Kohima War Cemetery — the tennis court where the 1944 battle turned
What it is
The Kohima War Cemetery climbs Garrison Hill in the middle of Kohima, on the ground where the Battle of Kohima was decided in April 1944. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission looks after it: 1,420 graves of Commonwealth soldiers, and a memorial to 917 Hindu and Sikh soldiers whose bodies were cremated, as their faiths require.
Photos: Shyamal (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
The battle
In the spring of 1944 the Japanese 15th Army struck at Kohima and Imphal to cut the British supply bases. At Kohima a small garrison held Garrison Hill against repeated attacks until help arrived, and the fiercest fighting was across the tennis court of the Deputy Commissioner's bungalow, at times hand to hand. The bungalow did not survive; the court is marked today in white concrete lines. The Japanese were forced back, and the battle became a turning point of the Burma campaign. In 2013 a vote run by the National Army Museum in Britain named Imphal and Kohima Britain's greatest battle.
What you see
Terraces of lawn and headstones climb the hill, with roses in season, a cross at the top and the memorial of the 2nd British Division, which carries the lines known as the Kohima Epitaph. Field Marshal Sir William Slim inaugurated the memorial.
Visiting
It is about 0.8 km and 2 minutes from the centre on our routing. We have no verified opening hours; it is a place of remembrance, so dress and behave as you would at any grave.
Combine it with
The one-day plan adds the state museum and the Kisama Heritage Village. Read things to do in Kohima and how to reach Kohima.
Plans that include this
All 3 plans that stop here →
Nearby places
All of Kohima →
Nearby destinations
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Questions people ask
What is the Kohima War Cemetery?
The Commonwealth war cemetery on Garrison Hill in the middle of Kohima, for the soldiers who died in the Battle of Kohima in April 1944. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission keeps it. Its 1,420 graves are of Commonwealth soldiers, and a separate memorial names 917 Hindu and Sikh soldiers whose bodies were cremated, as their faiths require.
Why is the tennis court famous?
The fiercest fighting of the siege was across the tennis court of the Deputy Commissioner's bungalow, at times hand to hand. The bungalow was destroyed, and the court is now marked out in white concrete lines inside the cemetery. In 2013 a vote run by the National Army Museum in Britain named Imphal and Kohima Britain's greatest battle.
How far is the cemetery from the centre of Kohima?
It is in the middle of the city, about 0.8 km and 2 minutes by road from the centre on our routing, and an easy walk. We have no verified opening hours. It is a place of remembrance, so keep your voice low and do not walk on the graves.