War museum set for public display
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 04 2013:
In connection with the Second World War platinum jubilee celebration scheduled next year, the Second World War Imphal Campaign Foundation is all set to open a war museum in the last part of the current month.
The museum would be opened at the Tera Amudol Leirak residence of retired IGP Arambam Pradip who also once served in the Indian Army's 6/11 Gorka Regiment Emergency servic.
Items which would be put on display at the museum are war materials, equipment and weapons of the Second World War period collected by the Second World War Imphal Campaign Foundation which was set up at the initiative of Pradip's son Arambam Angamba and Yumnam Rajeshwar.
The foundation has so far located 10 sites where Japanese forces and Allied forces fought fierce battles in Manipur.
The battle sites excavated and located by the foundation are Sangshak, Point 7378, Kanglatongbi, Torbung, Motbung, Nungshigum, Runaway Hill, Kameng, Laimaton and some other places in Bishnupur.
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Many war material and equipments were recovered during excavations at these sites and they included barrels of rare Arisaka guns used by Japanese soldiers, live rounds of the same ammunition and radio compass of Dakota aircraft.
Yumnam Rajeshwar is also a member of the Burma Campaign Society said that they also recovered Type 11 LMG (used by Japanese soldiers), B 20 mm cartridges, Burma Star Medal, LMG magazines, two inch motor tail-fin (Japan), bayonets (Japan), artillery shells (Allied forces), oxygen cylinders used by aircraft pilots (Allied forces), Japanese belt, tank parts, Japanese shovel, three inch mortar tail-fin, Japanese and allied helmets, ammunition box, British enamel plates, Willy jeep part box, Japanese spade, rifle oiler, war manual, Japanese currency, type 97 Japanese grenade, type 91 Japanese grenade, Allied force training grenade, Allied khaki shirts and many personal artifacts.
Curator of the Kohima War Museum, London has already proposed to exchange these vintage war materials and equipment, Rajeshwar said.
Of the six airfields constructed by Allied forces in Manipur at Pallel, Kangla, Sapam, Tulihal, Koirengei and Wangjing, the airfield at Pallel was the one most widely used.
As such, the foundation would go for excavation at Pallel.
The metal detector used by the foundation was presented to Angamba by one Sagolsem Chandrasekhar who is currently working as a computer engineer in the USA.
Khumukcham Somorendro who is working in the British Army and currently posted in Germany as peace keeping force would be sending two more metal detectors very soon, Rajeshwar conveyed.