87 Brave Manipuries of the First World War

By Yumnam Rajeshwor Singh

‘In January 1917 the Secretary of State for India informed the Viceroy that 50,000 “South African kaffirs” were being send to France and asked if he could supply an equal number of labourers. While other local governments remained noncommittal, Archdale Earle, Chief Commissioner of assam, offered ‘eight to ten thousand able- bodied hill –men. Quite remarkably, this labour was being offered from the most sparsely populated tracts of Assam- the Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia hills and down along the Assam Burma frontier, the Naga hills, the mountainous tracts of Manipur Princely State and the Lushai hills’(Radhika Singha).

In April 1917, a group of 2000 recruits for the Labour Corps assembled in Imphal. They underwent a short period (around three weeks) of rigorous intensive physical training and on basic warfare knowledge. The leaders of the various contingents were as follows:

1. Porachao and Angom Porom Singh of Phayeng led the Meitei contingent;
2. R.S.Ruichumhao led the 1200 strong Tangkhul contingent;
3. Teba Kurong led the Kom contingent; and
4. Thomsong.Ngulhao, a Kuki Christian evangelist was the leader for the 500 Kuki recruits. (Pratap Chetri)
‘His Highness Maharajah Churchand Singh of Manipur State offered the Manipur Double Company and Manipur Labour corps which rendered distinguished service during the war. The Maharajah contributed an aeroplane and four motor ambulances amounted to Rs 51,300, Rs. 14670 to various relief funds, comfort funds and memorials, Rs 40,830 towards the expenses of the Double Company and Rs 3044 towards the expenses of the Corps’ (Budheswar Pati)

Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 12680, 4 December 1917, His Highness Raja Chura Chand Singh, Raja of Manipur was appointed by the King of England to the Most Excellent order of the British Empire (CBE) for services in connection with the 1^st World War. Later again as recorded  in The Gazette ( London Gazette), page 4 , 1^st January 1934,  His Highness was  appointed  by the King of England as Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI).

Many Manipuries who went to participate the First World War must have died in various part of the world. After almost 96 years of the end of First World War, 87 numbers of Graves and Memorials belonging to Manipuries were discovered during my research in various cemeteries and memorials of France, Italy, Yemen and Egypt. The memorials and Graves belong to five different companies of Manipur Labour Corps. They are the 39^th Manipuri Labour Coy, 40^th Manipuri Labour Coy, 65^th Manipuri Labour Coy, 66^th Manipur Labour coy and the 22^nd Manipuri Labour Coy.

The names with their corresponding cemetery/ Memorials with the country of the cemetery/ Memorial of the 87 graves are listed below:

Out of these 87 Manipuries, two families had come forward to claim the photographs of the grave. Putanleng was originally from Tangkhul Hundung. His nephew is still today alive and lives in Litan.  Putanleng is buried in ST. SEVER CEMETERY EXTENSION, in Rouen, France. Almost all of the hospitals at Rouen remained there for practically the whole of the war. They included eight general, five stationary, one British Red Cross, one labour hospital, and No. 2 Convalescent Depot. A number of the dead from these hospitals were buried in other cemeteries, but the great majority were taken to the city cemetery of St. Sever.  So it can be concluded that Putanleng died in a hospital due to illness or by a wound from a battle. There is a possibility of Putanleng’s death in one of the above Hospitals after a battle injury. The German offensive had started one month before he died.

Another laborer’s grave picture was also handed over to his grandson, Mr Lohro from Mao, Manipur. The Grave of Akhill Pukhini is also located in France in the Barly French Military Cemetery. Barly is a village and commune in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, some 25 kilometres south-west of Arras. Pukhini did not die in Barly. His remains were brought from isolated burials in France along with eight other Indians after the end of 1^st world war to be reburied in this Cemetery.

Manipur has no memorial dedicated to those who participated the Great War. It’s time now the present generation carves the name of those brave forgotten Manipuries, so that the future generation will cherish the memories of their forefather.

References :-

1. Radhika Singha. ‘The recruiter’s eye on “the primitive: to France in the Indian Labour Corps, and back, 1917-1918’.                                                            
2. Pratap Chetri. ‘North East and the first world war’ , Eastern Panorama
3. The London Gazette
4. Budheswar Pati . ‘India and the first world war’
5. Records of Commonwealth War Graves Commission

This article was sent for publication by Yumnam Rajeshwor Singh. The author can be contacted through  his email id yrs001(at)gmail(dot)com