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they had they gave; and
they shall not return,
for these are those that have
no grave
where any heart may mourn.”
- Rudyard Kipling, 1922, “The Kings Pilgrimage.”
Intro-
In this article we visit the Berlin South Western Cemetery where Rifleman Haribal Thapa is commemorated. He and over 1100 other soldiers from the British Commonwealth, who fought on the Western Front in WW1, are laid to rest at the cemetery.
We will look closer at Rifleman Haribal Thapa of the 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles (1 GR) and his story, trying to find a better understanding to why he is commemorated so far from his home in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal, over 100 years ago.
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| Gurkha POW´s in WW1. |
War Cemeteries and Memorials are an important part of our culture, heritage and history, which keeps alive the sacrifice of life so many, like Haribal Thapa, made.
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| Gurkha POW´s in WW1 |
Obviously there arises many question, let us begin…
Who was he?
Haribal Thapa was from the village of Perung, Rising, West Nepal and the son of
Mr. Dalkesar Thapa. Most likely he belonged to the Magar group, Thapa being a name among both the Magars and Chettri ethnic groups. One of the reasons being that the Magar group represent a higher number of soldiers in the Gurkha regiments then the Chettris. The Chettris dominate the ranks of the (Royal) Nepal Army (RNA). In World War 1, both the RNA and the variousGurkhaRegiments of the Indian Army partook.
Haribal served in one of the oldest Gurkha regiments of the Indian Army, raised in 1815 the 1st KingGeorge´s Own Gurkha Rifles(originally raised as the “Nasiri” or “Nusseree” battalion in Malaunand est. Regimental Centre at Subathu (HP) in 1816. The 1 GR is since 1903 also called the Malaun Regiment. It was raised with many former soldiers of the Gorkhali Army, which had recently united what was to become Nepal). The regiment has a proud military history over the last two centuries and this year, 2015, celebrates its 200th anniversary along with the 2nd Gurkha Rifles(now Royal Gurkha Rifles) and the 3rd Gorkha Rifles.
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| Regimental Insignia of the 1st KEO Gurkha Rifles (now Gorkha Rifles). |
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| 1/1 GR bombing party practising bombing in a trench with live bombs, near Merville, France |
On the 30th of November 1914, he arrived to Marseilles, France. It must have been very curious and interesting. Such a different environment, perhaps it was his first time abroad, on a train, on a ship, very different people and so much more that filled his head. Now the Gurkha was to travel through all of France to join battle in the North West towards Flanders as autumn was turning into winter.
“They take an extra ordinary interest in the various places and people they have seen on the way and in the Torpedo Boat and French Battleships we saw in Port Said, but more, I honestly think in the flying fish and porpoises than all the rest put together!!”
- A British account of the Gurkhas traveling to the Western Front, reporting from the Egypt / Suez area.
Details -
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| Headstone / gravestone of Haribal Thapa, 1st KGO Gurkha Rifles. |
Name: Haribal Thapa
Rank: Rifleman
Service nr: 2952.
Battalion: 1st.
Regiment: 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment). (1 GR).
Died: 24th Jan. 1915.
Let us now look closer at the events leading up to Haribal Thapa being found at the Berlin South Western Cemetery. We will enter into the First World War and see what his battalion, the 1/1 GR, was involved in.
What were the Gurkhas doing in 1914-15?
The 1/1 GR served in France and Flanders during those years.
The Gurkhas enters World War 1 –
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| The Gurkha soldier and his famous curved knife, the Kukri / Khukuri. Here three WW1 issue pattern MK1 Kukri. |
During the 1st World War (1914-1918) the Gurkhas fought in all the main theatres of war, from the fields of Flanders to the hills of Gallipoli and the deserts of Mesopotamia and Palestine.
