The Kohima Educational Trust is delighted to announce our next webinar with Dr Robert Lyman MBE who will introduce our guest speaker. Returning for his second webinar, we are very pleased to welcome back Lt Col Mike Tickner who will discuss "The Savage Wars of Peace: the Bloody Aftermath of VJ Day"
The war in the Far East ended abruptly, violently and chaotically following the nuclear bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While the Imperial Japanese Army had been defeated in Burma and was losing the war in the Pacific, her army in Malaya, Hong Kong, French Indo-China, the Netherlands East Indies, Manchuria and Siam was undefeated.
Many of these countries saw the end of the war as their chance for independence and Gurkha, Indian and British troops became responsible for restoring colonial rule and became locked into open combat.
The Allies’ most pressing task was recovering their prisoners of wars and civilian internees, knowing little about their condition or locations in camps across South East Asia, China and Japan.
Japan’s sudden surrender created a seismic resetting of the political and social order in the Far East as power vacuums were exploited for political gain and rapid decisions were made, with consequences which still reverberate today.
The recording is now available to view below:
Speakers:
Dr Robert Lyman MBE - Military Historian, Author and Trustee of KET Born in New Zealand in January 1963 and educated in Australia, Robert Lyman was, for twenty years, an officer in the British Army. Educated at Scotch College, Melbourne he was commissioned into the Light Infantry from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in April 1982. In addition to a business career he is an author and military historian, publishing books in particular on the war in the Far East. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Robert is married to Hannah, has two sons, and lives in Berkshire. For information about Robert's publications please visit his website: robertlyman.com
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Tickner is a retired Regular Army officer with a long term interest in the British Army in India and particularly the Far East campaigns and the immediate aftermath. He regularly gives talks to military and civilian groups, clubs and museums and writes the occasional article. He has led battlefield studies to India and South-East Asia, most recently to Singapore. As well as spending many rainy nights on both the North German plain and Salisbury Plain, he has also served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
Sylvia May - Managing Trustee of The Kohima Educational Trust Sylvia May was born in New Jersey, USA in 1957. Her parents moved to England in 1963. Educated at High Wycombe School for Girls, she decided to pursue a career in the world of books. Sylvia worked for HarperCollins for 37 years, the last eleven of which she headed up their UK-based International Sales team. Sylvia May is the daughter of the late Gordon Graham, Founder and President of the Kohima Educational Trust. She is proud that her father has inspired many people to share his vision to commemorate those who fought and died in Kohima, and the wonderful Naga people who have done so much for the British in the past. She first visited India in 1994 with her husband Robert, and has returned on numerous occasions, staying in Kohima several times. In 2000, they followed the WWII route of the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders, her father’s regiment. The regiment’s first main engagement in this theatre of war was at Zubza shortly before the Battle of Kohima.
