Subhash Chandra Bose and India - World War II
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Secret Indian Army for Nazi Germany
Whilst over 1.5 million Indians were recruited to the British Army and fought on behalf of the Allied cause in World War II, there is little publicity given to the 3,000 Indians that were recruited to the German army by Subhash Chandra Bose, the radical Indian politician living in exile in Nazi Germany.
These Indian recruits volunteered to join the Axis cause after being approached by Chandra Bose in Prisoner of War camps, on the understanding they would fight in India, however, ultimately they were deployed on behalf of the Axis in France.
The British Government have never published details about 'Hitler's Secret Indian Army' as the information is still classified and not marked for release until 2021.
Subhash Chandra Bose, also known as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhash Chandra Bose was a well known radical politician in India, who had been imprisoned many times for his work on behalf of an independent India. Throughout the 1930s Subhash Chandra Bose travelled quite extensively in Europe and America, meeting many political leaders, including Hitler and Mussolini, to discuss the plight of India under British rule.
Throughout the course of World War II Chandra Bose was imprisoned under house arrest and came to the conclusion that he could best serve the people of India by leaving and campaigning on behalf of a Free Indian nation from war-torn Europe.
Netaji Sets up Free India Centre in Nazi Germany
Accordingly Chandra Bose managed to escape house arrest in 1941 and made his way to Europe where he soon settled in Germany. On arriving in Germany he set up the Free India Centre where he published leaflets and propaganda on behalf of independent india.
By the end of 1941 the activities of Subhash Chandra Bose had drawn him to the attention of Hitler who agreed that he could begin recruiting Indian Prisoners of War to the Nazi cause. For Hitler it was an exercise in propaganda against the British, Bose, however, hoped to raise an army large enough to invade India and fight for independence.
In total, Bose recruited 3,000 men from the Prisoner of War camps, who were trained in Germany and eventually formed the Free India Legion and fought in France on behalf of the German war campaign.
Indian Oath of Allegiance to the German Cause
The Indian recruits to the German Army made the following oath to their new German leaders:
"I swear by God this holy oath that I will obey the leader of the German race and state, Adolf Hitler, as the commander of the German armed forces in the fight for India, whose leader is Subhas Chandra Bose."
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Japan
Realising in 1943 that he was not benefiting India by his work in Germany, and totally disillusioned by Hitler's declaration of war on Russia, Bose fled to Japan where his work for the Indian national cause was a greater success. Known as Netaji (Leader or Great Leader) by his army of supporters he managed to enlist large numbers of Indians to the cause of independent India.
Subhash Chandra Bose Today
Since India's independence, Subhash Chandra Bose has become a national hero and extracts from his speeches, such as the quote below, are disseminated widely:
"Remain true to India and do not for a moment waver in your faith in India's destiny."
See also:
Indian Nationalism 1915, and India in World War II
Sources
Mike Thomson, BBC News, “Hitler's secret Indian army”, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/3684288.stm
Bidyut Chakrabarty, “Subhas Chandra Bose and Middle Class Radicalism ‘A study in Indian Nationalism, 1928-1940”, Delhi Oxford University Press, 1990
Dr Hemendranath das Gupta, “Subhas Chandra”, Jyoti Prokasalaya, Calcutta, 1947
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