Forgotten Army: India's Armed Struggle for Independence, 1942-45

by Peter Ward Fay

The last days of the Raj bring to mind Gandhi's nonviolence and Nehru's diplomacy. These associations obscure another that an army of Indian men and women tried to throw the British off the subcontinent. Now The Forgotten Army brings to life for the first time the story of how Subhas Chandra Bose, a charismatic Bengali, attempted to liberate India with an army of former British Indian soldiers - the Indian National Army (INA). The story begins with the British Indian Army fighting a heroic rearguard action against the invading Japanese down the Malaysian peninsula, loyally holding out until the fall of Singapore, and ends with many of these same soldiers defeated in their effort to invade India as allies of Japan. Peter Ward Fay intertwines powerful descriptions of military action with a unique knowledge of how the INA was formed and its role in the broader struggle for Indian independence. The author incorporates the personal reminiscences of Prem Sahgal, a senior officer in the INA, and Lakshmi Swaminadhan Sahgal, leader of its women's sections, to help the reader understand the motivations of those who took part. Their experiences offer an engagingly personal element to the political and military history. Subhas Chandra Bose created the INA from the imprisoned Indian soldiers in Singapore and set up a provisional government in exile, with himself at the head, and gained the support of Imperial Japan. His plan was to invade India from Burma and spark a full-scale rebellion. He failed. The INA was defeated at Imphal by Field Marshall Slim, swept back through Burma, and rounded up into British POW camps. In 1945 the British put selected INA members on trial at the Red Fort in Delhi. Until then, wartime censorship had concealed the very existence of the INA. The discovery created an uproar throughout India, which coincided with the revival at the end of the war of the drive for independence. The British confidence in their Indian Army was profoundly sha

Genres: India, History, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 15, 1994

About the author

Peter Ward Fay was a noted historian and authority on India and China. He was a professor at the California Institute of Technology from 1955 until his retirement in 1997.

Reviews

[Sam Marlowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Forgotten Army is about the last and the most vital chapter in India's struggle for independence, which much regrettably has become more like a lost chapter. Peter Ward Fay has meticulously reconstructed the rise, fall and glory of Azad Hind Fauj from a variety of sources and has tried to stay as much neutral as a historian can be. Still one cannot help noticing a pro-Indian tilt in his writing, which to a large extent is 'morally' right.

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Forgotten Army: India's Armed Struggle for Independence 1942-1945 by Peter Ward Fay- The Book is well researched history of struggle by Indian stawart Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to free India from the Brtish by forming an army with the help of Japan. Col Prem Kumar Sehgal and his wife Lt Lakshmi Sehgal gave detailed interviews about location wise war. During the Second World War, Japan had capatured about 70000 British Army as prisoners of war. First the Japanese handed about 45000 of them to Gen. Mohan Singh who formed India Independence League (IIL). The army was to work under the Japanese Army because the Indians wanted to be independently fighting unit. Because of this discontentment, In Nov 1942, Mohan Singh ordered the army to walk back to POW camps. Japs found that Subhas Chandra Bose a radical Indian National Congress leader now staying under exile in Berlin could be an acceptable leader to the IIL Bose travelled in a submarine and reached Tokyo on May 1943. He met Prime Minister of Japan Mr Tojo. On 4 July, 1943, Bose reached Singapore and took charge of IIL and Indian National Army. He met Lt Col M Z Kiani, Lt Col J R Bhonsle, Lt Col Shahnawaz Khan, Major P K Sehgal, Major Habib ur Rehman, Lt Col A C Chaterjee, Major A D Jahangir, and others and flaid the foundation of Indian National Army. A welcome ceremny was organised in Cathay Building where he invited Indian expatriates in south east Asia to join and provide financial assitance. INA began with about 12000 troops and increased to 18000. First DivisionSubhash Brigage was under Lt Col M Z Kiani. Second Gurilla Regiment Gandhi Brigade under Lt Col Inayat Kiani and Col Abdul Aziz Tajil , Third Azad Brigade under Col Gulzara Singh, 4th Nehru Brigade under Lt Col Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon. Training school was headed under Major Habib ur Rehman. A civil Azad school was formed for civil volunteers. 45 young men were sent for training to Japan Imperial Military trainiing academy. Female civilian volunteers from Malyasia and Burma formed the Rani Jhansi Brigade under Lakshmi Sehgal. Each batallion was composed of 5 companies of infantry. A motor transport was also created. In October, 1943 Bose declared the formation of Azad Hind Government named Arzi Hukumat e Hind Azad Hind. On 23 October, 1943, Arzi Hukumat declared war against Britain and USA. First war at Manipur Indian troops participated as independent troops helping the Japs. In move towards Imphal, the Army depended on food from locals and for arms from that were captured from British Army. Bose shifted to Rangoon Burma to supervise the war. Subhas Brigade under Col Shaukat Malik reached Mowdok in Chittagong. Jap and Indian first regiment crossed Chindwin river and Naga hills participated in an offensive at Tamu towards imphal and Kohima. Col Shahnawaj Khan's forces reached Tamu and were redirected to Kohima. After reaching Ukhrul near Kohima, they found that the Japs were withdrawing. Seige of Imphal was broken and monsoon started making withdrawl difficult in the absence of transport and food facility. During the withdrawl a weak Gandhi Brigade opposed the Martha Light Infantry at India Burma Road. Substantiala men and material was lost in withdrawl. During 1945, INA protected Burma frontier. Second Division defended Irrawady, Nangyu. During the battle of Meiktila and Mandalaya, Col Prem Sehgal defended the area of Mount Popa. In the effort to prepare for a strong offensive, INA had recrutied about 45000 soldiers and by the end the number reduced to 8000. They maintianed law and order in Rangoon when Col Longnathan surrendered at Rangoon. Netaji shifted location to Singapore. Bose made an epic retreat towards Bangkok on foot with his soldiers although Japs arranged for transport for him. Indian troops under Col M Z Kiani surrendered to the British Indian forces at Singapore. My Notes- It is fair description and it is a must read book for all to learn for future. The effect of INA trail at Red Fort was the independence movement is followed by Bombay Mutiny in Royal Indian Navy and assembly of Indians freedom which the British could not control well and hastened the end of Brtitish Rule. It is a class book and a must read for all.

