Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
Native name	Imphal
Type	capital
Locator position	left
State name	Manipur
District	Imphal West, Imphal East
Altitude	786
Population as of	2001
Population total	217275
Area magnitude	sq. km
Area telephone	3852
Postal code	795xxx
Website	www.ManipurTV.com
Footnotes	}}

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. Kangla Fort used to be the home of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force and on November 2004 it was handed over to state of Manipur by Prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Another place of historical interest is the Polo Ground which is the oldest existing polo ground in the world. Near the Polo Ground is the Manipur State Museum, which has a collection of old artifacts and pictures depicting the history of Manipur. 'Ima Keithel' at Khwairamband Bazar is the only market in the world where, as the name suggests, all the stalls are run by women.

In 1944 during World War II the Battle of Imphal, along with the simultaneous Battle of Kohima, was the turning point in the Burma Campaign. For the first time in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II the Japanese lost the initiative to the Allies, who retained it until the end of the war.

On 18 June 1997, the Imphal district was split into Imphal East and Imphal West.

On 21 October 2008, Imphal was struck by a large scale terror attack allegedly carried out by Manipuri insurgents fighting for to regain sovereignty from India.

Geography and climate

Imphal is the capital of Manipur, located at . It has an average elevation of 786 metres (2578 feet). It is located in the extreme east of India.

The Imphal Valley is drained by several small rivers originating from the hills surrounding it. These include the Imphal, Iril, Sekmai, Thoubal, and Khuga rivers. One of the important place is Wangkhei, where one can see the Temple of Govinda Jee with nature's beauty and also Wangkhei locality is famous for Handloom Products and Hand Made Products.

Imphal has a sub-tropical climate, specifically a humid subtropical climate, with cool, dry winters, a warm summer and a moderate monsoon season. July is the hottest month with temperatures averaging around 25^oC (78^oF), while January is the coldest with average lows near 4^oC (40^oF). The city gets about 1320 mm (52 inches) of rain with June being the wettest month.

Main tourist attractions of Imphal

Shree Govindajee Temple

This place was considered to be the highest place for any cultural activity during the times of the Maharajas. Located at a place near the Royal palace of past Maharajas, it has two domes and a raise congregation hall to keep the sacred deities in their place, aloof and high.

War Cemeteries

The cemeteries are the seats of remembrance for the British and Indian soldiers who fought and died in the Second World War. Women's Market or Ima Keithel

Cacophony, bargain of products and a spread of a beautiful and colourful cloth is what you would most notice when you visit this market place. But, this is the charm of the place, if a person wants to know how the trade goes in Manipur, this is the first place to buy. The bazar consist of two main sections -one where the vegetables, fruits and necessary items are sold and the other where the handloom products of the state is sold. The peculiarity of the market is that around 3000 'Imas' or mothers run the stalls.

Manipur Zoological Gardens

The Brow Antlered deer, which is a rare species, can be seen in the Manipur Zoological Gardens. Located at a distance of 6 km from the capital, the zoo is very modest to the core with its surrounding, a large expanse of open grounds.

Manipur State Museum

The museum, which is the representation of the tangible information of history, shows a display of the tribal heritage and the collection of the artifacts of the former Ningthourels of Manipur. Costumes of the common people and warriors, arms and weapons of the varied communities and relics and historical documents can be seen here. The priceless artifacts, documents and cultural heritage of a mentioned civilization can be first accessed through a Museum.

Matai Garden

The garden is situated at Matai,Imphal east district about 5km towards North in NH-39.The garden is also called as Ibudhou Asheiningthou garden taking the name from Ibudhou Asheiningthou(local God of Matai). The garden is known for its myriad Duranta plant, well shaped and decorating the entire garden.

Sambal- Lei-Sekpil garden

The garden is situated in Sagolban, Kwakeithel, Imphal, toward the Tidim road. The place is world famous for Sambal- Lei-Sekpil literally sambal means fence lei means flower and sekpil means topiary. The flower got Guinness Book of Records in 26 November 1999 (at the height of 50 ft. 35 steps). The garden is open to all visitors.

Transport

Air

The city is served by the Imphal Airport. Daily flights are available from New Delhi to Imphal via Guwahati, Assam, the largest metropolis of the region. Daily flights also connect Imphal with Kolkata.

