President Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, on Saturday paid homage at the Kohima War Memorial where over 2000 gallant British and Indian soldiers attained martyrdom during the Second World War fighting the Allied Forces.
After laying a wreath at the War memorial, the President noted he was honoured to visit the Kohima War Cemetery “built on the very site where hundreds of gallant British and Indian soldiers fought and achieved martyrdom.”
He said there was “no mistaking the meaning, significance and the enormity of this hallowed site where lie the mortal remains of those who distinguished themselves through their acts of conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”
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The terraced cemetery is memorial to 1921 British soldiers who were buried here while the names of 917 Indian soldiers are inscribed in a plaque who laid down their lives fighting the Japanese forces between April and June 1944.
The battle was considered as amongst the bloodiest during WW II.