This is the second short post about Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries visited during a recent visit to India with ‘The Forgotten War Tour’ led by Dr. Robert Lyman MBE and organised by Bertie Alexander of Sampan Travel. (See the posts about Kolkata and Digboi).
Kohima War Cemetery was constructed on the site of the terraced grounds of the residence of the Deputy Commissioner[1] of the Naga Hills, on the slopes below what became known as Garrison Hill during the Battle of Kohima.
The cemetery was designed by C. St. C. R. Oakes, an Advisory Architect to the Imperial War Graves Commission (later Principal Architect) who had served with 72nd Infantry Brigade in the Arakan, for which he had been appointed an M.B.E.[2] A unique aspect of its design was the incorporation of the Deputy Commissioner’s tennis court, around which fierce fighting had taken place in April and May 1944.
The Cross of Sacrifice and the Tennis Court
The inscription inside the shelter at the base of the Cross of Sacrifice reads:
HERE AROUND THE TENNIS COURT OF THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER LIE MEN WHO FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE OF KOHIMA IN WHICH THEY AND THEIR COMRADES FINALLY HALTED THE INVASION OF INDIA BY THE FORCES OF JAPAN IN APRIL 1944
Buried here are 1,420 Commonwealth war dead, of whom 125 are unidentified. A further 917 Hindu and Sikh soldiers who were cremated in accordance with their faith are commemorated on the Kohima Cremation Memorial
The Cremation Memorial
The missing from the battles in the region are amongst those commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial.[3]
There are eight Royal Signals all ranks buried at Kohima, five of who were killed during the battle, and three who died in hospital in Kohima or elsewhere in the region at other times:
3603687 Signalman FRED HOUGHTON BOYD
2nd Divisional Signals
Killed in action on 12 June 1944 during the latter stages of the Battle of Kohima.
2593635 Lance Corporal JOHN ROBERT RITSON DODD
136th (1st West Lancashire) Field Regiment Royal Artillery Signal Section,
89th Indian Infantry Brigade, 7th Indian Division
Died on 29 November 1944 in No. 53 Indian General Hospital as the result of injuries sustained in a road traffic accident.
WE LEAVE HIM IN GOD’S ALL-WISE HANDS AND TRUST HIS PERFECT WILL
2377890 Lance Corporal ARTHUR EAGLE
Unit Not Known (formerly 178th Assault Field Regiment Royal Artillery Signal Section, probably joined the Kohima defences from 24th Reinforcement Centre)
Killed in action on 5 April 1944 early in the Battle of Kohima.
AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING, WE WILL REMEMBER HIM
2365106 Signalman JAMES DUDLEY GREEN
2nd Divisional Signals
Killed in action on 19 April 1944 in the Battle of Kohima.
Originally buried at Lancaster Gate, his remains were reinterred on 12 October 1944 at Kohima War Cemetery.
2585775 Lance Corporal THOMAS LUMLEY
33rd Corps Signals
Following a bombing raid at Lancaster Gate on 15 May 1944 during the Battle of Kohima when he was a member of a line party, he died of wounds later that day. Sergeant M. Haythornthwaite, Corporal D. T. Radcliffe and Signalman A. Benson were wounded.[4]
Originally buried near Lancaster Gate, his remains were reinterred on 31 December 1944 at Kohima War Cemetery.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR DEAR SON THOMAS
2362558 Corporal JOHN STANLEY TIPPER
2nd Divisional Signals
Initially reported missing, he was killed in action on 17 June 1944 during the latter stages of the Battle of Kohima.
Originally buried along the Kohima-Imphal road just north of Mao Songsang, his remains were reinterred on 20 November 1944 at Kohima War Cemetery.
HE SLEEPS IN THE ARMS OF JESUS; A TRUE BRITISH SOLDIER AT REST
229399 Second Lieutenant GEORGE GREVILLE WILLIAMSON
Unit Not Known
Commissioned in March 1942, he died on 30 November 1942 as a result of injuries sustained in a road traffic accident on the Dimapur-Kohima road.
