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Old 23-04-21, 02:43 PM
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mike_vee mike_vee is offline
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I watched a few more news reports and the impression given by the various "talking heads" (including Lammy) is that the IWGC/CWGC were a bunch of 'racists' who did not respect the sacrifices made by the numerous Commonwealth forces that died.

Perhaps they have never heard of these memorials :

NEUVE-CHAPELLE MEMORIAL

The Indian Memorial at Neuve Chapelle commemorates over 4,700 Indian soldiers and labourers who lost their lives on the Western Front during the First World War and have no known graves. The location of the memorial was specially chosen as it was at Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 that the Indian Corps fought its first major action as a single unit.

The memorial was designed by the celebrated British architect, Sir Herbert Baker, and unveiled by the Earl of Birkenhead on 7 October 1927. Lord Birkenhead, then Secretary of State for India, had served as a staff officer with the Indian Corps during the war. The ceremony was also attended by the Maharaja of Karputhala, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Rudyard Kipling, and a large contingent of Indian veterans..

Almost 5,000 of the dead have no known grave and are commemorated on the Menin Gate at Ieper and here at Neuve Chapelle.

https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-c...elle-memorial/

NB. On the city walls near the Menin Gate are further memorials to Allied soldiers who fought and died at Ypres, the most notable being those to the Gurkhas and Indian soldiers.


The India Gate (formerly known as the All India War Memorial)

The India Gate was part of the work of the Imperial War Graves Commission (I.W.G.C), which came into existence in December 1917 under the British rule for building war graves and memorials to soldiers who were killed in the First World War . The foundation stone of the gate, then called the All India War Memorial, was laid on 10 February 1921

13,218 war dead are commemorated by their names on the gate.

NB. India did not want memorials as it "was ashamed of its soldiers' participation in a colonial war and saw nothing to celebrate".

https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-c...India%20Gate)/


The CWGC site also mentions the Imphal Indian Army War Cemetery where there are 828 Commonwealth burials of WW2 plus ;
Quote:
At the southern end of the cemetery stands the IMPHAL CREMATION MEMORIAL which commemorates 868 soldiers and airmen of the Hindu and Sikh faiths, killed in the battle for Imphal whose remains were cremated in accordance with their faith.
So , no gravestone may not have been 'racist' and out of respect for their beliefs.


One final point , how many British soldiers killed in WW1 are not buried/have a headstone in CWGC cemeteries ?

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Last edited by mike_vee; 23-04-21 at 03:05 PM.
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