# data[].attributes.body
Written by the Remaking Britain team. First published December 2025.

# data[].attributes.body
With the outbreak of the Second World War (1939–1945), the Indian Army was called on to support Britain in its war effort and the fight against fascism. Some 2.5 million men fought with the Allied forces including in Northern Africa, the Middle East, France and Southeast Asia. South Asian mariners working on merchant ships played a key role in keeping vital supply lines open. India provided vital raw materials and manpower at huge cost to the country. A resident South Asian community in Britain, especially in London, played key roles in Civil Defence and Air Raid Precautions, as nurses and fire fighters on the Home Front, and worked in factories producing weapons. Indian fighter and bomber pilots answered to call to fly with the Royal Air Force. The many awards for bravery, as well as the war graves and memorials on the battlefields, are testimony to their key role in helping Britain succeed. However, their vital role in the war has not received wider public attention in national commemorations in Britain and South Asia.

Force K6

Force K6, also known as the Indian Contingent during their time in Britain in the 1940s, comprised four animal transport units of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps and formed part of the British Expeditionary Force. In December 1939 they became t the first Indian troops to be deployed during the Second World War and saw fighting in northern France. The majority of the men were Muslim and from Punjab. Dispersed across France, they had to retreat alongside British troops to the French coast, where they were evacuated, including at Dunkirk on 23 May as part of Operation Dynamo. They were subsequently posted across Britain, including in Cornwall, Derbyshire, Wales and Scotland, deployed to shore up Britain’s sea defences. They also provided training for soldiers in mule and horse handling in warfare.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Held by Imperial War Museum. Shelfmark: IWM (F 2676).

# data[].attributes.headline
Photograph of Force K6 muleteers and mule wearing gas masks in France, February 1940

# data[].attributes.subject
Photograph of Force K6 muleteers and mule wearing gas masks in France, February 1940

# data[].attributes.body
IWM Non-Commercial Licence.

Find out more about this source

# data[].attributes.body
After an initial deployment of 300 men, by mid-1942 their numbers had risen to some 3,400. They became a major part of press and publicity campaigns in Britain to highlight the support of Britain’s Empire in the war effort. The Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking was designated their official leave centre in 1941, providing a space to rest and recuperate, and the Indian Comforts Fund hosted leave parties on their visits to London. The majority of Force K6 left Britain for India in January 1944.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Held by Imperial War Museum. Shelfmark: IWM (D 5154).

# data[].attributes.headline
Photograph of a soldier, probably of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, outside Woking Mosque on Eid al-Fitr, c. 1939-45

# data[].attributes.subject
Photograph of a soldier, probably of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, outside Woking Mosque on Eid al-Fitr, c. 1939-45

# data[].attributes.body
IWM Non-Commercial Licence.

Find out more about this source

# data[].attributes.body
Indian Comforts Fund

Founded in December 1939, the Indian Comforts Fund was based at India House, Aldwych. Today the building continues to house the Indian High Commission. Run by British and Indian women, the Fund offered humanitarian relief and functioned as a welfare organisation looking after Indian soldiers stationed in Britain. It was also responsible for all South Asian Prisoners of War (PoWs) in Europe, having been officially designated as next-of-kin for all Indian PoWs and civilians interned in Europe. This was unusual insofar as British soldiers had their partner or a parent listed as next-of-kin. They worked in close collaboration with the Indian Red Cross and St John’s Ambulance Service. The Fund supplied some 1.7 million next-of-kin parcels between 1939 and 1945, including clothing, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors and shaving soap, washing soap, pencils, combs and bootlaces, among other items. Using a calorific conversion table for all food parcels, the Fund coordinated their packing, including staples like dhal, curry powder, ghee, atta and rice. These would be shipped to the International Red Cross which would then distribute them to internment camps across Europe.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Held by British Library. Shelfmark: ORW.1986.a.189. Public Domain

# data[].attributes.headline
Photographic collage of the packing centre for the Indian Comforts Fund, published 1946

# data[].attributes.subject
Photographic collage of the packing centre for the Indian Comforts Fund, published 1946

# data[].attributes.body
Find out more about this source

# data[].attributes.body
The Indian Comforts Fund also played an important role for the large number of South Asian seafarers working on British merchant vessels. Their work kept key supply lines open during the war. Many mariners found themselves stranded in Britain for long periods of time. The Fund provided warm clothes and funding for better facilities and entertainment at lodging houses. At the height of their activities, the Fund provided wool to some 100,000 knitters to create warm clothing.

