Lt Col Dilbag Singh Dabas’s ‘Victoria Cross: The Indian Army Winners’ is a chronicle of bravehearts we forgot

THE Victoria Cross (VC) was instituted by the British in 1856 as the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy, but it was only in 1911 that the right to receive the VC was extended to Indian native soldiers. Till then, the Indian Order of Merit (IOM) was the highest decoration for gallantry that could be awarded to Indian soldiers, though extremely high standards were set for it.

The history of the VC is made more interesting by the fact that, while Indian natives were then not eligible for this award, the highest number of VCs awarded in a single day — 24 — was on Indian soil in 1857 at Lucknow, during what we call the First War of Independence and the British refer to as the Sepoy Mutiny. All awardees were British.

The story of Indian VCs began on October 31, 1914, at Hollebeke in Belgium. Sepoy Khudadad Khan from the 129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis in Undivided India was in the machine gun section of his battalion and was working one of the two guns. The British officer in-charge of the detachment had been wounded and the other gun was put out of action by a shell. Sepoy Khudadad, although wounded, continued working his gun even after all the other five men of the detachment had been killed. He was left by the enemy for dead. He later managed to crawl out and rejoined his unit. At 26, Khudadad, who later rose to the rank of Subedar, became the first native-born Indian to win the medal.

Of the 1,363 VCs awarded so far, 40 recipients are ethnic South Asians, both officers and men, who served in the erstwhile British Indian Army during the pre-Independence era and fought in World War-I and World War-II. This era came to an end when the last surviving Indian VC recipient, Hony Capt Umrao Singh, passed away at his home in Haryana in November 2005, at the age of 86.

In his book, Lt Col Dilbag Singh Dabas, a veteran Gunner, chronicles the saga of valour and provides a detailed narrative of each of the 40 recipients, supported by a plethora of photographs, maps and anecdotes, so as to present a vivid picture of the battles and times of yore that still have a historical and military relevance.

In his own words, the author felt the need to pen down this book as very little has been written about the Indian VCs, perhaps on the pretext that they had fought for a colonial power and in foreign lands. He viewed this as disrespect of the 40 ‘bravest of the brave’, as gallantry is not measured by the yardstick of ethnicity, race, colour, region or country, but is an act of courage by the human spirit for a cause loftier than one’s own life. For the soldier, it is always Naam, Namak, Nishan and Izzat and bravery is bravery, no matter what the circumstances.

Going beyond the individual acts of gallantry and sacrifice mentioned in official citations, the author also gives the historical context of the institution of the medal and details of the first award ceremony held at Hyde Park in London in June 1857. An illustration of the ceremony, along with a photograph of the names of Indian recipients inscribed at the Park’s Menin Gate, features in the book.

An overview of the two World Wars, along with the Orders of Battle in different theatres, adds to the historical perspective in which the recipients went to war and were decorated for their actions.

In the end, there is a compilation of some unknown facts about the Victoria Cross itself, details about the Indian VC recipients, including their personal details, precedences, incidents and some obscure facts and figures.