Sculptor Anil Sutar (left) and Squadron Leader Rana Chhina (Retd) with the bronze memorial that will be instal... Read More

How does a nation express its gratitude to another for fighting for its freedom a hundred years ago? It offers its soil for a memorial that would remind generations to come how the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity were defended in the killing fields of France and Flanders in World War I.

On December 2, a unique Indian Armed Forces Memorial will be inaugurated at Villiers Guislain , right at the spot where the Indian cavalry had resisted a German counterattack during the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. The Indian Tricolour will be hoisted and French children will sing Jana Gana Mana. Besides cementing the historical bonds between the two countries, the memorial will honour Indian servicemen who have remained a footnote of history for a century.

"The land was a gift from the village of Villiers Guislain, and the mayor Gérard Alart has been one of the key factors," said Squadron Leader Rana Chhina , who has been the driving force of this memorial from the Indian side.

Sunday Times was given an exclusive preview of the memorial at the studio of sculptor Anil Sutar in Sahibabad. It's a lion capital made of bronze, to be flanked by two crossed cavalry lances with pennants on either side. A memorial plaque will also be installed there.

Sutar has also been making the Statue of Unity of Sardar Patel and another of Chhatrapati Shivaji that would be an island statue in Mumbai. "I'm glad and proud to sculpt this memorial for Indians," Sutar told this correspondent. The memorial, Chhina clarified, isn't confined to the Indian Army but is for all Indian sailors, airmen and non-combatants who sacrificed their lives in war.

Cambrai was the world's first "all-arms" battle where infantry, artillery, cavalry, tanks and aircraft participated. The Battle of Cambrai had started with a British push towards the Hindenburg Line on November 20, 1917. The Germans launched a massive counter offensive. That's when the cavalry was drawn up from the rear and pressed into attack.

The Indian cavalry comprising the Deccan Horse, Hodson's Horse, Poona Horse, Central India Horse and 18 Cavalry charged at German positions at Gauche Wood, Raperie (Beet factory) and Kildare Post. The attack wasn't very well coordinated so it didn't quite achieve the desired impact. But the Indians suffered a lot of casualties. Many say that the Indians helped stabilise the British line a bit.

Indians fought mounted and dismounted, and won a Victoria Cross too. Indian fighter pilots of the Royal Flying Corps (became Royal Air Force in 1918) also flew here.

"This memorial is to all. We are thankful to the people of Villiers Guislain who donated this land, and the municipality that landscaped it," Chhina said.

This would be the second Ashokan memorial in Europe installed by free India, the first being at Menin Gate in Belgium.