Railways

In 2007, the Economist newspaper reported that a railway line from Guwahati via Imphal to Moreh, the last frontier town less than a km. from the border of Myanmar would be built. In December 2008, the Cabinet of India approved the extension of the Jiribam-Imphal Road line, which previously terminated at Tupul.

Demographics

India census, Imphal West had a population of 439,532. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Imphal has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 84%, and female literacy is 74%. In Imphal, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Though Manipur being a remote and a relatively smaller state (by area and population), its capital Imphal hosts a large migrant population from Bihar, UP, Punjab, Rajasthan, Kerala, West Bengal, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, etc., who earn their livelihoods serving various professions. As per estimates available about 1,50,000 migrants reside in Imphal alone thereby making the city a multi-racial and multi-ethnic. This makes the ratio of migrants to Imphalites roughly 1:2.

Of late, we can hear voices raised from certain quarters against a disproportionate and uncontrolled influx of migrants from the rest of India and even illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and neighbouring Nepal, despite certain permit systems in place.

Imphal West is the primary business hub of Manipur and major business areas in and around Imphal are densely populated. Imphal West's population as per 2011 census is projected to be approximately 5,50,000.

References

External links

Imphal West

Imphal East

Category:Manipur Category:Cities and towns in Imphal East district Category:Cities and towns in Imphal West district Category:Cities in Northeast India Category:Indian capital cities Category:Imphal

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Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
conflict	Battle of Imphal
partof	the Burma Campaign
date	8 March – 3 July 1944
place	Imphal, Manipur, British India
result	Decisive Allied victory
combatant1	United Kingdom British India
combatant2
commander1	William Slim Geoffrey Scoones Jack Baldwin
commander2	Masakasu Kawabe Renya Mutaguchi
strength1	4 Infantry Divisions1 Armoured Brigade1 Parachute Brigade
strength2	3 Infantry Divisions1 Tank Regiment
casualties1	17,500 killed and wounded
casualties2	53,879 killed and wounded }}

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 1944. Japanese armies attempted to destroy the Allied forces at Imphal and invade India, but were driven back into Burma with heavy losses. Together with the simultaneous Battle of Kohima on the road by which the encircled Allied forces at Imphal were relieved, the battle was the turning point of the Burma Campaign, part of the South-East Asian Theatre of the Second World War.

The situation

At the start of 1944, the war was going against the Japanese on several fronts. They were being driven back in the central and south west Pacific, and their merchant ships were under attack by American submarines and aircraft. In south east Asia, they had held their lines over the preceding year, but the Allies were preparing several offensives from India and the Chinese province of Yunnan into Burma. In particular, the town of Imphal in Manipur on the frontier with Burma was built up to be a substantial logistic base, with airfields, encampments and supply dumps. Imphal was linked to Dimapur in the Brahmaputra River valley by a road which wound for through the steep and forested Naga Hills.

Imphal was held by the IV Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Geoffrey Scoones. The corps was in turn part of the British Fourteenth Army under Lieutenant General William Slim. Because the Allies were planning to take the offensive themselves, the corps' units were thrown forward almost to the Chindwin River and widely separated, and were therefore vulnerable to being isolated and surrounded.

20th Indian Infantry Division occupied Tamu. The division was untried but well-trained.

17th Indian Infantry Division occupied Tiddim, at the end of a long and precarious line of communication from Imphal. The division, which had two brigades only, had been intermittently in action since December 1941.

23rd Indian Infantry Division was in reserve in Imphal. It had served on the Imphal front for two years and was severely understrength as a result of endemic diseases such as malaria and typhus.

50th Indian Parachute Brigade was north of Imphal, conducting advanced jungle training.

254th Indian Tank Brigade was stationed in and around Imphal.

Japanese plan

In mid-1943, the Japanese command in Burma had been reorganised. A new headquarters, Burma Area Army, was created under Lieutenant-General Masakazu Kawabe. One of its subordinate formations, responsible for the central part of the front facing Imphal and Assam, was Fifteenth Army, whose new commander was Lieutenant-General Renya Mutaguchi.

From the moment he took command, Mutaguchi forcefully advocated an invasion of India. His motives for doing so appear to be complex. He had played a major part in several Japanese victories, ever since the Marco Polo Bridge incident in 1937 and believed it was his destiny to win the decisive battle of the war for Japan. He may also have been goaded by the first Chindit expedition, a raid behind Japanese lines launched by the British under Orde Wingate early in 1943. The Allies had widely publicised the successful aspects of Wingate's expedition while concealing their losses to disease and exhaustion, possibly misleading Mutaguchi and some of his staff as to the difficulties they would later face.

