Honour Role
Between December 1, 1914 when it opened as a hospital until its closure as an Indian hospital in February 15, 1916 a total of 4,306 Indian patients had been admitted to the Royal Pavilion hospital. [1] Many of the most seriously wounded soldiers died either in France or during the long journey to the Brighton hospitals that involved transport by ambulance, train and ship. Of those that survived the journey to Brighton, 74 Indian soldiers would die there.
A wounded Sikh to his father, [Gurmukhi]
Brighton Hospital, January 18, 1915
Tell my mother not to go wandering madly because her son, my brother, is dead. To be born and to die is God's order. Some day we must die, sooner or later, and if I die here, who will remember me? It is a fine thing to die far from home. A saint said this, and, as he was a good man, it must be true. [2]
The deaths of these brave warriors at the hospitals of Brighton for the King and the British Empire are recorded and their ultimate sacrifices will never be forgotten.
Breakdown of Casualties [3]
Total cremated on the Downs at Patcham (site of the Chattri Memorial) 53
Total buried at Woking (Muslim Burial Ground & Brookwood) 21
Total deaths 74
Royal Pavilion Hospital
18 deaths - 10 cremated at Patcham; 8 buried at Woking.
Kitchener Hospital
36 deaths - 25 cremated at Patcham; 11 buried at Woking.
York Place Hospital
20 deaths - 18 cremated at Patcham; two buried at Woking.
List of names and details of the Sikh and Hindu soldiers who were cremated at Patcham
List of names and details of Muslim soldiers who were buried at Woking
Footnotes
1. Timothy Carder, The Encyclopedia of Brighton (East Sussex County Libraries, 1990) 161
2. David Omissi, Indian Voices of the Great War, Soldiers’ Letters, 1914-1918 (St. Martin’s Press, Inc., 1999)
3. Tom Donovan, The Chattri, Durbar, Journal of the Indian Military Historical Society (Summer 2009, Volume 26, No. 2, UK) 61
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