Forgotten India at 80: The Stories You Don’t Know

Exploring South Asian histories not taught in schools.

Forgotten India at 80: The Stories You Don’t Know (we use the term India as we are referring to pre-partition India) builds on the organisation’s previous work including the award-winning exhibition Indian Women and War.

It will bring to light lesser-known histories, including the roles of the Women’s Auxiliary Service (Burma), wives and widows of Victoria Cross recipients and wartime refugees. During the war, recruitment campaigns across India encouraged women to take up clerical and support roles as men were deployed overseas. Many of these contributions remain absent from mainstream historical narratives.

Forgotten India at 80 builds on audience interest generated through Indian Women and War, which prompted questions about how and why women contributed to global conflict and why these stories are not widely taught or recognised.

A massive thank you to National Lottery Heritage Fund for funding this project and to National Lottery Players.