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BBC The forgotten volunteers - Indian army WWII
The Indian Army during World War II in 1939, numbered just under 200,000 men. By the end of the war it would become the largest volunteer army in history, rising to over 2.5 million men in August 1945. Serving in divisions of infantry, armour and a fledgling airborne force, they fought on three continents in Africa, Europe and Asia.
The Indian Army fought in Ethiopia against the Italian Army, in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia against both the Italian and German Army, and, after the Italian surrender, the German Army in Italy. However the bulk of the Indian Army was committed to the fighting the Japanese Army, first during the defeat in Malaya and the retreat from Burma to the Indian border. Then after resting and refitting the victorious advance back into Burma, part of the largest British Empire army ever formed.
These campaigns cost the lives of over 36,000 Indian servicemen, another 34,354 more were wounded,and 67,340 became prisoners of war. Their valour was recognised with the award of 4,000 decorations and 38 members of the Indian Army were recipients of the Victoria Cross or the George Cross.
The Indian Army was an experienced force, having fought in the Third Afghan War and two major campaigns in Waziristan, during 19191920 and 19361939 and in smaller disputes on the North West Frontier since World War I.
There was no shortage of manpower to call upon, but they did suffer from a shortage of skilled technical personnel. The conversion of the cavalry force to a mechanized tank force had only just began, and was hampered by the inability to supply adequate numbers of tanks and armoured vehicles.
The Indian Army of 1939, was different from the Indian Army during World War I, it had been reformed in 1922, moving away from single battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments. Overall the army was reduced to 21 cavalry regiments and 107 infantry battalions. The field army now consisted of four infantry divisions and five cavalry brigades. There was a covering force of 12 infantry brigades to protect the North West Frontier from incursions and one third of the infantry, 43 battalions, were allocated to internal security and to aid the civil power.
In the 1930s, the Indian Army began a programme of modernization, they now had their own artillery—the Indian Artillery Regiment—and the cavalry had started to mechanise. By 1936, the Indian Army had committed to supplying in wartime a brigade each for Singapore, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, Burma and two for Egypt. But by 1939, further reductions had reduced the Indian Army to 18 cavalry regiments and 96 infantry battalions, in total 194,373 men including 34,155 non-combatants. They could also call upon 15,000 men from the Frontier Irregular Force, 22,000 men from the Auxiliary Force (India), consisting of European and Anglo-Indian volunteers, 19,000 from the Indian Territorial Force, and 53,000 from the Indian State forces.
Lost treasures of Ancient INDIA documentary
The unique Lost Treasures series enables the ancient wonders of the world to be seen as never before... magically 'restored' to their former glory by 3D graphics and presented in a superb animated format. with spectacular new footage that provides a fascinating link between the past and the present day.
A continuing look at the magnificent histories of the ancient world featuring a look at recent archeological discoveries. Includes six episodes: ANCIENT CHINA SAMURAI JAPAN EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS ANCIENT INDIA THE CELTS and THE DARK AGES. See individual titles for more information.
The story of India - Beginnings (episode 1) DVD HQ - BBC
The Story of India is a BBC TV documentary series, written and presented by historian Michael Wood, about the 10,000-year history of the Indian subcontinent in six episodes. It was originally aired on the BBC in six episodes in August and September 2007 as part of the BBC season "India and Pakistan 07", which marked the 60 years independence of India and Pakistan. In the United States, PBS broadcast the series on three Mondays, January 5, 12 and 19, 2009 from 9 to 11 PM. An accompanying text was published by BBC Books.
As in most of his documentaries, Wood explains historical events by travelling to the places where they took place, examining archeological and historical evidence at first hand and interviewing historians and archaeologists, as well as chatting with local people.
The lost temples of India [HD] discovery channel documentary
The Mysteries of Asia three-part video series was originally produced for the Learning Channel. During this segment, historians and others examine temples built in India more than 1,000 years ago. They remain quite intriguing, though today's tourists rarely visit them. Records reveal that trained elephants had to drag millions of stone blocks to help erect these structures. The program notes that due to the temples' size, the U.S. Senate, Versailles, the Houses of Parliament, and St. Paul's Basilica in Rome could all fit within a single one of them. Michael Bell narrates as footage and animated maps are used to help viewers learn more about what these ancient structures look like and why they were built. Asia is a continent steeped in ancient cultures, religions, and buildings. In this intriguing program, we are transported to this exotic land and examine the mysteries behind some of the most fascinating structures found there. Southern India has the largest temple complexes ever built. In "Lost Temples of India", we examine these 1,000-year-old temples adorned with intricate and beautiful sculptures. We learn how the kings used large herds of trained elephants to drag the millions of stone blocks into place and how these temples are virtually unknown and unvisited by Western tourists. Truth or fiction, the stories of Mysteries of Asia will amaze and delight.
India Moon Mission Chandrayaan - 1 ISRO official Documentary
Chandrayaan-1 (Sanskrit: चंद्रयान-१, lit: moon-traveller, or moon vehicle pronunciation (help·info)) was India's first unmanned lunar probe. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor. India launched the spacecraft by a modified version of the PSLV, PSLV C11 on 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north of Chennai, at 06:22 IST (00:52 UTC). The mission was a major boost to India's space program, as India researched and developed its own technology in order to explore the Moon. The vehicle was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008.
On 14 November 2008, the Moon Impact Probe separated from the Chandrayaan orbiter at 20:06 and struck the south pole in a controlled manner, making India the fourth country to place its flag on the Moon. The probe impacted near Shackleton Crater at 20:31 ejecting underground soil that could be analysed for the presence of lunar water ice.
The estimated cost for the project was Rs. 386 crore (US$ 90 million).
The remote sensing lunar satellite had a mass of 1,380 kilograms (3,042 lb) at launch and 675 kilograms (1,488 lb) in lunar orbit. It carried high resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infrared, and soft and hard X-ray frequencies. Over a two-year period, it was intended to survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and three-dimensional topography. The polar regions are of special interest as they might contain ice.
The lunar mission carries five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other space agencies including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which were carried free of cost.
After suffering from several technical issues including failure of the star sensors and poor thermal shielding, Chandrayaan stopped sending radio signals at 1:30 AM IST on 29 August 2009 shortly after which, the ISRO officially declared the mission over. Chandrayaan operated for 312 days as opposed to the intended two years but the mission achieved 95 percent of its planned objectives. Among its many achievements was the discovery of the widespread presence of water molecules in lunar soil
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