Mutaguchi planned to exploit the capture of Imphal by advancing to the Brahmaputra River valley. This would cut the Allied lines of communication to the front in northern Burma, where the American-led Northern Combat Area Command was attempting to construct the Ledo Road to link India and China by land, and to the airfields supplying the Nationalist Chinese under Chiang Kai-shek over "The Hump". Although the staffs at Burma Area Army and at Southern Expeditionary Army Group (the supreme command for the Japanese forces in South East Asia and the southern Pacific) had reservations over the scale of his proposed operation, they were eventually won over by Mutaguchi's persistent advocacy. Finally, War Minister Hideki Tojo and Imperial General Headquarters gave their approval to the plan.

Mutaguchi intended to isolate and destroy the Allied units in their forward positions and then capture Imphal. His plan was named U-Go, or Operation C. In detail:

The Japanese 33rd Infantry Division under Lieutenant-General Genzo Yanagita would surround and destroy the 17th Indian Division at Tiddim, then attack Imphal from the south.

''Yamamoto Force'', formed from units detached from the Japanese 33rd and 15th Divisions under Major-General Tsunoru Yamamoto (commander of 33rd Division's Infantry Group), would destroy the 20th Indian Division at Tamu, then attack Imphal from the east. The force was supported by the 14th Tank Regiment, equipped with 66 assorted tanks, under Lieutenant Colonel Nobuo Ueda and the 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Kazuo Mitsui.

The Japanese 15th Infantry Division under Lieutenant-General Masafumi Yamauchi would envelop Imphal from the north. This division was still arriving from road-building duties in Thailand and was understrength at the start of the operation.

In a separate subsidiary operation, the Japanese 31st Infantry Division under Lieutenant-General Kotoku Sato would isolate Imphal by capturing Kohima on the Imphal-Dimapur road, then exploit by advancing to Dimapur.

At the insistence of Subhash Chandra Bose, leader of the Azad Hind, the Indian National Army made a substantial contribution. (Originally, the Japanese intended using them only for reconnaissance and propaganda.)

Units of the First Division (initially the Subhas Brigade or 1st Guerrilla Regiment, less a battalion sent to the Arakan) covered the left flank of 33rd Division's advance.

The 2nd Guerrilla Regiment was attached later in the battle to ''Yamamoto Force''.

The Special Services Group, redesignated as the ''Bahadur Group'' acted as scouts and pathfinders with the advanced Japanese units in the opening stages of the offensive. They were tasked to infiltrate through British lines and encourage units of the British Indian Army to defect.

All Mutaguchi's divisional commanders disagreed with the plan to some extent. Sato distrusted Mutaguchi's motives, and Yanagita openly derided his abrasive superior as a "blockhead." Yamauchi was already very ill and fatalistic. Their main reservations concerned supply. Mutaguchi had assumed that success would be achieved within three weeks, but adequate supplies after that period could be obtained only if the Japanese captured Allied supply dumps, as the torrential rains that the spring season would inevitably bring would make supply routes from the Chindwin impossible to traverse. Gambles such as Mutaguchi was making had worked in the past, but could no longer be relied upon, given nearly total Allied air superiority in the area and the improvement in morale and training of British and Indian troops. Mutaguchi proposed to use "Genghis Khan" rations, driving herds of buffalo and cattle across the Chindwin as meat rations on the hoof. Most of these unfortunate beasts died from lack of forage and rotted many miles from the troops they were intended to supply.

There were other weaknesses in the plan which were to be revealed as the campaign progressed. The Japanese assumed that the British would be unable to use tanks on the steep jungle-covered hills around Imphal. For the sake of ease of movement and supply, the Japanese left behind most of their field artillery, their chief anti-tank weapon. As a result, the Japanese troops would have very little protection against tanks if these were in fact used against them.

Based on his experiences in the campaigns in Malaya and Singapore and in the Japanese conquest of Burma in early 1942, Mutaguchi dismissed British and Indian troops as inherently inferior. The troops he had met on those occasions had generally been inadequately trained and led. The Allies had by now largely overcome the administrative and organisational problems which had crippled their early efforts in Burma, and their troops were far better trained and motivated.

