Turbans in 4th Indian Division

[Cubs]

I'm idly forming a Western Desert Force collection and I has got a question, probably one which will make the informed people tut and roll their eyes, but despite a moderate amount of research, I can't find the answer.

Why did some Indian troops in the 4th Indian Division wear turbans and some didn't? Was it just that Sikh and Shia Muslim units wore them and Hindu and Sunni Muslim units didn't?

[Jemima Fawr]

Sikhs wore them as a tenet of their faith.  Everyone else wore tin hats in action, though turbans could be worn as parade dress by some units.  Whenever I've seen photos of non-Sikh Indian soldiers wearing turbans near the front line they've always been military police.

[Cubs]

Thanks for replying there sir.

Sikhs wore them as a tenet of their faith.

Yeah, got that.

Everyone else wore tin hats in action, though turbans could be worn as parade dress by some units.  Whenever I've seen photos of non-Sikh Indian soldiers wearing turbans near the front line they've always been military police.

See, I thought I'd seen Muslim units like the Rajputana Rifles in turbans in action, but perhaps not. Maybe they weren't actually in action, but posing for photos.

[Jemima Fawr]

Yeah, I think that war correspondents/photographers have a lot to answer for...

There are some suggestions that some Indian units in Malaya wore turbans due to being pre-war garrison troops and not having tin hats, but there's precious little evidence.  Of course that works both ways if you want to include turbans...

[Cubs]

Cool, thanks but.

It makes my job a bit easier, just to paint a few 8th Army figs with darker skin and then have the odd sikh unit with turbans and beards for fun.

[Jemima Fawr]

Cool, thanks but.

It makes my job a bit easier, just to paint a few 8th Army figs with darker skin and then have the odd sikh unit with turbans and beards for fun.

I don't have the exact breakdown by company, but the battalions of the 1st & 2nd Punjab Regiments present in 10th and 11th Indian Brigades at various times would probably have included Sikh companies.  A typical breakdown for a Punjabi battalion was the have a three-way split of 'Punjabi Mussulman' ('PM' - i.e. Muslim), 'Mahrattas' (Hindu) and Sikhs, with one of the races providing two of the four companies in the battalion.  Some Punjabi battalions were 100% Sikh, but none of the 4th Division's battalions were described as such.  Then there were the 4/11th Sikhs, who were of course, 100% Sikh.

[Wyrmalla]

You may want to research the different styles of turban worn by the different faiths and for other reasons, as yes, as it was mentioned, not just Sikhs wore them. I'm not sure if during WWII there was a regulation type of turban of each style, but in civilian life there's a deal of variation out there.

However for 28mm wargaming just having Sikh troops wearing them, and a singular style, aught to be fine. There's not generally that many options for appropriate ones regardless - outside of pulling the heads of metal figures. Perhaps check some historical lines covering older conflicts - particularly the Sikh Wars I suppose - if you're really into depicting a diverse unit.

Also in 28mm, I'm not sure how visible any of the Five Ks would be on a figure. A Kirpan may not be that visible on a soldier's uniform with all the kit they're wearing, and the Kara would be covered up by the soldier's sleeves unless you're going for a model with them rolled up (in which case I'd add a bracelet to every Sikh model where it may be visible, as they must be worn).

[Cubs]

Yeah, there are a few different turban styles available in 1:72/20mm metals (plus the so-so Strelets or awful Atlantic plastics, which will probably require a head-swap) and depicting the different styles authentically will require some research. I'll probably just keep it to Sikhs and use greenstuff to sculpt a simplified turban on their heads or buy a smattering of metals.

[Baron von Wreckedoften]

If you represent the 11th Sikhs, you can have a battalion in the Western Desert and another in Malaya.

The Sikhs refer to the turban as a dastar, whereas the generic term across India is the pagri.

[Jemima Fawr]

If you represent the 11th Sikhs, you can have a battalion in the Western Desert and another in Malaya.

The Sikhs refer to the turban as a dastar, whereas the generic term across India is the pagri.

Yes, very true.  They can also be used for the early (pre-JG 1942-1943) part of the Burma Campaign or as INA troops on the Japanese side (who were often used as 'jitter-parties', but formed combat units did see action against the Gambia Regiment in the Arakan and the 4/7th Rajputs during the Japanese retreat from Imphal).