Once-forgotten records of thousands of Punjabi soldiers who fought in WW-I are now restored online

As Europe observers Armistice Day on Thursday to commemorate the end of World War I between the allies and Germany in 1918, historians in the UK have unearthed thousands of records belonging to Punjab troops who fought in the Great War.

The information trove was reportedly found in Lahore Museum in Pakistan. The files were digitised and uploaded on a website to make it easier for descendants of Punjabi soldiers who had taken part in the war.

Relatives of the soldiers who fought the war can now log on to the database as several have already tried to track their ancestors' role in the biggest war in the early 20th century.

Soldiers from undivided Punjab had taken part in large numbers during the war as they fought on behalf of the British Commonwealth. The files show handwritten and typed pages with huge data on villages including family background, regiment and rank of soldiers.

According to the information provided in the documents, there were a large number of volunteers who came from various villages in Punjab and served in various war theatres in Britain's gigantic war effort.

The "pilot project" currently includes 45,000 records from districts in Jalandhar and Ludhiana even as the historians are set to target 25 more districts and thousands of more personal records of soldiers.