Prelude to the operation

In late February, a local Japanese counter-attack was launched against Indian XV Corps in Arakan, using much the same tactics as Mutaguchi proposed to use. The attack failed when Allied aircraft parachuted supplies to cut-off troops, allowing them to stand firm while the Japanese who had infiltrated behind them ran out of supplies. The engagement became known to the Allies as the Battle of the Admin Box. From this point onwards, the Allies were to place increasing faith and reliance on their transport aircraft. The planning of U-Go was too far advanced to take account of these developments.

Even as the Japanese prepared to launch their attack, on 5 March 1944 the Allies launched the airborne phase of the second Chindit expedition. Japanese officers such as Major-General Noburo Tazoe, commanding the Japanese Army Air Force units in Burma, urged Mutaguchi to divert troops from his offensive to secure the Japanese rear areas against the Chindits. Mutaguchi dismissed these concerns, claiming that in a few weeks he would have occupied the air bases from which the Chindits were supplied.

Opening phases of the battle

When they received intelligence that a major Japanese offensive was impending, Slim and Scoones planned to withdraw their forward divisions into the Imphal plain and force the Japanese to fight at the end of impossibly long and difficult lines of communication. However, they misjudged the date on which the Japanese were to attack, and the strength they would use against some objectives. The Japanese launched their troops across the Chindwin River on 8 March. Scoones gave his forward divisions orders to withdraw to Imphal only on 13 March.

Tamu-Shenam

The 20th Indian Division under Major-General Douglas Gracey held Tamu near the Chindwin, and Moreh a short distance to the north, where a large supply dump had been established. On 20 March, there was a clash between six M3 Lee tanks of the 3rd Carabiniers and six Type 95 Ha-Go tanks leading Yamamoto's advance from the south. The lighter Japanese tanks were destroyed. Gracey was opposed to making any retreat, but on 25 March he was ordered to detach some of his division to provide a reserve for IV Corps. As this left the division too weak to hold Tamu and Moreh, they withdrew to the Shenam Saddle, a complex of hills through which the Imphal-Tamu road ran. The supply dump at Moreh was set ablaze, and 200 cattle there were slaughtered. The division fell back without difficulty, mainly because two of Yamamoto Force's battalions from the Japanese 15th Division (II/51 Regiment and III/60 Regiment) were delayed at Indaw in northern Burma by the Chindits and were unable to intervene.

Tiddim-Bishenpur

Further south, 17th Indian Division under Major-General Cowan was cut off by the Japanese 33rd Division. Patrols from the division and from V Force (an irregular force of locally-raised levies and guerrillas) warned Cowan of a Japanese force advancing against the rear of the division as early as 8 March, allowing Cowan to regroup the division to protect its rear. On 13 March, the Japanese 215th Regiment attacked a supply dump at Milestone 109, twenty miles behind Cowan's leading outposts, while the Japanese 214th Regiment seized Tongzang and a ridge named Tuitum Saddle across the road a few miles behind 17th Indian Division's main position.

The Indian division began to withdraw on 14 March. At Tuitum Saddle, the Japanese 214th Regiment were unable to dig in properly before they were attacked by the 48th Indian Infantry Brigade on 15 March. The Japanese suffered heavy casualties and were forced away from the road. Further north, the Japanese captured the depot at Milestone 109 on 18 March, but Indian troops recovered it on 25 March. Cowan had taken steps to secure the most vulnerable point in the rear of his division, the bridge over the Manipur River. The division's rearguard crossed safely on 26 March, demolishing the bridge behind them. The division removed most of the vehicles, food and ammunition from the depot at Milestone 109, before resuming their retreat.

Both the Japanese and the Indian division had suffered heavy casualties. Yanagita, the Japanese 33rd Division's commander, was already pessimistic, and was apparently unnerved by a garbled radio message which suggested that one of his regiments had been destroyed at Tongzang. He therefore did not press the pursuit against 17th Division, and advanced cautiously in spite of reprimands from Mutaguchi.

Scoones had nevertheless been forced to send the bulk of his only reserve, 23rd Indian Infantry Division under Major-General Ouvry Lindfield Roberts, to the aid of 17th Division. The two divisions, supplied by parachute drops from Allied aircraft, made their way back to the Imphal plain, which they reached on 4 April.

