The creation of India and Pakistan as two independent dominion states along religious lines led to the largest human displacement and migration and a refugee crisis. James as a member of the R.W.A.C. was sent to Punjab to provide assistance.
“….in August 1947 [the R.W.A.C] were invited (by Nehru and Patel) to assist in the medical services in the Punjab.” ~ Sanjeev Jain
After partition was announced, the subcontinent descended quickly into riots and bloodshed. Bungalows and mansions were burned and looted, women were raped, children were killed in front of their siblings. Trains carrying refugees between the two new nations arrived full of corpses; their passengers had been killed by mobs en route.
Floods in 1947 had a devastating caused tremendous loss of life during the mass migration.
Sanjeev Jain also includes an account of the times from Agnes Maclean’s diary. She was a volunteer with the Friends Services Unit and went to Kurukshetra.
