Haifa day: Deterioration of memorial in Basra distresses families of martyrs

The deterioration of the Basra War Memorial in conflict-hit Iraq has caught the attention of those who are aware of the history of the Mesopotamian Campaign in World War I (1914–1921) and also of the families that lost their dear ones. The memorial was built for the 40,500 service personnel from the Commonwealth who died in the war. A large number of them were Indians, and many were from the Mysore Imperial Lancers, whose exploits in WWI, especially in the liberation of Haifa, have been etched in the annuls of modern warfare.

As the Haifa Liberation Day is observed worldwide, including at the Haifa Memorial in Bengaluru on Wednesday (September 23), those chronicling the sacrifice of the Mysore Lancers have expressed grief over the recent disclosures in the United Kingdom that revealed destruction to tombstones.