Picto Diary - 07 December 2019 (2) - Battle of Kohima

Above: Monument. Kohima War Graves Cemetery. Kohima, Nagaland, India. 07 December 2019.

Outline of tennis court, just outside of the British colonial administrator's house, where fierce hand to hand fighting occured on the last day of fighting. Koessler seen in image.

The Battle of Kohima was the turning point of the Japanese U Go offensive into India in 1944 during the Second World War. The battle was fought in three stages from 4 April to 22 June 1944 around the town of Kohima, the capital of Nagaland in northeast India. From 3 to 16 April, the Japanese attempted to capture Kohima ridge, a feature which dominated the road by which the besieged British and Indian troops of IV Corps at Imphal were supplied. By mid-April, the small British and Indian force at Kohima was relieved.

From 18 April to 13 May, British and Indian reinforcements counter-attacked to drive the Japanese from the positions they had captured. The Japanese abandoned the ridge at this point but continued to block the Kohima–Imphal road. From 16 May to 22 June, the British and Indian troops pursued the retreating Japanese and reopened the road. The battle ended on 22 June when British and Indian troops from Kohima and Imphal met at Milestone 109, ending the Siege of Imphal.

The battle is often referred to as the "Stalingrad of the East". In 2013, the British National Army Museum voted the Battle of Imphal and Kohima to be "Britain's Greatest Battle".

That our visit to Kohima Ridge, the main battle site, where the War Graves Cemetery is located, occurred on the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 07 December 1941, contributed to a deeper awareness of the sacrifices made by Allied soldiers during the war. My sense is that there is not a high level of awareness of WWII fighting in India. That is, perhaps, because there were no American fighters at Kohima. Also, the battle's import was lost in the intense publicity of D-Day in Europe, which occurred some three months later.

Above: Kohima Ridge (file image April 1944) Kohima, Nagaland, India. 07 December 2019

Battle aftermath on Kohima Ridge.

Above: Drums. Kohima War Graves Cemetery. Kohima, Nagaland, India. 07 December 2019.

Drums contemplates a major WWII battle where British led Commonwealth troops turned back the Japanese on the road to Imphal.

Above: John Harman grave site, showing Victoria Cross. Kohima War Graves Cemetery. Kohima, Nagaland, India. 07 December 2019.

John Harman was the son of millionaire Martin Coles Harman, owner of Lundy Island, and followed his father's interest in natural history.

Harman was 29 years old, and a lance-corporal in the 4th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, British Army during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

On 8/9 April 1944 at the Battle of Kohima, British India, Lance-Corporal Harman was commanding a section of a forward platoon where soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army had established a machine-gun post within 50 yards of his company and were becoming a menace. Since it was not possible to bring fire on to the enemy post the lance-corporal went forward by himself and threw a grenade into the position, destroying it. He returned carrying the enemy machine gun as a trophy. Early next morning, having ordered covering fire from his Bren gun team, he went out alone, with a Lee–Enfield rifle with fixed bayonet and charged a party of Japanese soldiers who were digging in. He shot four and bayoneted one. On his way back, Lance Corporal Harman was severely wounded by a burst of enemy machine-gun fire and died soon after reaching British lines.

Having been shot Harman was recovered to the nearest trench by his company commander, Captain Donald Easten, and died in his arms. A plaque is displayed on the house where he was born in Shrewsbury Road, Beckenham, located in the London Borough of Bromley. There is also a memorial to him erected by his father in VC Quarry, on the east side of Lundy Island.

Above: Kohima War Graves Cemetery. Kohima, Nagaland, India. 07 December 2019.

Guide, Asu briefs TIMDT, Drums, and Koessler near 7th Gurkha Regiment war graves.

India gets short shrift when it comes to her contributions to the Allied war efforts. India supplied 2 million soldiers in WWI, and 2.5 million soldiers in WWII.

Addendum:

Wonderful experience for all; especially the young 👻

Mr. Z3,
Oxnard, CA

Wow !

Brandman,
Ventura, CA