Thread by @LiveHIndia

What was Mohandas #Gandhi doing carrying wounded #British soldiers off the battlefield in #SouthAfrica in 1899? Gandhi was merely leading by example, in the ambulance corps he set up to support the British against the Boers in the Second Boer War (1899-1902). 1/12
#war

But why would Gandhi support the British, especially since he had experienced the humiliation of racial discrimination in South Africa soon after he got there? It was #OnThisDay in 1893 that Gandhi was thrown off a train for refusing to comply with racial segregation laws. 2/12

This was more than a decade before Gandhi evolved his concept of #civildisobedience. He spent 21 years (1893 - 1914) in South Africa and went on to organize the #CivilRights movement, to raise the status of the indentured #Indian population there. 3/12
#racism

In 1899, Gandhi was still evolving his political philosophy. Throughout the 1880s, tensions ran high between the Afrikaner descendants of early Dutch settlers (Boers) and the ever-expanding British Empire. They spilt over during the Second Boer War in 1899. 4/12
#nonviolence

The Boer invasion of the British colony of Natal gave Gandhi and his followers the opportunity to garner political benefit by demonstrating their dedication to serving the Empire by participating in the conflict, but not by violent means. 5/12

Gandhi believed that serving the British (who then also ruled India) by getting involved in the war was the best way to start the fight for the recognition of civil rights of all coloured people in the Empire. 6/12

So he set up the Natal Indian Ambulance Corps, of 1,100 volunteer Indians. These volunteers served as stretcher bearers, who were trained in first aid, dressing wounds, ambulance training etc. Gandhi made sure this volunteer corps would serve in the firing line. 7/12

The contribution of this Indian volunteer corps was immortalised during the Battles of Colenso and Spion Kop, both miserable British defeats. The corps excelled in their duties, tending to wounded men and evacuating the dead from the battlefield. 8/12

The contribution of this Indian volunteer corps was immortalised during the Battles of Colenso and Spion Kop, both miserable British defeats. The corps excelled in their duties, tending to wounded men and evacuating the dead from the battlefield. 8/12

Their efforts were even mentioned by future British Prime Minister #WinstonChurchill. He was present at Spion Kop, although he didn’t seem to notice Gandhi, who was one of the stretcher bearers who carried the mortally wounded General Edward Woodgate from the battlefield. 9/12

The corps was dissolved soon after the Battle of Spion Kop. 37 volunteers received a war medal along with Gandhi, who was later also awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind medal in 1906. He returned these in protest after the #JallianwalaBagh Massacre of 1919. 10/12

Gandhi’s belief that the work of the ambulance corps would draw attention to the socio-economic status of Indians and garner political favour was misplaced. For the colonial British, equality was nowhere on the horizon. 11/12

In 1917, Gandhi launched his first #satyagraha in #India. It was after many unfulfilled promises by the British and the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre that he launched the non-cooperation movement and led the march for total independence from British rule in India. 12/12