The Battle of Kohima was a battle of the Burma Campaign in World War II, fought around the town of Kohima in northeast India from April 4 to June 22, 1944. The battle started with a siege of British and Indian forces by the Japanese between April 6 and April 18, 1944. The relief and clearance of Kohima began on April 18 and ended on June 22 when British and Indian troops from Kohima and Imphal met at Milestone 110, ending the siege of Imphal. The Burma Campaign was a campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II. It was fought primarily between Commonwealth, Chinese and American forces against the Empire of Japan. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe... Kohima is a small hill town which serves as the capital of Indias north eastern border state of Nagaland. ... April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (95th in leap years). ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... Imphal is the capital of Manipur, India. ...

Situation in early 1944

The battle was fought as a result of the Japanese plan, codenamed U-GO, to invade India. Originally, this operation was intended as a spoiling attack against the British IV Corps at Imphal, to disrupt the Allied offensive plans for that year. The commander of the Japanese Fifteenth Army, Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi, enlarged the plan to invade India itself and perhaps even overthrow the British Raj. The objections of various superior HQ were eventually overruled by War Minister Hideki Tojo. The group of countries known as the Allies of World War II came together as World War II unfolded and progressed. ... Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. ... The British Raj is an informal term for the British colonial administration of most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, also included from 1886 was Burma. ... ... Hideki Tojo Hideki Tojo (東條 英機   Tōjō Hideki?) (December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a General in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during much of World War II, from October 18, 1941 to July 22, 1944. ...

Part of the plan involved sending the 31st Division (which was composed of 58 Regiment, 124 Regiment and 128 Regiment and an Independent Mountain Artillery battalion) to capture Kohima and thus cut off Imphal, and then exploit to Dimapur. The division's commander, Lieutenant General Kotoku Sato was unhappy with his role. He had not been involved in the planning of the offensive, and had grave misgivings about their chances. He had already told his staff that they might all starve to death.

In common with many senior Japanese officers, Sato considered Mutaguchi a "blockhead". He and Mutaguchi had also been on opposite sides during the split between the Tosei-ha and Kodo-ha factions within the Japanese Army during the early 1930's, and Sato believed he had reason to distrust Mutaguchi's motives.

Preliminary Moves

Starting on March 15, 1944, the Japanese 31st Division crossed the Chindwin River near Homalin and moved northwest along jungle trails on a front almost 60 miles (100 km) wide. Although the march was arduous, good progress was made. The left wing of the division, 58 Regiment, commanded by the division's Infantry Group commander, Major General Shigesaburo Miyazaki was ahead of the neighbouring formation (Japanese 15th Division) when they clashed with Indian troops covering the northern approaches to Imphal on March 20. March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in Leap years). ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Chindwin River is a river in Myanmar and the major tributary of the Irrawaddy River. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ...

The Indian troops were the Indian 50 Parachute Brigade under Brigadier Hope-Thompson, at Sangshak. Although they were not Miyazaki's objective, he decided to clear them from his line of advance. The battle continued for six days. The Indian troops were desperately short of drinking water, but Miyazaki was handicapped by lack of artillery. Eventually, as 15th Division's troops joined the battle, Hope-Thompson withdrew. Brigadier is a rank in the British Army, Royal Marines, Australian Army, New Zealand Army, and several other armies, ranking above Colonel and immediately below Major-General. ...

50 Parachute Brigade lost 600 men, Miyazaki about 400. Miyazaki also captured some of the food dropped by the RAF to the defenders of Sangshak. However, his troops, who had the shortest and easiest route to Kohima, were delayed by a week. RAF is an three letter acronym for: Royal Air Force -- the Air Force of the United Kingdom (see also Air Ministry) Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion) -- a German terror organisation Rigas Autobusu Fabrika -- a factory making buses in Riga, Latvia Rapid Action Force in India Računarski Fakultet RAF...

