What struck British Deputy High Commissioner Bruce Bucknell on his visit to the Bhawanipore War Cemetery in Kolkata on Sunday was the age of the fallen soldiers of the First and Second World Wars.

“In most of the war cemeteries I have visited across the world there is one thing common, the age of soldiers…,” Mr. Bucknell said, speaking about the horrors of war on the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The age inscribed on most of the 938 graves clearly points out that most of those died were young men in their twenties and thirties.

Of the 938 graves, 617 graves are of the soldiers who laid their lives in the Second World War and about 95 graves are of those who fell in the Great War between 1914-1919.

The graves of the soldiers were moved from Fort William, where they were initially buried, several decades ago, said Rakhee Mukherjee, the manager of Bhawanipore War Cemetery.

In every few weeks there are visitors looking for the graves of their grandfathers or great-grandfathers, Ms. Mukherjee said, pointing to two elderly women, Patricia Campbell and Ann Stringer. Both daughters of Caption G.A. Campbell of the Gurkha Rifles, who died on 5th May 1945 during the Second World war, were visiting the grave of their grand father for the first time.

“We are so happy that we are here on Armistice Day,” Ms Campbell said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / by Shiv Sahay Singh / Kolkata – November 11th, 2018