First World War: Commemorations

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Thursday 20th June 2013 Grand Committee

[Lord Bilimoria]

My Lords, I am grateful to speak in the gap. As it happens, our elder daughter is on a school visit from Wellington College to Ypres in Belgium as we speak. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Young, for initiating this debate and for her excellent speech. I emphasise one of the points that she and the noble Lord, Lord Parekh, made, which is that our students must learn and must know.

For six years, I was privileged to be the chair of the commemoration committee of the Memorial Gates, which were founded by the noble Baroness, Lady Flather. I am sorry that she is not here, because it was thanks to her that those gates were erected, and they are a memorial to the contribution of the 5 million volunteers from the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the Caribbean who served in World War I and World War II. In the First World War, 1.5 million men from the Indian subcontinent served, and 70,000 made the ultimate sacrifice. As the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, said, I do not think that our children realise that in the First World War, the Indians were not allowed to become officers.

The only Indian officers were the doctors. It was only after the First World War that people such as my grandfather, the late Brigadier Bilimoria, was allowed to be commissioned at Sandhurst. In the First World War, even my tiny community, the Zoroastrian-Parsee community, had doctors who served; doctors like Captain Baputi Chenoy and doctors like Major Ravenshaw Kapadia, who was given the Military Cross.

In the Second World War the contribution from the Indian subcontinent was even greater. It was 2.5 million volunteers—the largest voluntary army the world has ever known. My own late father, Lieutenant-General Faridoon Bilimoria, was from the 5 Gurkhas. The uncle of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London served in the 5 Gurkhas and made the ultimate sacrifice in the Second World War. My father’s battalion 2/5 Gurkhas was awarded three Victoria Crosses.

All I would request is that the Minister takes the message that our children must realise that we would not be enjoying the freedoms and all the benefits that we have today without the service—without the sacrifice—of the millions of volunteers from south Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the Caribbean. Our children must learn; they must remember; they must appreciate; they must be inspired; and they must never ever forget.