Colonel Ted Shields MBE, currently Chief of Staff HQ 2nd Division and Colonel, The Rifles, County Durham, visited India in April 2009 to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Imphal-Kohima battle. He writes here of the Battle of Kohima, the 2nd Battalion The Durham Light Infantry and their relevance to The Rifles.
‘Let your thoughts dwell day by day on your country’s true greatness, and when you realise her grandeur, remember it is a heritage won for you by dauntless men who knew their duty, and who did it.’
Col Ted Shields at the 2 Div Kohima Memorial
The Japanese invasion of India was stopped at Kohima. This remote but important hill station in the Naga Hills, some 135 miles from the Indo-Burmese border, sat astride the only road between the British depot at Dimapur and the British garrison at Imphal. It was there, between 4 April and 22 June 1944, that the men of the 2nd British Division (which included the 2nd Bn Durham Light Infantry), 161 Indian Brigade and 33 Indian Brigade ‘won imperishable praise.’ The turning point of the South-East Asia campaign, Kohima was to be one of the most decisive battles of the Second World War. The exceptional courage, endurance and fortitude of those who fought there, often at extremely close quarter and in the most appalling conditions, would make Kohima legendary. But, 5000 miles from Britain, this extraordinary feat of arms and logistics is overshadowed by the invasion of Europe in June 1944. The men of the British and Indian Armies who did their duty at Kohima have therefore not received the recognition they so rightly deserve. But had they not acquitted themselves with such distinction in the mountains above Imphal, the war in the Far East would have taken quite a different course.
The 2nd Bn Durham Light Infantry had joined 6 Infantry Brigade, 2nd Division, in November 1936 and remained with those formations throughout the Second World War. The Battalion which went out to the Far East was a different one, though, to that which had distinguished itself with the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940. Following the evacuation from Dunkirk, 2DLI had reconstituted in the 2nd Division’s concentration area at Huddersfield with just three of its original officers and some 180 NCOs and men. The Battalion eventually sailed for Bombay via Cape Town on the Empress of India in April 1942. Following periods of training in
jungle and combined operations, 2DLI were readied for the first Arakan Campaign, the bold British attempt to take the offensive to the Japanese in Burma. The gamble failed; bitterly disappointed and racked with malaria, the Battalion had regrouped with the 2nd Division at Ahmednagar in southern India by mid-June 1943.
The Battle of Kohima can be divided into two phases: the siege of British forces; and the subsequent clearance of the Japanese from the area. Convinced that Dimapur was the Japanese objective, the speed and the strength of the Japanese thrust towards Kohima and Imphal took Lieutenant General Bill Slim, commanding the Fourteenth Army, somewhat by surprise. Colonel Hugh Richards’ ‘rather scratch garrison’ at Kohima comprised: 161 Brigade’s 4th Royal West Kents, the locally recruited Assam Regiment, detachments of the Assam Rifles (local paramilitary) and some 500 convalescing troops – around 1200 men. In the words of General Slim, ‘it was a grim prospect they faced as fifteen thousand ravening Japanese closed in on them.’4 The fighting was intense and ferocious, much of it centred on the British Ultimately falling back to a 500 square yard perimeter and with water severely rationed, the defenders held Kohima for an incredible thirteen days against heavy indirect fire and the 31st Japanese Division’s repeated assaults.
The 2nd British Division, flown or transported by rail to Dimapur from training in southern and western India, advanced up the road to Kohima, linking up with 161 Indian Brigade who, in turn and not without considerable effort, were able to link up with the besieged garrison on 18 April. The ‘Defence of Kohima’ – the Battle Honour awarded only to the Royal West Kent Regiment and the Assam Regiment – must rank as one of the hardest earned Battle Honours in British military history. Formal recognition therefore seems somewhat meagre: eleven VCs were won during the 18-hour defence of Rorke’s Drift in 1879; just one VC was awarded (posthumously to Lance Corporal John Harman of the 4th Royal West Kents) during the 13-day siege of Kohima. General Slim wrote: ‘Sieges have been longer but few have been more intense, and in none have the defenders deserved greater honour than the garrison of Kohima.’
With the siege lifted, the second phase of the Battle of Kohima saw the 2nd British Division’s three brigades (4, 5 and 6), 161 Indian Brigade and 33 Indian Brigade clear the Japanese from Kohima and open the road to Imphal. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Jack Brown, 2DLI, still part of 6 Brigade, had taken six days to travel by train from Ahmednagar to Dimapur. The Battalion moved up to occupy reserve positions 2 miles from Kohima on 17 April. Major General John ‘Black Jack’ Grover6, GOC 2nd Division, gave: 4 Brigade the task to clear the south (GPT Ridge and Jail Hill); 5 Brigade the task to clear the north (Naga Village); and 6 Brigade the task to clear the centre (Garrison Hill, Kuki Piquet and FSD Ridge). 161 Indian Brigade was in reserve whilst 33 Indian Brigade covered Dimapur.
