British WWII Cemetery--Imphal, India

[AlanC]

I just returned from a trip to India, and had opportunity to visit the British WWII cemetery in Imphal, India. Imphal is the capital of Manipur, which is in the far northeastern corner of India. It borders Burma (Myanmar). You can read about the Battle of Imphal here.

There is restricted access for foreigners, and we had to get a special travel permit to get in. Because of the limited access to the area, few Westerners would have opportunity to visit the cemetery, and I thought Loungers might be interested in some pictures.

I have traveled over a good bit of India, and this cemetery is the cleanest, most well manicured area I've seen there. It's even better kept than the Taj Mahal grounds. It's also a big teenager hangout.

 

[AlanC]

And more:

 

[Story]

Peaceful. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[cookie]

Battle of Imphal

Not a lot of people know about the significance and brutality of that great battle. Thanks Alan for those amazing shots.

 

[tbrunke]

Not a lot of people know about the significance and brutality of that great battle. Thanks Alan for those amazing shots.

The CBI (China-Burma-India) Theater of operations during World War II is one of the theaters which gets the least amount of attention in histories of that most horrible of conflicts. My thanks to you for the pictures!

 

[AlanC]

I wondered if the UK might fund the upkeep of the cemetery, either directly or through some endowment. Does anyone know if they do that sort of thing?

 

[BellyTank]

The Commonwealth War Graves Commision.

http://www.cwgc.org/content.asp?menuid=1&submenuid=8&id=8&menuname=Office Details&menu=sub


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[MisterCairo]

The British Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for this and many other war graves around the world, including in North America. Founded by Royal Charter in 1917, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries share the costs of the Commission, and regional offices are established to oversee cemeteries and graves in the area.

Traditionally, war dead were interred at or near where they fell. The ability to return war dead to the native country was a practical concern, but there was also the tradition of leaving the dead where they fell. Repatriation, as we Canadians call it when we fly our dead back from Afghanistan, is a recent change.

This particular cemetery is mentioned towards the end of this pdf file:

http://www.cwgc.org/admin/files/cwgc_india.pdf

Mr. C.

 

[AlanC]

^Very good--thanks for the information.

 

[MisterCairo]

I'm curious, was it the cemetery that had restricted access, or was it the location generally?

 

[billgaston]

Thank you very much for sharing those.
God rest them.

 

[AlanC]

I'm curious, was it the cemetery that had restricted access, or was it the location generally?

The state of Manipur (Imphal is the state capital) is restricted access. You have to apply to get in, and then are issued a permit for a limited time (we arrived Thursday but had to leave on Sunday). Northeast Indians are not ethnic Indians (more akin to Burmese), and many do not want to be part of India. There is an armed separatist movement, and thus Indian troops are everywhere.

 

[BellyTank]

The Manipuri Play.

Alan, a Manipur anecdote for you.
I have a friend from Manipur, who I met in London- anyway she often had guests from Manipur. One time, a theatrical troop from Manipur came to stay- they had been funded to come to London and perform their own version of Macbeth... anyway, my wife and I went and saw the performance and have never seen anything like it. It was actually on the Thames, way out west, on a large pontoon, in the middle of the river, tribal costumes, many flaming torches. It was quite special, to say the least.

Alan, do you have some kind of connection to India..?


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[MisterCairo]

The state of Manipur (Imphal is the state capital) is restricted access. You have to apply to get in, and then are issued a permit for a limited time (we arrived Thursday but had to leave on Sunday). Northeast Indians are not ethnic Indians (more akin to Burmese), and many do not want to be part of India. There is an armed separatist movement, and thus Indian troops are everywhere.

Interesting!

 

[AlanC]

Alan, a Manipur anecdote for you.
I have a friend from Manipur, who I met in London- anyway she often had guests from Manipur. One time, a theatrical troop from Manipur came to stay- they had been funded to come to London and perform their own version of Macbeth... anyway, my wife and I went and saw the performance and have never seen anything like it. It was actually on the Thames, way out west, on a large pontoon, in the middle of the river, tribal costumes, many flaming torches. It was quite special, to say the least.

That would have been an amazing thing to see.

Alan, do you have some kind of connection to India..?

I have made five trips over the last few years that are, I guess you would say, work related. I have enjoyed it very much, and value the friendships I have made there highly.

 

[BellyTank]

Sounds like a favourite spot of yours, work related, or not.
I have in laws and extended family in and around New Delhi and Gurgaon, so there's always a good excuse to visit and places to stay and home cooked food and hospitality. But I'd like to get out of Delhi and Haryana and up north a bit and down south as well.

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[AlanC]

^My time in Delhi has been brief, only a two night hotel stay with a day trip down to the Taj. Hyderabad is the city I've spent most of my time in. The south has a different feel than the north. The Northeast is different altogether.