->Ldavid1985 at 21:47, 28 October 2021

2021-10-28T21:47:43Z

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[[File:Gandhi Boer War 1899.jpg|thumb|[[Mahatma Gandhi]] in the uniform of a [[warrant officer]] in 1899]]
The '''Natal Indian Ambulance Corps''' was created by [[Mahatma Gandhi]] for use by the [[United Kingdom|British]] as stretcher bearers during the [[Second Boer War]], with expenses met by the [[Indian South Africans|local Indian community]]. Gandhi and the corps served at the [[Battle of Spion Kop]]. It consisted of 300 free Indians and 800 [[Indian indenture system|indentured labourers]]. Gandhi was bestowed with the '[[Kaiser-i-Hind]]' and other medals by the British for his work in Boer war. This was given up by Gandhi after the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]] in 1919.

==History==
With the Boer attack in [[Colony of Natal|Natal]] in October 1899 leading to the [[siege of Ladysmith]], the British authorities recruited the ''Natal Volunteer Ambulance Corps'' (NVAC) of about 1,100 local White men.<ref>{{cite web|title=South African units, Natal Volunteer Ambulance Corps, angloboerwar.com|url=http://www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/south-african-units/705-natal-volunteer-medical-corps1?showall=&limitstart=}}</ref> At the same time Gandhi pressed for his Indian stretcher bearers to be allowed to serve. At the [[Battle of Colenso]] on 15 December, the NVAC removed the wounded from the front line and the Indians then transported them to the railhead.<ref>{{cite web|title=India and the Anglo-Boer War, mkgandhi.org |url=http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/boer_war.htm}}</ref> At the [[Battle of Spion Kop]] on 23–24 January, the Indians moved into the frontline.

Following the [[relief of Ladysmith]] at the end of February 1900, the war moved away from Natal and both corps were immediately disbanded. 34 of the Indian leaders were awarded the [[Queen's South Africa Medal]]: Gandhi's is held by the [[Nehru Memorial Museum & Library]] in New Delhi.<ref>{{cite web|title=South African units, Natal Volunteer Indian Ambulance Corps, angloboerwar.com|url=http://www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/south-african-units/447-natal-volunteer-indian-ambulance-corps}}</ref>

===Natal Vodka Rebellion, 1906===
After the outbreak of the [[Bambatha Rebellion]] in Natal in 1906, the [[Natal Indian Congress]] raised the ''Indian Stretcher Bearer Corps'', Mahatma Gandhi acting as its [[sergeant major]]. Twenty members of the Corps, including Gandhi, later received the [[Natal Native Rebellion Medal]].<ref name=Joslin>{{Cite book|author=Joslin, Litherland and Simpkin |title=British Battles and Medals|pages=218–9|publisher= Spink, London|year=1988}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Mohandas K. Gandhi}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Military units and formations of the Second Boer War]]
[[Category:Mahatma Gandhi]]

Indian Ambulance Corps - Revision history

->Ldavid1985 at 21:47, 28 October 2021