Sangshak-Litan

Meanwhile, Imphal had been left vulnerable to the Japanese 15th Division. The only force left covering the northern approaches to the base, Indian 50th Parachute Brigade, was roughly handled in the Battle of Sangshak by a regiment from the Japanese 31st Division on its way to Kohima. The Japanese 60th Regiment cut the main road a few miles north of Imphal on 28 March, while the 51st Regiment advanced on Imphal from the north-east, down the valley of the Iril River and a track from Litan, north-east of Imphal.

However, the earlier diversionary attack launched by Japanese 55th Division in Arakan had already failed. Slim was able to move the battle-hardened 5th Indian Infantry Division, including all its artillery and first-line transport (jeeps and mules), by air from Arakan to the Central Front. The move was completed in only eleven days. Two of the division's three brigades went to Imphal, and their leading troops were in action north and east of Imphal on 3 April.

Chin Hills

On the Japanese left flank, the INA's Subhas Brigade, led by Shah Nawaz Khan, reached the edge of the Chin Hills below Tiddim and Fort White at the end of March. From this position, the 2nd Battalion sent companies to relieve Japanese forces at Falam and to Hakha, from where in turn, Khan's forces sent out patrols and laid ambushes for the Chin guerrillas under the command of a British officer, taking a number of prisoners. In the middle of May, a force under Khan's Adjutant, Mahboob "Boobie" Ahmed, attacked and captured the hilltop fortress of Klang Klang. The 3rd Battalion meanwhile moved to Fort White-Tongzang area in anticipation of the destruction of Cowan's division, which would allow it to receive volunteers.

During the early part of the offensive, the ''Bahadur Group'' of the INA apparently achieved some success in inducing British Indian soldiers to desert.

Stalemate

From the beginning of April, the Japanese attacked the Imphal plain from several directions:

Bishenpur

The Japanese 33rd Division attacked from the south at Bishenpur, where they cut a secondary track from Silchar into the plain. A commando raid succeeded in destroying a suspension bridge, making the Silchar track unusable. The 17th and 23rd Indian Divisions were regrouping after their retreat, and Bishenpur was held only by 32nd Indian Infantry Brigade (detached from 20th Division). The Japanese advanced through the hills to the west of Bishenpur, almost isolating the British in the village, but suffered severely from British artillery fire. Their leading troops were halted by lack of supply only from Imphal. Other Japanese advancing directly up the Tiddim-Imphal road were halted in villages south of Bishenpur, as troops of 17th Indian Division rejoined the battle.

Yanagita, the Japanese division's commander, had already infuriated Mutaguchi by his caution. He was finally relieved of command at the end of the month.

Shenam-Palel

''Yamamoto Force'' attacked the Shenam Saddle on the main road from Tamu into Imphal. This was the only metalled road the Japanese could use, and it was vital for them to break through to allow Yamamoto's tanks and heavy artillery to attack the main defences around Imphal itself. Only a few miles north of the saddle was Palel airfield, one of the only two all-weather airfields in the plain, and vital to the defenders.

A Japanese attack up the road on 4 April was disjointed; the infantry were not ready to take part and twelve Japanese tanks were caught exposed on the road by British anti-tank guns. From 8 April to 22 April, there was heavy fighting for five peaks which commanded the road east of the Saddle. The Japanese captured a number of them, but Indian and British counter-attacks regained some of those initially lost. Casualties were heavy on both sides.

Having failed to break through using the road, Yamamoto sent some troops through the rough terrain to the north of the Saddle to raid Palel airfield. The INA's Gandhi Brigade or 2nd Guerrilla Regiment, of two battalions led by Inayat Kiyani, took part in this attack. On 28 April, they attacked Palel. They tried to induce some Indian defenders to surrender, but the defenders rallied after initial hesitation. Another INA detachment carried out demolitions around Palel, but withdrew after they failed to rendezvous with Japanese units. The Gandhi Brigade was short of rations, having brought forward only one day's supplies, and also lost 250 casualties to shellfire after they pulled back from Palel.

Kanglatongbi-Nungshigum

The Japanese 15th Division encircled Imphal from the north. Its 60th Regiment captured a British supply dump at Kanglatongbi on the main Imphal-Dimapur road a few miles north of Imphal, but the depot had been emptied of food and ammunition.

