March

“What you say in your letter about not being disloyal to the Emperor and it being the religion of Sikhs to die facing the foe – all that you say is true. But if only you yourself could be here and see for yourself! Any shriveled chars – sodden fellow can fire the gun and kill a score of us at our food in the kitchen.

Ships sail the sky like kites. Wherever you look, machine guns and canon begin to shoot and bombs fly out which kill every man they hit. The earth is mined and filled with powder; when men walk upon it, the powders is lit and up go the men!

There is no fighting face to face. Guns massacre regiments sitting ten miles off. Put swords or pikes or staves in our hands and the enemy over us with like arms, then indeed we should show you how to fight face to face!

But if no one faces us what can we do?”

(English translation of an extract of a letter from a Sikh soldier in France to Mahant Partab Des, Patiala, Punjab. 18th October 1915)Source: www.sikhnet.com