Military readers will not be surprised to learn that the intensity and ferocity of the fighting at Kohima was such that it has never been possible to piece together a clear battle picture. General Slim described it thus: “Into Scoones’ headquarters [IV Indian Corps] from every point of the compass, day and night, streamed signals, messages and reports, announcing successes, set-backs, appealing for reinforcements, demanding more ammunition, asking urgently for wounded to be evacuated, begging for air support.”7 And if that was the situation at Corps level, the situation at Battalion HQ can be well imagined. However, a series of excellent snapshots emerge through the Battalion’s war diary, contemporary accounts (personal diaries and letters home), photographs8,
film9 and the DLI’s World War II Oral History Collection at the Durham County Record Office. Of particular value is ‘Seven Days at Kohima’, the eyewitness account of Lieutenant Pat Rome MC10, D Company 2DLI, written whilst recovering from his wounds in hospital. Pat Rome’s testimony is used well by both Bill Moore in his history of the Regiment11 and Steve Shannon in his booklet on 2DLI at Kohima12. Steve Shannon was also able to draw on the accounts of veterans such as Major ‘Tank’ Waterhouse MC (OC ‘D’ Company), Captain Sean Kelly (OC ‘A’ Company), Sergeant Major Martin McLane (CSM ‘C’ Company) and a number of others. One need look no further than Steve Shannon’s booklet for a comprehensive resume of the Battalion’s actions at Kohima.
Suffice to say, despite dwindling ammunition and ration stocks, there was absolutely no let up in Japanese determination or endurance. General Slim observed that the Japanese ‘continued to fight stubbornly . . . [any] attempting to escape were bayoneted or shot; none tried to escape . . . The Infantry, as usual, suffered most and endured most, for this was above all an infantry battle, hand-to-hand, man against man, and no quarter.’ The Japanese were formidable foes indeed. On 22 June, an ‘A’ Company platoon, led by Captain John Burkmar, met soldiers from 1/17th Dogras from Imphal at Milestone 109, marking the end of the Imphal-Kohima battle. The tide had turned; General Slim and his Fourteenth Army were to fight on to the surrender of the Japanese and the War’s end. In the 64 days of battle in and around Kohima, it is estimated that the British and Indian forces lost round 4000 men, dead missing and wounded whilst the Japanese had lost some 7000 men. In addition to the ‘Defence of Kohima’, a further six related Battle Honours were to be awarded. Nineteen regiments, including the Durham Light Infantry, added ‘Kohima’ to their Colours or guidons. 8 officers and 120 men are listed on the 2nd Battalion’s Roll of Honour, including the CO, Lieutenant Colonel Jack Brown, killed by indirect fire on 4 May. The Battalion’s losses were the heaviest in the 2nd Division.
If the British, Indians and Gurkhas who fought at Kohima have not received due recognition for their achievements at Kohima, then the indigenous people have fared no better. The Nagas, friendly and hospitable but fiercely independent and with a strong warrior tradition, had been subject to British administration since the end of the 19th century. Enlightened men of the Indian Civil Service such as Charles Pawsey, the Deputy Commissioner of the Naga Hills District from 1937 to 1947, had helped to develop an unusual degree of mutual respect. Such was the Naga contribution that General Slim was moved to write:
‘Their active help to us was beyond value or praise . . . they guided our columns, collected information, ambushed enemy patrols, carried our supplies, and brought in our wounded under the heaviest fire – and then, being the gentlemen they were, often refused all payment . . . no soldier of the Fourteenth Army who met them will ever think of them but with admiration and affection.’14
No wonder then, that when the 2nd Division’s veterans planned their final reunion at York in 2004, they resolved to found the Kohima Educational Trust (KET) as a debt of honour to the Naga people. The Trust seeks to sustain the memory of the courage and sacrifice of those who fought and died in the battle and to honour the Nagas who were their allies through assisting the education of succeeding generations of Naga children. This work is done in collaboration with the Kohima Educational Society (KES), a charity formed by leading Naga citizens in response to the formation of the Kohima Educational Trust.15
In April 2009 Major General David McDowall CBE, GOC 2nd Division, flew out to India with a small party from his Headquarters accompanied by Rob Lyman, the respected military historian, and Bob Cook, curator of the Kohima Museum at York. Joined by Brigadier Clive Elderton CBE (the British Military and Defence Advisor in New Delhi) and Mr Pfelie Keziesie (Chairman of the Kohima Educational Society), the aim of the visit was to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the battle with a service at the 2nd Division’s memorial in the military cemetery at Kohima. Every possible courtesy and assistance was afforded to General McDowall whilst in the area, ensuring that the three-day visit was an enormous success.
