The deep-water port of Chattogram (Chittagong) was an advanced base for operations in Arakan

Representatives of High Commission of India in Dhaka and Assistant High Commissioner of India, Chattogram paid their solemn tribute to fallen Indian soldiers who fought under the flag of Commonwealth countries in World War-II on Sunday at Chittagong War Cemetery.

The deep-water port of Chattogram (Chittagong) was both an advanced base for operations in Arakan and a considerable hospital centre, said a statement of the High Commission of India.

The cemetery, originally created for hospital deaths, was enlarged to receive burials from a number of isolated sites and contains 751 war graves, which includes 14 sailors, 545 soldiers and 194 airmen. There are also 04 non-world war graves in the cemetery, it informed.

The cemetery houses graves of soldiers from UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, East Africa, West Africa, Burma (Myanmar), Netherlands, Japan and undivided India, the statement said.

According to the statement, 214 graves of personnel from undivided India also include more than 10 graves of personnel who were natives of present day Bangladesh.

These men sacrificed their lives in the fight against the Axis power from 1939 to 1945.

On the entrance of the cemetery is the Chittagong Memorial which commemorates by name 6,469 sailors of Royal Indian Navy and Merchant Navy who were lost at sea during the Second World War.

As India celebrates 75 years of Independence, we look back with respect and administration to commemorate the brave men and women who gave their today’s for our tomorrows, the statement mentioned.

The sacrifice made by the Indian personnel in World War II played a crucial role in the victory of the Allied countries as Indian soldiers went onto distinguished themselves in all theatres of war in which they had participated, it further said.