Читать книгу Hira Singh : when India came to fight in Flanders - Talbot Mundy - Страница 3

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I take leave to dedicate this book to Mr. Elmer Davis, through whose friendly offices I was led to track down the hero of these adventures and to find the true account of them even better than the daily paper promised.

Had Ranjoor Singh and his men been Muhammadans their accomplishment would have been sufficiently wonderful. For Sikhs to attempt what they carried through, even under such splendid leadership as Ranjoor Singh's, was to defy the very nth degree of odds. To have tried to tell the tale otherwise than in Hira Singh's own words would have been to varnish gold. Amid the echoes of the roar of the guns in Flanders, the world is inclined to overlook India's share in it all and the stout proud loyalty of Indian hearts. May this tribute to the gallant Indian gentlemen who came to fight our battles serve to remind its readers that they who give their best, and they who take, are one.

T. M.

One hundred Indian troops of the

British Army have arrived at Kabul,

Afghanistan, after a four months'

march from Constantinople. The men

were captured in Flanders by the

Germans and were sent to Turkey in the

hope that, being Mohammedans, they

might join the Turks. But they

remained loyal to Great Britain and

finally escaped, heading for Afghanistan.

They now intend to join their

regimental depot in India, so it

is reported.

New York Times, July, 1915