The 1st Battalion of the 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment) was part of the Sirhind Brigade which consisted of:
1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry
125th Napier's Rifles
1st Battalion, 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment)
1st Battalion, 4th Gurkha Rifles
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| Gurkhas (2/2 GR) in France, WW1. |
The Sirhind Brigade (GOC: Maj-Gen J.M.S. Brunker) was one of the Brigades in the 3rd Lahore Division, which was one of two Indian Infantry Divisions at the Western Front. These Divisions (Lahore & 7th Meerut) were part of the Indian Expeditionary Forceand the 1/1 GR joined the front on the 9th of December. 1914. Haribal would have been part of this force, probably from the very beginning of the 1/1 GR arriving to France on the 30th of November. The reason to suspect that he came in the end of November is that he died on 24th Jan. 1915, giving little time for reinforcements to arrive in the first month or so.
When 1/1 GR arrived to Marseilles they caused great excitement, especially among the ladies. The Gurkhas dressed in their newly issued woolen vests and drawers on top of their khaki uniforms were a sought after eyesight that produced many friendly smiles. After the War France issued a stamp in memory of the Gurkhas contribution to France during WW1. But being in a new country was not always easy; several reports of unhappy farmers and local inhabitants exist. An account is from when the 1/1 GR was staying at Locon, 8 km behind the lines from Neuve Chapelle:
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| A Stamp in honour of the 8th Gurkhas in France 1914-1916. |
On other accounts things were a lot better, the Gurkhas and the local inhabitants getting well along. Both the French peasant and the Gurkha soldier shared an origin and strong relationship to the land. For a Gurkha his land is his heritage and means to live. Until recently most Gurkha pensioners retired to Nepal and took up agricultural work in their villages. A very similar idea and relationship to the land prevails among the agricultural communities of France and Europe too.
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| A Gurkha soldier with his traditional weapon, the Khukuri (Kukri |
“Not even the most experienced and knowledgeable pre-war officer... could have conceived what was now a common occurrence... 'Johnny Gurk', clad in serge tunic and balaclava cap, sitting in a French peasant's kitchen with his feet on the stove, smoking a pipe and drinking beer or coffee, and discussing life and the war situation in. broken French!”
But War is not about good times usually and on the other side of reality the reason the Gurkha soldier was there in the first place was to partake in the War. A gruesome war that was unseen until now. On the Western Front the Gurkhas were exposed to new form of war that they had not experienced or seen before. They had to adapt to fight in a new way, a kind of industrial warfare that they were little prepared for. Heavy artillery bombardment, advanced mortars, mechanical weapons, aircraft, gas and trenches, in a very different climate and environment filled the war experience.
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| Gurkha soldiers sharpening their Kukri knifes in France - Flanders during 1914-1915. |
One man wrote home 'this is not war; it is the ending of the world'. Many were to die, while others lived to see the end of the Great War. Thousands of Gurkhas became POW´s and were only released after the War.
When was he a soldier and POW?
Haribal served in France and was later taken as a POW and sent to Germany where he died.
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| 1/1 GR on the march to the trenches near Merville, France. Photographer H. D. Girdwood. |
The 1/1 GR arrived to a very different environment then what they were used to in Marseilles. Travelling through France, from the mild South to the cold North West, the battalion reached the front on the 9th of December. They were involved in the defense of Givenchy (18-22 Dec. 1914) and had to adapt to trench warfare, a new condition of War for the Gurkhas.
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| 1/1 GR charging a trench in NW France. Photographer H. D. Girdwood. |
“The attack began on 19 December at 3.10 a.m. in freezing rain between La Bombe Crossroads, near Neuve-Chapelle, and La Bassée Canal. Setting out from the village of Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée, the Lahore Division succeeded in taking the first two German lines despite coming under heavy machine gun fire and, further to the north, the Garhwal Brigade and the Gurkhas took 300 meters of the opposing line at Festubert; however the enemy was quick to regroup and launched counter-attacks in the same morning, supported by artillery and making great use of hand grenades, a weapon the British had in very short supply. At dawn on 20 December the German artillery began to shell the Indian troops and, later in the morning, a series of mines exploded under the British lines causing much death. Meanwhile the German infantry was moving forward at Festubert, on the point of enveloping Givenchy, and had taken more than 800 British soldiers prisoner. In response to the threat, reinforcements were bused in to relieve the now dislocated Indian Corps.
