Mir Dast's great-grandson returns to Brighton next week

Naveed Ahmad, the great-grandson of Victoria Cross recipient Subedar Mir Dast Afridi, will be in Brighton from 28 to 30 October to honour the South Asian soldiers who served in the First World War. It is his second formal family visit to the city, the Argus¹ reported.

Mir Dast was born in 1874 in the Maidan valley, now in Pakistan. At the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915 he carried eight British and Indian officers to safety. He was badly injured by gas and was treated at the Royal Pavilion’s Indian military hospital. On 25 August 1915 George V presented his VC in the Royal Pavilion Garden. Brighton & Hove Museums² says he insisted on standing to receive it, though he still needed a wheelchair.

On Thursday 29 October Mr Ahmad will take part in a portrait recreation project led by photographer Drew Gardner, which aims to connect descendants with their wartime heritage. He will also meet the Mayor, Councillor Theresa Fowler, the Lord-Lieutenant of East Sussex, Andrew Blackman, Brighton & Hove Museums’ interim chief executive, Abigail Thomas, and Davinder Dhillon, who chairs the Chattri Memorial Group. Talks will cover the soldiers’ legacy, the Royal Pavilion blue plaque and future cultural work.

“Brighton holds a sacred place in the history of the Commonwealth,” Mr Ahmad told the Argus.

Mir Dast’s blue plaque is on the Royal Pavilion Estate, near the Indian Gate at the southern entrance.

First reported by the Argus.