It is widely recognised that Redbridge is a thoroughly cosmopolitan borough with nearly a quarter of its population of approximately 230,000 being non-white. In a way it reflects the world, albeit not in the same proportions but more in terms of the five continents it offers a spectrum of races with interwoven cultures with a history of complementing each other, forming a living jigsaw which is in a constant state of flux.

The current composition of Redbridge residents in terms of people from the Undivided India (India, West Pakistan and Bangladesh – formerly East Pakistan) which for most purposes means Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs is that the Sikhs number approximately 13,500 and are the largest group, the Muslims are the second largest but growing, and the Hindu community is the smallest of the three. The majority have been in Britain since the early Seventies and given the age profile of the Asian community, many are second generation British Citizens with some even being able to claim third generation British status.

The views and memories regarding the two Wars of many Asians are based on a perspective which can be summarised as described below.

The two World Wars hopefully taught mankind the futility of physical aggression against fellow human beings in the name of ideologies which seem to suggest that one set of values were superior to another. The world is too small for its inhabitants not to live in peace with one another, yet big enough to allow this to happen.

Historical events such as the two Wars saw the alignment of many nations behind what some would describe as the two philosophies, namely; ‘co-odination’ and ‘co-operation’, the more commonly recognised terms being Central Powers/Axis and the Allied Forces respectively.

British Empire, French Empire, USA, Russia, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Greece and Japan.

British Empire and Commonwealth, France, USA, USSR, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Poland, Greece, Yugoslavia Czechoslovakia and China.

The Commonwealth countries although not obliged to participate in the Wars, nevertheless chose to volunteer their forces, for example, the Undivided India was in the process of seeking independence from Britain about that time but felt that it was not the right time to press for it as Britain was in need of assistance and such a distraction would be inappropriate. It is ironic therefore that Undivided India suffered the greatest number was deaths out of all other Commonwealth Countries as can be seen from the figures below.

Force	Identified Burials & Cremations	Commemorated on Memorials to the Missing	Total Commemorated
UK & former Colonies	719,595	552,227	1,271,822
Undivided India	26,046	133,453	159,499
Canada	82,610	27,516	110,126
Australia	66,740	35,520	102,260
New Zealand	20,880	9,167	30,047
South Africa	16,489	4,704	21,193
TOTAL	932,360*	762,587	1,694,947

* This, together with 204,412 unidentified burials, brings the total burials and cremations to 1,136,772.

Of the many civilians of the commonwealth whose deaths were due to enemy action in the 1939-45 war, the names of 66,375 are commemorated in the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour, located near St George’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

If one does not include the civilian dead of the Undivided India, it’s contribution of 159,499 combatant deaths to a war it was not obliged to take part in, crudely represents the entire population of a number of London Borough’s such as Barking & Dagenham (153,433), Hammersmith & Fulham (149,600), Kensington & Chelsea (146,900), and Kingston Upon Thames (132,996), even Richmond Upon Thames (163,732) would look deserted.

The Asian survivors are most anxious to also bring to the attention of those who are quick to question the level of commitment to the war of the Undivided India the respective strengths of Armed Forces of the Commonwealth, these were as shown below.

United Kingdom
Army 2,920,00
Royal navy 783,000
Royal Air Force 950,000
Women’s Auxiliary Services 437,200
As at June 1945

Mauritius, Seychelles, East Africa, West Africa, Caribbean, Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Palestine, Jordan, Aden, Ceylon, Fiji, Bermuda, St Helena, Falklands.
Total strength of Land Forces 472,000
As at May 1945

Australia
Army 382,500
Royal Australian Air Force 30,000
Royal Australian Navy 105,000

New Zealand
New Zealand EF 35,000
Royal New Zealand Navy 7,200
Royal New Zealand Air Force 42,000

This clearly shows that the integrity with which the Undivided India volunteered its citizens was without reproach and saddens the survivors when their efforts or motives are questioned, e.g. "they did it (took part) because as a Colony they were obliged to " or "for economic reason" i.e. ‘a ticket out of India’.