British losses were high, especially among the Indian units. In addition to the wounds inflicted by German bullets and shells, many of the victims were suffering from frostbite and trench foot.”
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| 1/1 GR at work on a fire trench and a communication trench in France. |
The 1/1 GR suffered high number of casualties during these four days of fighting, not only from enemy fire but also from trench foot. The muddy trenches, filled with damp, unsanitary and cold conditions, of France and Flanders with the inadequate gear and equipment gave rise to what was called trench foot. A serious infection that would make the feet swell and create open surface wounds, if not cared for then it could become black and have to be amputated. It was a common problem on the Western Front in WW1. The first winter their clothing was not adequate, by the time winter clothing had been issued it was turning into spring.
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Gurkhas in France - Flanders during WW1
with their Kukri knives.
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After the winter of 1914-1915, the 1/1 GR was to continue fighting for almost another year on the Western Front, earning several Battle Honours:
Givenchy 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Ypres 1915,St. Julien, Festubert 1915,
Loos, France and Flanders 1914–15.
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| Cemetery at the Labour camp of Wittenberg. |
Haribal Thapa died on the 24th of January 1915 in Germany, at a POW Camp. The only major battle between the 1/1 GR and Germans before he died was at Givenchy ((9th) 18th -22ndDecember). It is very likely that he was taken as POW by the Germans during or following the battle in the third week of December, and listed as Missing in the British-Indian Army´s records as his fate was probably unknown for some time.
He would thus have spent about a month from when he was first captured till his death in a Germany. We can wonder if his condition was bad, he could have suffered serious injuries, either during battle or as a captive.
Why in Berlin-Brandenburg?
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| Gurkha Rifleman Haribal Thapa´s headstone. |
A decision made by the Imperial War Graves commission centralised allied POW graves following WW1 to four Cemeteries in the Berlin-Brandenburg area.
Haribal Thapa´s headstone in the Berlin SW Cemetery states, “Buried in Klein Wittenberg Old Cemetery” on top of the regimental insignia of the 1 GR. This is the first headstone of a Gurkha I have seen it clearly written out that he was buried at a different cemetery. The word “buried” is in this instance interesting because as a Hindu soldier he should have been cremated, as per Hindu traditions. If he was we will probably never know. Most importantly he is commemorated, at first his body was laid to rest at the Klein Wittenberg Old Cemetery in Wittenberg, Saxony, Prussia (south west of Potsdam & Berlin) in 1915 (died 24 Jan. 1915).
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The Klein Wittenberg Cemetery is in some records also written as Klein Wittenberg Prisoner of War Cemetery, suggesting that POW were buried here. Haribal Thapa was a POW, there would be no other reason for him to be in Germany.
It was a usual procedure to commemorate dead POW at cemeteries close to the POW camp. It may thus be that Haribal was in one of the camps in the area around where he was first commemorated, (Klein) Wittenberg. The majority of the Indian POWs were kept atZozzen, but there was a camp in Wittenberg too.
We will now continue to learn about his life as a POW.
NOTE: "Klein Wittenberg Old P. of. W. Cem. Germany"
POW Camp.
“The anger at the British was enormous. Very few prisoners were taken.”
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| - Major Koebke, a German artillery officer wrote in his diary |
The Germans blamed the British (and Indian) Expeditionary Force for spoiling their conquest in France. The use of colonial troops was not popular among the Germans, the Indian Corps and specially the Gurkhas were known for their curved (Khukuri) knife. Many stories of the Gurkhas were told, from Gurkhas sneaking up and cutting German soldiers at night to that the Gurkhas would not take anyPOW´s, as they would kill them with their knife first. Some perhaps based on some truth others more fictional.
Haribal was as mentioned earlier most likely taken as a POW during Dec. 1914 in France. He would have been sent to a Prisoner of War(POW) Camp for Allied troops in Germany. POW´ s who survived the first moments of surrender were stripped for “souvenirs” and useful kit, notably boots and greatcoats, leaving them to hobble to the POW train to Germany barefoot and freezing in cold for several days. At the railhead, the captives were loaded on to cattle trucks, often so densely there was only standing room. There were over 170 POW camps for Allied & Commonwealth troops in Germany during WW1.
