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Order Of Service:
Gallipoli & The Sikhs -
National Memorial Service
Part IV

1914 SIKHS

 

 

 




Following are excerpts from
THE ORDER OF SERVICE
As referred to in an earlier article


Continued from yesterday

PART IV






Suki Kaur-Bassi reads:


THE GIFT OF INDIA

Is there ought you need that my hands withhold,
Rich gifts of raiment or grain or gold?
Lo! I have flung to the East and the West
Priceless treasures torn from my breast,
And yielded the sons of my stricken womb
To the drum-beats of the duty, the sabers of doom.
Gathered like pearls in their alien graves
Silent they sleep by the Persian waves,
Scattered like shells on Egyptian sands,
They lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands,
they are strewn like blossoms mown down by chance
On the blood-brown meadows of Flanders and France
Can ye measure the grief of the tears I weep
Or compass the woe of the watch I keep?
Or the pride that thrills thro’ my heart’s despair
And the hope that comforts the anguish of prayer?
And the far sad glorious vision I see
Of the torn red banners of victory?
When the terror and the tumult of hate shall cease
And life be refashioned on anvils of peace,
And your love shall offer memorial thanks
To the comrades who fought on the dauntless ranks,
And you honour the deeds of the dauntless ones,
Remember the blood of my martyred sons!

Sarojini Naidu (India, 1915)






Mankamal Singh reads:


LETTER TO AN UNKNOWN SOLDIER

On Platform 1 of Paddington Station in London, there is a statue of an unknown soldier; he is reading a letter. In 2014, everyone in the country was invited to pause, take a moment or two, and write that letter. The letters the soldier received created a new kind of War Memorial – one made only of words. This letter was submitted by the 1914 Sikhs campaign on behalf of the British Sikh community.







All remain seated and cover their heads.

Mandeep Kaur, Sikh Chaplain to the British Armed Forces,
introduces the third Shabad
, sung by Acapella Jatha:


O LORD, GRANT ME THE BOON

O LORD grant me the boon, that I may never deviate
from doing a good deed.
That I shall not fear when I go into combat. And with
determination I will be victorious.
That I may teach myself this deed alone, to speak only
of Thy (almighty Waheguru) praises.
And when the last days of my life come, I may die in
the might of the battlefield.







AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

By

Harbinder Singh







All stand.


THE PRAYERS

Led by Revd Dr Sam Wells,
Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields


All remain standing to sing:


ABIDE with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Henry Francis Lyte







THE LAST POST

Played by Drummer Liliequist of the Scots Guards






PARTICIPANTS

Major General Peter Davies CB, formerly Colonel of the King’s Regiment, is Patron of the 1914 Sikhs and President of the Jullundur Brigade Association.

Field Marshal Guthrie, Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank GCB LVO OBE DL is a former Chief of the Defence Staff.

James Rattray is the Great Grandson of Thomas Rattray who raised the Rattray’s Sikhs in 1856; the Grandson of H.B. Rattray, who commanded the Rattray’s Sikhs in 1916/17, and was killed in action in February 1917, and the son of P.H.Rattray, the last British commanding officer of the Rattray’s Sikhs in 1947.

Andrew Smyth is the grandson of The Rt. Hon. Brigadier Sir John Smyth VC MC of the 15th Ludhiana Sikh Regiment, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for leading a group of ten Sikhs at The Battle of Festubert in May 1915. He later became the founding President of the Victoria Cross & George Cross Association.

The Viscount Slim OBE DL is a crossbench member of the House of Lords and President of the Burma Star Association.

Pushpinder Singh Chopra is Vice President of the Jullundur Brigade Association, and executive editor of Nishaan, the illustrated Journal of the Sikhs.

David Bellamy is a member of the family of Lieutenant-General Sir Reginald Arthur Savory KCIE CB DSO MC, a British Indian Army Officer who served in both WWI & WWII. He took part in the Gallipoli campaign and was Colonel of 1st
Battalion, the Sikh Light Infantry.

Lieutenant General Andrew Graham CB CBE is a former Director General of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

Oliver Chamberlain is the grandson of Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain KG, Secretary of State for India, (1915–1917).

Lord Singh of Wimbledon CBE, is a crossbench member of the House of Lords and Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations (UK).

Ian Henderson CBE is the grandson of Lieutenant George Henderson, of the 15th Ludhiana Sikh Regiment, who was wounded at the first Battle of Neuve Chapelle, October 1914.

Major General Peter Currie CB CBE is a former Lieutenant Governor of Royal Hospital Chelsea and a former Chairman of Combat Stress.

David Lelliott OBE is Deputy British High Commissioner, Chandigarh, India.

Dr Gurnam Singh PhD (Warwick), is Principal Lecturer in Social Work, Coventry University and Visiting Professor of Social Work, University of Chester.

