The Indian Army in WW1 - Forgotten Heroes

Things that interest me:

When the first Indian Soldiers arrived in Marseilles, France, September, 1914, the Germans protested: It was against the Geneva Conventions to have "barbarians" fight in a war amongst "civilized" nations.

Brighton, sometimes called Dr. Brighton, was the hospital set up for wounded Indian Soldiers.

1.5 Million Indians served ... as is almost always the case, the Indian Army, and subsequent 

recruitment to fill the increasing number of vacancies and growing need for soldiers, was very much an army of the poor, the unemployed and the hungry.With some remarkable exceptions relied upon by the British - the use of traditional warring cultures for whom war is a most honorable way of life (like America's South?) - from India's northwest, now Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as Sikhs and Nepalese.

For GB, one in six of its soldiers were Indian. By and large, they were treated well, with allowances for food and religion, though like all the soldiers, conditions were terrible, and more died from disease than battle.

Indian Soldiers fought in all the theaters of War: the Western Front, Palestine, Mesopotamia and East Africa.

Thanks to the BBC Series on WW1 Podcast - http://www.bbc.com/ww1

Suffering and the Task of Peace-Making

Doing some digging about a part of the world that suffered mightily during WW1, yet of this time and place, we know little, what with our focus on the Western Front.

Th attached report about "refugees choking Serbian roads" and their "only food" being dead horses is a snippet of human history, but it makes me wonder about the nature of life - which seems to be mostly war and suffering interrupted by brief moments of calm and rest.

Serbian refugees arriving at Salonika Christmas morning.

Please note the brief note that follows the refugee report, about the suicide rate ...  with older workers being replaced by younger.

I think I'm clear - the task of peace is never-ending, and the drive to war is enormous. Though we decry its violence, we apparently can't help ourselves, as we plunge wildly into one conflict after another.

So press on dear friends ... the cries of the suffering are never-ending, nor are the ways of the wicked who find profit in the bloodshed and suffering.

Keep on learning and keep on agitating ... don't give up the fight for justice and peace ... keep telling the horrible truth ... and while enjoying the delights of life, keep an eye on the larger world and its needs.

Every prayer offered,
every article read,
every petition signed,
every note written,
every book read,
every cup of coffee with a friend on such matters,
every step taken in a picket line,
every effort of solidarity with the poor,
every protest against the vanities of wealth,
every tear shed for the horror of it all,
every moment of righteous indignation,
every promise made to make this a better world,
every vow taken - it all counts.

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1915-11-29/ed-1/seq-3/