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Conditions inside the camps were sub-primitive. The basic Camps were made up of wooden barracks 10 m wide and 50 m long, covered with tar on the outside. Each of these barracks kept around 250 prisoners. On the inside, a central corridor provided access on each side to straw or sawdust beds stacked two high. Furniture was kept to a minimum: a table, chairs or benches and a stove.
As a general rule, breakfast was served between 6:00 and 7:30 am, lunch around 11:00 am and dinner at about 6:30 pm. From the start of their captivity, the food posed a problem for prisoners, who complained of a diet that was too inconsistent to ward off hunger. Soup became the symbol: it might be made with beans, oats, prunes, beets or codfish. A quarter of a kilo of black KK bread (principally sawdust and potato), a cup of acorn coffee and two bowls of soup was standard issue per day.
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“All around the camp, there was barbed wire three meters high; the wires were spaced fifteen centimeters apart, a wooden post every three meters, and across other barbed wires every fifty centimeters, forming a mesh.”
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| Om Bhagvate Namah. |
and usually a shift lasted 10 hours. Of 1,450,000 prisoners, 750,000 were employed in agricultural labour and 330,000 in industry. As able-bodied men were at the front, the lack of manpower was felt in all Europe and especially in Germany. The armaments industry, agriculture and mines were the three branches concerned. Prisoners of war represented an indispensable segment of the workforce. By the end of 1916, about 75 per cent of Commonwealth POW´s in Europe were in forced labour schemes in Germany.
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| Report on the Hindu headstones of the Cemetery. |
Around 13,000 commonwealth soldier died in the Kaiser’s camps, some from their earlier injuries but most because of brutality, disease, malnutrition, or exhaustion while serving as slave labour. Statistically, a soldier had a better chance of staying alive in a trench than in a German camp.
The Camp, Wittenberg –
The closest camp to the Klein Wittenberg Cemetery, where Haribal Thapa was first commemorated (and buried) is the camp of Wittenberg (ca. 110 km SW from Berlin).
"Undoubtedly the worst camp I visited in Germany was that of Wittenberg."
- American ambassador
James Gerard
The camp was 10½ acres, ca. 3 km from the town of Wittenberg, eight compounds held 13,000 men, probably Haribal Thapa being one of them, many thousand of miles away form his home in the Himalayan foothills. The largest Labour Camp for the Indian Army was at Zozzen, the “Halbmondlager” in WW1.
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Wittenberg had a higher than expected death rate due to overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, poor diet and lack of medical personnel and facilities for treating the sick. There was no soap and two taps served 17,000 men.
Though the winter of 1914-1915 was extremely severe, there was a great shortage of coal, the men were insufficiently clothed, they were given no change of underclothing, the washing and sanitary arrangements were very inadequate, the food was bad and insufficient. A Typhoid epidemic grew out of these conditions.
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| Gurkha soldiers in WW1. |
The German authorities though not ignorant of the dangers did nothing to prevent or minimise the spread of infection. The German staff, military and medical precipitately left the camp, and until August 1915, with two exceptions communication between prisoners and their guards was by means of directions shouted from the guards or officers remaining outside the wire entanglements.
A full account of life at Wittenberg Camp is given
Typhoid killed very many of the POW´s during the epidemic and its very likely that Haribal may have died from being infected with it. His condition was probably not so good, its said that the Germans treated the Gurkhas worse then others in WW1, among others due to the stories of the Gurkhas not leaving any POW´s.
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| Berlin South Western Cemetery |
His grave (at least head stone) was moved to Berlin SW Cemetery sometime between 1922-1925. He and hundreds of others were transferred from various smaller, mainly eastern German, cemeteries to Berlin SW Cemetery and three other places in the Berlin-Brandenburg Area in the early 1920´s. The decision to gather the commemorated allied and Commonwealth soldiers to four places was made by the Imperial War Graves Commission. A document from 1993-1994 mentions that the headstone was erected and checked in 1994. Another undated document that the CWGC was awaiting legal clearance, most likely pre 1993.
