The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Earl
Howe) (Con):...Of course, events in Britain and France
were not the sole focus of military activity at the time. In Italy,
allied forces had just occupied Rome, following the hard-fought
battles at Monte Cassino; on the Eastern Front, our Soviet allies
were preparing to launch Operation Bagration, one of the largest
operations in an area where the numbers involved far exceeded those
deployed in the West; in India, the siege of Imphal was
drawing to its end; while in the Pacific
theatre American forces were preparing to invade Saipan, in the
Mariana Islands, as the next stage in their island-hopping
campaign. This latter activity explains why the majority of the
naval forces supporting the landings were operating under the White
Ensign, rather than the Stars and Stripes...
(CB):...I have been
involved in the Memorial Gates Council—the gates that commemorate
the service and sacrifice of the 5 million troops from south
Asia, Africa and the Caribbean who served in the First World War
and Second World War. In the Second World War, 2.5
million Indian volunteers served in north Africa, the
Middle East and Italy, and they also fought the Japanese in
Malaya, north-east India and Burma. They were awarded 31
Victoria Crosses. Thousands of lives were lost and thousands of
casualties were incurred.
The Italian campaign was particularly important. My father’s
cousin, Lieutenant-General Satarawala, who was in my father’s
regiment, the Fifth Gurkhas, was awarded the Military Cross in
that campaign. Over 5,000 Indians lost their lives. The Gustav Line was
finally breached on 14 May. While the Fifth Army made a flanking
attack to the south, the Eighth Army of British, Polish, Canadian
and Indian troops made a frontal assault on the
line at Cassino. The number of Indian casualties in the Italian campaign was
huge—over 24,000. The first soldiers from my father’s regiment
were in Italy from December 1943 to May 1945. One battalion
suffered over 1,000 casualties during that period, including one
who received the Victoria Cross.
I asked Major-General Cardozo, who wrote the book about my
father’s life, whether any Indians took part in D-day. He said that they
were not there because they had been fighting in Italy. It needs
to be understood that because the Indian army and the Gurkhas were fighting in
Africa, Sicily and Italy, the Germans were not able to move their
forces to hold the allies who attacked across the channel on
D-day. I do not think that we should ever forget that—a point
made at the beginning of the debate...
(LD):...It is so important that we have such debates to
talk about what happened and also to commemorate not just what
British service men and women did, but what we did with allied
powers. As the noble Lord, , pointed out, so many
Americans and Canadians were in the United Kingdom and fighting
on D-day—helping to liberate this continent. We forget at our
peril the importance of working with allies. In 2019, it is
crucial to remember the relationship with the United States and
with our Commonwealth partners—with the Canadians but also, as
the noble Lord, , pointed out, with
the Indians who were fighting to ensure our
freedom. It is absolutely essential to retain alliances and
remember that one of the key factors of D-day was not simply the
United Kingdom acting but the United Kingdom acting in
collaboration and co-ordinating with allied powers...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
Presented Petition
Petition presented to the House but not read on the
Floor
Yamuna River
The petition of residents of the United Kingdom ,
Declares that the Yamuna is worshipped by millions and is
considered a holy river; the residents of the United
Kingdom recognise the work of the save Yamuna campaign and
request that the British Prime Minister work with the
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and
the Indian Government to treat their
industrial and domestic waste and not pour treated or
untreated waste water into the Yamuna river and necessarily
ensure that adequate natural flow of fresh water throughout
the stretch, which starts from Yamunotri to Allahabad.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons
urges the Government to assist the Indian Government and take into
consideration that there is a dire need to save the Yamuna
river and remove toxic waste.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented
by .]
