Our Indian war heroes
QUESTION Did Sikh soldiers fight in the British Army in World War I?
The Indian Army, comprising all ethnic and religious groups from the sub-continent, served in the european, Mediterranean, east African and Middle eastern theatres of conflict during World War I.
early in 1914, it became apparent that if war were to break out in europe, the Ottoman Turkish empire would be a threat to British interests relating to the oil fields of the Middle east and access to the Far east via the Suez Canal.
India was instructed to prepare plans to deploy its troops in the defence of those key interests.
At the start of World War I, the Indian Army had 150,000 trained men. Two divisions of cavalry and two of infantry, known as expeditionary Force A, were sent to the Western Front as soon as war broke out, arriving in Marseilles on September 30, 1914. They saw their first action at the Battle of La Bassee between October 10 and November 2.
A further six expeditionary forces were assembled from India, serving in east Africa, Palestine, Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Gallipoli. They were reinforced as casualties mounted.
Thirteen members of the Indian Army, including six Sikh solders, were awarded Victoria Crosses, the first going to Darwan Singh Negi of the 39th Garhwal Rifles for action in France in November 1914.
In all, 62,000 Indian Army soldiers were killed in the war and 67,000 wounded.
In the film 1917, a Sikh soldier travels in a truck with British soldiers. They were all ‘casuals’: soldiers who had become separated from their units and had been attached to another unit to fill gaps.
It is known that Indian Army units fought alongside British troops in some battles and there are photographs of soldiers from both armies standing side by side.
Soldiers of Afro-Caribbean heritage — including Northampton Town footballer Walter Tull — served in British Army units, so there is no reason to suppose men of Indian ethnicity living here didn’t also serve in the British Army.
Bob Cubitt, Northampton.
QUESTION Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, so why is there a shortage on Earth?
HYDROGEN is the most common element in the universe. Clouds of it form stars under the force of gravity. At a certain size, the pressure is such that occasionally hydrogen nuclei will fuse despite their mutual repulsion and form deuterium and tritium, isotopes of hydrogen and ultimately helium.
The energy in fusing provides stars’ light and heat, including the Sun. These events are rare and the conversion to helium takes place slowly over billions of years. The name helium is derived from the Greek word helios meaning the sun.
On earth, helium comes not from fusion, but from fission. Nuclear decay of heavy elements deep in the earth produce helium nuclei, which permeate to the surface, getting trapped in rock strata along with methane.
Some gas deposits contain as much as 40 per cent helium.
Less common noble gases are recovered by fractional distillation of liquid air, but helium doesn’t liquefy until cooled to 4.2 degrees above absolute zero.
Natural gas deposits of helium are fast running out. helium’s atoms are so light that at the edge of space, high energy reactions with cosmic rays and elastic collisions with heavier molecules mean the atoms can achieve escape velocity and are lost into space.
Phil Alexander, Farnborough, Hants.
QUESTION The Scottish independence referendum was described as a ‘once-in-a-generation’ event. How is a generation defined?
THERE is no definition in a specific number of years. It is usually defined as a group of people born around the same time and raised in the same place. This cohort exhibits similar characteristics, preferences and values in their lifetimes.
The Pew Research Centre, a think tank in Washington DC, has defined the following generations:
The Silent Generation, born 1928 to 1945 and now aged 75 to 92. Baby Boomers, born 1946 to 1964, aged 56 to 74. Generation X, born 1965 to 1980, aged 40 to 55. Millennials, born 1981 to 1996, aged 24 to 39. Post-Millennials, born 1996 to the present, aged up to 24.
Using these definitions, a generation is somewhere between 15 and 21 years.
Before the 2014 referendum, Alex Salmond was asked if he would seek another poll in the event of a ‘No’ vote.
he said: ‘If you remember that previous constitutional referendum in Scotland — there was one in 1979 and then the next one was 1997. That’s what I mean by a political generation. In my opinion, and it is just my opinion, this is a once-in-ageneration opportunity for Scotland.’
In youGov polling at the time, 39 per cent of Scottish respondents believed a generation was 20 or 25 years, 13 per cent said 30, and 10 per cent said ten years.
Alan Murray, Dunbar, East Lothian.
QUESTION Is there a children’s story as upsetting as Winnie-the-Pooh getting stuck in the entrance to Rabbit’s house?
The children’s stories cited seem tame compared with Der Struwwelpeter (Shockheaded Peter), an illustrated German children’s book by heinrich hoffman. Published in 1845, it was written to encourage proper behaviour.
highlights include a girl who plays with matches and incinerates herself and a boy who sucks his thumbs and is attacked by a tailor with giant scissors.
I read it as a grown-up and it took weeks to shake the images out of my dreams.
George Lachine, Westerham, Kent. IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT. You can also email them to charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection will be published, but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.