98 year-old British veteran visits Kohima

Maj. David Young, MC, with Vikeyienyu Nagi (in bed), Interpreter to Maj. General ML Grover, CO of the British 2nd Division

Charles Chasie
Kohima 

Major David Young, MC, of the Royal Engineers, seconded to the Bombay Sappers, visited Kohima a few days ago, accompanied by Patrick Young, his 61 year-old nephew, an opera director. 

David Young himself did not actually fight in Kohima but he fought in the Burma Campaign, from Ledo down to the Arakans from where he won his Military Cross for gallantry. Walking the sites of the Battle of Kohima, where many of his friends and friends of friends had fought and some laid down their lives, he said the visit had been a rich experience. 

He remarked how beautifully the Kohima Commonwealth War Cemetery was maintained and when he heard that three generations of a Naga family from Kohima Village had looked after it till date, he said “Amazing!” 

“I must see everything and be able to answer all of Dick’s questions when I get back” he kept saying. His close friend Captain Richard de Channer (Dick), who saw action at Imphal, had visited Kohima a few years ago. He was warmly welcomed by General MM Naravane, then IG Assam Rifles (now Chief of Army Staff), and given a special reception and guided tour of the War Cemetery by the Assam Rifles. Dick had been so grateful that he recounts the kindness shown to him by the Indian Army to whoever visits him. A unit of the Assam Rifles had also participated in the Battle of Kohima-Imphal in 1944. 

David Young’s family has had a long history of association with India. His mother, Dr Ruth Young, was principal of the Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi, in the 1930s. His father, Charles Bowden Young, was professor of English Literature at St Stephen’s College, Delhi, from the time the college campus was still in Old Delhi. After teaching English for nearly 30 years, he retired in 1940. David’s father was obviously a much respected person in his field for the famous Shakespearean, Dover Wilson, requested Charles Young to write the history of the Shakespearean theatres (Plays) and Charles Young did so. 

Two things occasioned David Young to visit Kohima despite his advanced age. The first was that the Bombay Sappers were celebrating the bi-centennial of their founding in Pune and they wanted him to come. The other reason was that he wanted to visit his younger Initiatives of Change (IoC) colleague, Niketu Iralu, in Nagaland. 

Since he was advanced in his age, members of his family and friends were not so sure that he should be travelling such a long journey. But when David decided that he would like to make the visit, his nephew Patrick supported his decision and offered to accompany him to wherever he wanted to go. Patrick himself had been reading up on the Burma Campaign and General Slim’s Defeat into Victory.

It may be recalled that the Battle of Kohima-Imphal was the turning point in the Asian Theatre of the second world war. As is sometimes said, “Before Kohima, the Allied Forces only knew defeat after defeat; After Kohima, they knew only victory!” For the Japanese Imperial Forces, they faced probably the worst defeat in their military history at Kohima. The Battle of Kohima saw about 4000 British casualties while it is estimated that upwards of 7000 Japanese soldiers died here.       

Will David Young’s visit to Kohima be the last by a surviving British WWII Burma Campaign veteran? This year, August 15, 2020, marks the 75th anniversary of VJ-Day (Victory over Japan). On this day in 1944, Japan had surrendered and it is celebrated by the British. The Americans, on the other hand, observe September 2 more as it was only on this day that the actual instrument of Japan’s surrender was handed over by the Japanese administration aboard the battleship the USS Missouri, and President Truman had declared the day as VJ-Day.

To mark the 75th anniversary of VJ-Day, the Royal British Legion had wanted to bring a team of about 80 surviving WWII veterans (including their carers) from the Commonwealth countries to visit Kohima. Two members from the RBL’s Commemorative Events division had come on a Recce mission to Kohima last month. But after travelling the Dimapur-Kohima road, they felt that it would be too much to subject the veterans to the state of our roads in Nagaland. They have decided to call off the Kohima visit. So, David Young’s visit could well turn out to be the last visit to Kohima by a surviving veteran of the Burma Campaign. One hopes not but age is a real factor now!