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Battle of Kohima
Part of Burma Campaign
Date April 4 - June 22, 1944
Location Kohima, Nagaland, India
Result Decisive Allied Victory
Belligerents
Flag of India Indian XXXIII Corps Flag of Japan Japanese 31st Division
Commanders
Montagu Stopford Kotoku Sato
Strength
rising to:
2 Infantry Divisions
1 "Chindit" Brigade
1 Motor Brigade		 1 Infantry Division
Casualties and losses
4,604 5,764

The Battle of Kohima (the "Stalingrad of the East") was the turning point of the Japanese U Go offensive into India in 1944 in World War II. The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Kohima ( Hindi: कोहिमा is the hilly capital of India 's north eastern border state of Nagaland which shares its borders with Burma Nagaland ( Hindi: नागालैंड is a hill state located in the far north-eastern part of India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Indian XXXIII Corps was part of Fourteenth Army of the British Indian Army during World War II. was an Infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its Call sign was the. Not to be confused with his grandfather the 19th century admiral Montagu Stopford (admiral. Kotoku Sato ( March 5 1893 - February 26 1959) was an Imperial Japanese Army soldier and commander The Battle of Stalingrad is a commonly used name in English sources for several large operations by Germany and its allies and Soviet forces conducted with the The U Go offensive, or Operation C (ウ号作戦 was the Japanese offensive in March 1944 launched against Empire forces in the North-East Indian World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including It was fought from April 4 to June 22, 1944 around the town of Kohima in northeast India. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Kohima ( Hindi: कोहिमा is the hilly capital of India 's north eastern border state of Nagaland which shares its borders with Burma India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

The battle took place in two stages. From April 3 to April 16, the Japanese attempted to capture Kohima ridge, a feature which dominated the road by which the major British and Indian troops at Imphal were supplied. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom The Empire of Japan ( {{unicode|Kyūjitai}}: ja 大日本帝國 Shinjitai: ja 大日本帝国 pronounced Dai Nippon Teikoku The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located See Indian Army for the post-independence (and post- partition) army of the Republic of India. Imphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur. In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla By mid-April, the small British force at Kohima was relieved, and from April 18 to June 22, British and Indian reinforcements counter-attacked to drive the Japanese from the positions they had captured. Events 1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. The battle ended on June 22 when British and Indian troops from Kohima and Imphal met at Milestone 109, ending the siege of Imphal. Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. Imphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur. In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla The Battle of Imphal took place in the region around the city of Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur in North-East India from March until July

Contents

Background

Imphal and Kohima Campaign
Imphal and Kohima Campaign

The Japanese plan to invade India, codenamed U-GO, was originally intended as a spoiling attack against the Indian IV Corps at Imphal, to disrupt the Allied offensive plans for that year. The U Go offensive, or Operation C (ウ号作戦 was the Japanese offensive in March 1944 launched against Empire forces in the North-East Indian The Indian IV Corps has a long history The Corps HQ was originally a British formation created during World War I. The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers during the Second World War. 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 was a army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the World War II. Lieutenant General is a Military rank used in many countries The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the was a Japanese military officer Lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British The objections of various superior HQ were eventually overruled by War Minister Hideki Tojo. A defence minister (or defense minister) is a Cabinet position which regulates the Armed forces in some sovereign nations

Part of the plan involved sending the Japanese 31st Division (which was composed of 58 Regiment, 124 Regiment, 138 Regiment and an Independent Mountain Artillery battalion) to capture Kohima and thus cut off Imphal, and then exploit to Dimapur. was an Infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its Call sign was the. The division's commander, Lieutenant General Kotoku Sato was unhappy with his role. Kotoku Sato ( March 5 1893 - February 26 1959) was an Imperial Japanese Army soldier and commander 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 Toseiha and Kodoha factions within the Japanese Army during the early 1930's, and Sato believed he had reason to distrust Mutaguchi's motives. was a Political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army, active in the 1920s and 1930s The was a Political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army, active in the 1920s and 1930s largely supported by junior officers aiming to establish a military government and

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. Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Chindwin River ( Chindwin Myit) is a river in Burma (Myanmar and the largest Tributary of the Ayeyarwady River. Homalin is a town in northwest Myanmar. 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 Infantry Division) when they clashed with Indian troops covering the northern approaches to Imphal on March 20. Major General or Major-General is a Military rank used in many countries Events 1600 - The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden.

The Indian troops were the Indian 50 Parachute Brigade under Brigadier Hope-Thompson, at Sangshak. This article refers to the military rank For the Doctor Who character known as the Brigadier see Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. 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 the Japanese 15th Division's troops joined the battle, Hope-Thompson withdrew.

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.

