Eighty one years ago today, this man led 299 Indian soldiers along the beach at Dunkirk. They were taken off in the middle of the night from the East Mole, and spent the next 3½ years in Britain. His name?
His name was Muhammad Akbar Khan. He was a Great War veteran, and one of the very first group of Indians to be commissioned as an officer in the Indian Army, in 1919. Here he is in 1925 with his regimental hockey team.
After Dunkirk he made friends with Leo Amery, recently appointed as Secretary of State for India. They met at Pribright - this photo also shows ZA Bokhari, who went on to found🇵🇰 Pakistan Radio. @ColourHeritage
M Akbar Khan was to become something of a celebrity during his time in the UK, appearing on the #BBC and meeting the King and Queen. Here he is visiting @ShahJahanMosque - possibly at Eid-ul-Futr on 2nd November 1940
One of my favourite photos of M Akbar Khan. London, May 1940 with a group from #ForceK6 on leave, a few days before the German #blitzkrieg. In a park, they bump into an old gent walking his dog, who stops for a chat. Perhaps he served in India and wants to practise his urdu...
The portrait of M Akbar Khan was painted in 1941 by Henry Lamb RA, together with this companion portrait, of Driver Abdul Ghani. Akbar's portrait is in @I_W_M , and this one is in @KelvingroveArt
To find the whole story of Akbar, Abdul Ghani and all their comrades, read my book, published one year ago by @TheHistoryPress , and endorsed by @MishalHusain
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Steve McQueen is not in this photo, but these men were part of the Greatest Escape of the Second World War.
On this #GreatEscape weekend, I’ve a few thoughts to share 🧵. Please read on…
First, of course, we should remember the 50 escapers murdered by the Nazis. This weekend I’ll be re-watching the film and reading about the true story behind it.
Three things strike me as of interest in the story as it’s commonly remembered in Britain. Firstly (and briefly) the name ‘The Great Escape’. At the time, it was referred to as a ‘Mass Escape’. It was first called ‘Great’ in Paul Brickhill’s book, published in 1950.
Thread. Giving the V-sign to captors. Around 15,000 Indian soldiers were captured in North Africa & Italy in #WW2. They were held by the Germans and Italians for up to 5 years, and almost none of their stories are known. 1/9
I am trying to track down relatives of these 15,000 Indian POWs. For example, in this group photo from a German camp for officers, there’s a #sikh officer in the back row. Was this your grandfather? 2/9
In Britain in the 60s and 70s, I grew up with images like these. POW stories were a staple, always featuring white men, usually officers, upper lips stiffened, trying to escape from #Colditz and Stalag Luft III. Where were the Indians? 3/9