In the first week of April, the Japanese attacked at Kohima and Imphal via Mizoram from the Indo-Burma border, to destroy the supply bases of the British.

[1][6] Reaching Kohima during April 1944, the Japanese 15th Army occupied a strategic location on Garrison Hill and continually attacked a small contingent of the Commonwealth forces, which successfully held their ground until reinforcements were brought in.

[11]} Between the two structures, along the sloping ground, a series of terraces of 3–5 metres (9.8–16.4 ft) in height have been created; these contain stone markers embedded with bronze plaques carrying the name of each Commonwealth soldier who died on the Kohima battlefield.

[3] The epitaph inscribed on this memorial reads: Here, around the tennis court of the deputy commissioner, lie men who fought in the battle of Kohima in which they and their comrades finally halted the invasion of India by the forces of Japan in April 1944.

This stone was originally located on a spur at Maram, to the south of Kohima, which was then shifted with the help of Naga people to be erected at the 2nd British Division's war cemetery.

[1] There is a memorial to the dead of the 2nd Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, inside the grounds of the Chief Secretary's Official Residence, just behind the Governor's House.

A notable pilgrim to the memorial was Hildra Martin Smith, aged 84, who came in a wheelchair; he had participated in the Kohima battle as a Lieutenant of the British Army.

[15] Ten years later another memorial service was held in the cemetery, attended by senior British Army officers, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Kohima.