At midday on Sunday 26 September, a new war memorial, built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, will be unveiled in Sussex, paying tribute to some of the one and half million Indian soldiers who fought for the British Empire during the First World War.
Construction of the new Indian memorial at Patcham DownOver the past few months, the Commission's stonemasons have built a new memorial, which bears the names of 53 Indian soldiers who died during the Great War. This new memorial stands a few metres from the existing Patcham Down Indian Forces Cremation Memorial, often referred to as the Brighton Chattri.
The Chattri Memorial, which stands on the Sussex Downs overlooking Brighton, commemorates all those Indian soldiers who fought during the First World War and was built on the site where Hindu and Sikh soldiers, who died following hospitalisation in Brighton, were cremated. Unveiled in 1921, a memorial service has been held there every year since.
Among the guests attending the unveiling ceremony, which is open to the public, will be the Director-General of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Richard Kellaway; His Excellency The High Commissioner of India to the UK, Nalin Surie; representatives of the British Indian community and veterans from the Undivided Indian Ex-services Association and the Royal British Legion.
The unveiling of the new memorial is being filmed as part of a new education resource being prepared by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which examines the often overlooked contribution of servicemen and women from India during the two world wars. This education pack will be released in October 2010.
Members of the public are welcome to attend this event. It is usually not possible to park close to the Chattri, but for this service, it will be possible to drive across the fields towards the memorial and park nearby.
Source: CWGC website.
