SHILLONG — A Meghalaya delegation visiting a military cemetery in Malta has found three more graves of Garo men who served with the 69th Garo Labour Company, bringing the number of known Garo graves at the cemetery to four.
The delegation, led by Assembly Speaker Thomas A. Sangma, visited the Pieta Military Cemetery on Friday and found the graves while looking for the resting place of Khew Marak, the only Garo buried there known to the delegation before the visit.
Khew Marak died on June 15, 1918. The three other graves belong to Ading Marak, who died on June 10, 1918, Sangjim Sangma, who died on June 19, 1918, and Join Marak, who also died on June 10, 1918.
The delegation included Deputy Speaker Limison D. Sangma, Deputy Chief Whip Ronnie V. Lyngdoh, Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation chairman Marthon J. Sangma, Assembly Secretary Malthus S. Sangma and Deputy Secretary Raja Kharpuri.
The four men were among the Garo Labour Company formed in 1917 under British rule. Nearly 1,000 men from Garo Hills volunteered or were recruited, with 500 declared fit and 456 eventually sent to France.
The deployment came with heavy losses. Only around 120 survivors returned to Tura on July 16, 1918, after facing illness and difficult conditions, while several men died during the period of service.
July 16 is now observed as Garo Labour Corps Day, marking the return of the surviving members and remembering those who did not return.
The Malta visit formed part of the delegation’s post-conference study tour after the CPA Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The Indian High Commission in Malta facilitated the visit to the Commonwealth-maintained cemetery.
