Indian WOMEN AND WAR

Exploring the contribution Indian women had in the Second World War.

Believe in Me CIC has created the Indian Women and War (1939-1945) project with funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund, which will be working with young people to explore the impact of the Second World War on Indian women. The research will be presented in a film documentary and other digital outputs.

In the UK today there are South Asian communities with connections to India (pre-partition) of the Second World War. These communities are largely misinformed of how the war affected women and how that period may have left a legacy on the South Asian community today. This project seeks to tell the stories of Indian women in particular the Indian Women’s Auxiliary Corps, the Indian Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRINS) and the Indian Women in the Royal Air Force.

This is an opportunity to create skills and knowledge amongst difficult to reach communities and bring the heritage of some of the UK’s minority groups to a wider audience. We will explore the hidden voices of Indian women from the past to the present.

We will be working with South Asian women currently in the Armed Forces and explore their stories. Working with young people in Birmingham and the wider community we will visit archives, libraries and museums to interview current military personnel and work together identify, select and present stories of Indian women while developing film making skills. This would be multi-religious, multi-ethnic project that will present an important overlooked heritage and address the issues of women and identity today.

There will be a nationwide film festival in 2020 to showcase our research to wider audiences. Some of the cities would be touring are London, Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford and Manchester. This project is supported by National Army Museum, The National Archives, British Library, Leeds Museum, Centre of Voices & War Peace, Imperial War Museum, Ministry of Defence and many more local and national organisations.

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