'To show their contempt for death, some Sikhs had refused to hide in the trenches'.
This incredible quote in The Guardian today is an excerpt from a collection of Guardian reportage from the First World War. Here are some more:
... we heard that during the night one of the Sikh regiment had had to recapture the trench, which the Germans had taken by surprise, and that their bayonet charge was so tremendous that the enemy did not dare counter-attack.
Almost immediately after that feat an order came not to allow the Indians uselessly to expose their lives by walking out of the trenches. The fact was that, in order to show their contempt for death, some Sikhs had refused to hide themselves in the trenches and had immediately drawn a fierce fire on their regiment...
Read the full story here.