What is Oral History?
Creating an alternative view of history through personal testimony and story telling
Collecting, recording and archiving your stories for future generations
Sharing stories and experiences to create a new understanding of WW1
Bringing the community together to better understand the impact of war on communities around the world then and now
Creating an alternative view of history through personal testimony and story telling
Collecting, recording and archiving your stories for future generations
Sharing stories and experiences to create a new understanding of WW1
Bringing the community together to better understand the impact of war on communities around the world then and now
Manta Singh of the 2nd Sikh Royal Infantry
Do you have a story to tell?
If you have something you'd like to share then contact us:
Email: hikmatww1@outlook.com
Call Jess: 07779008856
Complete our short questionnaire below.
The questions are translated into: Hindi, Chinese, Urdu and Tahalog.
Once completed please email or hand it in at the Hikmat Office at St Sidwells.
- Did someone in your family fight alongside French & British soldiers?
- Do you have a relative who fought for the British Empire during WW1?
- Have you a story of fighting alongside soldiers from the different nations?
- Did the war impact on you or your family in some way?
- Have you already done some research on your family and the war?
- Are you interested in finding out about your heritage links to WW1?
If you have something you'd like to share then contact us:
Email: hikmatww1@outlook.com
Call Jess: 07779008856
Complete our short questionnaire below.
The questions are translated into: Hindi, Chinese, Urdu and Tahalog.
Once completed please email or hand it in at the Hikmat Office at St Sidwells.
Download our Hikmat Remembers Questionnaire
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Plymouth War Graves
In May 2016 members of the Hikmat community took a mini bus to the Plymouth's Efford Cemetry to pay a personal tribute to 8 young Chinese men who died en route from their home land of China to the battlefields of France's Western front during WW1.
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十九
我們來為的是国家及榮光之日 戰爭的光在我们眼內 認得勇气 那些年幼或無知的人 現在離開家園已有一百年 簡單的墓碑能講故事 在外国田地的一个角落 在這處還等着榮耀 The final verse of Valerie Bloom's Poem 'Nineteen' was read at the cemetery in memory of the Chinese Labour Corps men that are buried there. 'Here, a hundred years from home, A simple headstone tells our story, In the corner of this foreign field, Where we're waiting still, for glory.' |
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Reflecting on their visit to the Graves that Day
“I noticed that just as we were leaving the graveyards the sun came out and everyone was smiling.” “A very sad and poignant trip. Up until now as a human race we still haven’t learnt about the true impact of war.” “There was a South African Native Labour Corps grave in the churchyard - I will go and find out more about these Labour Corps from SA.” “I didn’t know about the Chinese supporting the war before this project.” “I paid my respect from the path (of the graveyard), it is disrespectful to walk on the grass and graves.” “It’s a sad story. I think they should send the men back to their country to be buried. Why bury them here?” “I was shocked at how neat and tidy the graves were, the stone was so new.” “I was surprised how many flowers were on the graves.” “Very sad, even though we didn’t know them or what they had to go through. It was such a powerful poem (read by Kit).” “A feeling of sadness because they had to leave home just for some work and money and ended up giving their lives.” I felt blank. I’m sad but where do I start? Speechless.” “They were just normal people (like you and me) and we find 100 years later these lovely stones with their names on.” "We felt the English had really looked after the graves so thank you to the British government for doing this for the CLC.” “Feeling upset about these men coming alone to this country with no one to visit their graves until today.” “The Chinese believe in an afterlife, some believe you are reborn. If the spirit of these men is still there (at the grave yards) our offering of tea and flowers will have made them really happy today. So thank you very much for allowing us to come on this trip.” |
Your Stories
Punjabi Recruitment Poster WW1
Musarat and her father Rasheed in a Hikmat workshop
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The Untold Story of an Indian Muslim Soldier
Musarat lives in Exeter with her husband Asif and works for Hikmat supporting its members and co-ordinating its various community based projects. During the funding application for this project she discovered her grandfather had fought on the Western front in WW1. Her father Rasheed lives in Pakistan and in 2015 we interviewed him over skype. . His father Mohammad Sahfie was born at the turn of the 20th century, into a farming community in the Rajouri district of Kashmir, India. Mohammad described his role within the British Army as 'the most difficult job he had done.' The Story of a Young Recruit The British Army desperate for more men to fight the war looks to India to help. Rasheed’s father Mohammad could recall a time when nobody was voluntarily going into the army, young Indian men had become terrified of fighting and of joining up. In response the British sent recruitment agents out onto the streets of India. Money and sweets were used to persuade young men, husbands and fathers to join up. Rasheed recalls how his father Mohammad was recruited into the British Army along with 3 other boys as a young teenager. Sent by his parents one morning to get wheat from their farm ground down to flour he failed to return home. The distressed mothers of the boys later discovered the young men had been picked up by British Army Agents and taken to a training camp in Bangladesh near Dacca. There was nothing the mothers could do. “It wasn’t a choice it was a form of kidnapping” Rasheed tells us. CLICK HERE for an audio recording of Rasheed recalling, in Urdu, his father's story of being recruited into the British Army. Musarat has interpreted the story into English. CLICK HERE to hear Musarat reading a Punjabi propaganda song used to entice men to sign up into the British Army. |
WW1 Indian Hero Inspires Play
Playwright Ishy Din above left. WW1 soldier Khudadad Khan above right.
