The Battle of Kohima

The Battle of Kohima

“When you go home tell them of us and say for your tomorrow we gave our today”.

In the first week of April, the Japanese attacked at Kohima via Mizoram from the Indo-Burma border, to destroy the supply bases of the British. They laid siege on the Allied forces stationed at Kohima. Reaching Kohima, the Japanese Army occupied a strategic location on Garrison Hill and continually attacked a small contingent of the Commonwealth forces, which successfully held the firm.

The original tree, from which a branch has been used to create the present tree where the plaque is fixed, had been used for target practice by the Japanese forces. It was destroyed during the battle. Hence, Kohima Battle is also known as the “Battle Under the Cherry Tree”.

After more than a month of fighting, the British cut a path to the summit above the tennis court, dragged a tank up the slope and poured a hail of fire into the Japanese bunkers from no more than 20 yards away. Garrison Hill used to house the Deputy Commissioner’s bungalow, a club frequented by traveling army officers, including a tennis court. In the battle, the DC’s bungalow was destroyed, while the tennis court, which witnessed some of the worst hand-to-hand fighting between the opposing forces, still remains, now marked by concrete lines. Another notable feature at the site is a cherry tree near the tennis court where the battle was fought, where a small brass plaque reads:

“For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today”

After the battlefield was cleared of the enemy, the once beautiful tennis court was reduced to a fly and rat-infested wilderness, with half-buried human remains everywhere.