Having called upon the Governor, Chief Minister and the Inspector General Assam Rifles (North), the programme included a tour of some of the key battle sites and memorials as well as a most interesting visit to the new Kohima War Museum at Kisama. The service itself was held on 18 April, the precise anniversary of the relief of Colonel Richards’ garrison by 1/1st Punjabs, in front of the 2nd Division’s memorial in the immaculately kept military cemetery. Against a backdrop of the blue forests and hills of Nagaland, General McDowall stood with representatives of the British and Indian Armies and buglers of the Assam Rifles to remember the fallen. Wreaths were laid, the buglers sounded, the words of Pericles’ Funeral Oration never more powerful as they were recited in the warm early morning air. As Colonel County Durham, I laid a wreath with the following inscription:
‘There has yet to be found something these men cannot do’16 In proud memory of Lieutenant Colonel J H Brown and over 150 all Ranks of
2nd Bn The Durham Light Infantry
who fell at Kohima 27 March – 22 June 1944 ‘FAITHFUL’
The Durham Light Infantry Association
The 2nd Division’s memorial, a 15-foot high Naga stone obelisk unveiled by General Slim on 23 November 1944, seems untouched by time. On the side facing the town is a small cross, carved into the stone, below which, inscribed on a bronze plaque, are the potent and immortal words of the Kohima Epitaph:
‘When you go home Tell them of us and say For your tomorrow We gave our today’
Reflecting the ancient lines of the Greek poet, Simonides of Ceos, this simple request is often heard at Acts of Remembrance. Those gathered pause and reflect, most recalling relatives, friends, countrymen and allies who have given their lives in their country’s service. A general aid to remembrance therefore, the Epitaph stands as a fitting tribute not just to the dead of Kohima but also to the dead of countless other battles. Whilst the Epitaph has come to serve a greater constituency, the words seem no more apt than for this cemetery in northeast India. All military cemeteries are places for quiet reflection, the remembrance of great endeavour and fortitude, of fear and of courage, of unfulfilled dreams, of lost love, of lost lives, of enormous individual and collective sacrifice, of a world that is past. Kohima is certainly all this but there is a heightened sense of unparalleled human endeavour, of something quite unmatched having occurred in thesehills.
Is it the particular intensity and ferocity of the fighting? Is it the location, high, remote and inaccessible?
Is it the clash of myriad cultures and faiths?
Is this all in some way more perceptible at Kohima?
In this quest for greater understanding and meaning, there are few answers and yet there can be no more inspiring and constructive response than the work being undertaken today by both the Kohima Education Trust and the Kohima Education Society.
Built by the Pioneer Platoon in 1944, the 2DLI Memorial still stands on Garrison Hill. Alongside the Regimental badge and title are the words: “Erected by the Officers and Men in Honour of their Comrades who fell in the fighting for Kohima and Manipur Road, April – June 1944.” It will be seen from the ‘then and now’ photographs that it is in need of refurbishment. The DLI Trustees are currently engaged with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) whose responsibility it is to maintain the Memorial. It is hoped that the CWGC will be able to refurbish the Memorial before the end of the year.
The events that unfolded and the deeds that were done at Kohima in 1944 continue to impress and inspire family, friends, historians and those in uniform today. In a message issued ‘to all ranks on the Manipur Road’, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten wrote that ‘only those who have seen the horrific nature of the country under these conditions will be able to appreciate your achievements.’17 With hindsight, only those who fought at Kohima can truly judge the scale of their extraordinary achievements in the face of exceptional adversity. The rest of us must rely on piecing together the story from our conversations with Kohima veterans, the written and oral accounts of commanders and others, theatre and Regimental histories, pictures, photographs and film. As we do so, we are increasingly conscious that the Battle of Kohima was fought ‘by dauntless men who knew their duty, and who did it.’
The world has changed in many ways over the past 65 years
but the moral component of the British and Commonwealth Armies relies heavily on that rich store of the tales of selfless commitment, courage and fortitude, handed down from one generation to the next. In that rich store is the particularly rich 3 seam holding the individual and collective deeds of each and 4 every man who fought at Kohima, none more so than the 2nd 5 Bn Durham Light Infantry. Some of these deeds are known 6 and recorded, most are not; the former, however, might be considered representative of the whole. Through the telling of the great deeds of illustrious forebears, servicemen and women are persuaded that it is absolutely possible to achieve
the impossible, to triumph over adversity, to do the right thing
in the most difficult of circumstances. Through badges and Colours, custom and music, pictures and history, the 9 generations of British soldiers are connected and provide each succeeding generation with welcome reassurance that, when the time comes, they cannot and will not be found wanting. Not one of the British Infantry Regiments that fought
at Kohima now exists in its own right but the officers and men in the Regiments that have succeeded them continue to learn from and be inspired by those who have gone before. And despite these changes in name and dress, veterans can observe with considerable pride that the current generation continue to uphold National and Regimental honour on the field of battle. Indeed, there are a number of parallels that can be drawn between Burma 1944-45 and Afghanistan 2009-10, not least the sure knowledge that the selfless commitment, courage and fortitude of the British soldier remains unchanged. The Battle Honour ‘Kohima’ carries on into The Rifles as one of the thirty-four selected to be worn on the cross or waist belt badge of every officer and soldier.
