Divided loyalties

While the first years of the war saw a largely quiescent India, the Japanese takeover of British territories in South East Asia combined with the Indian National Congress (INC) disappointment at the Cripps Offer (1942), which failed to meet their demand for immediate independence as a reward for India’s war support, led to the Quit India movement being launched by MK Gandhi and the INC in August 1942. (The Muslim League supported the British war effort.) Though the movement was quickly and brutally suppressed (including by machine gunning from the air), opposition went underground and continued to gather momentum. The Indian National Army (INA) was formed by the firebrand nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose (who tried to make common cause with the Axis powers to liberate India) and composed of captured Indian soldiers from the British army mainly in Singapore. Around 20,000 of the 60,000 captured Indians joined the INA. Under the flag of the invading Japanese armies, the INA invaded Assam, reaching as far as Imphal in 1944. The formation of the INA was symbolically significant and a blow for British prestige (Just as the rebellion in the Indian Navy was to be in 1946). The Great Bengal Famine (1943-44) was a result of natural causes being exacerbated manifold by Britain’s slow and inadequate response at famine relief, combined with the decision to stockpile grain for European war needs rather than divert these to alleviate the desperate situation in the sub-continent. This ensured that a natural adversity became a man-made disaster, claiming 1.5 million lives according to official statistics, though more realistic estimates put the figure closer to three million. However, during these years, the Indian Army, including the tenacious Gurkha regiments from Nepal, continued to serve loyally and bravely in the Allied cause which was all the more remarkable for being undertaken at a time of intense political and economic travails and repression at home. For example, the 4th Indian Division fought with distinction in Abyssinia and in the Western Desert. In 1943-44, Indian forces also fought in major campaigns in Italy and Greece. Overall, Indians served in all branches of the military including Artillery, Infantry, Armoured, Parachute, Motor, Airborne, Engineering etc. The autonomous princely states of India also provided about a quarter of a million men. Indian soldiers killed are estimated to be around 90-100,000, with large numbers also wounded or taken prisoner.