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Old 03-15-2011, 11:37 AM
 
Location: On the periphery
200 posts, read 508,912 times
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Two and half million Indian troops are said to have served in the British army in WWII. At least six thousand died in Italy and many were wounded in fierce fighting, such as at Cassino. Would it be fair to say that compared to other theaters of WWII, there seems to be scant coverage of their service?
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Old 03-15-2011, 11:52 AM
 
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I personally think there is scant coverage, especially in the U.S. of dominion/commonwealth troops actiosn and service throughout the war. The one exception is generally Canadian troops, with Indian troops being the least represented.
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Old 03-15-2011, 12:04 PM
 
Location: The Port City is rising.
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If you go by the most popular works of pop culture, this one sikh engineer won the entire war in Tuscany by clearing mines and falling in love with a tall canadian nurse.

In general, the war in italy doesnt get much coverage in US culture (except for Patton slapping a guy), even the part of the campaign before June 1944, and the latter part of the Italian campaign might as well not exist (other than Mussolini being hung). The book Amazon.com: The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (Volume Two of The Liberation Trilogy) (9780805062892): Rick Atkinson: Books the second book in atkinsons liberation trilogy, was pretty good, and semi popular. It gave lots of coverage to the brits, dont remember too much about the Indians.
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Old 03-15-2011, 04:11 PM
 
Location: Wheaton, Illinois
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The serious books I've read on the Italian campaign have mentioned the soldiers of the Raj; at least so far as I'm well aware they were deeply involved at times.
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Old 03-15-2011, 06:10 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
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There were also Polish units that we don't hear much about. As for the Indians, they were a big part of General Slim's British forces that fought on a large scale in Burma. Americans tend to ignore the whole Burma campaign. I would like to add an excellent and interesting personal memoir which treats the Italian campaign at some length (although through the author's own lens - it is not a history of that campaign): Command Missions by Lucian Truscott. Truscott commanded the 3rd Infantry Division in Sicily and then on the Italian mainland. He was promoted to corps commander during the Anzio beachhead, and towards the end of the war was promoted to Army commander. Truscott is one of the lesser known among top generals, as he was neither a publicity hound like Mark Clark nor as personally flamboyant as Patton.
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Old 03-15-2011, 06:46 PM
 
Location: Wheaton, Illinois
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Didn't Truscott have an affair with Clair Booth Luce?
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Old 03-15-2011, 09:56 PM
 
Location: Atlanta, GA
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I've heard that they were involved in the battle for Monte Cassino. Beyond that though, I haven't heard much else about them.
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Old 03-15-2011, 09:59 PM
 
Location: Atlanta, GA
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Oops sorry I see that the OP already mentioned Cassino. Is the "Indian 4th Infantry Division" the group you're referring to?
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Old 03-17-2011, 09:17 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishtom29 View Post
Didn't Truscott have an affair with Clair Booth Luce?
Wasn't that Patton? I'm not sure and you may be right.
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Old 03-17-2011, 11:33 AM
 
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Their stealthy attacks on German and italian troops at night with Kukri's are legendary.
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