'You can't bring them back, but you can love them just as much'

A service was held in York Minster before wreaths were laid at the Kohima Memorial in Minster Gardens.

Those that died in the battle were remembered during a minute's silence. A bugler from the King's Division Waterloo Band then sounded the Last Post and Reveille.

Kohima veteran William Crabb, a former private in the 2nd Battalion The Manchester Regiment, laid one of the wreaths.

He said: "A lot of thoughts and memories go through your mind and you have such mixed emotions.

"I was so proud to be laying the wreath - it is not so much the wreath itself but what it means. It means we remember them. You can't bring them back, but you can love them just as much."

The battle of Kohima took place in 1944. It saw the Allied Forces finally halt the advance of the Japanese army in Asia.

Despite being hampered by monsoon rain and treacherous terrain, Allied soldiers succeeded in taking Kohima in hand-to-hand fighting that culminated on the District Commissioner's tennis court. The battle proved to be the turning point of the Burma Campaign.

The veterans and their families attended a reception at Imphal Barracks, in York, following yesterday's service. They had the opportunity to browse in the barracks' Kohima Museum, which houses photos, letters and memorabilia.