"Commemoration of the Battle of Tengnoupal" as a part of 70th Anniversary Commemoration of Battle of Imphal WWII

April 19, 2014

Toney Honeyman sharing his experiance during the commemoration ceremony

As a part of the ongoing commemoration of the 70th Anniversary Battle of Imphal, Commemoration of the Battle of Tengnoupal was held at Tengnoupal Village Hall on 19th April, 2014 at 10.30 am with the participation of village Chief, Church Leaders, and special guest Mr Toney Honeyman from UK whose father had fought in the Battle of Imphal and other Village Leaders apart from the members of the 2ndWW Imphal Campaign Foundation & Manipur Tourism Forum.

Shri H. Thankhulien, Village Chief Tengnoupal, Mr Memin, Village Chief, Chamual, Mr Peter Church Leader from Tengnoupal, and Mr Toney Honeyman UK, Retd Col. Vijay Gidh War Historian and Researcher, Shri Arambam Angamba Co- Convenor Organising Committee, Mrs Cristina Village Chief Silvom and W. Gokul MTF, participated the function as special guest of the commemoration on the dais.

Shri Angamba narrated the history of Battle of Tengnoupal and the fierce fighting which happened during the WWII between the Japanese Army and British Army along with the participation of the Indian National Army on the Japanese side.

Commemoration of the Battle of Tengnoupal

BRIEF ABOUT BATTLE OF TENGNOUPAL:

The pass from Tamu to Imphal was the shortest land route available to the Japanese Generals. Fearing the attacks of the Japanese , the allied troops of the 20th Division were ordered to fall back and make a stand at the Shenam pass near Tengnoupal. Seizing the opportunity, the Japanese captured Tengnoupal. The area around Tengnoupal was dominated by various spurs with unique names like Crete, Scraggy, Cyprus, Malta, Gibraltar and Nippon Hill. These area saw see –saw battles fought among the peaks. Interestingly the Indian National Army participated in these battles along with the Japanese. They also made a daring commando attack at Pallel Airfield during the war.

Shri H. Thankhulien, Mrs Cristina Village Chief and Mr Peter shared their views that such a commemoration which is organising for the first time will be able to provide new vistas for promotion of Tourism in the Tengnoupal which is along the Asian Highway 1 & 2 and also important route of India’s gateway to the South East Asia.

Mr Toney Honeyman also shared the dais with his recollection of stories as narrated by his father who was a war veteran of Battle of Imphal. He said “My Father would have really proud and happy if he ever get the chance to visit this place during his lifetime”.

The organising Committee requested the village leaders, community members to preserve any war artefacts if found instead of ignoring them as junk and also sought their help in any future expedition for war artefacts.

The Commemoration ended with a understanding by the participating dignitaries and community leaders for the need of preserving the history for our future generation and also the much needed development of a 2nd WW commemoration park so as to enable to pay proper homage in the future commemoration to the departed martyrs. The organising committee emphasize on the development of such facilities to develop war Tourism/Remembrance Tourism in the State of Manipur.