Kolkata :

A forgotten chapter of the Indian military history was retrieved from the oblivion and feted at a brief function organised as part of various events held in the city on Remembrance Day today.

The memorial erected by the British at College Square in Kolkata to honour members of the Bengali Regiment who died in the First World War is hard to locate on an ordinary day. Today, however, it saw visit by WB Minister Sadhan Pandey, who paid floral tributes to the soldiers, most of whom fell not by bullets but due to various diseases.“The 49th Bengali Regiment would go on to have a rather inglorious record. It reached Mesopotamia in September 1917, but never saw combat and struggled with the desert conditions and diseases. A commanding officer divided the regiment into ‘Measles Squad’, ‘The Whooping Cough Squad’ and ‘Scarlet Fever Squad’.

More seriously, there was infighting and a junior member opened fire on three senior colleagues while they were asleep. The regiment was demobilised soon after the war,” said Santanu Das, professor at London’s King’s College, who is known for his work on the first great war.

Ashok Nath, military historian, who is on the faculty of Stockholm University, however, said except for the Kumaon Rifles, all other army regiments raised by the British in India in view of the First World War were disbanded after the war.

Muhammad Lutfur Haq, retired Bangladesh Army officer, said 10 per cent of the members of Bengali Regiment were Muslims. The rest were all Hindus. “Bengalis were never put to the frontline. They were given static and security duty at rear,” Dhaka-based Haq, an expert in military matters, told this reporter.

It is likely that because of the poor show by the regiment (known as Bangali Paltan) in the war, the memorial at College Square does not arouse excitement among the city residents.

In honour of Bengali Regiment  

• A memorial was erected by the British at College Square in Kolkata to honour members of the Bengali Regiment who died in the First World War
• The 49th Bengali Regiment reached Mesopotamia in September 1917, but never saw combat and struggled with the desert conditions and diseases
• The regiment was divided into ‘Measles Squad’, ‘The Whooping Cough Squad’ and ‘Scarlet Fever Squad’

source: http://www.tribuneindia.com / The Tribune / Home> Nation / by Tribune News Service / by Shubhadeep Choudhury / November 11th, 2019