BENGALURU: Bullock carts, dogs and horses...these were some of the ‘weapons’ that the Mysore Lancers possessed to fight against the Ottoman Empire. To highlight the significance and efforts of the Mysore Lance regiment in liberating Haifa, a port city in Israel from the invaders between 1914 and 1918, The Mysore Lance Heritage Foundation held a ‘Wreath-laying Ceremony’ on the 103rd anniversary of Haifa Day, on Thursday. According to Udaya Raghunath Birje, great-grandson of Raghunatha Rao Birje, who served in the Mysore Lancers, it was only during the centenary celebrations in 2019, that the foundation started actively tracing the other descendants of the Mysore Lancers.
“The Mysore Lancers Haifa Memorial was built in JC Nagar during the pre-Independence era. Although we pass by it on an everyday basis, we hardly notice the ‘Roll of Honour’ etched on the memorial. We want to extensively spread the stories of valour and bravery of our forefathers and make this movement known among youngsters,” says Birje, who has also submitted a memorandum to education minister BC Nagesh to include the contribution of the Mysore Lancer s in WWI in his tory textbooks.
The story of the Mysore Lancers and their presence during the onset of World War I, dates back to over a century ago. According to Yashaswini Sharma, a noted historian and architect, the 15th Cavalry Brigade of the British Empire consisted of the Imperial Service Troops from the princely states of Hyderabad, Mysore, Patiala, Alwar and Jodhpur. They were asked to liberate Haifa, a port city in Israel from the Ottoman Empire. Their task at hand was to protect the Suez Canal in 1915, and liberate Haifa, Aleppo, Syria, Damascus, Tigris Aleppo from the Ottoman Empire, who fought with machinemade guns while they only used spades and spears.
As the story goes, despite fighting with bare minimum resources, it was the horses that came to their rescue. Horses being particularly good at mountain warfare, helped the soldiers at Mount Carmel, dodge the attacks of machine guns. This gave them a strategic advantage over the enemies.
According to a memorandum presented by the foundation, the Mysore Lancers included 29 officers, 444 non-commissioned officers with 528 horses, 49 mules and 132 followers. They were under the command of Chamaraj Urs Bahadur; and the then Maharaja of Mysore, Nalvadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar sent his brother-in-law, Col. J. Desaraj Urs, the chief commandant of the Mysore State Troops, as his personal representative.
The great-grandson of Col. J Desaraj Urs, Yogendra Urs, who is also a commercial pilot says, “It is absolutely sad that history books don’t include these iconic moments. I am proud that my great-grandfather was part of a historical moment that was the turning point of WWI.”