Freed Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 1939 - 1945 Lest We Forget This year marks the 60th year since the end of the Second World War - All nations gave their sons to the war effort - While I do not wish to go into the politics - the Sikh contribution is sometimes overlooked - some see it as 'Indians' being used as cannon fodder or 'soldiers' used as a bargaining tool for independence - In India and Britain the Veterans are sometimes overlooked. It is our duty to keep their Sacrifice and Memory alive - all we enjoy today is because of their sacrifice - We should forget the Politics and Remember that these Brave Souls "died for ALL free men" upholding Cherished Sikh Values in almost every Theatre of both World Wars. These pictures show the Kranji War Memorial Singapore. The Kranji War Memorial off Woodlands Road of Singapore actually consists of the State Cemetery, War Graves, Military Graves and the Memorial Wall. 4500 allied servicemen are buried in the War Graves and over 25000 names of allied servicemen who died in the South-East Asia theatre of WWII are commemorated on the walls of the great winged memorial. The inscriptions in many languages, including Gurmukhi, read; 1939 - 1945 ON THE WALLS OF THIS MEMORIAL ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF TWENTY-FOUR THOUSAND SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN OF MANY RACES UNITED IN SERVICE TO THE BRITISH CROWN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN MALAYA AND NEIGHBOURING LANDS AND SEAS IN THE AIR OVER SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE CUSTOMARY RITES ACCORDED TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH. They Died for All Free Men The Indian Army Memorial On the memorial are the names of locally enlisted personnel of the British Army: Royal Indian Army Service Corps, Royal Hong Kong & Singapore Artillery, Indian Armoured Corps, 16th Light Cavalry, Non-combatants, 3rd Cavalry, 16th King George V Own Lancers, Royal Regiment of Indian Artillery, The Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners, King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners, Queen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers and Miners, Indian Engineers, Indian Signal Corps, 1st Punjab Regiment, 2nd Punjab Regiment, 3rd Madras Regiment, 6th Rajputana Rifles, Indian Grenadiers, 7th Rajput Regiment, 5th Mahratta Regiment, 5th Mahrati Light Infantry, 11th Sikh Regiment, 10th Baluch Regiment, 9th Jat Regiment, 8th Punjab Regiment, 12th Frontier Force, 17th Dogra Regiment, 18th Royal Garwhal Rifles, 19th Hyderabad Regiment, Kumaon Regiment, 1st Kumaon Rifles, The Bihar Regiment, 9th Gurkhas, 1st King George V's Own Gurkha Rifles, 2nd Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles, 4th Prince of Wales' Own Gurkha Rifles, 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles, 7th Gurkha Rifles, 8th Gurkha Rifles, Indian Medical Department, Indian Hospital Corps, Indian Army Medical Corps, Indian Army Veterinary Corps, Indian Army Ordnance Corps, Corps of Indian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Indian Army Corps of Clerks, Indian Army Postal Services, Indian General Service Corps, Indian Pioneer Corps, Corps of Military Police (India), Intelligence Corps (India), 1st Hyderabad Infantry, Jind Infantry, 1st Battalion Mysore Infantry, 1st Battalion Patiala Infantry (Rajindra Sikhs), Federated Malay States Police Corps Line Memorial to Ranjit Singh - Sikh Regiment - Kranji Sikh Soldiers in Europe WW2 Veterans of the Second World War - with the Mayor of London - Trafalgar Square.Vaisakhi 2004 The British Indian Army grew from 189,000 at the start of the war to over 2.5 million - at no other time in history has a army this large been voluntarily mobilised to fight . We must never forget them. They fought and They Died for All Free Men. - We owe a debt to these Brave Souls of all Nations. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freed Posted July 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 The Sikh Memorial - Coventry UK This 22ft marble monument which incorperates the insignia of all the Sikh Regiments which served in the Army from 1850 until 1945 stands in the middle of a traffic island on the Stoney Stanton Road at the crosspoint of the North South Road in Coventry. It is a unique monument marking 200 years of Sikh involvement in British history and the last two world wars. * text & Picture from http://www.asht.info/Coventry+Memorial The War Cemetery Basra - Iraq This Cemetery is a memorial to the Mesopotamian Campaign of the 1st World War - with over 3000 graves - it lies in ruins . The Indian cemetery is in complete ruins - a victim of the Iran Iraq War and Shia uprising against Saddam. It must be noted that to Britain's shame the names of the Indian Dead were not recorded.All brass markers and memorials have been stripped and looted, many of the graves are smashed. The Commonwealth Graves commission has plans to restore the cemetery and replace the names on the memorials. Regardless of your politics or view of the Gulf war - any arguements about Imperial Grand plans of the past and modern are best avoided - We should remember those who gave their futures to secure ours . Carrying Siri Guru Granth Sahib during The Mesopotamian Campaign The Memorial at Cassino , Italy Cassino , 140 kms South East of Rome - saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Italian Campaign - the allied forces included many Sikhs, Gurkhas and other Indian regiments. The Cemetery has over 4000 graves. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Some great pictures. Thanks for refreshing their shaheediya.. we must not forget them...vahiguroo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.