At the beginning of 1924, the Imperial High Command was at a crossroads. Should it stay on the defensive and hold back the rebel armies or go on the offensive and reclaim Delhi? While some had recommended that they stay put and defend, others weren’t so keen such as Sir Ian Hamilton. He proposed they go on the offensive and build a forward base from where they could spread out across the areas.
Ultimately, the High Command was swayed by this and gave Ian Hamilton the green light for his operation. In February, British forces would advance to the city of Bhopal. Once the area was secured, Hamilton ordered the construction of a forward operating base near the Satpura hills.
A series of outposts were built on a series of hills straddling across a valley. The outposts were given female names with names such as Elisabeth, Beatrice, Patricia, Marianne, Victoria, etc. An airfield was also set up for planes to ferry in supplies. The British were confident that if the enemy tries taking their base, they would be slaughtered with all the firepower at their disposal. Even the artillery commander proudly boasted that Indians didn’t know much about artillery guns compared to Europeans.
Little did they realize, that the Indian rebels (Azad Hind) were getting help from the Germans and the Ottomans. Weapons and supplies were being smuggled by sea and through Persia, with German advisors training the Indians into being a formidable force. While the British were setting up their base in Satpura, the Indians were dragging their artillery guns to the top of the mountains overlooking the valley.
On March 13, 1924, the Indian artillery roared to life. Shells rained down on all the major outposts with the British artillery unable to return fire. Having been embarrassed, the British artillery commander who once boasted that his guns would make quick work of the enemy, committed suicide by pulling a grenade pin.
By the end of the 1st day of the battle, the outpost of ‘Patricia’ was taken by the Azad Hind forces. Over the next several days, the main airfield would be lost and the British positions would get smaller and smaller. Despite this, the Indians received heavy casualties forcing the commanders to order a halt. They then switched tactics, conducting human wave attacks where they slowly gain ground similar to the trench warfare of WW1. This culminated in the detonation of the command post by the Indians who had dug a tunnel underneath the main outpost ‘Victoria’.
Once General Hamilton was captured, all effective resistance had ended. On the 7th of May, 1924, the garrison of Satpura surrendered. The last radio message to Bombay from the fortress read “We are blowing everything up. Cheerio”. When news spread of the surrender, the Indian revolutionaries were ecstatic while the British were greatly demoralized. The force at Satpura constituted 1/5 of the total Commonwealth manpower in India and the defeat weakened the prestige of the British empire. 2200 British and Imperial troops were dead while 11,700 were captured. For the Indians, they lost 4,000 dead and 9,000 wounded.
This left a huge gap which the Azad Hind exploited, breaking through the front lines. With the success in the north, the southern half of India rose in rebellion. With their positions threatened, the various Princely states switched sides in a bid to save their thrones and heads. Eventually, the British would have no choice but to negotiate with the Azad Hind government which would end the war.
Across the world, the world was shocked that a superpower had just been beaten in the field by a ragtag army of rebels in their crown jewel. In Britain, the people were outraged that their boys were being sacrificed for a giant colony in Asia. The anger from the war would boil over a year later, changing the world entirely.