WW1 - Commemoration of Indian Soldiers - Hindu and Sikh Soldiers

Photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Commemoration of Indian Soldiers

Over one and a half million Indian army soldiers served alongside British troops during the World War One. Twelve thousand Indian soldiers who were wounded on the Western Front.

The fifty-three Hindu and Sikh soldiers who died in Brighton were taken to a peaceful resting place on the Sussex Downs near Patcham for cremation, after which their ashes were scattered in the sea, in accordance with their religious rites.

The Muslim brothers in arms, totalling nineteen, were buried in a purpose built burial ground near to the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking. Built in 1889, the mosque is the oldest of its kind in north-west Europe.

Honouring Hindu and Sikh soldiers

Photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission

 

Fifty three Hindus and Sikhs, including Manta Singh, were cremated on a specially built funeral ghat on the gentle English hills of the South Downs, overlooking Brighton. Their ashes were scattered in the sea. A “Chattri” was built to mark the site.

Chattri means umbrella in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. Chattris have been used as memorials to the dead for centuries in India. The Brighton Chattri is dedicated to Indian soldiers who died in the First World War.

The Chattri bears the following inscription in Hindi and English:

To the memory of all the Indian soldiers who gave their lives for their King-Emperor in the Great War, this monument, erected on the site of the funeral pyre where the Hindus and Sikhs who died in hospital at Brighton, passed through the fire, is in grateful admiration and brotherly affection dedicated.

In September, 2010, a new screen wall, constructed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, was unveiled. It bears the name of fifty three Indian soldiers, including Gurkhas, who died in Brighton hospitals.