[Mbuye · Rating 4 out of 5]

While all Indians venerate Subhas Chandra Bose as one of the country's great freedom fighters, the negative aspects of his association with Nazi Germany and the Japanese all but forgotten, not one Indian in ten can claim to know much about the Indian National Army.

Peter Fay's book goes to show how organised this parallel army really was, although the British Indian Army was the official army, the bodies of whose soldiers littered almost all the theatres of war, whether at Ypres or Mesopotamia. No official records of the INA remain. After the war (Japan surrendered a few months before the official end), the Indians who comprised the INA, whether officers or troops, if they came back to India, were summarily executed by the British. This history draws largely on the personal reminiscences of the children of the survivors. Given this drawback, it is a history of a truly forgotten army and the brave men who literally fought for Indian independence. It is another question entirely what would have happened had the Japanese won the war.

What does emerge is the betrayal of the Indian contingent of the British Indian Army by the British command in Singapore; how the Indian National Army was founded, and their eventual disillusionment with the Japanese, who despite their initial successes, were now struggling for survival themselves. Fay also brings out why the Mahatma and Subhas Chandra Bose took diametrically opposite views in their approach to the same objective. Also, certainly without meaning to, how the British practically drove Bose into the arms of Hitler and Mussolini.

An engrossing account of the rise and fading-out of the Indian National Army, very sympathetically studied and with understanding of Indian sensibilities and aspirations. Without deifying or even glorifying Netaji, Fay attempts a portrait of the INA that is both exceedingly brave, and sad.

[Teren Hanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a read!
A book that brings to life the story of how Subhas Chandra Bose, a charismatic Bengali who attempted to free India with an army of former British Indian soldiers, The Indian National Army. I would say, it is a very thought provoking and a well-crafted oral history with most comprehensive account.
I liked many things about Fay's book. Most importantly, he challenges many conventional wisdoms. One of them being that the INA was a tragedy in military terms. Fay does document the failure of the INA, but at the same time describes the successful Battle of Legyi in good amount of detail.
Fay also includes the personal recollections of Prem Saghal, a senior officer in the INA, and Lakshmi Swaminadhan, leader of its women's units, to help the reader understand the drive of those who took part. Their experiences offer an engagingly personal counterpoint to the political and military history.
I have been reading some of these pages again and again. This book should be read by anyone who wants to understand modern India.

[A.K. Kulshreshth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Forgotten Army is a detailed, research-based and still very readable account of the Indian National Army (INA). Fay, a Caltech history professor, ended up meeting INA veterans in Kanpur when he spent some time at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur. Through them, he first got to know there was such a thing as the INA.

The British and Indian establishments have created a web of deceit around Indian independence: the fairy tale is that some Indian leaders led a non-violent struggle against the British Empire--that was run by men who had Fair Play in their genes--culminating in a "transfer of power" in 1947. Most people outside India have not heard of the Indian National Army, and I can vouch that most Indians are not taught in school that a 1946 mutiny (following the "INA trials") in the Royal Indian Navy had much to do with Indian independence.

The Forgotten Army is one of the important works that challenges this propaganda. There are many things to like about Fay's book, if one approaches the topic with an open mind. Fay challenges many conventional wisdoms, one of them being that the INA was a complete disaster in military terms. Fay does document the failure of the INA, but also describes the successful Battle of Legyi in some detail.

He calmly discusses General Slim's and other British Army accounts of the Burma campaign and that clearly have lies inserted in them; but also points out that Shah Nawaz's accounts are no less fanciful.

Though this a bit of a spoiler, I have to say liked Fay's line about Generals winning more in book shops that they won on the battlefield.

In an interview available here, Fay says:

The INA was a problem of another sort: defeated, renegade armies leave few records, and if they do, the victor (here the British) will make no effort to preserve any. But I got what I could, interviewed some of the survivors, and managed, I think, to produce a narrative account that—with respect to the INA forming, in action, and in defeat—no on else Indian or otherwise has yet adequately managed. Nor will anyone else bother, I suspect. This is it.

That is the best summary of this work.