The Kohima War Cemetery, associated with World War II and the Indian National Army, has been included in a list of five sites with unique features by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). This UK-based intergovernmental organization represents six member-states including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1917 as the Imperial War Graves Commission, it was renamed the CWGC in 1960 and is headquartered in Maidenhead, UK.
About the Historic Cemetery
Kohima’s capital Nagaland might be the only place in the world to have a graveyard with a tennis court. The cemetery is one of 23,000 World War graves across several continents preserved by the CWGC. The cemetery was developed after a devastating attack on 3 April 1944, when a Japanese force of 15 thousand attacked Kohima and its force of two and a half thousand. This ensued two weeks of heavy fighting that pushed the defending forces to the former house of the British Deputy Commissioner.
The Origin of Cemetery
The lawn of this house had a tennis court where British officers played for recreation. With the surviving defenders encamped around the garden tennis court, they prepared for their final stand. When the Japanese forces prepared to attack, they were counterattacked by lead tanks of a relief force, saving the defenders and pushing the attackers back. Despite this setback, the Japanese continued to engage for Kohima until they were finally forced to withdraw in May 1944. Those who gave up their lives in the defense of Kohima were buried on the battlefield which later became a permanent CWGC cemetery. The tennis court was incorporated into the design of the cemetery by designer Colin St. Clair Oakes.
Other Cemeteries Listed by CWGC
The list also includes World War I’s “crater cemeteries” namely, Zivy Crater and Litchfield Crater in the Pas de Calais region of France, and Nicosia (Waynes Keep) Cemetery or the “cemetery in no man’s land” located in Cyprus.
Kohima’s Significance in World War II
Present-day Nagaland and the adjoining Manipur composed the only theater of World War II on Indian subcontinent soil. In 1944, after hard fighting in the Burmese jungle, Japanese forces pushed across the Chindwin River and into India. The invasion hinged upon two key points, Manipur capital Imphal and Kohima. The defeat for the Fourteenth Army here would have meant that the Japanese could strike further into India.
The Strategic Importance of Kohima
Kohima was strategically important as it was the highest point of the pass through the jungle mountains to Dimapur, now Nagaland’s commercial hub adjoining Assam. The fall of Dimapur would have left the Allied defenders of Imphal at the mercy of Japanese soldiers fighting alongside Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army.
About World War II
World War II was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It started with Germany’s invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ended on 2 September 1945, on an American warship. Claiming the lives of estimated 60-80 million people, around 3 percent of the world population, the majority of those who died were civilians. This includes 6 million Jews who were killed in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. The main belligerents were Axis powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan, and Allies: France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent, China.