Suki Kaur-Bassi is a volunteer for the 1914 Sikhs Campaign.

Mankamal Singh is a volunteer for the 1914 Sikhs Campaign and an executive
member of the Sikh Council, UK.

Harbinder Singh is Honorary Director of the 1914 Sikhs Campaign.






PERFORMERS


Gursevak Jatha are all students of the Gurmat Sangeet Academy where members learn traditional Sikh musical instruments, including the Dilruba which is being performed at today’s service. The group recite meditative and sacred Sikh music in the form of the original Raags (musical scales), as included in the Sikh scriptures.

Acapella Jatha was officially formed 12 years ago, but as sisters have been singing together for nearly 25 years. The inspiration to form Acapella Jatha came from singing both Sikh hymns in Gurdwaras with traditional instruments, and singing Acapella in western choirs. They found that the younger generation could
relate to the ‘new’ sound that came from combining eastern and western sounds and instruments to create harmonising tones that enhanced spiritual awareness.

Oliver Nelson is a British violinist, known as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. He has collaborated with some of Britain’s finest musicians and his engagements have taken him throughout this country and abroad.







WITH THANKS TO:

The Scots Guards
The Army Cadet Force
Members of the 1914 Sikh Platoon: Amardip Singh, Jaskeerat Singh, Kameldeep Singh, Sanvir Singh, Sukhman Singh, Jagtar Singh, Manjinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Manjit Singh, Chamkor Singh.






[Back Cover]



[logo]

1914 SIKHS

NEVER FORGOTTEN





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[Concluded]
June 20, 2015

Conversation about this article

1: Talwinder Singh (USA), June 20, 2015, 10:30 AM.

The gurbani references should have had better citations re Guru-author, Guru Granth Sahib page, etc. If it could be done for the biblical quotes, why not for the GGS and Dasam Granth references? Disappointing.

2: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), June 20, 2015, 4:44 PM.

While we have volumes to extol the acts pf bravery by the Sikhs in both World Wars, let's add to this incredible and supreme act of bravery of 21 Sikhs of the 36th Regiment who sacrificed their lives to the last man in devotion to their duty. The Battle of Saragarhi fought on 12 September, 1897 was to become one of the most significant events of its kind in the world. Britain's Parliament interrupted it's proceedings and rose to give a standing ovation to the 21 Sikhs for their unparalleled, collective bravery to be counted as the greatest last-stand in the military history of the world. All the 21 were awarded the Indian Order of Merit, the highest gallantry award available then for Indians. They were not qualified for the Victoria Cross then. This was the only instant in the world when the entire body of troops was awarded for the same battle. To this day The Battle of Saragarhi is celebrated by their regiment now known as the 4th Sikh Regiment -- which is the most highly decorated regiment in the world.

3: Frances Melberzs-Rozitis (Adelaide, Australia), June 21, 2015, 9:07 PM.

I look back to all the wars. I mean BACK. WAY BACK and think how senseless they all were. All in the name of "flexing muscle" and "glorification". There is more - instil National Pride and the one above all - Religion. But, and there is a BIG BUT - it is the innocent who are killed. Look how many suffer. There is a family behind for each of all those who are killed. If they live, they come back scarred for life and so is the family. And it still continues. There is a small town on the Isle of Skye, Portsea, where during the time of the Depression with lack of jobs, there came the "call up" for WW1 where it was to give each and everyone of them money, adventure and excitement in life. No mention about death. Only three or four of those who enlisted returned. Can you imagine how it would be for those who returned and the families under those circumstances? There are monuments and graves all over the world for the fallen. There are assigned days to remember the fallen. Some now becoming tourist attractions. It is a treasure to keep when an award is bestowed on a soldier as a momento. The only thing that is returned and can be passed on down the generations. I know of people who had no idea what they were going to do in life and because of "the call up" to National Service, it gave them a forced direction and a strong standing in the community with leadership skills. How many were "called up" or forced to be "called up" in the name of it all just like those boys from Portsea. There is talk of sabre rattling with WW III appearing in the news media. Hope not. All I can say is ... Be nice to each other, whatever nationality or beliefs and then we don't need to shed that tear of sorrow and sadness.

4: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), June 22, 2015, 4:28 AM.

An excellent comment, Frances. I have a vague memory of what I read maybe 100 years ago. This was during Elizabeth I's reign. It was a time of war with Spain when Elizabeth said to her court favourite, Sir Walter Releigh, that if the Spanish were to cut off his head, she would in turn chop-off 100 Spanish heads. Said Sir Walter: "Your Majesty, I don't think any of those heads would fit my body!"

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Gallipoli & The Sikhs -
National Memorial Service
Part IV"









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