A battalion of the Japanese 51st Regiment under Colonel Kimio Omoto seized the vital Nungshigum Ridge, which overlooked the main airstrip at Imphal. This was a major threat to IV Corps, and on 13 April 5 Indian Division counter-attacked, supported by air strikes, massed artillery and the M3 Lee tanks of B Squadron of the 3rd Carabiniers. The Japanese had expected that the slopes were too steep for tanks to climb, and indeed Lee tanks had never been tried before on such gradients in action. The Japanese regiment had very few effective anti-tank weapons, and their troops were driven from the ridge with heavy casualties. The attackers also lost heavily; every officer of the Carabineers and the attacking infantry (1st Bn, the 17th Dogra Regiment) was killed or wounded.

Allied counter-attacks

North

By 1 May, all Japanese attacks had come to a halt. Slim and Scoones began a counter-offensive against the Japanese 15th Division. This division was the weakest of the Japanese formations, and if it was defeated, the siege would be broken (once Kohima was recaptured). The progress of the counter-attack was slow. The monsoon had broken, making movement very difficult. Also, IV Corps was suffering some shortages. Although rations and reinforcements were delivered to Imphal by air, artillery ammunition had to be rationed.

The 5th Indian Division (joined by the 89th Indian Infantry Brigade which was flown in to replace the brigade sent to Kohima) and 23rd Indian Division (later replaced by the 20th Division) tried capturing the steep ridges, such as the Mapao Spur, held by the Japanese, but found these to be almost impregnable. Allied artillery was usually unable to hit Japanese positions on the reverse slopes, and the troops often stormed the summits of the ridges, only to be driven off by mortar fire and grenades from the reverse slope positions. From the end of the May, 5th Division concentrated on driving north from Sengmai up the main road through Kanglatongi, while the 20th Indian Division advanced along the tracks and the Iril River toward Litan and Ukhrul, threatening the Japanese 15th Division's lines of communication.

By this time, the Japanese were at the end of their endurance. Neither the 31st Division which was fighting at Kohima nor the 15th Division had received adequate supplies since the offensive began, and their troops were starving. The commander of the Japanese 31st Division ordered a retreat at the end of May, so that his division could find food. This allowed Indian XXXIII Corps to drive the Japanese from Kohima at the end of May, and advance south.

The troops of Japanese 15th Division were forced to abandon their defensive positions to scavenge for supplies in local villages or on the Japanese lines of communication. Mutaguchi dismissed the mortally ill Yamauchi, but this did not change matters. After driving rearguards from the ''Miyazaki Group'' (an independent detachment from the 31st Division) and the Japanese 60th Regiment from their delaying positions on the Dimapur-Imphal road, the leading troops of IV Corps and XXXIII Corps met at Milestone 109, north of Imphal, on 22 June, and the siege of Imphal was raised.

South

South of Imphal, 17th Indian Division had moved back into the line, facing the Japanese 33rd Division. During the first half of May, there were several Japanese air attacks on Bishenpur, and heavy fighting for the village of Potsangbam to the south, in which the British lost 12 tanks. The surviving crews of the 3rd Carabineers were later flown out of Imphal to be reconstituted in India.

Major General Cowan planned to break the deadlock on this front by sending 48th Indian Infantry Brigade on a wide left hook into the Japanese division's rear while 63rd Indian Infantry Brigade attacked them in front. The Japanese division's temporary commander (its Chief of Staff, Major General Tetsujiro Tanaka) planned at the same time to infiltrate through Indian 17th Division's front to seize vital objectives in the middle of the Indian positions. Both moves were launched almost simultaneously.

The Gurkhas of 48th Indian Brigade cut the road behind the Japanese on 18 May, but 63rd Indian Brigade were unable to break through to them, and 48th Brigade was forced to fight its way through the Japanese positions to rejoin the division, with heavy losses. Meanwhile, some of Tanaka's troops (the 214th Regiment) captured hills close to 17th Division's headquarters on 20 May. Because of the incursion into their own rear, the Japanese were unable to reinforce their forward troops, and over the following week the isolated Japanese were driven from their positions in the middle of the Indian division, many parties being wiped out.

A new forceful commander, Lieutenant General Nobuo Tanaka, took command of the 33rd Division on 22 May, and ordered repeated attacks which reduced many of his division's battalions to mere handfuls of men. In June, he received reinforcements (a regiment from the Japanese 53rd Division, and a detachment from the 14th Tank Regiment) and used them to launch another attack. After initial success, the fresh regiment suffered heavy casualties from shellfire. By the end of June, the 33rd Division had suffered so many casualties that they could make no further effort.