The Berlin South Western Cemetery is located close to the village of Stahnsdorf, some 22 km from Berlin and ca. 14 km from Potsdam. From the village center it is about a 15-20 minute walk to the Commonwealth War Graves from WW1. There is public transportation available to the village from central Berlin.
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There are 1,176 First World War servicemen buried or commemorated in the Commonwealth plot at Berlin South-Western Cemetery. The total includes special memorials to a number of casualties buried in other cemeteries in Germany whose graves could not be found.
In 2013 a major renovation project was undertaken which included, new headstones, horticultural work, structural maintenance and more. These Cemeterieswere built to preserve the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country forever.
Summary –
Ayo Gurkhali – Gayo Gurkhali .
The new mode of the Great War with its reliance on machinery and a very different reality then what the Gurkhas and Indian corps had been trained for was a major challenge to overcome. It resulted among others in some battles that there was over an 80% casualty rate in some battalions, a total disaster in many ways of hundreds of thousands of lost lives. Luckier to be alive perhaps at a POW camp and the very few who survived the whole Great War. It is believed that over 200,000 Gurkhas served the British War cause, usually on the Front line, from France and Flanders to the Far East. In the Great War the Gurkhas contribution was remarkable and he had once again lived up to the highest call of duty in a most needed time.
“I have now come to the conclusion that the best of my troops in France were the Gurkhas.”
- General Sir James Willcocks, WW1.
Haribal was in both cemeteries the only Gurkha soldier commemorated. Most likely he arrived to Marseilles on the 30th of November 1914, travelled with his battalion to the North of France and Flanders, became involved fighting in the battle for Givenchy in mid December, taken as POW and then sent to a German Work Camp in (Klein) Wittenberg. After about a month there he died and thus became commemorated firstly at the Camp or Klein Wittenberg Old Cemetery in 1915 and in the 1920´s moved to his current location at the Berlin South Western Cemetery.
May Haribal Thapa´s memory live forever more, his actions not be forgotten and his sacrifice not in vain.
Here ends Haribal´s story for now.
In the Berlin-Brandenburg Area other Gurkhas are commemorated in:
Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery (WW2),
Hashenheide Cemetery ( WW1),
Zehrensdorf Indian Cemetery (WW1).
Stories of Gurkhas in various POW camps and in WW1 can be found HERE.
" JAI GURKHAS "
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Headstone erection and inscription
Inspection passed 1994.
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The new mode of the Great War with its reliance on machinery and a very different reality then what the Gurkhas and Indian corps had been trained for was a major challenge to overcome. It resulted among others in some battles that there was over an 80% casualty rate in some battalions, a total disaster in many ways of hundreds of thousands of lost lives. Luckier to be alive perhaps at a POW camp and the very few who survived the whole Great War. It is believed that over 200,000 Gurkhas served the British War cause, usually on the Front line, from France and Flanders to the Far East. In the Great War the Gurkhas contribution was remarkable and he had once again lived up to the highest call of duty in a most needed time.
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| Gurkha soldiers in World War 1. |
“I have now come to the conclusion that the best of my troops in France were the Gurkhas.”
- General Sir James Willcocks, WW1.
Haribal was in both cemeteries the only Gurkha soldier commemorated. Most likely he arrived to Marseilles on the 30th of November 1914, travelled with his battalion to the North of France and Flanders, became involved fighting in the battle for Givenchy in mid December, taken as POW and then sent to a German Work Camp in (Klein) Wittenberg. After about a month there he died and thus became commemorated firstly at the Camp or Klein Wittenberg Old Cemetery in 1915 and in the 1920´s moved to his current location at the Berlin South Western Cemetery.
May Haribal Thapa´s memory live forever more, his actions not be forgotten and his sacrifice not in vain.
Here ends Haribal´s story for now.
In the Berlin-Brandenburg Area other Gurkhas are commemorated in:
Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery (WW2),
Hashenheide Cemetery ( WW1),
Zehrensdorf Indian Cemetery (WW1).
Stories of Gurkhas in various POW camps and in WW1 can be found HERE.
" JAI GURKHAS "
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