The Forgotten War Tour
From Kolkata, To Dimapur, Kohima, Kigwema, Jessami. Kharasom, Guwahati, Imphal, Kolkata - 12 Nights

Package Details

Overview

This Forgotten War Tour will start and end in Kolkata. The majority of the tour will be spent in Nagaland and Manipur including the highlights of Kohima and Imphal. Please contact us if you are interested in joining this tour. Unlike other battlefields tour in this region, we will take you up into the Naga Hills to the towns of Jessami and Kharasom. It was here at the latter that 100 men of the 1st Assam Regiment fought a battalion of up to 600 Japanese soldiers. Here, Captain Jock Young led the defence of the small garrison for four days, before he gave the order for him mean to return to Kohima.  

Details

In his book Japan’s Last Bid for Victory Rob picks up the story. Young remained “in his post […] while his men slipped out through gaps in the perimeter until his position was swamped the next morning by men of at least one Japanese battalion, this extraordinarily brave young officer firing Bren gun and throwing grenades to the last.”

Fifty six men reached Kohima two days later. Captain Young was last seen stacking grenades and Tommy-gun magazine in his bunker. Later, the local Nagas told the British that the Japanese had been so moved by Young’s bravery that they had shaved his head in the tradition of fallen heroes and buried him with full military honours.

On this tour you will both visit the site of Young’s heroic last stand, as well as stay overnight in Jessami. Spend time with the Naga people of Jessami, hear how they remember WW2 and what they are hoping for as their present government ‘looks East’ and they find themselves at the crossroads of Asia.

This tour is bookended by Kolkata. You will explore the first capital of the British Raj: the early exploits of the East India Company and the history surrounding sites such as Dalhousie Square, Writers Building and the Victoria Memorial. We will also take you into the north town – home of freedom fighters, century-old sweets shops and contemporary Bengali art.

Our tour includes Kolkata, Imphal and Kohima, as well as journeying further north into Assam. Here you will visit Digboi, Ledo and the start of the Stilwell Road.

The Stilwell Road – also called the Ledo Road – was built with the intention of crossing through northern Myanmar and into China’s Yunnan Province. The incentive was to keep the nationalist forces under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek supplied in their fight against the Japanese. The opening of the Stilwell Road would ideally mean that American pilots would no longer have to fly supplies over the treacherous ‘hump’ – the eastern peaks of the Himalayas.

The Stilwell Road was also known as the ‘man-a-mile’ due to the high death toll amongst its constructors. If possible, on this journey Sampan will take you up to Jairampur in Arunachal Pradesh to see the Chinese cemetery for the workers who died building the Stilwell Road.

This tour will conclude with a couple of days in tea bungalows around Dibrugahr before returning to Kolkata.

A detailed 36 page brochure is available for this tour. Contact Guidepost to receive your copy

Inclusions

Full transfer service in private vehicles
Domestic flights: Kolkata to Dimapur, Guwahti to Imphal and Imphal to Kolkata (with 25 kgs check-in baggage)
Train from Dimapur to Guwahati 15-Nov-23.
Accommodation with daily breakfast as per itinerary – as well as a picnic breakfast on 12 November 2023
Lunch on the 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 November 2023 including picnic lunch in Kigwema
Supper on the 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 and 20 November 2023, including a Welcome Dinner (contemporary Bengali tasting menu with wine pairing), dinner cruise on the Brahmaputra and a Farewell Dinner
Whiskey tasting on 19 November 2023
Dr Robert Lyman’s expertise as he accompanies the group from 8-20 November in Kolkata, Nagaland and Manipur
Yaiphba Kangjam’s expertise as he guides the group from 8-20 November 2023 in Nagaland and Manipur
Local expert guide 9 November 2023 in Kolkata
Local village guides in Nagaland and Manipur
All zone and entrance fees and permits
Carbon Offsetting Charge for domestic flights, to be donated to the Kohima Educational Society (this can be removed upon request)

EXCLUSIONS

Any services not explicitly mentioned in itinerary
International flights
Lunch on the 8, 19, 20 and 21 November 2023
Supper on the 9, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 21 November 2023
Early check-in or late check-out at hotels (can be requested)
Tips to guide, driver and others
Photography / videography fees
Travel insurance
Visa fees
All personal expenses

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