A FORMER mayor has spoken of his deep pride in his father as he marks the 80th anniversary of a critical battle against Japan during the Second World War which he compared to 'hell on earth'.

Alan Amos, the city and county councillor for Bedwardine, has spoken of his deep and abiding pride in his father, Bill Amos, who fought in the Battle of Kohima.

The battle took place in three stages from April 4 to June 22, 1944 around the town of Kohima, now the capital city of Nagaland in Northeast India. 

This year's 80th anniversary will be particularly poignant for Cllr Amos as he remembers his father, a  private who fought in the battle, considered one of the most critical battles of the Second World War and the turning point in the Far East.

Worcester News: SPIRIT: Bill Amos, father of Alan Amos, who fought at the Battle of Kohima SPIRIT: Bill Amos, father of Alan Amos, who fought at the Battle of Kohima (Image: Supplied by Alan Amos)

The battle stopped the Japanese advance into India, and saw some of the deadliest fighting.

From April 3 to 16, the Japanese attempted to capture Kohima ridge, a feature which dominated the road by which the besieged British and Indian troops of IV Corps at Imphal were supplied. 

Bill Amos was no stranger to the battlefield. Even before he fought at the Battle of Kohima he was wounded at Dunkirk. Born in Ilford in London (one of eight children), he also survived the Battle of the Imjin River, also known as the Battle of Gloster Hill in Korea in 1951, fathering four children including Cllr Amos.

Worcester News: HERO: Bill Amos who fought in the Battle of Kohima against the Japanese will be remembered by his son, Cllr Alan Amos, as we approach the 80th anniversary of the battleHERO: Bill Amos who fought in the Battle of Kohima against the Japanese will be remembered by his son, Cllr Alan Amos, as we approach the 80th anniversary of the battle (Image: Supplied by Alan Amos)

Mr Amos was sent to the Far East in 1942 and at Kohima was at the heart of several weeks of hand-to-hand fighting which mostly took place on the Deputy Commissioner’s tennis courts in 1944.

Cllr Amos, a former Mayor of Worcester, credits his own fighting spirit to his father as he has weathered the cut and thrust of politics over the years.

Worcester News: SURVIVOR: Cllr Alan Amos points out the “Kohima plaque from his father's house - Cllr Amos now proudly displays it on his own house in honour of his dad SURVIVOR: Cllr Alan Amos points out the “Kohima plaque from his father's house - Cllr Amos now proudly displays it on his own house in honour of his dad (Image: Supplied by Cllr Alan Amos)

He said: "My father was one of the few survivors of that epic battle. Surrender was not an option.

"The Worcestershire Regiment fought alongside the Dorsetshire Regiment which my father served in.

"He endured ferocious hand-to-hand fighting, unbearable heat and tropical diseases, a true hell on earth. But he never forgot and named his house “Kohima”, and I now proudly display his plaque on my house today (in photo).

"The Burma campaign has always been known as the “forgotten army” and it gave us the iconic words : “for your tomorrow, we gave our today.” So let us now remember their terrible sacrifices."

Cllr Amos believes the controversial atom bombs dropped on Japan saved 'millions of Allied and civilian lives'.

He added: "Such was the unspeakable Japanese brutality that dad saw, he never spoke of it. The Japanese still refuse to apologise for their crimes against humanity. Let us remember that too.”

Mr Amos died at the age of 84 in 2004.