# data[].attributes.body
Civil Defence and Air Raid Precautions

Many South Asian residents in Britain joined the war effort in 1939 and were part of initiatives for Civil Defence and Air Raid Precautions. One such example was the Auxiliary Ambulance Station 50 (Indian Section), first established on Nash Street and later moving to Augustus Street, in St Pancras, now part of Camden, London. It was set up on the initiative of Dorai Ross, an entrepreneur and rubber plantation owner. Many South Asian men and women in Britain, including those who supported pressure groups for Indian Independence, such as the India League Secretary, V K Krishna Menon (1896–1974) and Doctor and Mayor of Finsbury C L Katial (1898–1978) responded to the call for volunteers. Katial worked as a Civil Defence Medical Officer and chaired the Air Raid Precautions Medical Service and Food Control Committee. He also provided training in first aid for the St John Ambulance Brigade. For his services to the borough, he was made a Freeman of Finsbury in 1948.

While officially, the work of South Asians on the Home Front featured in publicity material to highlight the Empire’s support for Britain’s war effort, India Office Records reveal another story. In autumn 1939 the MP Reginald Sorensen raised a question in the House of Commons about incidents where South Asians had been dismissed from Air Raid Precautions stations. R Singh, of Upper Berkley Street, in an angry letter to the Medical Officer of Health stated that ‘barring Indians for no other obvious reason than that of colour, does not show much for the so called lip service and self advertisement of the Unity of the British Empire’ (L/PJ/7/2884). On 6 October 1939 the India Office also received an angry letter about Indian ambulance workers being dismissed from Ambulance Station 50, alleging discrimination. There was anxiety by the authorities about the loyalty of some working at the station and their anti-colonial sentiments, as part of pressure groups like the India League.

While most of Station 50’s workers were of South Asian heritage, it also included white British, South African, Burmese and Caribbean volunteers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Held by British Library. Shelfmark: SW.107. Public Domain

# data[].attributes.headline
Photograph of wardens from Auxiliary Ambulance Station 50, 1941

# data[].attributes.subject
Photograph of wardens from Auxiliary Ambulance Station 50, 1941

# data[].attributes.body
Find out more about this source

# data[].attributes.body
Bevin Trainee Scheme

The Bevin Trainee Scheme was an initiative to deliver technical and engineering training to Indian men to support Britain’s war effort, especially in relation to the manufacturing of weapons. It was established by the Ministry of Labour and named after the then-minister in charge. This was a high-profile scheme with much publicity. These young men, often from working-class backgrounds, stayed in Britain for periods of six to eight months. They undertook initial training at the Government Training Centre near Letchworth, and then received on-site training in ship building, the steel industry and tools and armaments factories. Though based across the UK, many stayed in the Midlands, part of Britain’s industrial heartland. Pressure groups like the India League and Indian Workers’ Association were especially interested in contacting the trainees, which caused concern among the India Office and authorities. The scheme continued until 1947 when India gained independence. From 1941–47, some 900 trainees joined the scheme.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Held by British Library. Shelfmark: IOR/L/I/1/978. Public Domain

# data[].attributes.headline
Accounts of the Bevin Apprentices (Ambassadors of Good Will), 1944

# data[].attributes.subject
Accounts of the Bevin Apprentices (Ambassadors of Good Will), 1944

# data[].attributes.body
Find out more about this source

# data[].attributes.body
Noor Inayat Khan

Noor Inayat Khan (1914–1944) was the daughter of Inayat Khan, musician and founder of the Sufi order in Europe. After joining the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in 1940, she was chosen to train in wireless operation. In 1942, she was recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret organisation sabotaging the German war machine. She was one of the first female wireless operators infiltrated into occupied France. On arrival she found that her unit had already been betrayed. As the last remaining wireless operator in France, she continued to transmit messages to London. In 1943, the Gestapo captured her. Although tortured, she refused to reveal any information. She was executed in 1944, at Dachau concentration camp. She was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre with Gold Star by the French Republic and in 1949 the George Cross by the British Government. In 2012, a permanent memorial to her was unveiled in Gordon Square, London, near where she used to live.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Held by Imperial War Museum. Shelfmark: IWM (HU 74868).

