France will always remember this soldier from Poona

Today marks one hundred years of the armistice signed to end World War I, a series of several battles fought between 1914 and 1918 out of which India will forever remember one. In the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in France, a total of 4,742 of our countrymen lost their lives. Of these, one soldier merits special mention, for displaying such exemplary courage that the French awarded him with Medaille Militaire, the third highest military decoration the country confers.

Havildar Maruti Jadhav was part of the 20th company of the then 3rd Sappers and Miners of British Army who were deployed in the battle of Neuve Chapelle in the year 1915.

This battle took place in the old province of Artois, a region in Northern France. As the British along with the French took on the Germans, several Indian soldiers were dispatched to give a boost to the Allied armies.

Among these was Jadhav, who was part of the 20 and 21 companies which were sent from Khadki cantonment here. But the companies suffered heavy casualties at the hands of enemy forces. During one especially vicious encounter, the enemy fiercely assailed the companies.

Almost all the officers and one-third of the personnel from other ranks lost their lives. But Jadhav and 13 other soldiers made it out of the ruthless offensive alive. Jadhav took charge, rallied the baker's dozen and successfully opened a front against enemy positions.

It was for these gallant efforts that Jadhav was bestowed the Medaille Militaire. Later, between 1932 and 19 36, he was promoted to Subedar Major and Group Subedar Major. Havildar Maruti Jadhav retired from service holding the rank of Honorary Captain.

Proof of the valour of Indian soldiers has been monumentalised in France as the Neuve Chapelle Indian Memorial, which bears the names of the 4,742 soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Great War.