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Sepoy Khuda Bakhsh, No 3 Motor Brigade Transport Company, Royal Indian Army Service Corps
02/12/2023
Second World War Army Indian
By Nick Tucker

United Kingdom

Sepoy Khuda Bakhsh
2764492
Background

Nothing is known of the background of Khuda Bakhsh, other than that he was the son of Abdul Karim, and Sang Jani, of Rawalpindi, in Pakistan. His name is sometimes found spelt Khuba Bakhsh.

Military Service
Cap badge of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps. (copyright unknown)

No service details have been found relating to Khuda Bakhsh, other than that he served as a Sepoy, No. MTN/889762, with the Royal Indian Army Service Corps. He served with No. 3 Motor Brigade Transport Company.

No. 3 Motor Brigade brigade was formed at Sialkot, in the Punjab region of Pakistan, in July 1940, with three Indian Army Cavalry regiments, and was part of the embryonic 1st Indian Armoured Division.

The brigade moved to Egypt in February 1941 as an independent brigade group, and was ordered to Mersa Matruh to acclimatise and train. It was equipped with light lorries, with the three cavalry regiments acting as mobile infantry.

On 3 April 1941, the brigade moved to El Mekili (or El Mechili) to support the 2nd Armoured Division in holding the front line against an anticipated German attack. Only ‘A’ Squadron of the 18th K.E.VII’s Own Cavalry went with the brigade to El Mechili, with the rest of the unit left immobile in Tobruk.

The brigade managed to hold the German advance for 48 hours, but the newly arrived German Afrika Corps broke through the British lines and advanced towards Tobruk. The brigade was effectively destroyed, with only a few remnants making it back to British lines. The survivors reformed in Egypt, and the brigade was rebuilt.

In September 1941, it moved to Syria to come under command of the 31st Indian Armoured Division (the renamed 1st Indian Armoured Division). In May 1942, the brigade moved back to Egypt and came under command of the 7th Armoured Division.

It was ordered to hold Point 171 at the southern end of the Gazala line, south-east of Bir Hakeim. On 27 May 1942, German and Italian armoured formations attacked this section of the British front line, and the brigade was overwhelmed. The survivors reformed at Buq-Buq, but the brigade was disbanded in July 1942. A new brigade was formed in August, which became the 43rd Indian Infantry Brigade with three Gurkha battalions.

It is not known at what stage Khuda Bakhsh served with No. 3 Motor Brigade Transport Company, but it is almost certain that he was taken prisoner in North Africa, and was liberated as the Allies retook territory from German control in Europe.

These liberated POWs needed to be organised and assessed before either being sent back to service or returned home. By the late summer of 1944, it was estimated that around 12,000 Indian POWs, together with Indian seamen and civilian internees would come into Allied hands.

By November, 1944, the POW organisation was in full operation, with camps opened to hold and assess POWs before their onward transit to India. Camps were opened at the following locations close to Thetford, in Norfolk: A headquarters at Shadwell Court, with a reception centre at Southwood, and camps at Snareshill and Riddlesmere. A rest camp at Lower Didlington, and Indian hospitals at Weeting Hall and Upper Didlington. A rest camp at Fornham, near Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk.

It seems highly probable tha Khuda Bakhsh was a patient in one of the Indian hospitals at Weeting Hall or Upper Didlington. He died on Thursday, 7 June, 1945. His cause of death is not known as no registration of his death has been traced.

Commemorations

Sepoy Khuda Bakhsh was buried in Thetford Cemetery, in Norfolk, his grave, marked by a CWGC headstone, orientated in an East-West alignment observing his Muslim faith.

Sepoy Khuda Bakhsh's CWGC headstone in Thetford Cemetery. (copyright unknown)