KOHIMA, 4 Apr: To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kohima during World War II, a group of 26 people – descendants of the Allied forces’ war veterans from the United Kingdom – laid wreaths at the Kohima War Cemetery here on Thursday.
The Battle of Kohima was fought between Japanese and British Indian forces from 4 April to 10 June, 1944.
The trustee of the Kohima Education Trust (KET), Charlotte Carty, led the team in paying homage to those who fought and died in the Battle of Kohima.
The war veterans founded the KET as a debt of honour to the Naga people, as well as a means of sustaining the memory of the courage and sacrifice of those who fought and died in the battle, and of honouring the Nagas who were their allies in the war through assisting the education of succeeding generations of Naga children.
The cemetery, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, houses 1,420 Commonwealth burials and a memorial for 917 Hindu and Sikh soldiers.
Speaking at the ceremony held at the war memorial, Viscount Mark William Rawdon Slim lauded the Naga people and the Indian forces for being the allies of the British Army in successfully fighting against the Japanese forces.
Talking to reporters, Carty said that the support that the Nagas gave to the Allies was extraordinary.
As a descendant of a war veteran, she said, it was her mother who passed the knowledge about the Battle of Kohima to her and now she wants it to be passed down to the next generation, so that they continue to remember the brave acts.
Terming the Battle of Kohima one of the most ferocious wars ever, Carty expressed hope that a lesson has been learnt from the past, and that it won’t be repeated in the future.
Meanwhile, recreating the 39-hour walk undertaken by her grandfather, Lt Col Bruno Brown, Commandant of thr 1st Assam Regiment, and also marking the 80th anniversary of WW-II, Carty and team also walked from Jessami in Manipur to Kohima from Monday till Wednesday, covering a distance of 124 kms. (PTI)