At Guyra’s Anzac Parade and ceremony a number of you may have noticed that we had a Pakistani gentleman and his family marching and holding Pakistan’s flag.
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The family is one of Black Mountain’s newest residents in that Zahoor and Najjia Ahmed are the owners of the Black Mountain Roadhouse.
Zahoor is a retired Pakistan Army Brigadier and I’m sure that there are a number of your readers possibly wondering what involvement the British Indian Army played in the landing at Gallipoli and subsequent battles in France and elsewhere.
On 25 April 1915, the 7th Indian Mountain Artillery Brigade, comprising 26th Jacob’s Mountain Battery and the 21st Kohat Mountain Battery [both now Pakistan Army], landed at Gallipoli at 6.30am and weren’t evacuated until 20 December 1915.
So elements of the now Pakistan Army were at Gallipoli for the full time that the Anzacs were there. Other British Indian Army members served at different locations in the Gallipoli Peninsula.
The other component that is now Pakistan army was 89 Punjabis, who joined the battlefield of Gallipoli on 1st May and were ordered to reach France via Egypt after a short while, during which the battalion suffered over 100 casualties on this front. This is now the 1st Battalion of Baloch Regiment of Pakistan army.
Overall in WW1, over 1.3 million members of the British Indian Army served with distinction and 12 VCs were awarded to that Army; these being made up of three Christians, one Hindu, three Muslims, two Nepali Gurkhas and three Sikhs. Unfortunately, 74,187 Indians were killed in WW1 and 67,000 wounded.
A fascinating bit of information is that the Indian Mule Transport consisted of 1,086 mules of which 858 were killed or wounded. Maybe Simpson’s “donkey” was one of these.
To feed these animals 10,000 tons of hay, barley and maize were carried from India and so one could ask the question: what did our Light Horse consume whilst in Egypt?
All countries making up the British Empire, as it was once called, as well as other allies fought together in the war and that is one reason why in Anzac marches all around Australia we have people from many different countries and cultures.
Guyra was blessed to have such a wonderful turnout at Guyra Anzac Day and for the inclusion of a representative of the original British Indian Army.
Alan St Clair