Meanwhile, the commander of the British Fourteenth Army, Lieutenant General Slim, had belatedly realised the strength of the force moving on Kohima. (It had originally been thought that the Japanese would move only a regiment across the forbidding terrain). Kohima had few fighting troops; the vital base of Dimapur thirty miles to the north had none. As part of the hasty reinforcement of the Imphal front, the Indian 161 Brigade were flown to Dimapur. The British 2nd Division, 23 Long Range Penetration Brigade (originally part of the Chindit force), and British XXXIII Corps HQ were also ordered to move there. The British Fourteenth Army, in spite of its name, was a multinational force: most of its units were from the Indian Army and there were also significant contributions from East African divisions within the British Army. ... Field Marshal Sir William Slim (pictured here as a Major General) William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC (6 August 1897 – 14 December 1970), British military commander and 13th Governor-General of Australia, was born near Bristol, Gloucestershire. ... The British 2nd Infantry Division fought in Burma against the Japanese during World War II. See British 2nd Division (World War I) for the divisions World War I history. ... The 23rd British Infantry Brigade trained as a Chindit brigade, but did not take part in the 2nd Chindit Expedition. ... The Chindits (Officially in 1942 77th Indian Infantry Brigade and in 1943 3rd Indian Infantry Division) were a British jungle Special Forces unit that served in Burma from 1943 until 1945 as part of the Fourteenth Army during the Burma Campaign in World War II. They were formed into long...

The Siege

Kohima Ridge

Kohima ridge runs roughly north and south, and dominates the road from Dimapur to Imphal. North of the road lay Naga Village, crowned by Church Knoll. South and west of it were GPT Ridge and the jungle-covered Aradura Spur. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x746, 48 KB)Map of Kohima Ridge. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x746, 48 KB)Map of Kohima Ridge. ...

In 1944, Kohima was the administrative centre of Nagaland. The District Commissioner was Charles Pawsey. His bungalow and its gardens and tennis court stood on the hillside at a bend in the road. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Sir Charles Pawsey ICS, CSI, CIE, MC, was a British diplomat. ...

The various service troops in the area gave their names to the features which were to be important in the battle e.g. "Field Supply Depot" became FSD Hill or merely FSD.

Before 161 Brigade arrived, the only fighting troops in the area were the newly raised Assam Regiment and the paramilitary Assam Rifles. Late in March, 161 Brigade deployed in Kohima, but were then ordered back to Dimapur. Meanwhile, the Assam Regiment fought delaying actions to the east of Kohima from April 1. Miyazaki's troops were probing Kohima on April 3. 161 Brigade had been ordered forward again, but only one battalion, 4/Queen's Own Royal West Kent (now part of the Queen's Regiment) arrived in Kohima before the Japanese cut the road west of the ridge. Assam Rifles is an Indian paramilitary unit. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... April 3 is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 272 days remaining. ... The Queens Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army. ...

The siege began on April 6. The garrison was remorselessly shelled and mortared and slowly driven into a small perimeter on Garrison Hill. They had artillery support from the rest of 161 Brigade, themselves cut off two miles away at Jotsoma, but as at Sangshak, they were very short of drinking water. Some of the heaviest fighting took place around the DC's bungalow and tennis court, in what became known as the battle of the Tennis Court. By the night of April 17, the defenders' situation was desperate. April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... The Battle of the Tennis Court was the turning point in the India from April 4 – June 22, 1944. ... April 17 is the 107th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (108th in leap years). ...

The Relief

The British 2nd Division had begun to arrive at Dimapur in early April, having moved from Southern India, where they had been training for amphibious landings. Their leading troops relieved 161 Brigade at Jotsoma on April 15, and 161 Brigade in turn broke through to Kohima on April 18. By now, Kohima resembled a battlefield from the first World War, with trees smashed and the ground covered in craters. April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ...

300 wounded were evacuated, followed by the various service corps personnel and the West Kents. The British 6 Brigade took over their positions. Miyazaki continued to try to capture Garrison Hill, and there was heavy fighting for this position for several more nights, with heavy casualties to both sides.

