We Fought At Kohima: A Veteran's Account

The Japanese advance through Thailand, Malaya and Burma appeared unstoppable and the fate of India looked utterly precarious. The garrison of the Kohima outpost numbering some 1500 British and Indian Army soldiers faced over 13,000 fanatical and previously victorious Japanese troops. The following sixteen days marked the turning point of the war in the Far East thanks to men like Raymond Street who fought with legendary courage and tireless persistence. Raymond was a member of the 4th Battalion The Queens West Kent and as a company runner he was uniquely placed to witness the dreadful and dramatic events as they unfolded. Not only did he miraculously survive but he made a superb record of the battle as fortunes ebbed and flowed. His memories have been transcribed into this first-hand account of one of the most decisive and hardest fought battles of the Second World War. We Fought at Kohima will surely be judged as a fighting mans memoir of the highest quality to rank alongside such legendary works as Men at Arnhem and Quartered Safe Out Here. AUTHOR: Raymond Street was born in 1920 and lived in Cheltenham, moving to Birmingham in the early 1930s. Money was tight and he left school at fourteen and worked in various shops and factories before joining up in 1942. When he left the army in 1946 he returned to factory work before going into the retail furniture business, running his own successful shop before retiring in 1978. It was at this time he recorded his 'army days', which subsequently formed the basis of his story. He is now ninety-four, still living in Birmingham and although his memory is failing, he still can recall events from that time. Robert Street, Raymond's son was born in 1954 and lives in Solihull. He has pulled together his Father's memories and created this unique first-person record.