A week after returning to Britain, General McDowall and his party joined veterans, family and friends for the annual Kohima Reunion and Memorial Service on 28 April 2009. Major Gordon Graham MC*, founder and Honorary President of the Kohima Educational Trust, presented a fascinating assessment of General Grover, GOC 2nd Division at Kohima, to a small gathering the evening before. Following the service at York Minster the next morning, veterans gathered in Imphal Barracks for lunch and a band concert, including a rousing rendition of ‘The Road to Mandalay.’ It was good to see William (Bill) Nolan who served with 2DLI at the Reunion. Since the Reunion, correspondence with Major Jack Burkmar, who commanded 2DLI’s Bren Gun Carrier Platoon at Kohima, and Peter Gibbs-Kennet, whose father Major Reginald Gibbs- Kennet was the Battalion 2IC (sadly killed in action on St George’s Day at Kohima), have greatly assisted the author in establishing the importance of Kohima in DLI history. Jack Burkmar lives in retirement in Surrey with his wife Margaret.
11 Moore, W., The Durham Light Infantry, London: Leo Cooper (1975). 12 Shannon, S. D., Forgotten No More: 2nd Bn DLI at Kohima 1944,
13 Durham: County Durham Books (1994).
14 Slim, W J, As ref. 4 above, p. 318-319
15 Slim, WJ, As ref. 4 above p. 334-335. 16 See www.kohimaeducationaltrust.net
Ward, S. G. P., Faithful: The Story of the Durham Light Infantry, London: Thomas Nelson and Sons (1962), p. 557. The figure of 150 All Ranks is also Ward’s but is not attributed. There are 128 names of 2DLI soldiers on the 2nd Division Memorial.
17 ‘The Battle of Kohima, North-East India, 4 April-22 June 1944’, Ministry of Defence (2004), p. 1, accessed on 31 December 2009 at: http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/4C2B25FC-2E6C-45F9-B785 8A75139E9A0A/0/ww2_kohima.pdf
Published by Pen and Sword, this new DVD can be bought at discount via The Rifles Durham Office or online using a special Book page link on www.faithfuldurhams.com
In three parts, the DVD is based on a search by Richard Hone for his great uncle’s war service history – his great uncle was 101796 Pte William Pye of the 29th Battalion DLI. The first part highlights an expert genealogist showing how to research and access available sources. In part two Richard goes on to discover the details of his ‘Uncle Bill’s’ military service, how he came to join the DLI, the battles in which he fought and his death in the Ypres Salient which is recorded on the Tyne Cot Memorial. Part three looks at the campaign medals of the period. With a lot of information, and money-off vouchers, this is a DVD you should find well worth the outlay!
References:
1 2
Attributed to Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command (1943-1946)
An extract of Pericles’ Funeral Oration contained in Thucydides’
History of the Peloponnesian War, circa 431BC, recited annually at the Kohima Service.
As ref. 2 above, Pericles’etc.
Slim WJ, Defeat into Victory, Cassell and Co Ltd, p 302.
Slim WJ, As ref. 4 above, p 312.
Formerly of The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, Maj Gen JML Glover CB MC (1897-1979) commanded 1KSLI from 1938-39 and was Colonel of the Regiment from 1947-1955.
Slim WJ, As ref. 4 above, p319.
For example, the 38 photos held by the Durham County Records at:
http://nd.durham.gov.uk/recordoffice%5Cregister.nsf/vWebPhotos?Sea rchView&searchorder=4&SearchWV=false&query=kohima&start=1&co unt=250
See Burma Victory (1945), available in DVD format from the Imperial War Museum.
Major Pat Rome MC (1922-1994) was well known to many Durhams. His obituary can be found in the Spring 1994 edition of The Silver Bugle, p. 99.
10
Colonel Ted Shields MBE
Tracing Great War Ancestors – Finding Uncle Bill
Peter Nelson
Sevenhills, Greenhills Business Pk
Spennymoor, Co.Durham, DL16 6JB
Registered Charity Number: 273744
© Copyright 2025 DLI Friends