A heads-up for those wishing to attend a Remembrance Service for the 80th anniversary of the battle at Lion Box Kanglatongbi at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. It will be held at the Burma Star Memorial at 1.00pm on Sunday 7th April 2024 and will be the first time this action has been commemorated in the UK. It is also the first time anywhere that a Roll of Honour will be called for the hundred+ British and Indian troops killed there. The service will be led by the Reverend Dr Andrew Sangster, a military historian and author. In attendance will be serving soldiers and Standard Bearers to represent those units that were involved. A piper and a bugler will provide the musical accompaniment and families of those who fought will take part in the ceremony including the families of two Military Cross recipients. Lionboxer
Last bump-up. If anyone goes then please say hello to me. I will be the blue-arsed fly jumping about!! Lionboxer
Please post some photos of the event, if you get chance to take some. Good luck & hope it all goes well.
Just a couple of pics of our very successful event. The weather stayed dry though very blustery and over a hundred people attended. Very poignant and emotional as the 105 names of the British and Indian dead were called out. A powerful address from Rev’d Sangster and prayers from other faith leaders set the tone followed by readings from families of those who fought at Lion Box Kanglatongbi. A lot of work was put in to the organising but it all came to fruition on the day. I think those Lions we remembered would be satisfied with our efforts. Lionboxer
I live in Kanglatongbi. It's hard to imagine that such a gruesome battle was fought here some 80 years ago. From a military perspective, this is a strategic location to defend Imphal from the north advance. Kanglatongbi is a narrow plain area of 3-4km width at an elevation of around 800 m above sea level with hills running parallel. The plain area becomes wider as one moves from Kanglatongbi towards Imphal.
Sooraj, so strange you should write this today on Remembrance Sunday as hopefully my friends in Manipur will be laying wreaths to the fallen of the battle at both Kanglatongbi memorial and Imphal Cemetery. I have a busy day ahead here in UK and will get back to you with more details. If you search on here you will find numerous mentions of Kanglatongbi, mostly by me! Lionboxer
Yes. I see that you are the only one posting about Kanglatongbi. As I went for a morning walk today, I looked at the landscape and thought how dangerously close the Japanese had gotten in their pursuit to reach Imphal. I also wondered how Sekmai was defended when Kanglatongbi had fallen as Kanglatongbi is situated at a higher elevation and gives an edge to whoever occupies it. Then I thought about how difficult it would have been for the British forces to clear the road blocks up north one by one during their offensive. All these thoughts led me to the internet and I found your posts.
Soorraj, this was at the Imphal War Cemetery on Remembrance Sunday. Many thanks to our friends in Imphal for paying respects to the Fallen. Sadly the memorials at Kanglatongbi couldn't be accessed by my friends due to the ongoing security situation. Lionboxer