Above soldiers from WW1 in January 2015
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Playwright Ishy Din (left) pays tribute to Khudadad Khan (right), the first Muslim soldier to receive a Victoria Cross.
Khudadad Khan was from a village in a rural area of northwest India, now Pakistan. He was a Muslim sepoy in the 129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis, one of the south Asian soldiers to fight alongside the British during the First World War. When Leicester's Curve Theatre asked Din to write a play about these men, to highlight their sometimes overlooked contribution, he confessed he didn't know much about the Indians who fought in the Great War. There are some incredible stories of bravery and sacrifice but it was Khudadad's that resonated most strongly with Din, perhaps because he was the first to be awarded the VC, he was also from the same part of the world as his parents. He visited Khan's village and spoke to some of his family members. To hear more about Din's play and Khan's story click here: The Telegraph - The indian WW1 hero Who Inspired my New Play |
Letter to an Unknown Soldier
LETTER TO AN UNKNOWN SOLDIERRead the letter sent in by Kenyan born writer and poet Azmeena Ladha:
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On Platform One of Paddington Station in London, there is a statue of an unknown soldier; he’s reading a letter. On the hundredth anniversary of the declaration of war – this project asked the public the question: "If you were able to send a personal message to this soldier, a man who served and was killed during World War One, what would you write?". The response was extraordinary, they received more than 21,000 letters all together. All the letters and more can be viewed on the project website. Using the search boxes, you can also look through the archive for letters by specific people, by location, by theme, or by keywords. Go to: https://www.1418now.org.uk/letter/ |
Listen to Stories Online
BBC Radio 4 - Soldiers of the Empire: Recruitment & Resistance |
A fascinating look at why a nation would join a war that wasn't there own.
The motives, incitements and pressures to support, sign up and recruit 900,000 men from across India. A look at the 'martial races' an idea that was part colonial strategy and part indigenous tradition. Discover why 190,000 men (muslims, sikhs and hindus) were recruited from the Punjab regions alone. How in 1919 a rain of terror saw poor fathers handing over their sons for money and mothers desperate to save their children turned their protests into songs that still exist today. Learn about colonial revolutionary politics and why a fear of the Bengali Nationalists meant they were not allowed to fight but ended up contribution in different ways as doctors and translators. Santanu Das an Indian academic and author well known for his work on the First World War tells the story of how one and half million Indian men were recruited from villages and towns of British India to serve the Empire in WW1. Click here to hear the stories. |
Questionnaires 2015
Workers recruited in Weihei
British Empire Recruitment Poster
Troops that served from around the World
Remembrance Poppy
If you would like to contribute to our Hikmat questionnaire please download a copy here and email to:
jesshuffman@hotmail.co.uk or Hand it to Musarat or Ella at Exeter's St Sidwell Office.
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How did the war Impact on you and your family?
“I come from military background in India. 2 family members on my father’s side fought and died on the Western front but we don’t know much about them as their legacy died with them.” JA “My mother was separated from her family in China and is now settled in Hong Kong. I never met my grandfather who died in the war.” JN “Not so much an impact on my family but the nation.” KA What do you find interesting about World War1? “I wonder if the Chinese had a choice to work for the English or French or any other countries?” JN “WW1 has changed the history of this world for ever. Lessons should have been learnt as so many people died, but soon after WW1 was over we had to endure WW2 and mistakes were repeated. WW1 did mobilise large groups of people to foreign lands in hostile situations and that was probably an encouragement to some degree, it’s possible it gave the Asian population confidence to get out of their comfort zone and to explore.” JA “After reading some articles about WW1 I have found it very interesting and have learnt a lot about it.” SY “It's interesting how wide spread the war was – in the UK, Europe, US and Commonwealth countries. I’m also interested in people’s reactions to soldier’s returning from war with sometimes terrible injuries.” KP KA is particularly interested in finding out about the role the war played in helping India gain Independence from British Rule in 1947 and about the experience of soldiers like his father who were recruited from small villages and farming communities in Pakistan and posted to Gallipoli and the Western front. How do the WW1 stories make you feel? “I wish to understand more about what happened.” JN “I get mixed feelings. I feel a great sense of pride and courage but also tremendous loss. Families were destroyed, societies were disrupted but the world became a smaller place, people from different backgrounds learnt to be together who might have not done so otherwise. Also technology was more widely accepted and utilised.” JA “Very sad that many young men and women of all races lost their lives.” K “It makes me realise how lucky we are, to live today in a peaceful society, I feel very grateful to those who gave their lives so that we can live in a free and peaceful country.” SY “Pretty terrible having seen the recent exhibition of injuries to soldiers at RAMM in Exeter.” KP How do you remember those who died in the war? “I was born after the wars and was very lucky not to have experienced the sadness of losing family and friends during the war period. Now when I read any books, stories or see any films I will think about the war and those who lost their lives. A 2 minute silence on the 11th November at 11 o’clock is a very important way for most people to remember the war.” JN “WW1 is more of a western concept. People did not speak much about WW1 but it’s getting better now.” JA “A church service on the 11th November, poppies to buy, listening to the radio and seeing services on TV.” K “I remember those who died in the war by honouring the 2 minute silence on the 11th hour on the 11th day on the 11th month.” SY “I occasionally observe a 2 minute silence and also looking at local war memorials. I sometimes go to a memorial chapel near my home.” KP | |||