Meanwhile, the commander of the British Fourteenth Army, Lieutenant General Slim, had belatedly realised the strength of the force moving on Kohima. The British Fourteenth Army was a multinational force comprising units from Commonwealth countries during World War II. Field Marshal William Joseph "Bill" Slim 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, KStJ (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 5th Infantry Division were flown from the Arakan front, where they had just participated in the defeat of a subsidiary Japanese offensive at the Battle of the Admin Box. Indian 5th Infantry Division was an infantry division in the British Indian Army which fought in several theatres of World War II and more than earned its nickname Rakhine State ( formerly Arakan) is a state of Myanmar. Situated the western coast it is bordered by Chin State in the north The Battle of the Admin Box (sometimes referred to as the Battle of Ngakyedauk or the Battle of Sinzweya) took place on the Southern Front of the Burma Campaign While the main body of the division went to Imphal, Indian 161st Infantry Brigade (with 24 Mountain Artillery Regiment IA), were flown to Dimapur. The British 2nd Division, 23 Long Range Penetration Brigade (originally part of the Chindit force), and Indian XXXIII Corps HQ under Lieutenant General Montagu Stopford were also ordered to move there by road and rail. The British 2nd Division was originally formed in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsula War. The British 23rd Infantry Brigade was a Second World War Brigade which eventually became a Chindit formation during the Burma Campaign, before The Chindits (Officially in 1942 77th Indian Infantry Brigade and in 1943 Indian 3rd Infantry Division) were a British Indian Army "Special Force" that served The Indian XXXIII Corps was part of Fourteenth Army of the British Indian Army during World War II. Not to be confused with his grandfather the 19th century admiral Montagu Stopford (admiral.

Siege

Kohima Ridge
Kohima Ridge

Kohima ridge runs roughly north and south. The road from Dimapur to Imphal climbs to its northern end and runs along its eastern face. North of the ridge lay the densely inhabited area of Naga Village, crowned by Treasury Hill and Church Knoll. (Baptist and other Christian missionaries had been active in Nagaland over the preceding half century). Nagaland ( Hindi: नागालैंड is a hill state located in the far north-eastern part of India. South and west of Kohima Ridge were GPT Ridge and the jungle-covered Aradura Spur.

In 1944, Kohima was the administrative centre of Nagaland. Nagaland ( Hindi: नागालैंड is a hill state located in the far north-eastern part of India. The Deputy Commissioner was Charles Pawsey. A Deputy Commissioner is a Police or administrative official in many different countries Sir Charles Ridley Pawsey, CSI, CIE, MC (1894&ndash1972 was a British colonial administrator His bungalow and its gardens and tennis court stood on the hillside at a bend in the road.

The various British and Indian service troop encampments 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. The Japanese assigned their own codenames to the features; for example, Garrison Hill was known as Inu (dog) and Kuki Piquet as Saru (monkey). These were frequently-used names, and not generally as memorable as the British names which are used in most histories.

Before 161 Brigade arrived, the only fighting troops in the area were the newly raised Assam Regiment and some of the paramilitary Assam Rifles. Assam Regiment The Regimental Center of the Assam Regiment is situated at Happy Valley, Shillong. See also Rashtriya Rifles Special Forces of India 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. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Miyazaki's troops were probing Kohima on April 3. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. 161 Brigade had been ordered forward again, but only one battalion, 4/The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (now part of the Queen's Regiment) arrived in Kohima before the Japanese cut the road west of the ridge. The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a regiment of the British Army. The Queen's Regiment was an Infantry Regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Division

The siege began on April 6. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus 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. The dressing stations were exposed to Japanese fire, and wounded men were hit again as they waited for treatment. Some of the heaviest fighting took place around the Deputy Commissioner's bungalow and tennis court, in what became known as the battle of the Tennis Court. The Battle of the Tennis Court was the turning point in the Battle of Kohima in North East India from April 4 – June 22 1944. By the night of April 17, the defenders' situation was desperate. Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor.

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, by about the April 11 the Fourteenth Army had about the same number of troops in the area as the Japanese. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. The British 5th Brigade of the 2nd Division broke through to 161 Brigade in Jotsoma on April 15. The 5th Infantry Brigade was a regular British Army formation from the First World War to disbandment in 1999 Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English The British 6th Brigade replaced 161 in the box allowing 161 Brigade with air, artillery and armour support to launch an attack over the five miles (8 km) to Kohima on April 18. The 6th Infantry Brigade is a regular British Army brigade History World War I World War II At the outbreak of war in 1939 the 6th Events 1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. After a heavy days fighting 161 Brigade broke through and started to relieve the Kohima garrison. [1] By now, Kohima resembled a battlefield from the first World War, with trees smashed and the ground covered in craters. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

Under cover of darkness the wounded were bought out under fire and although contact had been established it took a further 24 hours to secure the road between Jotsoma and Kohima. During the April 19 and into the early hours of April 20 the 6th Brigade steadily replaced the original garrison and at 06:00 hours the garrison commander Colonel Richards handed over command of the area. Events 1012 - Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich London. 1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer Events 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII. [2] Miyazaki continued to try to capture Garrison Hill, and there was heavy fighting for this position for several more nights, with high casualties on both sides.

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. After promising starts, both moves failed because of the terrain and the weather, and from May 4, the Division concentrated on the Japanese centre along Kohima Ridge. Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV The Japanese had reorganised their forces for defence. Their Left Force under Miyazaki held Kohima Ridge with four battalions; the Centre Force under Sato himself held Naga Village with another four battalions. The much smaller Right Force held villages to the north and east.

