War  |  Memory  |  Gratitude

Training for Victory: The Indian Army in the Second World War

Training for Victory: The Indian Army in the Second World War

Webinar: Thursday 24th September at 8pm

 

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 third webinar, we are very pleased to welcome back Lt Col Mike Tickner who will discuss how the Indian Army trained for victory in the Second World War.

On arrival in Malaya in 1941, 2Lt John Randle in 7/10 BALUCH overheard his Commanding Officer being advised by a staff officer that “you can’t do much training here; it is all bloody jungle.” The Baluch Regiment, like so many battalions, had failed to train sufficiently in the final months before the Japanese invasion. While the reasons for the Fall of Singapore are well catalogued, central to this defeat was a comprehensive failure to train to fight the Japanese and to fight in the jungle. 
 
As the retreating Indian, Gurkha and British troops began arriving in India in late Spring 1942, it was clear that the Indian Army urgently required fundamental change. The pre-war army was highly professional, but training was a slow and methodical process. Time was no longer available and a whole new approach to training was required. By Spring 1945, fortunes had been reversed and the once unstoppable Japanese Army was in full retreat from Burma. The Indian Army had become a world class and war winning organisation, however, this evolution had been hard won. Tough and demanding training was essential to this transformation. Join Dr Robert Lyman MBE with guest speaker Mike Tickner on 24th September to find out how the Indian Army trained for victory.
 
To register and book your free place on this webinar on Thursday 24th September at 8pm please click the button below:

 

Book your place

 

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 North West Frontier. 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.

 

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.

Read more

Kohima Service York 2026
2nd July 2026
The Sergeant Harry May Award 2026
Presented to SSgt Thorburn
KET at the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum
Managing Trustee Sylvia May gives a talk at the museum
Donate to support our work

Donate to support our work

Find out more