Fnurban #45. Exhibition: Paul Sarrut and the Indian Army

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of looking at an exhibition at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London :  Paul Sarrut and and the Indian Army.  Sarrut was a French artist, who served as translator and liason officer between French and British armies in the Great War of 1914-18. He wasn't an official war artist, but simply made sketches of what he saw - in particular the Indian soldiers serving the British. 'Their distinctive uniforms, languages and traditions, and the harsh conditions they faced far from home, drew his particular attention.'    The  NAM is currently  focussing on the Indian Army in particular, and this exhibition plays a major part in that.  I think I'll simply show some of the pictures I took with my phone, I hope they give a flavour of the exhibition, which I thought was something rather special - Sarrut's drawings are just beautiful. I'll show them more or less in the order I saw/photographed them - I managed to record some of the descriptive labels, and where I have them I will show the label after the relevant  picture. Note the several  different 'martial races' making up the army - Sikhs, Punjabis, Pathans, Gurkhas et al. 

   

( Note of course, that the staff of an Indian Division at this time was entirely British - 'the past is another country..' ) 

 

 

 I thoughy Sarrut's drawings were superb - somehow, I think pencil/ink sketches are the most effective way of capturing the essence of a person on paper, almost better than photographs sometimes, and Sarrut was obviously a master. His subjects live on, long after they have departed this life.  

Among the drawings, there were also some quite useful information panels - especially for those interested in the different types of headgear worn by the different races. Also an order of battle for the 3rd (Lahore Division ) on the Western Front, 1914-15 - I noticed the 4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment was part of the force, a little local interest for me. 

 

could be useful for wargamers/modellers.. 

I thought this was an excellent exhibition, which  I would thoroughly recommend to anyone interested in the subject matter, if you can get to the museum by  21st February 2027 - and admission is free.  Of course, the rest of the  museum  may be of interest (also free),  the cafe is pretty decent, and don't forget the Friday lunchtime talks (also free!)..

Meanwhile, there is a possible wargame in the offing, hopefully giving Honours of War 7YW rules a spin - hopefully I'll report on that in my next post.  Until then, keep well everyone.