"The Memorial Gates ceremony on Commonwealth Day commemorates the service and sacrifice of the five million volunteers from South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean in the First and Second World Wars,” reminded Lord Karan Bilimoria, chairman of the Memorial Gates Council at the event on March 11, 2024. The annual wreath laying ceremony hosted by the Council in partnership with The Royal British Legion (UK’s largest charity dedicated to supporting the needs of the Armed Forces community) was attended by eminent individuals including high commissioners, foreign ministers, speaker of the House of Commons and the secretary general of the Commonwealth, noted a report by the Council secretary Rohan Subbarao.
"This year we are commemorating the 80th anniversary of the battles of Imphal and Kohima. These battles witnessed the most extraordinary bravery, and I am very proud that my late father Lt Gen Bilimoria’s battalion, the second/5th Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) were awarded two out of the five Victoria crosses at the Battle of Imphal,” added the chairman. Gratefully recalled at the event was the role of the 14th Army which at its peak numbered 1.3 million personnel speaking 40 languages (with eight of its 13 divisions from the Indian army and three from Africa), the largest British led campaign of World War II.
Top and above: at the Memorial Gates ceremony Lord Karan Bilimoria offers a wreath
Photos: Casey Gutteridge & Commonwealth Secretariat
Malcolm Deboo (r) with King Charles III
Photo: Duncan Stone
Remembering the founder of the Memorial Gates, Baroness Shreela Flather (who passed away on February 6, 2024) Bilimoria remarked that the Gates which stand on Constitution Hill near Buckingham Palace "will be an eternal legacy of her extraordinary and inspirational career as an Indian, Asian woman in Britain who shattered one glass ceiling after another.” While Karan offered a wreath on behalf of King Charles III, Malcolm Deboo offered one on behalf of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe of which he is president.
Four months earlier Deboo had been among the representatives of different faiths invited to the Lambeth Palace Library on November 16, 2023 to greet King Charles two days after his 75th birthday.