Thousands of forgotten WW1 soldiers recognised for first time

"As a Punjabi myself I feel really proud that I can do this part for the community," says Jasmin Basra, a PhD student at the University of Greenwich, who participated in the pain-staking research.During the process, Basra unexpectedly stumbled across the names of two of her own relatives, a great-great-grandfather and his brother, who also served in WW1 fighting for the British Indian Army."That connection was emotional. As a second-generation British Punjabi, there is almost a disconnect from Punjab as well as not being fully connected to British history, but I think this is a tangible link to all of it," she says.Books that make up the Punjab Registers in the Lahore Museum, PakistanThe work done by volunteers has been gratefully received, and built on, by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which has now issued the largest update to its records since World War Two.Historians at the Commission say most of the 9,909 men previously omitted from commemoration records were casualties who died of injuries away from the battlefield.Rulings made by the British Indian Government at the time meant they were not afforded war graves status, but that decision has been overturned.Of the thousands of newly recognised dead, around 25% are Sikhs, another 25% Hindus, with around 40% having been Muslim.