Originally buried elsewhere, his remains were reinterred at Kohima War Cemetery.
“BE THOU FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH AND I WILL GIVE THEE A CROWN OF LIFE”
3860831 Serjeant JOHN YATES
9th Indian Infantry Brigade Signal Section, 5th Indian Division
Died of cerebral malaria on 13 December 1944 in 19th Indian Casualty Clearing Station.
LOVE’S GREATEST GIFT, REMEMBRANCE
Nine soldiers of the Indian Signal Corps are buried in Kohima War Cemetery:
A/5690 Signalman ABDUL RAZAQ
‘R’ Indian Line of Communication Signals, died on 3 September 1944
A/9360 Signalman AHMAD KHAN
7th Indian Divisional Signals, died on 8 October 1944
B/1020 Signalman BOSTAN KHAN
‘R’ Indian Line of Communication Signals, died on 13 June 1942
ISC/16330 Signalman FAQIR MUHAMMAD
17th Indian Divisional Signals, died on 16 December 1943
ISC/46785 Signalman HAKIM ALI
17th Indian Divisional Signals, died on 2 August 1944
ISC/26083 Signalman MUHAMMAD LATIF
‘R’ Indian Line of Communication Signals, died on 7 June 1942
ISC/14496 Signalman NUR MUHAMMAD
‘T’ Indian Line of Communication Signals, died on 22 November 1944
A/9939 Signalman PREMANANDAN
23rd Indian Divisional Signals, died on 3 November 1943
04747 Labourer RAJ MUHAMMAD
‘R’ Indian Line of Communication Signals, died on 17 May 1942
Soldiers of the Indian Signal Corps commemorated on the Cremation Memorial
Nine soldiers of the Indian Signal Corps are commemorated on the Kohima Cremation Memorial:
ISC/60524 Signalman K. ANANDAN
Unit Not Known, died on 30 January 1944
ISC/58518 Signalman KUMARA VELU
19th Indian Divisional Signals, died on 24 December 1944
ISC/13910 Signalman K. KUNHI RAMAN
19th Indian Divisional Signals, died on 18 December 1944
010001 Labourer PERUMAL
‘R’ Indian Line of Communication Signals, died on 28 March 1944
ISC/36466 Signalman PUSWAMI
48th Light Indian Infantry Brigade Signal Section, 17th Indian Division, died on 21 March 1943
ISC/60166 Signalman RAM PARSHAD
Unit Not Known, died on 8 July 1945
ISC/57132 Signalman SHEO PUJAN
36th Indian Divisional Signals, died on 18 January 1945[5]
ISC/35938 Signalman SUBRAMANIAM
Unit Not Known, died on 30 October 1943
ISC/20162 Signalman SUKUMARA PILLAI
Unit Not Known, died on 18 January 1945
1. (Back) Charles Ridley Pawsey C.I.E., M.C. Later Sir Charles Pawsey C.S.I., C.I.E., M.C.
2. (Back) 45134 Major Colin St. Clair Rycroft Oakes, Royal Regiment of Artillery. M.B.E. (Military Division). Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General, 72nd Infantry Brigade, 36th Indian Division. London Gazette 8 February 1945; 36928, p. 794. Recommendation: The National Archives, WO 373/80/416.
3. (Back) There are 71 Royal Corps of Signals, 361 Indian Signal Corps, six Burma Army Signals, one Burma Posts and Telegraph Signals, seven East African Corps of Signals, and 14 West African Corps of Signals casualties who died during the Burma Campaign and who are commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial.
4. (Back) 2587910 Sergeant Maurice Haythornthwaite, 2326454 Corporal Dominic Thomas Radcliffe and 2586739 Signalman A. Benson. Sergeant Haythornthwaite and Corporal Radcliffe were mentioned in despatches.
5. (Back) The division became 36th Infantry Division in September 1944.