It is partly with this in mind that many Asian veterans whilst glowing with a sense of pride when recounting their achievements will probably end up commemorating the end of the war either privately with immediate families or in small groups at semi-organised gatherings of countrymen. Other reasons include; not being invited to participate, their achievements and courage not attracting due recognition.

The 50th anniversary commemorating marking the end of the last War will undoubtedly be emotional affairs for the survivors, which could lead to misunderstandings, ‘sensitivity’ should be a key word to avoid the opening up of old wounds, particularly as ‘pride’ in nationalism can easily extend to threatening world peace – as the current problems in Eastern Europe and former Yugoslavia clearly demonstrate.

It would seem that many Asians appear to agree with Michael Hare Duke, the recently retired Bishop of St Andrew’s in the Scottish Episcopal Church who says "in spite of such doubts, there is a real history of evil overcome. Atrocities were committed, both in the concentration camps of Europe and the jungles of Burma, that cannot be denied. Religious peace activists must always beware of the kind of cheap grace that seeks reconciliation without facing the unpleasant facts. This is self-defeating, because genuine forgiveness must be built on an admission of wrong done".

The commemorations have been devised with a purpose which is "to make the population of the United Kingdom aware of the wartime generations and of the assistance available to them" (Tribute and Promise Briefing). At first glance, to the untrained eye, this is exactly what many Asians appear to have been advocating ever since the war. However, closer analysis of the statement offers a number of alternative interpretations, one of which simply says that the wartime generations need to be assured that they will not be forgotten or have to fend for themselves – whether this is true in reality is a different matter.

Many Sikhs point to the facts above and despair at the double whammy they have to endure in that the irony of Undivided India consisted of disproportionate sacrifices by them for very little in return then and it seems to be repeated again in Redbridge today in that, despite being the largest minority group in terms of numbers, and possibly the longest established, from the Indian Sub-continent, it is the only one which faces opaque difficulties in establishing a base in the borough.

In conclusion, the Asian community would be pleased if together we learn to value and respect each other, remembering that in time of need, people who may appear different to us now did make the ultimate sacrifice for us when they could quite easily have looked away.

Although I was unable to locate a network of veterans from the Indian Army within Redbridge, I was able to find many examples of individual memories that exist or are recounted by families of such veterans. They are remarkably similar to those expressed below.

The Indian Army was the largest volunteer army in the world. The 8th Army, fighting Rommel was believed to be 90% Indian. The 14th Army in Burma was considered to be 94% Indian. They were certain about the figures, however, it was not the sense of glory that came over, but a sense of having been part of a forgotten army.

They did not whinge. It was only when pressed that they admitted to a sense of being let down, e.g. "To be very honest with you, frankly speaking, the Indian Army didn’t get the recognition that the British Army did. That is understandable, they had to drum up support in the Home Countries… but it is tragic that there isn’t enough coverage"

"Nobody nowadays knows anything about those times… the younger generations think their secure lives have fallen in their laps. If you give all these details to the newspaper, the new generations will come to know."

Privation, danger and the presence of death are what all veterans remember, but that was not all…" if this history will be written, you can ask those people who were our officers at the time and they will tell you that Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs – we were all friends together."

"The civil system was a mess, with people imbued with all sorts of religious ideas" – a reference to the violent partition of India – "with the army, it went on quite smoothly. Whenever the civil chaps were involved there were murders, hackings and what not."

Many were taken prisoner, and of those who attempted to escape not many survived, some committed suicide out of despair. Those that did not go to war and never left India might it seem, have fared better – "today they are very big men, and we are just soldiers," But there are no regrets. "We are very lucky that we fought fascism and saved democracy."

"Some were possibly serving for economic benefit… and also because it was tradition, from the time of the Moguls and (Maharaja) Ranjit Singh and so on."

"Punjab has been at the forefront of many a foreign invasion: remember Alexander who was turned back at Chenub. We have been fighting for a long time – so we are natural fighters."

This did not mean that their contribution can be downgraded or the lives of men who were "just soldiers" can be forgotten.

(Extracts from comments and discussions of ex-servicemen during a meeting with a national newspaper reporter – Naseem Khan).