Garos who toiled, died in First World War forgotten during global observance

TURA: A hundred years to this day, the guns of the Great War fell silent, and the world on Sunday observed the Armistice centenary with world leaders paying rich tributes to the millions of soldiers and civilians across the globe who lost their lives in what was once termed as “the war to end all wars”.
But history appears to have forgotten the sacrifices of the 1.3 million Indian soldiers and over a million more of the civilian labour force who also served in World War One on the side of the allied forces against an invading Germany and its allies.
Among those million plus civilian labour force was also a small band of Garo tribal men who helped the allied forces by working on the frontlines of the great battles that took place in France at the peak of winter in 1917.
Hundreds of young Garo men were called to service by the British government that ruled India at that time. They were recruited from Tura, distant Baghmara and even Nishangram in Assam. A total of 456 of these able-bodied men, enlisted under the 69th and 84th Garo Labour Corps companies, would ultimately reach France just before the onset of the bitter European winter.
These men would be engaged in salvage work and bringing in supplies for the allied troops at several places in France, such as Puisieux, Bucquoy, La Chapellette and Brusle, before they were sent to the port of Marseilles on May 25, 1918 for repatriation to India.
In the words of Garo historian Dr Milton S Sangma who scripted a book on the Garo Labour Corps, “These recruits won praise from the Allied commanders in France for their dedicated work.”
The recruits’ work involved unloading logs of timber and wooden planks, digging trenches for the allied troops to fight from and building barricades to prevent enemy invasion.
They were repatriated to India on May 25, 1918 and reached Tura on July 16 the same year.
There was jubilation and grief at the same time for many of the families whose loved ones went to the war.
Only 120 of the 456 men who went to France returned to Tura. The sea voyage back to India had taken its toll on them and many died from sea-sickness.
While the world over, particularly the western world that includes Great Britain and the United States, are paying rich tributes to their fallen heroes, back home the only semblance of their presence is a Cenotaph built in their memory at Babupara in Tura – the very place where a handful of the surviving men were reunited with their families on July 16, a hundred years ago.
Today, as countries across the globe pay homage to their fallen heroes, here at the Cenotaph in Tura, there are no flowers to be placed, a candle to be lit or a prayer to be offered for these brave young men who left their loved ones behind to answer to the call of duty.
Their stories and heroism may not even be found on the footnotes of history books on the great war, but there is a small solace in the fact that the people of Garo Hills have not forgotten them. Each year, since then, people come forward on July 16th to place floral wreaths on the cenotaph in memory of these brave hearts who gave their “today” for someone else’s “tomorrow”.