India including Kohima and Imphal, led by Andy Johnson

Independent travel to London Heathrow Airport for our Emirates early afternoon flight to Dubai and connecting flight to Kolkata.

Our flight arrives Kolkata early morning and we’ll meet our local guide before joining a private coach transfer to the Oberoi Grand Hotel. Early check-in has been arranged and there will be time to relax. Our local guide is happy to suggest somewhere local should you wish to have lunch before joining your military history expert, who will give more information on the days ahead. Dinner each evening will be served in your hotel.

Breakfast is served in the hotel each morning. Today’s tour explores India’s third largest city, which during World War Two was an important hub in the execution of military operations for Allied powers sending supplies to China in the war against Japan. We’ll drive down the bustling boulevard ‘Chowringhee’ to St Paul’s Cathedral considered to be the finest Gothic building in the city. Set in 64 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, the Victoria Memorial commemorates Queen Victoria’s 25-year reign as Empress of India. Our visit to the beautiful white marble building includes the Kolkata Gallery where a visual display follows the history and development of Kolkata from the discovery of three riverside villages by Job Charnock - the founder of Kolkata, until 1911 when the capital of India was moved to New Delhi. We see the monument commemorating an infamous incident known as ‘The Black Hole of Calcutta’, stop at a 250-year-old Banyan Tree believed to be the widest tree in the world and visit one of the city’s colourful street markets. Calcutta Bhowanipore Cemetery has been in use since 1864 with many of the earlier burials of service personnel being made from the nearby garrison at Fort William. Within this civil cemetery there is a special area containing 95 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 617 burials from the Second World War where we pay our respects to the fallen.

This morning we check-out of the hotel and transfer to the airport for our mid-morning flight to Dimapur and onward journey to Kohima. This drive takes us through small hamlets and market places where locals sell their products ranging from locally grown vegetables and seasonal fruits, to traditional woven handicrafts, and items made from cane and bamboo. En route we stop to enjoy a relaxing hi-tea and beautiful views of the surrounding hills. On arrival in Kohima we check-in to our hotel for a 2-night stay.

Regarded as one of the most intense conflicts in World War Two, the Battle of Kohima was fought between Japanese and British/Indian forces from April 4 to June 10, 1944. We’ll trace the different stages of the battle that started when large numbers of Japanese attacked a series of defensive positions known as the Ridge including Kuki Picquet where troops received air drops of water, food, ammunition and medical supplies. We’ll hear about the siege where Field Marshall Lord Slim said “Sieges have been longer, but few have been more intense, and in none have the defenders deserved greater honour than the garrison of Kohima”. We see memorials to the dead of individual regiments that fought in some of the bitterest, close-quarter fighting in WW2, and where the final engagements took place at the lower end of the jungle-clad Aradura Spur. Our tour concludes with a visit to Kohima War Cemetery on the slopes of Garrison Hill. Here we pay our respects to the fallen and see the British 2^nd Division’s Memorial with the poignant inscription ‘When You Go Home, Tell Them of Us and Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today’.

This morning we check-out of the hotel and drive to Dimapur, which was a vital railhead and logistics base during World War Two. En route we see a memorial erected as a tribute to Maj. Gen. John ML Grover from the veterans of the 2^nd Division who relieved Kohima. In Dimapur we check-in to the Niathu Resort for an overnight stay.

After checking-out of the hotel we transfer to the airport for our morning flight to Imphal. Here we will travel in smaller vehicles more suited to the area’s terrain. There will be an orientation tour of Imphal showing us the Kanglatongbi War Memorial, which commemorates the men of the 221 Advance Ordnance Depot who lost their lives during the Battle of Imphal. We also see the Nungshigum Massif in the Iril River Valley where, with support from the air, the British used a combination of armour, artillery and infantry in the Battle of Nungshigum from April 7 – 15 1944. At the end of the tour we check-in to our hotel for a 2-night stay.

