Six Indian WW1 warriors became part of Digital Archive of United Kingdom

Six Indian World War I (WW-I) heroes on 20 June 2016 became part of Britain’s new digital archive.
The archive was launched as part of UK government’s centenary celebrations of WW-I and aims to tell the inspiring stories of war heroes.

The new Digital Archive was launched by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to chronicle individual biographies of the war heroes. The new digital archive can be accessed through the UK government’s official gov.uk portal.

The Indians to be archived digitally for their important role during the War are:
• Risaldar Badlu Singh from Punjab
• Sepoy Chatta Singh from Uttar Pradesh
• Naik Darwan Singh Negi from Uttar Pradesh (modern day Uttarakhand)
• Lance Naik Lala from Himachal Pradesh
• Rifleman Gabar Sing Negi from modern day Uttarakhand
• Lance-Daffadar Gobind Singh from Rajasthan

These six Indian soldiers were part of some 175 men from 11 overseas countries who were awarded Britain’s award for valour, the Victoria Cross (VC), during the war. They were all awarded for their prominent bravery on the battlefield.

Earlier in 2014, these six soldiers were honoured in a commemorative plaque which was presented to India.

Besides India, the other 10 countries covered in the archive include Canada (70), Australia – (66), New Zealand (16), South Africa (14), the US (5), Pakistan (3), Nepal (2), Denmark (2), Belgium (1) and Ukraine (1).

Background
August 2014 marked 100 years of First World War, the time when Britain entered into the war. The ongoing commemoration programme was announced in October 2012 by Prime Minister David Cameron.