Page 10 - Cadet Review Summer 2021

Joint Service News
newly formed regiment. His remains are interred at the Imphal War Cemetery in plot 7 G 21.
As previously mentioned, not every soldier who showed courage or displayed bravery was recognised by an award. In a field where every soldier did show courage and display bravery, it was difficult to find those who stood above the others in that respect. In such a position and against such an enemy, it would have been difficult for a soldier not to show courage and display bravery. Every man was a hero.
After the war, in a small book called “Courage
– and Other Broadcasts”, written while he was the Governor General of Australia, Field Marshal Sir William Joseph Slim says, “The British are no braver than the Germans, the French, the Italians or anybody else, but they are braver for just a little bit longer”.
It was this collective display of courage and bravery on the part of the Indian and British forces that halted the Japanese invasion of India in its tracks
in 1944 and turned them back across the Chindwin River leaving behind them some 35,000 dead. It
was this same collective display of courage and bravery that enabled Dr. Robert Lyman to success- fully argue the case for Imphal and Kohima to be named Britain’s Greatest Battle in front of a selected audience in 2013. He won fifty one percent of the vote and forced the Battle of Waterloo into 2nd place and the Battle of Normandy into 3rd place. The Indian and British troops of the 14th Army – the Forgotten Army – had every right to stand tall after the war when asked what they did and simply state “I was a soldier of the 14th Army”.
It has been said that Courage is the greatest of all the virtues.
With grateful thanks to Bob Cook at the Kohima Museum.
The 2nd Division Kohima Museum is a registered charity, which relies heavily on the generosity of the public. If you would like to show your support to the museum all donations will be gratefully received by cash or cheque. Cheques may be made payable to "Central Bank York Garrison" and addressed to: The Kohima Museum, Imphal Barracks, York, YO10 4HD.
If you would like to pay a visit see details on the museum website at http://www.kohimamuseum. co.uk/
1This indicates that his body was unable to be identified with sufficient certainty. Those remains that were found would now lie under a headstone titled “A British soldier of the 1939 – 45 War”
10 CADET REVIEW SUMMER 2021
The memorial to the 2nd
Division at Kohima
WAR POEMS
Wikipedia defines a ‘War Poet’ as a poet who participates in a war and writes about his experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war.
None of the men who wrote the poems in this book could be classed as well known in the sense of Sasson, Owen or Brooke from WW1. In fact those men were already poets but who also happened to be soldiers because of the war.
The poems in this book were written by ordinary
men who, in the main, were soldiers of the British 2nd
Infantry Division. But for the war, they may never have donned a uniform. As part of the 2nd Division, they went to stand firm against an implacable foe
in the most difficult terrain, enduring the most dreadful weather conditions; they wrote about their experiences either at the time or in later life. And in so doing they earned for themselves the right to be referred to as Soldier Poets.
For the purist, many of these poems would not be considered poems at all but merely ‘doggerel’ or at best, verse. But to the men who wrote them, they represented the honour and respect in memory of their mates who fell beside them in the vicious hand to hand combat, or who were blown to bloody pieces by the bomb and grenade, during the fighting at Kohima and in Burma.
Some of the poems were written when the men were at leisure after rigorous jungle training merely to pass the time away. But in almost every case, the poems reflect the deepest feelings of men isolated from their loved ones, five thousand miles from home and with a very real prospect of never seeing those loved ones again.
The poems have been donated to the museum not in their own right, but amongst other items or tucked away inside the pocket of a tunic or folded inside a soldiers Pay Book. Many have been hidden away for 65 years without seeing the light of day, until now.
The poems were published for the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Kohima; a fitting time to reveal and share this wonderful and unique collection of war poems. They provide a moving tribute to those soldiers who came home, as well as those less fortunate who lie forever in foreign soil. This book is a testimony to their sacrifice.
For more details see the Kohima Museum website.
LORD-LIEUTENANT’S CADETS
By CWO Rosie Gregson
Being appointed as the Lord-Lieutenant’s Cadet is an honour in itself, but being part of the first all-girls cadet group is showing that we are making history, and paving the way to encourage girls to help them believe that anything can be achieved if they work hard within their cadet career.
2020/2021 has been a strange year for everyone, with the pandemic our team of cadets have not met the Lord-Lieutenant face to face yet, we have had to make the best of a bad situation and meet up via Teams calls and through emails. It has been strange doing this but I feel like we have got to know each other well and knowing all of the staff and cadets prior to the engagements will help all of our
confidence and will help us to complete our duties
to the best of our abilities.
Since September 2020, we have not met each other in person but we have had our Appointment ceremony over Zoom and we met each other for the first time afterwards, we have had Teams meetings and we have discussed what ceremonies/events we can partake in during our year as the Lord-Lieuten- ant's Cadets.
Hopefully now that restrictions are being eased, we will be able to go out into the public and assist the Lord-Lieutenant in his duties.