Being brought up in the city, it’s easy to miss a lot of things that we take for granted around us. So whenever I pass by the busy Brigade Road Junction, all I usually do is frown at the traffic snarls and check out the sights and sounds of all the glamour and glitz that crams the hectic street corner. It’s hard to actually take a second glance at the seemingly boring, and yet mammoth stone that sits in the spacious triangle at the junction.
Nestled amongst the many water holes, shopping centres and cool joints that dot the road, the war memorial at Brigade Road Junction is a grim reminder of the freedom that we take for granted so easily.
Surrounded by a rickety fence, the war memorial bears a mark of respect erected in memory of the officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the 1st Madras Pioneers who gave their lives in The Great War 1914-1918. A closer look reveals that the 1st Madras Pioneers was a conglomeration of many single regiments that can trace their origins to the mid 1700s. The four-sided monolith testifies to the time mainly during the First World War between 1914 and 1918 and highlights the lives lost in the three key regiments of that time – the 61st Pioneers, the 64th Pioneers and the 81st Pioneers which were all infantry regiments of the British Indian Army.
A glance at some historical documents shows that the 61st Pioneers originated in 1758 and were raised as the 1st Battalion Coast Sepoys which became the 61st Pioneers in 1901 and later became the 1st Battalion of the 1st Madras Pioneers in 1922. The 64th Pioneers also originated in 1758 as the 5th Battalion Coast Sepoys and became the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Madras Pioneers in 1922. The 81st Pioneers stood apart and originated in 1786 as the 28th Madras Battalion and later became the 10th (Training) Battalion of the 1st Madras Pioneers in 1922.
These regiments also had other names over the several wars they took part in. To name a few from the archives – the Carnatic Wars, the Anglo-Mysore War, the Battle of Seringapatam, the Battle of Nagpore, the Battle of Ava, the Afghan Wars, the Burmese Wars and the Boxer Rebellion and of course the Great War. The key areas the soldiers lost their lives were in Mesopotamia, Afghanistan, East Africa and the North West Frontier.
The memorial also has a list of the number of Pioneers who lost their lives in these regions. Reports say the 1st Madras Pioneers were disbanded in 1933 citing economic reasons.
While the Indian Army boasts of several successful wars and campaigns over the last few centuries, this memorial honours the time when there were no smart weapons or stealth attacks and only manpower ruled the battlefield.
While a plaque erected nearby professes ‘They gave their tomorrow for our today’, it only seems fitting that I salute the brave men who put their country before themselves. I only hope the memorial stays for times to come and I quote “continues to teach us the futility and yet, the inevitability of war.”
