How Did The British Indian Army Affect World War 1

Introduction
India was a colony of the British Empire when Britain and the allies declared war on Germany on August 4th and by doing this, India was automatically pushed into World War I (WW I). Although the Indians had no part in the traditional rivalries between the European powers that led to WWI yet the soldiers, or “sepoys” of the Indian Army fought and died for the British Empire in places such as France, Belgium, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Gallipoli and Palestine and East and West Africa. About 1.5 million Indian soldiers fought for Britain during WW I, 74,000 of whom lost their lives and according to Field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck , Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from 1942, the British "couldn't have come through both wars [World War I and II] if they hadn't had the Indian Army.” Since the British Indian army played a significant role, and one that is less understood and recognized, this essay is about how the Indian Army affected the outcome of WWI and the British Empire. Therefore, our research question is formulated as: How did the British Indian Army affect World War I? We examine the role of the
The effects of WWI were not limited to Europe but extended to all of the Commonwealth nations across the globe that lived under colonial rule. The Indian soldiers did not have the right training and equipment for fighting this was since they had been part of the Indian Army for frontier defence in India. For example, they were only being issued Lee–Enfield rifles on their arrival in France which they had not used before and they had almost no artillery. They were not accustomed to the continental weather and were poorly equipped to resist the cold-their clothes were meant for the tropical climate in most parts of India. Officer casualties was an even bigger problem as their replacements were unfamiliar with the Indian Army and could not speak the