BENGALURU: The Madras Engineer Group and Centre held a ceremonial parade at their premises on Friday, to commemorate the lives of war heroes who laid down their lives while protecting the country. At the war memorial, all senior officials paid their homage by laying down a wreath to the accompaniment of a rendition of ‘Last Post’ by the military band.
The Madras Sappers War Memorial, to commemorate the martyrs of the First World War, was first built in 1933 near Ulsoor Lake. It was shifted to its present place, in the Govindaswamy Drill Square, in 1983. The Madras Engineer Group is considered to be one of the oldest contingents of the Indian Army.
Lieutenant General SP Nawathe, Vishist Seva Medal, Colonel Commandant, The Madras Sappers, was present at the occasion. Among viewers were the war widows of soldiers, students of Bunds Sangh RNS Vidyaniketan, senior officials, and families of the jawans. The Govindaswamy Drill grounds saw six contingents and a display of engineering equipment, followed by the parade. The General then felicitated 10 war widows (Veer Naris) whose husbands/sons had laid down their lives during service in places such as Jaffna (Sri Lanka), Assam, and during other operations.