BRIEF ON KANGLA TONGBI WAR MEMORIAL : CMM JABALPUR

1.     Kangla Tongbi is an obscure village near Mile 8 on the Imphal Dimapur Road.  In the second world war, during April 1944, this insignificant place shot into history when the brave men of 221 Advance Ordnance Depot repeatedly foiled the infiltration attempts and attacks of the advancing Japanese forces by putting up a tenacious fight.

2.    In March 1944, the Japanese who by this time, had doubled their forces, struck, carrying out their typical and bold tactics of “envelopment”.  They cut in, behind the 17 Infantry Division  at Tiddim, pushed back the forces at Tamu to Imphal, surrounded the Imphal plains and the garrison at Kohima and established themselves firmly on the road from Manipur to Kohima.  They had virtually been moving ahead without any worthwhile opposition and to them an Ordnance Depot gallantly surviving on the roadside was a natural eye-sore.  On 5 April 1944, they struck at the Depot, and tried to over-run it during the night. 

3.    Unfortunately for the Japanese, the Ordnance personnel of 221 Advance Ordnance Depot, were of a different mettle than what they had encountered so far in their practically unopposed advance.  The attack failed.  A dawn attack was again launched by the enemy.   This also was foiled.  The personnel of the Depot did not rest with the laurels earned by them so far in the defensive battle.  They now launched a series of counter attacks to repel the enemy and to cause confusion in his ranks.  A suicide squad was formed under Major Boyd, the Deputy Chief Ordnance Officer of the Depot, which continuously kept on check mating the enemy’s attempts towards infiltration, attack and advance.  

4.    As a result, the enemy was held at bay and the time saved was utilized for evacuating the site, withdrawing the depot, and moving 3600 tonnes of arms, ammunition and warlike stores and 75% of other stores   to Imphal.  The site was finally evacuated on Good Friday of 1944.  During this action, 18 ordnance pers lost their lives.  For courage, bravely and gallant action, Major Boyd was awarded the ‘Military Cross’ and Hav/Clerk Basant Singh received  the ‘IDSM’. 

5.    To commemorate the memory,  of those who died in that area, fighting against the desperate Japanese bayonet charges, a modest but impressive memorial was unveiled after the war at Kangla Tongbi  at the entrance gate of 221 Advance Ordnance Depot on the Imphal - Dimapur Road.

6.    With the current peace time deployment of the Indian Army, certain problems arose for the maintenance of the memorial at Kangla Tongbi  as no suitable AOC Unit or installation exists anywhere in the vicinity to look after it. Hence, on the advice and concurrence of the War Graves Commission and in consultation with the DDS of the British Army,  the memorial was resurrected from its original site and brought to Jabalpur in 1976 where it has been installed at the erstwhile AOC School, (now CMM),  the Alma mater of the Corps.

7.    The memorial is, a source of pride and inspiration, to all ranks of AOC.  It is a befitting reminder to them, that the silent men behind   the scene who, in an unobtrusive and unspectacular manner made the victory  possible and then  fade into statistical anonymity, can equally show gallant fortitude when the occasion so demands.

KANGLA TONGBI WAR MEMORIAL, CMM JABALPUR

PLAQUE AFFIXED AT KANGLA TONGBI WAR MEMORIAL CMM JABALPUR

SWARNIM VIJAY VARSH CELEBRATION : 2022