The Battle of Imphal raged across most of the state of Manipur from March to July 1944. It involved Japanese and INA units attacking along six routes that converged on to the Imphal plain with Imphal as the objective. Today’s tour takes us south on the rugged Tiddim Road where the Japanese 33^rd Division faced off with the 17^th Indian Division, the main British force on the area. We see the Indian Peace Memorial that stands on the site of the Battle of Red Hill. In the village of Ningthoukhong we hear the stories of Sergeant Hanson Victor Turner of the West Yorkshire Regiment and Rifleman Ganju Lama of the 7^th Gurkha Rifles who were awarded the VC for their actions here. In the distance we catch a glimpse of the peak named Point 5846 were another two VCs were won. The INA memorial complex in Moraing includes the site where the Indian tri-colour was hoisted for the first time in India in April 1944. Here we visit the Indian National Army War Museum, which has many artefacts from WWII found in the fields of Manapur. Known as the floating lake, Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in India. Two Japanese aircraft and a British bomber sunk in its waters during World War II and the six crew members of the British Wellington are buried at Imphal War Cemetery. Today’s final visit is the Imphal Indian Army War Cemetery where there are 828 commonwealth burials of the Second World War. We also see the Imphal Cremation Memorial commemorating Hindu and Sikh soldiers and airmen killed in the Battle of Imphal whose remains were cremated in accordance with their faith.

This morning we check out of the hotel and drive to Imphal War Cemetery. The cemetery contains 1,600 Commonwealth burials from the Second World War and we pay our respects to the fallen in a private Act of Remembrance. We continue to Imphal Airport for our early afternoon flight to Delhi. On arrival we transfer to New Delhi and check-in to our hotel for a 2-night stay.

Today we explore Old and New Delhi. Old Delhi is a walled city shaped roughly like a quarter circle with the Red Fort as a focal point. Named for its massive walls of red sandstone, the fort’s buildings exemplify later Mughal architecture. In Chandi Chowk, Jama Masjid is one of the largest mosques in the world. Our tour of the bustling Old City includes a rickshaw ride through the labyrinthine maze of lanes where each area is dedicated to a particular item. We’ll see vendors selling bangles, wedding items, silverware, clothes, shoes and spices and in side streets dentists, natural healers and cobblers plying their profession. We pass Kashmiri Gate, St James’ Church, Kamla Nehru Ridge and the Mutiny Memorial built in memory of all those who fought in the Delhi Field Force, British and Indian, during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After time at leisure for lunch we explore New Delhi known for its formal parks, magnificent Parliament Building and Rashtrapati Bhawan, which is the official residence of the President of India. We visit the Delhi War Cemetery where 1,022 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War are buried. The DELHI 1939-45 WAR MEMORIAL forms the entrance to the cemetery, which also contains the DELHI 1914-18 MEMORIAL. We will then drive to the eastern end of the Rajpath where the Delhi Memorial commemorates 13,3000 Commonwealth servicemen, and acts as a national memorial to all the 70,000 soldiers of undivided India who served and died in every main theatre of operations except Italy in the First World War.

This morning we take the early morning Gatimaan Express to Agra where we visit the 16^th century Agra Fort. An imposing fortress of red sandstone, it was once the imperial city of Mughal rulers where a maze of buildings and courtyards formed a city within a city behind 20-metre high enclosure walls. After our visit we the Tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula, which is believed to have been the model for the Taj Mahal and is often called Baby Taj or the jewel box. Tonight’s overnight stay is at the Trident Agra.

One of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal is a monument of love built by Shah Jehan in 1630 for his Queen, Mumtaz Mahal, to enshrine her mortal remains. For twenty-two years 20,000 men laboured day and night to build this masterpiece of pure white marble, which has held the world awestruck ever since. Early morning is the best time to capture the Taj Mahal in all its glory and we’ll visit before returning to the hotel for breakfast. We then drive to Delhi where there’ll be time for shopping before checking-in for a final overnight stay at the Oberoi Maidens Hotel. For tonight’s Farewell Dinner we visit the Imperial Hotel to dine in the Spice Route, which is heralded as one of India’s finest restaurants.

After breakfast we check-out of the hotel and transfer to the airport for our mid-morning Emirates flight to Dubai and onward flight to London.