Meerut Division
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May I hashtag the Meerut Division as alliedrelations?
Posted
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by
cyngast
moderator
I'm going to leave this for Rob to answer. My understanding of the relationship of the Indian Army to the British Army is pretty vague. We did have diaries from those units earlier in the project, though.
I know it can't hurt to have hashtagged it.
Posted
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I asked this because apparently not all the battalions of this regiment are Indian.
Posted
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
No, I wouldn't use the alliedrelations hashtag for Indian units. I'd just tag them as 'other unit'.
Posted
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Is it because they were part of the British Empire? i.e. The British Empire was called to arms and volunteers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland and the Union of South Africa flocked to the aid of the mother country, joined by soldiers from other African colonies and the Indian Army with it’s Gurkhas from Nepal.
British Empire ww1 Link: http://clevelode-battletours.com/the-first-world-war/the-british-empire-in-ww1/
I have tagged #alliedrelations in the comment boxes for Australia, Canada, New Zealand and India, therefore should these not be tagged as #alliedrelations and as you say just Other Units?
Although I do tag them on the diary pages as Other units.
Posted
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by
cyngast
moderator
The Indian Army were more closely linked with the British Army than units from Canada, Australia, etc. Their units had British officers and they were considered part of the British Army. That's why we had all those diaries a couple of years ago.
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by
David_Underdown
moderator
Strictly speaking the combined British and Indian Army forces were the Army of India, they weren't quite part of the British Army as such (though the officers trained together at Sandhurst or Woolwich).
All Indian Army formations had a mixture of British and Indian units, this went back to the Mutiny in 1850s. To be honest I wouldn't use allied relations for anything purely within the British Empire, I thought it was more for interations with French/Belgian/Portugese etc.
Posted
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
I was in a bit of a rush last night, so didn't answer the question fully - sorry about that.
Cynthia's right. The Indian Army at the time was an integral part of the British armed forces. British officers were an important part of it and British units served alongside Indian ones. Although others like the Australians and Canadians, etc, were still a part of the Empire, they were more autonomous in organising their own affairs.
So I'd keep using the #alliedrelations hashtag for all units other than Indian ones.
Posted