# data[].attributes.body
IWM Non-Commercial Licence.

Find out more about this source

# data[].attributes.headline
Plaque for the the Women’s Transport Service (F.A.N.Y.), acknowledging Noor Inayat Khan

# data[].attributes.subject
Plaque for the the Women’s Transport Service (F.A.N.Y.), acknowledging Noor Inayat Khan

# data[].attributes.body
Find out more about this source

# data[].attributes.body
South Asian pilots flying with the RAF

When the RAF advertised to cover the shortage in qualified pilots, 24 South Asians answered Britain’s call. 18 successfully passed their training and flew missions in Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancaster bombers across the English Channel. Among them was fighter pilot Mahinder Singh Pujji (1918–2010), who served with both the RAF and Indian Air Force. He flew missions with squadrons 43 and 258 between 1940–41. He later flew missions in North Africa and Burma. In 1945 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Held by British Library. Shelfmark: SW.107. Public Domain

# data[].attributes.headline
Photograph of the first group of Indian pilots arriving in the UK, 1940

# data[].attributes.subject
Photograph of the first group of Indian pilots arriving in the UK, 1940

# data[].attributes.body
Find out more about this source

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Held by British Library. Shelfmark: SW.107. Public Domain

# data[].attributes.headline
‘On the A.I.R.: Mohindra Singh Pujji from Lahore’, Indian Information magazine, 15 July 1942

# data[].attributes.subject
‘On the A.I.R.: Mohindra Singh Pujji from Lahore’, Indian Information magazine, 15 July 1942

# data[].attributes.body
Find out more about this source

# data[].attributes.body
Indian independence and the fight against fascism

The situation for South Asians living in Britain and their support for the war effort differed. War, after all, had been declared on behalf of India, without consultation. Some resisted conscription into the British Army, but many who were part of pressure groups for Indian independence, like the India League, worked in Civil Defence. For example, its Secretary V K Krishna Menon contributed to the war effort as an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) warden – while wearing the tin hat, he refused to wear a uniform. South Asians resident in Britain campaigned for a wide range of issues for greater justice and equality. According to his biographer, T J S George, Menon saw in support of the war effort a dual approach, linking the fight for independence with the fight against fascism. As a Labour Councillor for the ward of St Pancras, Menon worked and campaigned at both local and international levels. Menon and the India League used the debate around the fight against fascism and for freedom to bolster the call for Indian self-determination.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Held by British Library. Shelfmark: T 50260. Public Domain

# data[].attributes.headline
Pamphlet about India against fascism, 1943

# data[].attributes.subject
Pamphlet about India against fascism, 1943

# data[].attributes.body
Find out more about this source

# data[].attributes.body
Conclusion

Without support from India and its other colonies, Britain would not have been able to succeed in its war effort. In the Second World War South Asians fought in all major theatres of war, but their role in the fight against fascism has often received little wider public attention and features only fleetingly in public commemorations. According to the booklet, India and the War: The Facts (IOR/L/MIL/17/5/4263), issued by the Information Department of the India Office in January 1946, India raised an army of some 2.5 million; 8 million worked in auxiliary roles; 5 million in war industries, and 1 million extra workers were recruited to work on the railways in India. By the end of August 1945, the India Office recorded 24,338 killed, 64,354 wounded, 11,754 missing, and 79,489 Prisoners-of-War. The Commonwealth War Grave Commission records 87,700 South Asian personnel who lost their lives in the conflict.

# data[].attributes.body
The text in this article is available under a Creative Commons License.

Credit: Remaking Britain team (Rehana Ahmed, Aleena Din, Sumita Mukherjee, Susheila Nasta, Maya Parmar, Florian Stadtler, Rozina Visram).

# data[].attributes.headline
Return to the South Asians in Britain homepage

# data[].attributes.subject
Return to the South Asians in Britain homepage