Memorial honours braveheart in Italy

I visited the Yeshwant Ghadge Memorial in Montone (Italy) last month, and it truly was like a pilgrimage. One felt immense pride in being associated with his regiment, the erstwhile 3/5th Maratha Light Infantry, later 2 Para (Special Forces).

Naik Yeshwant Ghadge attained martyrdom on July 10, 1944, and was honoured with the Victoria Cross, the highest gallantry award of the British Commonwealth, for his bravery and valour.

Montone is a small medieval town in the Umbria region of Italy, close to the municipalities of Citta di Castello and Pietralunga. It witnessed fierce fighting during the Second World War and with its capture, the backbone of German resistance in the sector broke.

Montone is located on a high hill with steep bare approaches, dominating the Tiber valley. This made it an important bastion for the German army. Several attempts to capture it had failed until the 3/5th Maratha Light Infantry launched its clearing operations.

It was during these operations in July 1944 that the Germans pinned down the 3/5th Maratha Light Infantry. In the exchange of fire, C Company lost its Company Commander and six non-commissioned officers; the company was under intense fire from a German machine gun. The only soldier who continued leading the troops fearlessly was Naik Ghadge.

He, in a daring action, charged towards the German machine-gun post. First, he hurled a grenade on the emplacement, then assaulted it while firing his Tommy gun. By the time he reached the position, he had exhausted his ammunition. Unmindful of the danger, he hurled himself on the machine gunners, who were surprised by the sudden action, and beat them to death with his clubbed Tommy gun.

He was ultimately brought down by a German sniper.

For this act of supreme bravery, he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Consequent to clearing the German machine-gun post, the operations of the 10th Indian Infantry Division progressed swiftly towards Citta di Castello. After the battle, Ghadge was buried along with other dead soldiers at the Arezzo British War Cemetery.

However, on October 25, 1945, his remains were exhumed and cremated at the Burning Ghat of Arezzo (specially created for Hindu and Sikh soldiers), and his ashes were later dispersed in the nearby river.

The Italians acknowledged that it were the colonial Indian troops who were instrumental in securing victory for the Allied forces in Italy. Therefore, the history of the 4th, 8th and 10th Indian Infantry Divisions still needed to be explained to the world in the right perspective. Hence, the Institute of Political and Social History (‘Venanzio Gabriotti’) of Citta di Castello, after extensive research, sought to highlight the contribution of Indian soldiers — including Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Gurkhas — in the liberation of Tiber valley.

The president of the institute approached the Indian Embassy in Rome, where the Defence Attache, Col VS Salaria, readily welcomed the idea of creating a memorial. In fact, he was looking for an opportunity since February 2022 when he was approached by Australian Roger H Freeman, who in 1994 had travelled to England to attend the funeral of his uncle, HW Goodwin, who had served in 3/5th Maratha.

After the funeral, Freeman chanced upon a handwritten diary of Goodwin, which had a detailed account of the gallant act of Yeshwant Ghadge. Thus began the journey for setting up the Ghadge Memorial at Montone.

The design of the memorial had to be unique; a sundial was chosen with an astronomical computation and calculation which was conceived by architect Francesco Rossi. The aim was to honour all the soldiers, underground resistance, civilians and partisans killed in action, whether colonial or otherwise.

The sun highlights the connection ignored by most of us for centuries — that it unites people, places and time, even though they may be far apart. The sun represents the shared humanity of all. The Latin motto engraved on the sundial reads: “Omnes sub eodem sole” — “We all live under the same sun”.

The design of the sundial also has a special significance: every day at noon, a shadow falls on Palasgaon, the birthplace of Ghadge (telescoped location on the sundial). On July 10, the day he died, a ray of light passes through the aperture of the replica of the Victoria Cross at the memorial, symbolising his supreme sacrifice. It intersects with the line of memory drawn in the lower part of the sundial.

The memorial was inaugurated on July 22, 2023. To give the memorial a strong impetus, Col Salaria proposed to the Montone Council to install a bronze bust of Yeshwant Ghadge. The proposal materialised on July 6 this year when the bust was installed at Piazza San Francesco, Montone, along the pathway near what used to be a monastery where the museum of Montone is located.

Along the pathway, four metal mounts were erected, each with an open-eye landmark indicator showing the battlefield locations. Beneath each mount, bilingual plaques describe the actions of various units. Yeshwant Ghadge is now a part of Montone’s history — a legend in the real sense.