The annual memorial ceremony to commemorate 5 million men and women from World War I and II, which also included millions of Indian soldiers was observed on Monday in London.
The Memorial Gates are a war memorial located at the Hyde Park Corner end of Constitution Hill in London. Also known as the Commonwealth Memorial Gates, they commemorate the armed forces of the British Empire from five regions of the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka), as well as Africa and the Caribbean, who served for Britain in the First and Second World Wars.
Indian soldiers fought in World War II under Operation U Go offensive, or Operation C in Manipur (British India) which was when the Japanese offensive launched in March 1944 against forces of the British Empire in the northeast Indian regions of Manipur and the Naga Hills (then administered as part of Assam). Aimed at the Brahmaputra Valley, through the two towns of Imphal and Kohima, the offensive along with the overlapping Ha Go offensive was one of the last major Japanese offensives during the Second World War. The offensive culminated in the Battles of Imphal and Kohima, where the Japanese and their allies were first held and then pushed back.
On the 6th of November 2002, Her Majesty The Queen officially inaugurated the Memorial Gates on Constitution Hill, in London. These gates have been erected as a lasting memorial to honour the five million men and women from the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the Caribbean who served with the Armed Forces during the First and Second World Wars. They also celebrate the contribution that these men and women and their descendants, members of the Commonwealth family, continue to make to the rich diversity of British society.
This year there was a special focus on The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the 20th anniversary of the Memorial Gates, The Commonwealth Games and the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War. The Rt Rev. and the Rt Hon. Lord Chartres GCVO led the prayers this year, as he did 20 years ago at the inauguration of the Memorial Gates in his role as the Bishop of London.
Baroness Flather - Lifetime President of the Memorial Gates Council said, “It is 20 years since we opened these memorial Gates, and I gratified that, over that time, the awareness and appreciation of the huge contributions to our war efforts made by some 5 million Commonwealth soldiers is so much more widely shared - and it is across all communities.
“The war raging again on the Continent of Europe makes it all the more poignant to recall such sacrifices in the past. We owe this to the memory of all Africans, West Indians, and Indians who fought for us in the two great wars.
“They knew which was the right side. I hope all Commonwealth countries, all democracies, remember that – and come out on the right side today – and not hide below the parapets.”
Lord Bilimoria CBE DL -Chairman of the Memorial Gates Council said, ‘As Field Marshal Auchinleck said, “the British couldn’t have come through both wars if they hadn’t had the Indian Army”.
“I am proud to be Chairman of the Council of the Memorial Gates which is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year
“The Memorial Gates Ceremony on Commonwealth Day commemorates the service and sacrifice of the 5 million volunteers from South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. This year is particularly important for a number of reasons including the Commonwealth Games which is being held in Birmingham, the 40th Anniversary of the Falklands War and Her Majesty the Queens Platinum Jubilee.’”
Lord Rami Ranger CBE tweeted, “At the Memorial, Gate rememberIng the Commonwealth Soldiers who came to defend the King & Empire and the World Freedom in both the Great Wars.”
