The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has added 9,909 soldiers from undivided Punjab previously omitted from commemoration records, recognising them as casualties of the First World War.

This is the outcome of the Punjab Registers project, a five-year partnership between the CWGC, the UK Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA) and the University of Greenwich, the CWGC said in a release shared on its website on Monday.

“The CWGC today announces the largest single addition to its casualty records since the Second World War, following a major international research project drawing on rare historical records. A total of 9,909 Indian Army servicemen – previously missing from the CWGC’s records – have now been added, correcting a past historical omission that meant they were never formally commemorated,” reads the statement.

Together, the organisations digitised and analysed a rare and fragile collection of documents held at Lahore Museum, containing the names and service details of approximately 320,000 Punjabi recruits.

Dr Inder Singh Palahey, a dentist in Leicester (UK), spent years searching for information about his great-grandfather Kesar Singh, who he knew had gone to the war and never returned.

“From just hearsay to now discovering the facts about my great-grandfather’s ultimate military sacrifice, in particular the regiment he served in, has been incredibly poignant. Upon his death, he left a widow and two young children in poverty. So, the fact that he will now be remembered in perpetuity within global history ensures the whole family sacrifice is recognised: which simply means everything to us,” stated Palahey to the CWGC.

Amandeep Madra, British historian, author and chair of the UK Punjab Heritage Association, said, “Britain and Punjab share a long history, notably during the two World Wars, and for over a 100 years, part of it was missing. These men were never commemorated — not because they didn’t serve, but because a decision made a century ago excluded their sacrifice from the record. Putting that right means giving families around the world their history back, and properly and equally commemorating the men who died.”

“This has only been possible because the Lahore Museum kept these fragile records safe for a hundred years, because the University of Greenwich and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission took that archive seriously, and because volunteers gave their time to recover, name by name, this previously lost history,” he added.

The record states that one in six soldiers fighting for the British came from pre-Partition India, with half a million from Punjab, including Sikh, Muslim, Hindu and Christian servicemen.

Early work on the Punjab Registers showed that some soldiers listed as having died during the conflict were missing from the CWGC records and commemorations. A majority of the missing casualties were men who had died in non-operational zones within India during the war.

Claire Horton CBE, Director General of the CWGC, said, “Over a century after the end of the First World War, our mission endures, ensuring all those who died in the service of the Commonwealth receive the commemoration they deserve. The Punjab Registers project is a landmark moment in that mission.”

“The recovery of every one of these 9,909 names helps restore missing chapters in family and world histories.”