Yamamoto Force had also suffered heavy casualties, but before withdrawing, they launched two successful raids on Palel Airfield in the first week of July, destroying several parked aircraft.

INA operations

Towards the end of May, the INA's 1st Guerrilla Regiment had been redirected to Kohima. Shah Nahwaz Khan moved north across the Japanese rear but by the time he reached Ukhrul, the Japanese had already begun to withdraw. Khan decided to attack Imphal instead. At Imphal, his unit suffered some desertions, but not in the scale as the Commonwealth forces expected.

End of the battle

The Japanese had realised that operations ought to be broken off as early as May. Lieutenant General Kawabe had travelled north to see the situation for himself on 25 May. Several officers whom he interviewed expressed confidence in success if reinforcements could be provided, but actually concealed their losses and the seriousness of the situation. At a meeting between Mutaguchi and Kawabe on 6 June, both used ''haragei'', an unspoken form of communication using gesture, expression and tone of voice, to convey their conviction that success was impossible, but neither of them wished to bear the responsibility of ordering a retreat. Kawabe subsequently became ill with dysentery and perhaps physically unfit for duty. He nevertheless ordered repeated attacks, stating later that Bose was the key to Japan's and India's future.

Mutaguchi ordered the Japanese 31st Division, which had retreated from Kohima when threatened with starvation, to join the 15th Division in a renewed attack on Imphal from the north. Neither division obeyed the order, being in no condition to comply. When he realised that none of his formations were obeying his orders to attack, Mutaguchi finally ordered the offensive to be broken off on 3 July. The Japanese, reduced in many cases to a rabble, fell back to the Chindwin river, abandoning their artillery, transport, and soldiers too badly wounded or sick to walk. The defeat at Kohima and Imphal was the largest defeat to that date in Japanese history. They had suffered 55,000 casualties, including 13,500 dead. Most of these losses were the result of starvation, disease and exhaustion. The Allies suffered 17,500 casualties. Both Kawabe and Mutaguchi were subsequently relieved of command.

In December during a ceremony at Imphal in front of the Scottish, Gurkha and Punjab regiments, Slim and three of his corps commanders (Scoones, Christison and Stopford) were knighted by the viceroy Lord Wavell and invested with their honours: Slim was presented with his insignia as KCB, the others with KBEs.

Air operations at Imphal

By mid-1944, the Allied air forces enjoyed undisputed air supremacy over Burma. The last major effort by the Japanese Army Air Force had been over the Arakan in February and March, when they had suffered severe losses. During the Imphal and Kohima battles, they were able to make barely half a dozen significant raids.

IV Corps enjoyed close air support from fighter-bombers and dive bombers of 221 Group of the RAF. Allied fighter bombers and medium bombers shot up and bombed enemy concentrations, supply dumps, transport, roads and bridges all the way to the Chindwin river. The monsoon in no way diminished their activity. The Third Tactical Air Force (TAF) increased their sortie rate to 24,000 sorties during the worst four months of the monsoon, nearly six times the figure of the previous year’s record.

However, the most important contribution to the Allied victory was made by both British and American transport aircraft. The Allies could fly men, equipment and supplies into the airstrips at Imphal (and Palel also, until the onset of the monsoon rains), so although cut off by land, the town was not without a lifeline. By the end of the battle the Allied air forces 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. Among the supplies carried during the siege were over a millon gallons of fuel, over a thousand bags of mail and 40 million cigarettes. Several thousand mules, many shipped from the Argentine, were used to supply outlying outposts, for example 17th Indian Division up the Bishenpur trail, so animal fodder was also flown in during the siege. Allied aircraft could also parachute ammunition, rations and even drinking water to surrounded units.

At the start of the battle, South East Asia Command had 76 transport aircraft (mainly C-47 Skytrain) available, but many others were dedicated to supplying the Nationalist Chinese under Chiang Kai-Shek, or to establishing USAAF bomber bases in China, via "the hump". Not even Admiral Louis Mountbatten, the Commander-in-Chief, had the authority to commandeer any of these aircraft, but at the crisis of the battle in the middle of March he nevertheless did so, acquiring 20 C-46 Commando (equivalent to another 30 C-47s). He was supported by American officers at SEAC and the American China-Burma-India Theater headquarters.

War cemetery

After the war, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission set up cemeteries in Imphal and Kohima to commemorate the memories of the British and the Indian soldiers who died during the Second World War.

