Kohima War Cemetery... Flowers, graves, and memories...

Kohima lies in the highlands of Nagaland, India, at an elevation of approximately 1444m (1.4km or 4738ft.) above sea level... and unknown to many its a turning point in the Burma campaign during WWII, alongside with another battle occuring at Imphal, many gave their lives to prevent the Japanese from establishing a foothold into India from Burma, being outgunned and outnumbered.

It's interesting to note that at the memorial, the allied soldiers were a mixed multitude of nations, cultures and religion. Amongst them were Indians, Sikhs, Gurkhas, Brits, Aussies, Scots, Irish, NewZealanders, Muslims, and Jews even. The site is still maintained by the commonwealth, and its a yearly affair for survivors and relatives to fly in to remember the day.

Another piece of forgotten history would be the Kohima poem, inscribed on this memorial...

When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,

For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today

It's attributed to John Maxwell Edmonds (1875-1958) and it is thought to have been inspired by Simonides' Epitaph which bears similar resemblance... (okay, if you've watched Frank Miller's 300 you'll get the idea)

Ὦ ξεῖν’, ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε

κείμεθα, τοῖς κείνων ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι.

O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde

keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi.

which may be translated as:

Tell the Spartans, passer-by,

here, obediently, we lie.

(From wikipedia.com)

Interesting =) Simonides' epitaph is attributed to the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 spartans and other greeks stood against the full might of the Persian forces... Which is sort of similar to the situation at Kohima then...
The cemetery's located at what used to be the governor's tennis court (its still there)... where intense fighting took place.... All in all, its a peaceful place as most memorials are, and the gardens are well kept with lots of flowers... Went down in a heavy downpour, but managed to grab some pretty decent shots...
















The entire memorial has multiple terraces...








An Unknown Soldier.











Rows of Plaques and the Tennis Court...




I'll put up the flowers on the next post... =)