London Exhibition: Sikh Soldiers’ Role in WWI

Sikhs from London recreate the life of Sikh soldiers from the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs (now 2 Sikh) stand beside a 1915 portrait of two cavalry officers by Philip de Laszlo.Photo credit: Verinder Sharma, Kreative Barn

As the world turns its attention to the centenary of the Great War, the UK Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA) has organised an exhibition to commemorate the remarkable, but largely forgotten, contribution of Sikh soldiers and their families during the First World War.

Christened “Empire, Faith & War: The Sikhs and World War One”, the exhibition is being held at the 11-week event at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London University. It also marks the launch of a three-year project to reveal the untold story of how one of the world’s smallest communities played a disproportionately major role in the war. From the blood-soaked trenches of the Somme and Gallipoli to the deserts and heat of Africa and the Middle East, Sikhs, although accounting for less than 1% of the population of British India at the time, made up nearly 20% of the British Indian Army and other Indian troops, proved critical in the early months of the fighting on the Western Front.

A cinema zone featuring rare archive film footages, including of the first Sikh fighter pilot, sound recordings of Sikh POWs, war photographs, illustrations and original artefacts from the days of the Sikh Empire, and talks by expert speakers are among the highlights of the exhibition.