The funeral ceremony of two Indian soldiers from the 39th Royal Garhwal Rifles, who laid down their lives in World War I^st in France, will be held on November 12 at the French Military Cemetery in La Gorgue, the Army said. On September 20 last year, during an mining on the southern side of Richebourg village near Laventie Military Cemetery, approx 230 km from Paris, two human were found dead.

On examining their belongings, they were identified as casualties of the 39^th Royal Garhwal Rifles. "The office of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWWGC), which is the conservator of graves of these unknown heroes, in interview with the French government and the Indian mission in France, decided to hold a burial ceremony at the Laventie Military Cemetery, with full military honours,"

A mission of the Indian Army, comprising the commandant and subedar major of the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre, two bagpipers from the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Pipe band and Colonel Nitin Negi, was nominated to attend the ceremony. Colonel Nitin Negi is the grandson of late Naik Darwan Singh Negi, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in the Battle of Festubert. In a symbolic gesture, the soil from the graves of these soldiers would be brought back to their homeland.

Sqadron Leader (retired) Rana Chinna, a military historian, who has done extensive work on the participation of Indian soldiers in the world wars, said nearly 1.5 million soldiers from the country had participated in World War I^st. Nearly 4,500 of them died in France and Belgium.