King George VI pinned a Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry, on the chest of Sepoy Kamal Ram.
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Italy today to participate in the G7 Summit. This is the Prime Minister's first foreign visit after taking charge for the third term.
India is not part of the G7 group but has been invited to the summit. Her participation is important as the 'voice of the Global South', a term that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has repeated in the past. During World War II, Indian soldiers played a major role in the Allied forces' campaign to liberate Italy from the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini and Nazi Germany.
During the Second World War, more than 50,000 Indian soldiers fought in Italy. Six of the twenty Victoria Crosses, Britain's highest award for gallantry, awarded to soldiers in the Italian theater of war were awarded to Indians.
The exploits of Sepoy Kamal Ram
The Allied invasion of Europe to liberate the occupied countries from the Nazis and Fascist Italy began in 1943. The D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944 marked the beginning of the liberation of France.
The British recruited young men into the Indian army to fight on some of the most hostile battlefields. Young Kamal Ram, who would have been 18 years old, volunteered and joined the 8th Punjab Regiment of the British Indian Army.
A portrait of Sepoy Kamal Ram with the Imperial War Museum
Photo credit: Image: IWM (Art. IWM ART LD 4516)
The Orbat or Order of Battle was that the 4th, 8th and 10th Infantry Divisions would be deployed to liberate Italy. Kamal Ram's regiment was part of the 8th Infantry Division.
The Germans and Italians had built several fortifications called the Gustav Line, which ran from the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west to the Adriatic Sea in the east. The 8th Infantry Division arrived in Italy via Syria in September 1943. Young Indians, as young as 18 and some as young as 16, from Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities volunteered to fight.
The fight
On May 12, 1944, the 8th Punjab Regiment attacked the Gustav Line. Just after crossing the Gari River, his company was surrounded in the front and flanks by four German machine gun positions. Securing the post was crucial to defending a beachhead. The company commander asked for volunteers to secure the post by surrounding the enemy from the right. Sepoy Kamal Ram, 19, said yes.
He crawled through the barbed wire and attacked the enemy position from a flank. He killed a German soldier, silencing the machine gun. When another German tried to grab his weapon in a close fight, Kamal Ram killed him with his bayonet at the gun. A German officer, to Sepoy Ram's surprise, emerged from the trenches and shot him dead.
He advanced to the second machine gun position, which was holding up the company's advance. He threw grenades and silenced the enemy guns, after which the remaining enemy surrendered. He went forward to assist a company of Havildar who were attacking the third gun position and providing cover for the destruction of the post. He single-handedly took control of two machine gun positions and assisted in the third. The show of courage was crucial in securing the beachhead and building two bridges to allow the incoming forces to cross the river.
Later, as a platoon moved forward, Germans hiding in a house fired at the incoming troops. Sepoy Kamal Ram stormed the house, killed a German and captured two more.
For his services, King George VI pinned a Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry, on the chest of Sepoy Kamal Ram on May 27, 1944 in Italy. He was the second youngest Indian to receive the Victoria Cross.
Notice in the Government Gazette archived by 'The National Archives', Kew, UK
Sepoy Kamal Ram continued to serve in the 8th Punjab Regiment until it was transferred and merged with the Baloch Regiment of the Pakistan Army after independence. He served in the Indian Army after independence and was given the rank of honorary lieutenant. He died on July 1, 1982 in Bholupura, Rajasthan.
Italy honors India's contribution
Last year, Italy honored the contribution of the Indian Army during the Second World War. Italian military historians unveiled the Naik Yashwant Ghadge, VC, Sundial Memorial, in Montone (Perugia, Italy). Naik Ghadge was killed during the campaign in the Upper Tiber Valley of Italy.
Ambassador and Mayor of Montone inaugurated the Yeshwant Ghadge Memorial to commemorate the gallantry and sacrifice of Indian soldiers during the Italian campaign. The monument marked the beginning of a special relationship between 🇮🇳 and 🇮🇹, forged on the battlefields of Montone. @MEAIndia@adgpipic.twitter.com/JAV1vQvu0V
— India in Italy (@IndiainItaly) July 22, 2023
Six soldiers of the British Indian Army received the Victoria Cross in Italy:
- Naik Yashwant Ghadge – 3rd Battalion, 5th Maratha Light Infantry (posthumous)
- Sepoy Kamal Ram – 3rd Battalion, 8th Punjab Regiment
- Rifleman Thaman Gurung – 1st Battalion, 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (posthumous)
- Sepoy Ali Haider – 6th Royal Battalion (Scinde) 13th Frontier Force Rifles
- Sepoy Namdeo Jadhav – 1st Battalion, 5th Maratha Light Infantry
- Rifleman Sherbahadur Thapa – 1st Battalion, 9 Gurkha Rifles (posthumous)
More than 50,000 Indian Army soldiers from the 4th, 8th and 10th Divisions fought in Italy. Indian soldiers suffered 23,722 casualties, of which 5,782 were killed. They are commemorated on 40 Commonwealth war graves, spread throughout Italy.
