Jat War Memorials

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Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

Jat War Memorials include the War Memorials in the world where Jat Soldiers are commemorated. Only partial lists are available which need to be completed.

War Memorial: A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.

World's earliest war memorial

The world's earliest known war memorial is the White Monument at Tell Banat, Aleppo Governorate, Syria, which dates from the 3rd millennium BC and appears to have involved the systematic burial of fighters from a state army.[1]

Modern War Memorials

In modern times the main intent of war memorials is not to glorify war, but to honor those who have died. Sometimes, as in the case of the Warsaw Genuflection of Willy Brandt, they may also serve as focal points of increasing understanding between previous enemies.

Jat war Memorials in the World

Here is given a partial list of Jat war Memorials in the World, which needs to be completed. In each war memorial some available partial names of Jats have been added.

Former Indian National Army Monument, Singapore

The former Indian National Army Monument site at Esplanade Park in Singapore is now marked by a plaque erected by the National Heritage Board.

Former Indian National Army Monument: The Former Indian National Army Monument is a historical site and a demolished war memorial at the Esplanade Park located at Connaught Drive within the downtown of Singapore.

Foundation stone laying by Subhas Chandra Bose and construction: The monument was constructed to commemorate the "Unknown Warrior" of the Indian National Army (INA). The words inscribed on the war memorial were its motto, which is Unity (Ittehad), Faith (Ittemad) and Sacrifice (Qurbani). It was built during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore as the Japanese and the INA had one enemy in common, i.e., the British.

Subhash Chandra Bose ("Netaji") laid the foundation stone on 8 July 1945, and the words inscribed upon the War Memorial were the motto of the INA: Unity (Etihaad), Faith (Etmad) and Sacrifice (Kurbani).[2] The monument was then erected within a month by the Japanese in August 1945, a few months before Singapore was recaptured by the British. The construction of the monument was proposed by Bose, the co-founder of the INA and Head of State of the Provisional Government of Free India. The INA was backed by the Japanese forces for its goal of gaining India's independence from Britain.

The future generations of Indians who will be born, not as slaves but as free men, because of your colossal sacrifice, will bless your names and proudly proclaim to the world that you, their forbears, fought and suffered reverses in the battle of Manipur, Assam and Burma. But through temporary failure you paved the way to ultimate success and glory.

Demolition by British: Lord Louis Mountbatten, the head of Southeast Asia Command, ordered the Former Indian National Army Monument to be demolished when Singapore was recaptured by the Allies in 1945.[3] It has been suggested by some historians that Mountbatten's decision to demolish the INA memorial was part of a larger effort to prevent the spread of the socialist ideals of the INA in the political atmosphere of the Cold War and the decolonization of Asia.[4][5] In 1995, the National Heritage Board of Singapore marked the place as a historical site. A Cenotaph has since been erected at the site where the memorial once stood.

Restoration: Erection of plaque by National Heritage Board: In 1995, the National Heritage Board marked the place as a historical site and subsequently with financial donations from the Indian community in Singapore, a new monument commemorating the previous one was erected on that spot.[6]

List of Jat Martyrs in Singapore
  • Lancenaik Hari Singh Dudee Ex-no 27918, 16BN 6 Rajputna Rifles. Died in Battle honours on 5th nov 1945 age 23 years. Not Married. Singhapure area. 2nd World war. Name on Honoured on Column 11 Singhapure Memorial. Son of Ranjit Singh Dudee and Nand Kaur of village Ghasola- Charkhi Dadri, Dist. Bhiwani Haryana.

Basra War Memorial, Iraq

Basra War Memorial

The Basra Memorial is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission war memorial near Zubayr, Iraq. The memorial commemorates 40,682 Commonwealth forces (99% Indians) members who died during the Mesopotamian Campaign, from the Autumn of 1914 to the end of August 1921, and whose graves are not known. The memorial was designed by Edward Prioleau Warren. It was unveiled by Gilbert Clayton on 27 March 1929.[11] Originally located eight kilometres north of Basra, near the Shatt al-Arab River, it was moved southwest in 1997 to a battleground from the much more recent Gulf War.

The Telegraph reported on 10 November 2013 that the memorial had suffered deliberate sabotage, with some of the its items missing which include the Cross of Remembrance and the bronze plaques from the Wall of Remembrance, carrying the names of the fallen.[12]

The BBC reported that Colin Kerr, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission publicity director, said that a total of 30,000 Indian soldiers are not named on the Basra memorial, despite fallen British soldiers being named, only Indian officers are accorded with the honour. The deaths of the non-commissioned men are commemorated by regiment but simply as "and 258 other Indian soldiers" or "and 272 other Indian soldiers." Kerr added that the commission knows their identities and has launched a project to find ways to publicise them both in India and in Britain.[13]

Port Tewfik Memorial, Egypt

Suez - The Port Tawfik Memorial (The Indian War Memorial) - in December 1957

The Port Tewfik Memorial (also known as the Indian War Memorial) was originally situated at Port Tewfik (or Port Taufiq), now called Suez Port, on the Suez Canal. It was unveiled in May 1926 for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now Commonwealth War Graves Commission) and commemorated 4,000 officers and men of the Indian Army killed during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign during the First World War.[14] The original memorial was designed by Scottish architects John James Burnet and Thomas S. Tait,[15] and included sculptures by British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger.

