Burma veterans remember fallen from historic victory

More than 20 veterans from as far afield as Scotland and Kent travelled to York for the annual reunion to commemorate the battle in 1944, when Allied Forces halted the advance of the Japanese army in Asia.

Kohima, a hill town in Nagaland, 5,000ft above sea level in the middle of the Naga Hills, was the site of one of the most bitterly fought battles of the Second World War.

The conflict was described by Earl Mountbatten as "probably one of the greatest battles in history".

The Army's 2nd Division fought alongside the Royal Scots, the Durham Light Infantry, the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Cameron Highlanders among others, to relieve the British garrison, which had been remorselessly shelled.

The service in York Minster yesterday was conducted by the Rev Peter Eagles, the Assistant Chaplain General of the 2nd Division, before wreaths were laid at the Kohima Memorial in the Dean's Park outside the cathedral.

The veterans and their families then attended a reception at Imphal Barracks on Fulford Road in York.