Schools: World War II Anniversary

Lord Wallace of Saltaire Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

We are keen at DCMS and across government to make sure that all voices are heard. I would be very happy to meet the organisations my noble friend has raised. We are clear that there were a huge number of troops and people deployed and that their voices and stories should be part of the commemoration of these important events.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)]

My Lords, I was a member of the Government’s advisory committee for the commemoration of World War I. I felt that my Conservative colleagues were reluctant to emphasise the role that the 1.5 million Indian soldiers played in World War I. In our schools, we now have the grandchildren and, in some cases, the great-grandchildren, of the 2.5 million Indians who served in the British Imperial Army in World War II—not to mention the many West Indians who served mainly as ground staff in the RAF and the Poles who were unable to go home afterwards. Can we make sure that we emphasise how much today’s society and schoolchildren are descended from all of those who fought with us in World War II?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

We are clear that this is an important part of the commemoration. As the noble Lord has identified, our victory and our freedom relied both on the 365,000 British troops and the 1.5 million Commonwealth troops who were deployed alongside 2.5 million soldiers from the pre-partition Indian army. It is right, as the noble Lord makes clear, that the sacrifices made by those serving across Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and all the troops who fought as part of the British and Commonwealth response, will be very much at the heart of the commemorations.