To support their attack on the 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 Ordnance QF 37 Inch Mountain Howitzer was an Artillery weapon used by British and Commonwealth armies in World War I and World War The Ordnance QF 25 pounder, or more simply 25-pounder or 25-pdr, was the major British Field gun / Howitzer that was introduced The BL 55 inch Field Gun was a British Artillery gun introduced during the middle of the Second World War. The RAF also bombed and strafed the Japanese positions. The Japanese could oppose them with only 17 light mountain guns, with very little ammunition.

Nevertheless, progress was slow: tanks could not be used, and the Japanese were very deeply dug in, their positions well-concealed and mutually supporting. Japanese posts on the reverse slope of GPT Ridge repeatedly caught British troops attacking Jail Hill in the flank, inflicting heavy casualties, and prevented them capturing the hill for a week. Two successive commanders of British 4th Infantry Brigade were killed in the close-range fighting on GPT. The 4th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom was a Second World War British Army brigade 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. Events 1497 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola. A Lee tank crashed down onto the tennis court and destroyed the Japanese trenches and bunkers, thus finally clearing Kohima Ridge. The Medium Tank M3 was an American Tank used during World War II.

The terrain had been reduced to a fly- and rat-infested wilderness, with half-buried human remains everywhere. The conditions under which the Japanese troops had lived and fought were described by several British sources as "unspeakable".

Yet more Allied reinforcements had arrived. 33 Brigade (part of Indian 7th Division) had been fighting since May 4. The 7th Indian Infantry Division was a war-formed division part of the British Indian Army, created during World War II. Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV 114 Brigade joined them on May 12, and the Indian 7th Division (with 161 Brigade) concentrated on capturing Naga Village from the north. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. 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.

Yet when the Allies launched another attack on May 16, the Japanese continued to defend Naga Village and Aradura Spur tenaciously. Events 1204 - Baldwin IX Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.

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. 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. The Japanese had mounted one resupply mission, using 17 captured jeeps to carry supplies forward from the Chindwin, but they brought mainly artillery and anti-tank ammunition rather than food. Jeep is an Automobile Marque (and registered trademark of Chrysler.

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 (as they had issued several confusing and contradictory orders to him during April) 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. Events 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo Spain back from the Moors. Events 193 - Roman Emperor Didius Julianus is Assassinated 987 - Hugh Capet is elected (For a divisional commander to retreat without orders or 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. Events 1279 BC - Rameses II (The Great (19th dynasty becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

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 eastwards. The remainder of the division retreated painfully south, but found very little to eat: 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. Many of the 31st Division were too enfeebled to drag themselves further south than Ukhrul, where hospitals had been set up, but with no medicines, medical staff or food. Ukhrul is a district in the north eastern state of Manipur in India.

Indian XXXIII Corps pushed southwards along the road. On June 22, the leading troops of British 2nd Division met the main body of Indian 5th Infantry Division advancing north from Imphal at Milestone 109, thirty miles south of Kohima. Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. The siege of Imphal was over.

Aftermath

The British and Indian forces had lost around 4,000 men, dead, missing and wounded. The Japanese had lost more than 5,000 men in the Kohima area fighting.

After ignoring army orders for several weeks, Sato was removed from command of Japanese 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.

This battle was ultimately to prove the turning point of the Burma Campaign. Earl Louis Mountbatten described it as "probably one of the greatest battles in history. Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, . . in effect the Battle of Burma. . . naked unparalleled heroism. . . the British/Indian Thermopylae". In the Battle of Thermopylae, which occurred in August 480 BC (and was detailed almost entirely by Herodotus) an alliance of Greek City-states fought

RAF supply

At both Kohima and Imphal, the army relied entirely 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. Logistics is the management of the flow of Goods, Information and other resources including Energy and people between the point of origin and the point

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:

Memorial

Kohima has a large cemetery for the Allied war dead maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. John Neil Randle VC ( December 22, 1917 - May 6, 1944) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry The Royal Norfolk Regiment, originally formed as the Norfolk Regiment, was an infantry Regiment of the British Army. The British 2nd Division was originally formed in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsula War. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission ( CWGC) is a joint governmental organisation responsible for marking and maintaining the graves of members of the Commonwealth The cemetery lies on the slopes of Garrison Hill, in what was once the Deputy Commissioner's tennis court which was the scene of the Battle of the Tennis Court. The epitaph carved on the memorial of the 2nd British Division in the cemetery

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

has become world-famous as the Kohima Epitaph. An epitaph (in Greek, &mdash literally " on the gravestone " is a short text honoring a deceased person strictly speaking that inscribed on The verse is attributed to John Maxwell Edmonds (1875 -1958), and is thought to have been inspired by the epitaph written by Simonides to honour the Greek who fell at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. In the Battle of Thermopylae, which occurred in August 480 BC (and was detailed almost entirely by Herodotus) an alliance of Greek City-states fought In the Battle of Thermopylae, which occurred in August 480 BC (and was detailed almost entirely by Herodotus) an alliance of Greek City-states fought [3]

Sources

References

  1. ^ >Slim pp. 316,317
  2. ^ >Slim p. 317
  3. ^ The Kohima 2nd Division Memorial

External links

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