Naik SIAYID IBRAHIM died 09.12.15

[Guest Pete Wood]

This is a tough one. I have had to source all this info from the Long, Long, Trail and on the web. The personal information is, of course, from the CWGC.

Name: SIAYID IBRAHIM

Nationality: Indian

Rank: Naik

Regiment: 103rd Mahratta Light Inf

Unit Text: 1st Bn.

Date of Death: 09/12/1915

Service No: 2191

Additional information: Son of Saiyad Munawar Shah, of Katgun, Satara, Bombay.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 48

Cemetery: BASRA MEMORIAL

Country: Iraq

Locality: unspecified

Visiting Information: THE COMMISSION STRONGLY ADVISES THAT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE SHOULD BE CONTACTED BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO VISIT IRAQ. Their details are as follows: Travel Advice Unit Consular Division Foreign and Commonwealth Office Old Admiralty Building London SW1A 2AF Tel: 0207 008 0232/0233 Fax: 0207 008 0164 Website: http://www.fco.gov.uk/ Opening Times: Monday to Friday 09.30 - 16.00

Location Information: The Basra Memorial was originally sited within Basra War Cemetery but in 1997 the Memorial was moved by presidential decree. The move, carried out by the authorities in Iraq, involved a considerable amount of manpower, transport costs and sheer engineering on their part, and the Memorial has been re-erected in its entirety. The Basra Memorial is now located 32 kilometres along the road to Nasiriyah, in the middle of what was a major battleground during the Gulf War. The Panel Numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiment served with. In some instances where a casualty is recorded as attached to another Regiment, his name may alternatively appear within their Regimental Panels. Please refer to the on-site Memorial Register Introduction to determine the alternative panel numbers if you do not find the name within the quoted Panels.

Historical Information: The Basra Memorial bears the names of more than 40,500 members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the operations in Mesopotamia from the Autumn of 1914 to the end of August 1921 and whose graves are not known.

No. of Identified Casualties: 40661

Katgun, a village in the Satara district of Maharashtra. You can find more by going to http://www.satara.com/location/index.html

The history of the 103rd Mahratta Light Infantry

1768 2nd Regiment of Bombay Sepoys

1788 2nd-6th Regiments of Bombay Sepoys

1796 2nd Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry

1824 3rd Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry

1871 3rd Regiment of Bombay Light Infantry

1901 3rd Bombay Light Infantry

1903 103rd Mahratta Light Infantry

1922 united with 105th Mahratta Light Infantry, 110th Mahratta Light Infantry, 116th Mahrattas, 117th Mahrattas, and 114th Mahrattas, to form 1st Bn, 5th Mahratta Light Infantry

Today the Mahratta Light Infantry is known as the Maratha Light Infantry.

In west India the Maratha were the warriors and the aristocracy. Originally the Marathas belonged to the different castes in west India. Most of these castess were in Sudra level. But the Marathas who became the aristocracy of west India claimed and acquired the Kshatria status.

In the 17th and the 18th century the Marathas even established an empire which ruled large parts of India.

In the early days each battalion of infantry had a “Light” Company composed of small picked wiry men, able to move swiftly to reinforce or surprise as opportunity offered; these became “crack” companies and, later, the title Light Infantry came to be bestowed as a mark of honor.

In recognition of the gallant conduct of detachments at the siege of Kahun and the defence of Dadar, in Baluch territory, during the First Afghan War of 1841 the Maratha 2nd Battalion was created Light Infantry.

At the grouping of all six Mahratta Battalions, which took place in 1922, the resulting Regiment assumed the title of the 5th Mahratta Light Infantry. Being the only Light Infantry Regiment of the pre-war Indian Army, the 5th Mahratta Light Infantry was alone among all Infantry Regiments in that the regimental numeral is not incorporated in the shoulder-title design.

• Motto: Duty, Honour, Courage.

• War Cry: Bol Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai (Say Victory To King Shivaji).

Nickname: The Maratha Light Infantry and its troops are affectionately known as Ganpats

The official website of the Maratha Light Infantry is at http://www.roa-mlirc.com

In World War I the Battalion established the MARATHA name at the battle of KUT-EL-AMARA in MESOPOTAMIA and the desperate battle of CTESIPHON.

The 6th Poona Division then retreated to Kut-al-Amara – read more about this at http://www.1914-1918.net/meso_bat8.htm and it is likely that when this town was surrounded and besieged by the Turks that Naik SIAYID IBRAHIM died of illness or disease.

Battle Honours:

North West Frontier 1914-17 Mesopotamia 1914-18

Basra 1914 Shaiba 1915

Ctesiphon 1915 Kut-el-Amara 1915-17

Defence of Kut-el-Amara 1915-17 Baghdad 1917

Megiddo 1918 Sharon 1918

Nablus 1918 Palestine 1918

Sharqat 1918 Persia 1918

Afghanistan 1919

Because Naik SIAYID IBRAHIM's next of kin details are recorded by the CWGC, there is a chance that more info can be found in the cemetery register. Terry Denham has all of these registers, so it is possible that more info may be found about this man.....

I could not find any detail of Katgun. So the village has probably been renamed.

The rank Naik entitles the soldier to wear two stripes and IS the Indian equivalent of Corporal, I believe.

I don't know where this soldier's records are held - I assume at the PRO or India office...??

[Terry Denham]

No additional info in the original register.

There rarely is for Indian troops. Their details were supplied to IWGC by the India Office and their paperwork left a lot to be desired.