The Counter-offensive

Meanwhile, the other two brigades of 2nd Division tried to outflank both ends of the Japanese position in Naga Village and on GPT Ridge. The monsoon had by now broken, and the steep slopes were covered in mud, making movement and supply very difficult. Both moves failed due to the terrain and weather, and from May 4, the Division concentrated on the Japanese centre along Kohima Ridge. The British had now amassed 38 3.7 inch mountain howitzers, 48 25-pounder field guns and 2 5.5 inch medium guns. The RAF also bombed and strafed the Japanese positions. The Japanese could oppose them with only 17 light mountain guns, with very little ammunition. May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... Ordnance QF 25 pounder Type gun-howitzer Nationality UK Era World War II Target general use + anti-tank History Date of design 1930s Production period {{{prod_date}}} Number built Service duration 1930s - 1967 Operators {{{operators}}} War service {{{wars}}} Specifications Carriage Fixed trail Calibre 3. ... BL 5. ...

Nevertheless, progress was slow; tanks could not be used, and the Japanese were very deeply dug in, and their positions were well concealed and mutually supporting. A single post on the reverse slope of GPT Ridge prevented the British capturing Jail Hill for a week. However, the various positions were slowly taken. The last was the DC's bungalow; on May 13, the British finally bulldozed a track to the position up which a tank could be dragged. A Lee tank crashed down onto the tennis court and destroyed the Japanese trenches and bunkers, thus clearing Kohima Ridge. May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (134th in leap years). ... The M3 Lee was an American tank used during World War II. The British modified version of this tank, with a larger cast turret to house the radio, was called the Grant. ...

Yet more Allied reinforcements had arrived. 33 Brigade (part of Indian 7th Division) had been fighting since May 4. 114 Brigade joined them on May 12. All of the Indian 7th Division concentrated on capturing Naga Village. 268 Indian Motor Brigade was used to relieve the brigades of British 2nd Division and allow them to rest, before they resumed their drive southward along the Imphal Road. May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ...

Yet when the Allies launched another attack on May 16, the Japanese continued to defend Naga Village and Aradura Spur tenaciously. May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ...

The Japanese Retreat

The decisive factor was the Japanese lack of supplies. Since the offensive started, they had had to make do with meagre captured stocks and what they could forage in increasingly hostile local villages. Barely half a dozen captured jeeps had been able to carry supplies from the Chindwin. (This was partly due to the British 23 LRP Brigade, which had been operating behind the Japanese 31st Division. They had cut the Japanese supply lines and prevented them foraging in the Naga Hills to the east of Kohima). Jeep is an automobile marque (and registered trademark) of Chrysler Corporation Division. ...

By the middle of May, Sato's troops were starving. He considered that the HQ of Japanese 15th Army were neither taking any notice of his situation, nor exerting themselves to move supplies to his division. He began pulling his troops back to conserve their strength, thus allowing the British to capture Kohima Ridge. On May 25, he notified 15th Army that he would withdraw on June 1 unless he was supplied. (For a divisional commander to retreat without orders of permission from his superior was unheard-of in the Japanese Army.) Finally on May 31, he abandoned Naga Village and other positions north of the road, in spite of orders from Mutaguchi to hang on to his position. May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining, as the last day of May. ...

Miyazaki's detachment continued to fight rearguard actions and demolish bridges along the road to Imphal, but were eventually driven off the road and forced to retreat eastward. The remainder of the division retreated painfully south, but found very few supplies; most of what few supplies had been brought forward across the Chindwin had been consumed by other Japanese units, who were as desperately hungry as Sato's men.

XXXIII Corps pushed southwards along the road. On June 22, the leading troops of British 2 Division met the Indian 5th Division pushing north from Imphal at Milestone 109, thirty miles south of Kohima. The siege of Imphal was over. June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ...

Aftermath

The British and Indian forces had lost around 4,000 men, dead, missing and wounded. The Japanese had lost more than 7,000 men in the Kohima area fighting.

