Battle of Rorke's Drift day after the battle an improvised gallows was used "for hanging Zulus who were supposed to have behaved treacherously". Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders of Rorke's Drift, seven of them to soldiers of the 2nd/24th Foot – the most ever received for a single action by one regiment (although not, as commonly thought, the most awarded in a single action or the most in a day: sixteen were awarded for actions at the Battle of Inkerman, on 5 November 1854; twenty-eight were awarded as a result of the Second Relief of Lucknow, 14–22 November 1857). Four Distinguished
Military history of India British to prevent a resurgence of Mughal rule; Sikhs had been persecuted under the Mughal Empire. The Indian Air Force was established in 1932. During World War I, over 800,000 volunteered for the army, and more than 400,000 volunteered for non-combat roles, compared with the pre-war annual recruitment of about 15,000 men. The Army saw action on the Western Front within a month of the start of the war, at the First Battle of Ypres where Khudadad Khan became the first Indian to be awarded a Victoria Cross. After a year of front-line duty, sickness and casualties had reduced the