The Forgotten History of India’s Silent War

The events of World War II are routinely recounted and replayed across the world. But despite India’s extensive involvement in the war in Europe and Asia, reflections are often subdued in national recollections. In the context of a pre-Independent India, was it really ‘our’ war? And what of the over 2 million Indians involved? In Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War, author Raghu Karnad embarks on a personal journey; uncovering a missing chapter of family history by exploring his Parsi past and resurrecting a piece of India’s military history. Join us as we explore forgotten histories with Raghu Karnad and Retd. Sqn. Ldr. Rana T.S. Chhina in a conversation moderated by James Crabtree.

Raghu Karnad is an award-winning writer and journalist who lives between Bangalore and New Delhi, India. Farthest Field is his first book; described by Simon Winchester as ‘a book that will long survive…as a masterpiece’. It narrates the lost epic of India’s war, in which the largest volunteer army in history fought for the British Empire, even as its countrymen fought to be free of it.

Retd. Sqn. Ldr. Rana T.S. Chhina served in the Indian Air Force as a helicopter pilot. A recipient of the prestigious Macgregor Medal for best military reconnaissance in 1986, he is currently Secretary and Editor of the United Service Institution of India Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research, Vice President of the Indian Military Historical Society, UK, and a member of the Government of India’s Archival Advisory Board.

James Crabtree is the Mumbai Correspondent for the Financial Times. He previously worked as policy advisor in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, and is a trustee of the charity mySociety.org, one of the UK’s most innovative technology organizations.