This battle was ultimately to prove to be the turning point of the Burma Campaign. Earl Louis Mountbatten described it as "probably one of the greatest battles in history... in effect the Battle of Burma... naked unparalleled heroism... the British/Indian Thermopylae". Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC an alliance of Greek city-states, called the Delian League, fought the invading Persian army in a mountain pass. ...

After ignoring army orders for several weeks, Sato was removed from command of 31st Division early in July. The entire Imphal offensive was broken off at the same time. Slim had always derided Sato as the most unenterprising of his opponents, but Japanese sources blame his superior, Mutaguchi, for both the weaknesses of the original plan, and the antipathy between himself and Sato which led to Sato concentrating on saving his division rather than driving on distant objectives.

RAF supply

At both Kohima and Imphal, the army was entirely reliant on supply by the Royal Air Force (RAF) until the road from Dimapur was cleared. At Kohima the main problem was dropping of air delivered logistics accurately on to the narrow ridgelines. The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the UK Armed Forces. ... Inside Nexus Distribution, a United States logistics provider. ...

By the end of the battle the RAF had flown 19,000 tons of supplies and 12,000 men into Kohima and Imphal, and flown out 13,000 casualties and 43,000 non-combatants.

The increasing dominance of the RAF by this stage of the Burma Campaign was a major contributor in helping the Allies turn the tide of the war in this theatre.

Victoria Cross

Two Victoria Crosses were awarded during the battle: Victoria Cross medal, ribbon, and bar. ...

• Lance Corporal John Pennington Harman, 4th Battalion, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, 161st Indian Infantry Brigade, 5th Indian Division
• Temporary captain John Neil Randle, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment, 2nd Division

There is also the British politician John Harman. ... The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a regiment of the British Army. ... Indian 5th Infantry Division fought in several theatres of World War II and more than earned its nickname the Ball of Fire. Lord Louis Mountbatten said: When the Division came under my command in South-East Asia towards the end of 1943, it had already had three years hard fighting... John Neil Randle was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. ... The Royal Anglian Regiment (RAR) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queens Division. ... The British 2nd Infantry Division fought in Burma against the Japanese during World War II. See British 2nd Division (World War I) for the divisions World War I history. ...

War memorial

Inscribed on the Commonwealth cemetery war memorial at Kohima, which is near the tennis court, is the well known epitaph. The Commonwealth of Nations is an association of independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former colonies once governed by the United Kingdom as part of the British Empire. ... The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is a joint governmental organisation responsible for marking and maintaining the graves of members of the Commonwealth military forces who died in the two world wars and subsequent wars, to build memorials to those with no known grave, and to keep records of the war... This memorial in England lists the names of soldiers who died in the First World War. ... An epitaph (literally: on the grave in ancient Greek) is text honoring the dead, most commonly inscribed on a tombstone or plaque. ...

When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today

This is a controversial epitaph for some in India because Indians fought on both sides during the battle. British Indian soldiers fought for the Allies and Indian soldiers of the Indian National Army under the command of Subash Chandra Bose fought for the Japanese. The Indian Army in the time of the British Raj (1857–1947) See Indian Army for the post-independence (and post-partition) army of the Republic of India. ... The Indian National Army was an auxiliary force to the Imperial Japanese Army in its southern mainland campaign during the Second World War. ... Netaji poster in Thiruvananthapuram Subhas Chandra Bose (January 23, 1897 - August 18, 1945) also known as Netaji, was a Orissa born and Bengal based Indian leader of the movement to win independence from British rule. ...

External links

• War memorial
• The battle of Kohima (from the UK Ministry of Defence)
• Stand at Kohima

Sources

• Burma: The longest War 1941-45 by Louis Allen, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1984, ISBN 0460024744
• Defeat into Victory by Field Marshal Sir William Slim; NY: Buccaneer Books ISBN 1568490771, Cooper Square Press ISBN 0815410220; London: Cassell ISBN 0304291145, Pan ISBN 033039066X.