Brighton’s Royal Pavilion Served As Hospital For Indian Troops In World War I
Source: www.guardian.co.uk<http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/8703856/3831249/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/apr/18/brighton-pavilion-war-indian-hospital> UNITED KINGDOM, April 19, 2010: In the last week of November 1914, a gang of surveyors, builders and boy scouts descended on the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, a monument to royal seaside frivolity with its domes, spires and writhing Chinese dragons. Just six days later, the pavilion was transformed into a 700 bed hospital to provide for Hindu, Skih and Muslim troops. Carpets had been taken up and sumptuous curtains and pelmets taken down, linoleum laid over acres of ballroom and stone-flagged kitchens, protective covers erected over the painted peacocks, and the dreamy life-size Chinese figures strolling in silken robes across the walls. The 19th century pavilion had been built for Prinny, the pleasure-loving Prince Regent who became George IV. The wartime role of the pavilion was almost forgotten in Britain, both in Brighton and among the Sikh, Muslim and Hindu communities. But some will learn of it now, thanks to a new, permanent exhibition which has just opened at the Pavilion. The pavilion’s curator, David Beevers, says the priceless wartime propaganda value of the newly opened “royal” hospital, and the meticulous provision for Hindu, Sikh and Muslim patients, was recognized from the start. In an effort to paint the allies in the most sympathetic possible light, official photographers were brought into the pavilion within weeks to record immaculately dressed patients sitting up happily in spotless beds, under the gilded ceilings and dragon chandeliers. Sets of postcards of the images were then sold in the town, in the hope they would be posted home to India bearing news of this impressive treatment. The hospitals were, though, desperately needed: at one point on the western front, it is estimated that one in 10 of the soldiers was Indian. It is estimated that during the first world war, 827,000 Indians enlisted, and there were more than 64,000 casualties. For the full article click on the url above.
