Amazing - On Parade 4th April

On Parade 4th - The West Kent Military Lodge

We will shortly be 'On Parade 4th' (1st Friday in April) and we hope you are all looking forward to being in our company once again. The DC will be inspecting so we trust that you have all polished your medals and boots and that your headdress has been brushed, you have be warned!

On parade 4th - This meeting will be a ‘Passing’ ceremony (ex-Royal Engineer) by the name of Stewart and we hope that you will come along and support him. It is also our 153rd birthday (Roorkee, India - April 1872) and we will be celebrating in true Indian style:

On the table: Poppadoms, Onion Bhajis, Samosas with lime pickle and mango chutney

Main:              Chicken Curry (medium) with rice

Pudding:        Mango Sorbet with Pineapple and Mint

Followed by:  Cheese and biscuits, Tea or Coffee

The cost of the on parade 4th meal is £28 (payment should be made at your earliest convenience to our Treasurer - Acc. Name: Beauchamp Lodge No. 1422, Sort Code: 30-65-41, Acc. No.: 33401868):

The Mess Dining (as is a West Kent Military Lodge tradition) will be a celebration of the Battle of Kohima (81^st anniversary), which was the turning point of the Japanese U-Go offensive into India in 1944 during the Second World War. The battle took place in three stages from 4 April to 22 June 1944 around the town of Kohima, now the capital city of Nagaland in Northeast India. The epitaph carved on the memorial of the 2nd British Division in the War Cemetery at Kohima has become world-famous as the Kohima Epitaph. It reads; When you go home, tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, we gave our today – poignant words.

On Parade 4th - The Kohima Epitaph

In March 1944, the Japanese 31st Division moved northwestward in Burma, swept through the Naga hills, invaded India, and fell upon Imphal and Kohima. Confidently the Japanese planned to press toward the India Plains. The Allies in the CBI Theatre faced a disaster of monumental proportions unless the enemy was stopped. A crucial battle ensued at Kohima where some 2,500 British Empire troops came under siege. They fought a formidable Japanese force numbering 15,000 soldiers supported by 10,000 ammunition laden oxen.

On Parade 4th - For weeks the belligerents sparred in bloody artillery duels interrupted only by hand to hand skirmishes and bayonet attacks. Finally, after 64 days, amid terrible losses on both sides, the Japanese were beaten back. They withdrew from Kohima. Japan’s dominance in northern Burma had begun its crumble.

Understandingly, the determination and gallantry shown by allied troops in the Kohima siege was quick to become the subject of poem, song, and legend. Today in the Kohima cemetery, among the 1,378 grave markers, is the famous Kohima Memorial with its historic inscription:

A couple of general points to hopefully assist in maximising everyone’s enjoyment of the evening:

• As you know our meetings are generally very well attended. To this end we should be most grateful if, wherever practicable, those attending would consider car sharing, not only to help the environment but also to reduce car numbers in the car park

• When parking in the Wilmington Masonic Hall car park please consider other car park users and park as near to the next car as allows you (and others) a safe access to/egress from your vehicle and is practicable and considerate

• Our meeting is due to start at 1730hrs so please allow plenty of time for your journey, for parking and for signing in. The Hall should be open from around 1600hrs onwards,

• Finally the Wilmington Masonic centre DOES NOT have a card machine so any purchases and/or donations to charity can only be made by cash. Please therefore bring plenty of small notes (£5) and plenty of £1 coins for our collection boxes/any fines imposed

This On Parade 4th post has been created by the West Kent Military lodge for information. If you would like to now more about the Lodge contact us here