British lottery fund grants £ 450K for research into role of Sikh regiments in World War I

London, United Kingdom (October 23, 2013): It is learnt that a lottery fund in Britain has provided 450K British Pounds fund to an organization for conducting research into regimental histories of Sikh soldiers in the British Indian Army during World War I.

Sikh soldiers in Paris (1916) [File Photo]

As per news reports the United Kingdom Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA) has been given 450,000 pounds by the Heritage Lottery Fund, a body which distributes a share of its income from the national lottery to projects aimed at preserving and making accessible the nation’s heritage – to fund research into regimental histories, dispatches, correspondence and interviews with descendants of soldiers.

Though Sikhs made up only two per cent (2%) of the population of British India territory, they formed 20 per cent of the British Indian Army during colonial rule in Indian peninsula.

“Yet the role of Sikhs in World War I (WWI) is a largely unknown aspect of the Allied war effort and, indeed, of the British story,” a press release issued by the United Kingdom Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA) said.

The UKPHA has embarked on an ambitious and wide-ranging project on World War I to reveal these men’s untold stories.