PM Modi visits Mazargues War Cemetery in Marseilles: Why Indian soldiers are honoured here

After a successful day in Paris, PM Narendra Modi’s France visit has now shifted attention to Marseilles.

On arrival in the town, PM Modi, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, visited the Mazargues War Cemetery where the two leaders paid tribute to the 900 soldiers who were commemorated here for their efforts in World War I.

At a solemn ceremony held at the site, Modi laid a wreath composed of tricolour-themed flowers.

Modi in April 2015 paid homage to Indian soldiers at World War I Memorial in Neuve-Chapelle in France – the first Indian prime minister to do so.

Modi in October 2018 spoke of the valiant contribution of Indian soldiers during World War I.

Modi said, “We had no direct connection with that war. Despite this, our soldiers fought bravely and played a very big role and made the supreme sacrifice. Our soldiers have displayed great valour in difficult areas and adverse conditions.”

But why does France remember Indians who fought for it during World War I?

Let’s take a closer look:

Indians in France and Belgium

As per the Indian Council of World Affairs website, over 1.3 million Indians soldiers served abroad during World War I.

Around 138,000 were deployed in Europe alone.

Most of these soldiers and enlisted officers served in the Ypres Salient in Belgium and at the Neuve-Chapelle in France from 1914 to 1915.

Two infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade of the Indian army were ordered to deploy abroad just days after the British government declared war on Germany in August 1914.

By September, members of the Indian Expeditionary Force began to arrive in France .

By October, they were engaged in heavy fighting on Belgium’s Messines Ridge.

The Indian Corps, comprising the 3rd (Lahore) and 7th (Meerut) divisions, participated in some of the most gruesome battles in the first year of World War I.

The 39th Garwhal Rifles, as part of the 7th (Meerut) Division, also fought the First Battle of Ypres.

In March 1915, France’s at Neuve-Chapelle, Indian soldiers comprised at least half of the attacking force.

The soldiers also brought glory to themselves at St. Julien in the Ypres Salient in April 1915, at Aubers Ridge and Festubert in May, and at Loos in September.

After they were redeployed to West Asia in December 1915, the Indian labour companies that stayed behind conducted important and risky logistical work – which came to an end with the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918.

As per the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, during World War I, Marseilles remained the home base for Indian troops.

The Royal Navy, the Merchant Navy, British troops and labour units either worked at Marseilles or used it as a staging point.

Around 90,000 combat and non-combat Indian troops fought for France and Belgium from 1914 to 1918, according to The Indian Council of World Affairs.

Of these, 8500 died and 50,000 were injured in France and Belgium.

Valiant stories from World War I

Among them was rifleman Gobar Singh Negi of the 39th Garwhal Rifles.

Negi, who had been born in Manjaur, joined the British Indian Army in October 1913.

Gabar, who was part of the forces taking on the German lines, took charge of the situation after his party commander was killed.

He led from the front till the trench as taken. Unfortunately, Gabar died in the attack.

The allies ultimately managed to take the village of Neueve-Chappelle.

Gabar was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

“For most conspicuous bravery on 10th March, 1915, at Neuve-Chapelle. During our attack on the German position he was one of a bayonet party with bombs who entered their main trench, and was the first man to go round each traverse, driving back the enemy until they were eventually forced to surrender. He was killed during this engagement,” his citation reads.

Gabar is commemorated on the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial.

Major Pandit Piarayal Atal is another posthumous winner of the Victoria Cross.

Pandit, the son of Private Secretary to the Maharaja of Jodhpore, and the grandson of the former Prime Minister of Jaipur State, joined the British Army in 1899.

By the time World War I broke out, he was a Major.

Pandit served as a medical officer with the 129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis.

Pandit did not shy away from doing his job.

He was repeatedly mentioned for tending to the wounded under fire.

Pandit died at age 43 after an enemy shell hit his medical post.

Pandit too is named on CWGC’s Neuve-Chapelle Memorial in France.

In July 1925, Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood unveiled the Mazargues Indian Memorial in Marseilles.

The site commemorates 1,487 casualties of World War I.

Two-hundred and five Indian casualties, who were cremated, are commemorated on a memorial at the rear of the cemetery.

In 1927, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Commander of Allied Forces in World War I, paid tribute to the valour of the Indian soldiers during World War I.

“Return to your homes, in your distant lands bathed in the light of the East, and proclaim out loud how your patriots spattered the cold northern lands of France and Flanders with their blood, how they liberated them from the clutches of the determined enemy, thanks to their quick-wittedness. Go and tell all of India that we must look upon their graves with the devotion that all our dead deserve. We shall cherish, above all, the memory of the examples they set. They hewed the path for us, it is they who took the first steps towards the final victory,” Foch said.

Around 74,000 Indian troops laid down their lives during the Great War.

Of these, 8,000 are buried at CWGC war cemeteries –  each having their own war grave.

The rest are remembered by name on a CWGC war memorial.

Memorials for Indian soldiers has also been erected at Villers-Guislain and Neuve-Chappelle in France – the former features the Ashoka emblem, while the latter commemorates over 4,700 Indian soldiers and labourers who gave their lives during World War I.

With inputs from agencies