrived wearing this cotton khaki in France, a light dress which was unsuitable for the cold conditions of a European winter.  Their kit contained a great coat, which was the only warm item of clothing they had.

The Indians fought in this kit in cold conditions - but despite being badly equipped it did not stop them from some daring feats of bravery in the trenches and in fighting the Germans.  In 1914-15 alone 53 Indian Order of Merit and 6 Military Cross medals were rewarded to Sikhs in particular (research courtesy of Narindar Dhesi's "Sikh Soldier").

By mid-1915, the shirts were replaced with thicker jackets, as seen on the left modeled by Joban Singh from the "Indians in the Trenches" film,as photographed by the Wedshot team.  But this mattered to little to many of the soldiers as Indian infantry units were removed from the western front and redeployed in arena's including Mesopotamia.

By the end of 1915, the cavalry units which remained in France were issued woolen clothes for the harsh winters.  Cavalrymen would stay and fight until the end of the conflict.

There is also a difference in the kit of Native Indian officers and other ranks, with the former being issued Sam Browne equipment and tending to have larger turbans.  Harmeet Singh Bharaj, on the left, is depicting a Risaldar in July 1917 so is seen with a lighter khaki jacket with 1903 pattern leather belt pouches and a handgun.

Understanding the various uniform changes makes a difference when looking at images of Indians in general from the First World War for it enables researchers to see which year they are from - and understand how those fighting were equipped.

We certainly relied on such images in our filmmaking, but learnt a lot from Edwin about spotting the difference, such as the thinner shirts having 2 pockets and the thicker jackets 4.  Knowing that the Indians deployed to the western front began the conflict ill-equipped is a well known fact, but as better kit was supplied to them so too was the realisation that they were there for longer than they might have expected.

The Sikhs were the most visible of the soldiers deployed in every arena of the war.  While orders went out for helmets to be worn by Indian soldiers to protect from shrapnel, it was recognised at once that this would not work for the Sikhs whose turban remains a fundamental part of their identity.  Sikhs wore their turbans in conflict, although images of the conflict show non-Sikh cavalrymen wearing turbans in apparent combat, for the Sikhs it was a strict adherence and a sign of the pride in their faith.

Despite some images of the era showing otherwise, regimental cap badges too were worn on the turban in the trenches too.  This came as a surprise to us, as in combat having a metallic item which reflects light and shines would give away the position of a soldier.  I can only think that the while Sikhs maintained the dress code and chakkar on the turban with pride and in defiance of the enemy, it would be sensible to assume these were removed for night time or more covert operations.

Finally, many Indian soldiers who were injured in France and Flanders were brought over to England to recover at Brighton Pavillion.  The black and white photos of the time hide it well, but the period dress of a hospital patient is very surprising too: a white shirt, red tie and blue jacket and trousers was worn by them. Azadbir Singh Atwal on the left demonstrates this, with a rather worn out turban in this scene.

In all, the uniforms of the period evolved somewhat as the needs of the Indian soldiers became apparent.

It was an amazing experience working with young volunteers who had hardly any acting experience - but who felt the power of the letters sent from the trenches.  In coaching the actors and providing the motivation for their words it began clear to me what the overriding feelings and sentiments were of those who fought.

In our next post, I'll go into more details about the psyche of the Indians in the trenches - and why it was belief in their martial traditions that kept many Sikhs in high spirits at the hardest of times.

**Visit www.sikhsatwar.info for our online films **

Indians In The Trenches: The Trailer

Dot Hyphen Productions are pleased to present the trailer for the forthcoming film "Indians In The Trenches".

Coming soon this summer to www.sikhsatwar.info

Directed by Jay Singh-Sohal
Executive Producer Juggy Rehnsi / Wedshot Ltd.