2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War and is therefore, a significant milestone in our homage to those who made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. The Chattri Memorial Group has organised a Memorial Service at The Chattri, in remembrance of the Indian Soldiers who were cremated in Brighton during the First World War. The memorial is unique and the commemoration is believed to be the only one of its kind in Britain. This service is due to take place on Sunday 10th June 2018 at 2.30 pm at the Chattri, Patcham, Standen Lane, Brighton including prayers and laying of wreaths. An exhibition which traces the role of the soldiers from India to the Western Front will be on display too.
India was part of the British Empire during the First World War, and more than 800,000 Indian soldiers fought for the Allied Powers. Some 12,000 troops were brought over from the Western Front and hospitalised in Brighton to recover from their wounds. Three were established in Brighton.
In December 1914, 345 injured soldiers were transported to Brighton by train and were transferred to the hospitals. The King and Queen, Mayor of Brighton, Chief Constable of Brighton and other dignitaries visited frequently, and careful arrangements were made at the Royal Pavilion to provide for the different dietary and other cultural requirements of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims.
Although the great majority of soldiers recovered from their injuries, some died. Muslim men who died were taken to the Shah Jahan mosque in Woking, Surrey, and buried in accordance with Islamic tradition in a new cemetery. The bodies of 53 Hindus and Sikhs were taken to a remote location high on the South Downs above Brighton, where a ghat (funeral pyre) was built so they could be cremated and their ashes scattered in the English Channel. This funeral rite was again carried out in line with religious custom.
In August 1915, soon after the last cremations at the ghat site, a lieutenant in the Indian Medical Service and the Mayor of Brighton, Sir John Otter, planned the establishment of a memorial to the soldiers who had died in Brighton. Lt Das Gupta made the proposal, but Otter took on the project almost single-handedly; after leaving his position as Mayor he chaired Brighton's Indian Memorials Committee.
In December 1915 he made a proposal to the India Office for a memorial on the ghat site and another in Brighton town centre; Sir Austen Chamberlain, the Secretary of State for India agreed this in February 1916, the land on which the ghat stood, and the immediate area around it, was transferred to the ownership of Brighton County Borough. At the same time, the India Office agreed to share the cost of building and erecting the memorial with Brighton Corporation.
Funds were raised during 1917. A young Indian architect E. C. Henriques from Mumbai, who was completing his studies in England designed The Chattri; Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, an English architect who was responsible for many buildings in India and who helped pioneer the Indo-Saracenic architectural style, provided guidance. The Chattri was unveiled on 1 February 1921 by Edward, Prince of Wales.
By the 1930s, the memorial had fallen into disrepair. The caretaker had died, nobody had replaced him, and the cottage had been demolished. The India Office, liaised with the Corporation and the Imperial war Graves Commission and planned a new maintenance policy. But the Second World War intervened, and the whole area was requisitioned by the Army. By the end of the war, The Chattri was covered with bullet holes after being used as a target by troops practising their rifle shooting.
After the war, the War Office agreed to pay for repairs, and The Chattri was restored to its original condition. Starting in 1951, the Royal British Legion undertook annual pilgrimages to the memorial, and also contributed to its upkeep. Although the pilgrimages ceased in 1999, the Sikh community has led a similar annual ceremony each year since 2000.
