The exhibition ‘Red Pepper, Black Pepper – The Indian Army in the New Forest (1914-1916)’ featured the fascinating story of two Indian Army hospitals in the New Forest during the First World War.
The exhibition was held at the New Forest Heritage Centre between July 12th and August 7th, 2024. It was co-curated with local historian and researcher, Nick Saunders, and the exhibition designer, Devanshi Rungta as the exhibition explored the spirit of friendship between the soldiers and the local community. The exhibition also explored the hard-hitting narrative of 55 Indian soldiers who did not survive their injuries.
Chris from the New Forest area was invited on the exhibition’s opening night, whose Father and Grandfather were part of the First World War and their photographs in their uniforms were featured.
To provide more context to the exhibition, acclaimed author and historian, Shrabani Basu was invited to deliver a talk entitled Turbans in the Trenches, India’s contribution to the Western Front in WW1 on July 25th at Lyndhurst Community Centre. Her talk was fascinating and
The exhibition coincided with the annual commemoration by the Friends of the Indian Memorial at Barton on Sea and we were pleased to welcome East Asian communities from the New Forest, Bournemouth and Southampton to share their memories of ancestors.
