PROGRAMME 4: Monday 20th September

HITLER'S INDIAN ARMY



View Hitler's Indian army image gallery

Listen to the Hitler's Indian army programme

Read Listener's comments

Erum Waheed
This topic has been covered before in Carlos Caballero Jurado's 'Foriegn Volunteers of the Wehrmacht 1939-45' published by Osprey in 1983. Furthermore, in both Purnell's or Orbis's histories of the Second World War are references to the legion (initially known as Indisches Inf Regt 950 , later a panzergrenadier (motorised) unit) including a photo of an inspection of the Indian troops by Rommel himself ! Jurado also details a 'Free Arab legion' fighting alongside the Afrikakorps. Part of this legion was a unit that was initially raised to support the 1941 Iraq insurgency, an element of which went to southern europe on security duties. Other nationalities - French, Belgians, Spanish, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Croatians, Slovaks, Russians, Cossacks, Armenians, Turkmens, Georgians,etc all contributed larger amounts of personnel to fight with the German armies (which already incorporated the Austrians) although some of these European volunteers were quite prepared to assist in the Nazi extermination of Gypsies, Jews, homosexuals, pacifists, socialists and other victims of the Nazis

a singh
thats an indian politician for you. bose went there and the indians joined his cause, then he gets up and leaves in secret. got to feel sorry for these guys who placed so much faith in him. all indian politicians are the same, they are worse than our former masters, sad but true. a kumar

Joan Mazumdar.
Prem Singh is of course justified in reminding people of the behaviour of my countrymen when India was dominated by Britain. In the context of the Bose programme it would have been incorrect not to have referred to the Indian soldiers' behaviour when retreating. There were French nationals involved, and they have memories too. I speak as one with a French son-in-law and grand children. What did surprise me coming out of the programme was the desertion of these Indian Legion soldiers by Bose who were left unaware of his departure.

Elfriede
Das ist doch alles scheisse, blödes englisch

Sanjay singh
This program is marvelous and must listen by every Indian.

Amit Shah
All garbage comments to give bad name to India

Kishore Ravuri
Locally, it was known that Bose was in Germany, meeting Hitler, since he was the enemy´s enemy! But Subash Bose´s motives are considered patriotic through out the country. Its however shocking to know and see Indians in Nazi army and uniform. Their unpopular deeds add to this ugly image too.

Prem Singh
"The enemy of an enemy is a friend" It is by this old adage that Subhash Bose recruited the help of any industrialized country that would be willing to help him free India. England was India's oppressor and no amount of mollycoddling will change that fact. He was not aware of the brutal practices of the Germans or Stalin or the Japanese when he asked for their help. The German people and Japanese people themselves claim they did not know what their own government was doing right in front of their eyes. Subhash Bose was a patriot, who was tired of the double talk and narrow minded fundamentalism of the Congress. He left the Congress after having served as president and decided to launch an armed struggle to gain India's freedom. If India won freedom his way, India would have been saved from the incompetent and destructive rule of the congress. The soldiers who served under Subhash Bose are heroes who wanted to liberate their motherland from foreign yoke. Rape can never be condoned, but what were Indian soldiers doing in North Africa and Europe in the first place? It is yet another example of England exploiting colonial subjects in its own designs. Now can we have an article on British barbarity in India when British troops raped women and blew old men from the mouths of cannons? Prem Singh USA

Angela Bird
Unfortunately I missed the programme. Last week I was visiting the Etaples war cemetery near Le Touquet, northern France. I was surprised (and rather moved) to find some German headstones in two side areas of the vast cemetery. They were similar in size to the Allied headstones, but slightly differently shaped along the top. Among these, and with the same shape of stone as the Germans', were several Indian graves. I was puzzled as to why they should be among the *German* graves rather than those of the Allies - but perhaps this programme would have explained all?