Dunkirk

Often overlooked as a contributor, Commonwealth soldiers were very much involved in the landings and battles at Dunkirk.

Noor Khan

Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan GC, served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by Nazi Germany.

Her codename was Madeleine she was the first female wireless operator to be sent into occupied France to aid the French Resistance during the Second World War. She was betrayed, captured, and executed at Dachau concentration camp. For her service she was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian decoration for gallantry in the United Kingdom.

Animations

by Cole Morris

Épinal Escape

A German POW camp in France housed thousands of Indian soldiers - from which the most successful escape of WWII occurred.

Tank Battle

The Indian Army defeated the Italians in Abyssinia (East Africa) and played a crucial role in containing Erwin Rommel’s Panzer Army in Egypt–Libya in 1941–2.

Gurkha Training

“If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or a Gurkha”

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw (Sam Banhadur)

“Doko Race”. On Bhalalm Hill they load a “Doko with 25kg, this bamboo basket is strapped to their heads before they race uphill for 5km. A set of steep steps marks the highway point, if you don’t finish in under 48minutes you cannot be a Gurkha. Over 130,000 Gurkhas served around the world during WW2

Rani of Jahnsi

Rani of Jhansi was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857

A British officer once said. “she possessed the genius, the daring, the despair necessary for the conception of great deeds"