Their remains were found on September 20, 2016 during an excavation at Richebourg

Remains of two Indian soldiers who fought World War I in France and found in an excavation last year will be buried at the Laventie Military Cemetery there. An Indian Army team is heading to France for the ceremony.

“On examining their belongings, they were identified as causalities of 39th Royal Garhwal Rifles. The office of Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWWGC), which is the curator of the graves of these unsung heroes, in consultation with the French Government and the Indian Embassy in France decided to hold a burial ceremony at Laventie Military Cemetery, with full military honours alongside the annual memorial service,” the Army said in a statement on Saturday.

Their remains were found on September 20, 2016 during an excavation on the southern side of the village of Richebourg near the cemetery, approximately 230 km from Paris.

On behalf of the Indian Army, a delegation comprising of the Commandant and the Subedar Major of the Garhwal Rifles regimental centre, two bagpipers from the regimental pipe band and Colonel Nitin Negi, grandson of late Naik Darwan Singh Negi, Victoria Cross, hero in the battle of Festubert, were nominated to attend the ceremony.

In a symbolic gesture, the soil from the graves of these soldiers would be brought back to India.

During World War I, the Garhwal Brigade comprising of 1st/39th and 2nd/39th Royal Garhwal Rifles fought in France and Flanders. The Garhwal Brigade earned six Battle Honours and two Victoria Crosses.