The memorial was destroyed by retreating Egyptian troops during the Six-Day War of 1967 and later relocated to the Heliopolis War Cemetery on Nabil el Wakkad Street in the Heliopolis district of Cairo. Panels bearing the names of the fallen have been mounted in the entrance pavilions to the War Cemetery.[16]

The modern Heliopolis War Cemetery also contains: 1. the Aden Memorial, commemorating over 600 men of the Commonwealth forces who died in the defence of Aden during the First World War. The Aden memorial was also destroyed during fighting in 1967. 2. over 1,700 graves of Commonwealth service personnel killed during the Second World War and a number of war graves of other nationalities.[17]

List of Jat Martyrs in Egypt
Badlu Singh.jpg
  • Badlu Singh - Risaldar Badlu Singh VC, (b.November 1876-d.23 September 1918), Dhankhar Jat from village Dhakla district Jhajjar (Haryana), was an Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was martyr of World War-I on 23 September 1918 on the west bank of the River Jordan, Palestine.
  • Sepoy Sardar Singh son of Ram Jas Dudi village Ghasola died during 2nd world war. Serving in Rajputana Rifle in Egypt.

Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial, France

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the memorial in 2015

The Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located on the outskirts of the commune of Neuve-Chapelle, in the département of Pas-de-Calais. The memorial commemorates some 4,742 Indian soldiers with no known grave, who fell in battle while fighting for the British Indian Army in the First World War. The location of the memorial was chosen because of the participation by Indian troops at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle.

The memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker, with sculpture by Charles Wheeler, is a circular enclosure centred on a tall pillar that is topped by a lotus capital, and carved representations of the Star of India and the Imperial Crown. One half of the circular enclosure consists of the panels of names of the dead, while the other half is open. Other architectural and sculptural features of the memorial include carved stone tigers, and two small domed chattris. At the foot of the pillar is a Stone of Remembrance inscribed with the words: "Their name liveth for evermore." The main inscription is in both English and French, while the column also bears an inscription in English, Arabic, Devanagari and Gurmukhi: "God is One, His is the Victory".[18]

The memorial was unveiled by F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, on 7 October 1927. The Earl of Birkenhead, who was present in his role as Secretary of State for India, had served in France in World War I from 1914 to 1915 as a staff officer with the Indian Corps, and later co-wrote an official history titled The Indian Corps in France (1917, revised edition 1919). Also present at the unveiling ceremony was Marshal Ferdinand Foch, who gave a speech in French. Attending the ceremony was a contingent of troops from India to represent the units that fought in France, including Sikhs, Dogras, and Garhwalis.[19] Foch's speech included the following addressed to them:

Return to your homes in the distant, sun-bathed East and proclaim how your countrymen drenched with their blood the cold northern land of France and Flanders, how they delivered it by their ardent spirit from the firm grip of a determined enemy; tell all India that we shall watch over their graves with the devotion due to all our dead. We shall cherish above all the memory of their example. They showed us the way, they made the first steps towards the final victory.
— Marshal Ferdinand Foch, 7 October 1927[20]

Later additions to the memorials commemorated other Indian Army dead of both World Wars.

There are two recipients of the Victoria Cross are commemorated on the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial: Gabar Singh Negi and William Arthur McCrae Bruce.[21]

List of Jat Martyrs in France

Gallery

  • Vishva Me Jat Viron Ki Samadhiyan

  • Singapur War Memorial

  • Basra War Memorial

  • Neuve-Chapelle Memorial France

  • Original Memorial at Port Tewifik

References

  1. ↑ "Site in Syria could be world's oldest war memorial, study finds". The Guardian. 27 May 2021.
  2. ↑ INA War Memorial in Singapore, National Archive of Singapore.
  3. ↑ "Historical Journey of the Indian National Army". National Archive of Singapore.
  4. ↑ Lebra, Joyce C., Jungle Alliance: Japan and the Indian National Army, Singapore, Asia Pacific Library
  5. ↑ Borra R. Subhash Chandra Bose. Journal of Historical Review, 3, no. 4 (Winter 1982), pp. 407-439
  6. ↑ Henderson, J. (2007). Remembering the Second World War in Singapore: Wartime Heritage as a Visitor Attraction. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 2(1), 36-52.
  7. ↑ History of Indian Army, France to Kargil, Publisher Shaheed Dham Trust Bhiwani Haryana, India, Author Dharmpal Singh Dudee
  8. ↑ History of Indian Army, France to Kargil, Publisher Shaheed Dham Trust Bhiwani Haryana, India, Author Dharmpal Singh Dudee
  9. ↑ History of Indian Army, France to Kargil, Publisher Shaheed Dham Trust Bhiwani Haryana, India, Author Dharmpal Singh Dudee
  10. ↑ History of Indian Army, France to Kargil, Publisher Shaheed Dham Trust Bhiwani Haryana, India, Author Dharmpal Singh Dudee
  11. ↑ "Basra Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
  12. ↑ "Iraq cemetery containing graves of British servicemen is destroyed". The Telegraph. 10 November 2013.
  13. ↑ "Why India needs to remember 'forgotten' fallen of world wars". BBC. 17 July 2016.
  14. ↑ Commonwealth War Graves Commission. "Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial"
  15. ↑ "Port Tewfik War Memorial". Dictionary of Scottish Architects.
  16. ↑ Commonwealth War Graves Commission. "Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial"
  17. ↑ Commonwealth War Graves Commission. "Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial"
  18. ↑ Sikhs And The Great War In France, United Sikhs
  19. ↑ Sikhs And The Great War In France, United Sikhs,
  20. ↑ Sikhs And The Great War In France
  21. ↑ Names of VC Holders on Memorials in France

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