A decrepit and partially vandalised arch at Valady village, near Lalgudi, serves as a grim reminder of India’s contribution to the Allied victory in World War I (1914-1918).
Ironically, the now sooty and crumbling words at the peak of the arch read: “Lest We Forget”.
Partially hidden from view by overgrown trees and leading to a level-crossing, this Great War memorial was erected by Dewan Bahadur G. Krishnamachariar and opened by Sir T. Desikachariar, Trichinopoly District Board president, on August 10, 1922, according to the inscription on one of its pillars.
The other pillar states the purpose of the arch being built ‘In commemoration of the glorious victory of the Allied Arms in which the Indian troops played a prominent part.’
The historicity of the structure does not seem to have inspired any conservation effort, despite this being the centenary year of World War I. Three hundred and two soldiers from Trichinopoly are estimated to have taken part in World War I as part of the British Indian Army. In 1919, the Clock Tower in the present-day Gandhi Market was erected in memory of the 41 soldiers who died in action.
After being neglected for several years, the tower was given a facelift by the corporation in March, 2013.
Although very little information is available locally about the Indian troops who fought the Great War, the website of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has some interesting facts of the country’s contribution to the military campaign.
According to cwgc.org , British India had sent 11,05,000 Indian personnel overseas by the time the war ended in November 1918. It mentions the Royal Indian Marine that was armed in 1914 and had some of its ships serving the Royal Navy on escort duties and others as coastal minesweepers or river gunboats in the Mesopotamia campaign.
Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service had its origins in the Indian Army, says cwgc.org .
In 1914, there were 300 nurses in the QAIMNS. By the end of the war, this had risen to 10,404. The Army nurses served in Flanders, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, West Asia, and on board hospital ships. Of the 200 plus army nurses who died in active service, many were Indians.
Perhaps, it is this spirit of service and sacrifice that the arch at Valady sought to remember when it was first erected.
