THE Duke of Edinburgh attended a service at York Minster yesterday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Kohima.

He took the salute as Second World War veterans, mostly in their eighties, marched past.

The reunion takes place annually in York to commemorate the battle in 1944, when Allied forces halted the Japanese advance in Asia.

At that time, the Army's 2nd Division was deployed to India, where, with the Royal Scots, the Durham Light Infantry, the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Cameron Highlanders among many others, it mounted its engagement to relieve the embattled garrison at Kohima.

Despite being hampered by the monsoon and treacherous terrain, Allied soldiers took Kohima in hand-to-hand fighting that culminated on the district commissioner's tennis court.

Yesterday, Prince Philip attended the memorial service led by the Archbishop of York, the Right Honorable David Hope.

He laid a wreath at the foot of the memorial to the soldiers who fell in what became known as the Battle of the Tennis Court. Wreaths were also laid by the General Officer Commanding 2nd Division, Major General Euan Loudon, and Lieutenant Colonel W Weightman, on behalf of the Kohima Veterans.

Prince Philip joined the veterans and their families in a minute's silence and a bugler from the Highland Band of the Scottish Division sounded the Last Post and Reveille.

This was followed by a reception at Imphal Barracks, in Fulford.

The ceremony concluded a weekend of events, including a performance by the Royal Signals White Helmets motorcycle display team and the Royal Signals Freefall parachute display team, who dropped in to the barracks.