On the 65th anniversary of the landmark battle, the veterans remembered the poignant message at the Kohima war memorial: “When you go home, tell them of us and say for your tomorrow we gave our today.”
Kohima was one of the key turning points in the defeat of the Japanese plan to invade India in 1944. But the cost was high as the ferocious battle claimed the lives of more than 4,000 British and Indian soldiers as well as nearly twice as many Japanese troops.
The war veterans, many in their nineties, travelled from various parts of Britain to attend a service at York Minster and took to their seats in persistent drizzle.
Following the service, the veterans, their families and current members of the armed services, made their way to the grounds of the cathedral to hear the Last Post and see wreaths laid.
William Jones, 87, from Welshpool, and a former signalman with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, said, “There were dead everywhere and the stench was terrible with the flies. And, of course, there were not only the battle casualties, there was malaria and jungle sores and God knows what.
“At one point, we were digging a trench, the Japanese were digging above us and they were throwing the soil down on to us - that’s how close they were,” Jones added.
Rev Angus Macleod, senior chaplain of 15 (North East) Brigade, who conducted the service, said, “The number of veterans obviously diminishes each year but we are seeing the number of family members starting to grow and that’s an interesting phenomenon.”
Veteran Gordon Graham, 88, who served in the First Battalion of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, said, “We all volunteered in 1939 and when they asked me what part of the service I would like to join I said the infantry because I couldn’t think of anything else.”
Robert Lyman, head of the Kohima Educational Trust, said, “This was the battle which turned the Japanese away from India and it lasted for 64 days.”