Page 30 - Seniors Today - January Issue
P. 30
Other Battles: The other battles
commemorated were the ‘Battle of
Tengnoupal’ near the Indo-Myanmar
border on May 19; ‘Maibam Lokpaching’
(Red Hill) on the Tiddim Road on May 29,
where Sergeant Hanson Victor Turner of
West Yorkshire Regiment and Rfn Ganju
Lama of 7th Gurkha Rifles won their VCs
at Ningthoukhong on the Tiddim Road;
and ‘Silchar-Bishenpur Track’ on June 25,
where Naik Agansing Rai and Sub Netra
Bahadur Thapa of 5th Gurkha Rifles won The 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Imphal
their VCs on June 26, 1944. Some old the bottom of Red Hill in 1977 in memory
Manipuri elders who had witnessed these of the Japanese martyrs who sacrificed
battles as children, also narrated their their lives in the battle. The memorial’s
experiences at many locations. gate faces Japan and is a pilgrimage for
Since our Battalion, 14 Punjab (Nabha Japanese tourists who pay homage to
Akal) had served in Manipur during their fallen comrades.
the late 1990s while insurgency was at Imphal War Cemeteries: The two
its peak, we have very fond memories War Cemeteries, Imphal War and
of our two years’ tenure in the Imphal Imphal Indian Army War Cemetery
Valley. Maibam Lokpaching (Red Hill commemorate the memories of the British
or Point 2926) was located in the unit and Indian Army officers and men who
area and I proudly recollect meeting the fought and died during the War. The
late Viscount Slim (son of the famous Cemeteries lie 10 kms from Imphal
Field Marshal) in April 1998, when he Airport and are open to visitors every
visited Imphal with a British delegation day from 9am to 4pm. These monuments,
comprising of 50 war veterans of the 14th including the famous War Memorial
Army and wards and sons of men killed in Kohima, are maintained by the
in the War. The Viscount’s son, Dr Hugo Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Slim was also among the group. Maibam and are regularly visited by the British
Lokpaching was the scene of one of the and Indian soldiers and their relatives.
bloodiest battles involving hand to hand The place, cleanliness and its serenity will
combat fought on the hillock code named entice the visitor. We paid our homage
Red Hill, adjacent to the Imphal-Tiddim to the British and Indian soldiers who
Road. Fought in the last phase of the had made the supreme sacrifice. A walk
Imphal Campaign in May 1944, this battle through the Cemeteries is a touching
turned the tide of the war in favour of experience.
the Allies. Red Hill was later Gen Slim’s I am reminded of the famous words
Tactical Headquarters during the initial engraved on the main Kohima War
stages of the Burma Campaign. Cemetery, where Indian troops though
The Japanese War Veterans had outnumbered 10 to 1, fought with glory in
constructed ‘India Peace Memorial’ at finally halting the invasion of India by the
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