Veterans' thank you to Nagaland

Members of the local Burma Star Association are funding the schooling to thank the people of Nagaland, on the India/Burma border, for their help during one of the bloodiest but most important conflicts of the war against Japan – the Battle of Kohima.

It will be one of the last actions of the Banbury Burma Star branch, which has just six surviving members.

Branch chairman John Giddings MBE, aged 93, said: “Locally we have some money and we decided to do something meaningful.

“We have always remembered the help we received from the young men of Nagaland during the battle and we are pleased to be sponsoring the education of their young people today. £300 pays for a three-year scholarship over there and our money will help a boy called Thejazelie complete his education.”