Bibliography

Don Moser and editors of Time-Life Books, ''World War II: China-Burma-India'', (1978), Library of Congress no 77-93742

Notes

External links

Burma Star Association Map

Burma Star Association Japanese invade India

Royal Engineers Museum Engineers at Imphal and Kohima

National Army Museum War in the Far East

No. 1 Squadron, Royal Indian Air Force, Imphal, Assam, 1944

British leaflet dropped post-Imphal in Burma

Battle of Kohima-Imphal animated battle map by Jonathan Webb

Category:World War II operations and battles of the Southeast Asia Theatre Category:History of Manipur Category:Battles and operations of World War II involving India Category:Military history of India during World War II Category:Conflicts in 1944 Category:Military history of Burma during World War II Category:Indian National Army Category:1944 in India Category:Imphal

es:Batalla de Imfal fr:Bataille d'Imphal ja:インパール作戦 pt:Batalha de Imphal zh:英帕尔战役

Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
name	Dr. John
landscape	yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr.
alias	Dr. John CreauxMac Rebennack
birth date	November 21, 1940
origin	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
genre	Blues, rock, New Orleans R&B;
occupation	Vocalist, musician
years active	1950s–present
label	Atco, Blue Note
associated acts	John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
website	http://www.nitetripper.com/
notable instruments	}}

Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. (born November 21, 1940), better known by the stage name Dr. John (also Dr. John Creaux), is an American singer/songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.

Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider prominence in the early 1970s with a wildly theatrical stage show inspired by medicine shows, Mardi Gras costumes and voodoo ceremonies. Rebennack has recorded over 20 albums and in 1973 scored a top-20 hit with the jaunty funk-flavored "Right Place, Wrong Time," still perhaps his best-known song.

The winner of five Grammy awards, Rebennack was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by singer John Legend on Monday, March 14, 2011.

Early life and career

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, his professional musical career began there in the 1950s. He originally concentrated on guitar and he gigged with local bands including Mac Rebennack and the Skyliners, (Paul Staele/Dennis "Bootsie" Cuquet, drums; Earl Stanley, bass; Charlie Miller, trumpet; Charlie Maduell, sax; Roland "Stone" LeBlanc, vocals), Frankie Ford and the Thunderbirds, and Jerry Byrne and the Loafers. He had a regional hit with a Bo Diddley-influenced instrumental called "Storm Warning" on Rex Records in 1959. During these days he was an A&R; man producing, with Charlie Miller, monophonic singles on 45s for Johnny Vincent and Joe Corona for such local labels as ACE, RON, RIC and others. For these sessions he oversaw A&R; and the rhythm section while Miller wrote the horn arrangements and headed up the horns. It was a productive team until Miller decided to move to New York and to study music formally.

Rebennack's career as a guitarist came to an end when his left ring finger was injured by a gunshot while he was defending singer/keyboardist Ronnie Barron, his bandmate, Jesuit High School classmate, and longtime friend. After the injury, Rebennack concentrated on bass guitar before making piano his main instrument; pianist Professor Longhair was an important influence on Rebennack's piano stylings.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1963 where he became a "first call" session musician on the booming Los Angeles studio scene in the 1960s and 1970s, providing backing for Sonny & Cher (and some of the incidental music for Cher's first film, ''Chastity''), and for Canned Heat on their albums ''Living the Blues'' (1968) and ''Future Blues'' (1970), and many other acts.

1968-1971: Dr. John, the Night Tripper

Beginning in the late 1960s, Rebennack gained fame as a solo artist after adopting the persona of "Dr. John, The Night Tripper". Dr. John's act combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues with psychedelic rock and elaborate stage shows that bordered on voodoo religious ceremonies, including elaborate costumes and headdress (reflecting and presumably inspired by Screamin' Jay Hawkins's stage act). The name "Dr. John" came from a legendary Louisiana voodoo practitioner of the early 19th century. On the earliest Dr. John records, the artist billing was "Dr. John, The Night Tripper", while the songwriting credits billed him as "Dr. John Creaux". Within a few years the "Night Tripper" subtitle was dropped, and Rebennack resumed using his real name for writing and producing/arranging credits.

''Gris-Gris'', his 1968 debut album combining voodoo rhythms and chants with the New Orleans music tradition, was ranked 143rd on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Three more albums, 1969's ''Babylon'', 1970's ''Remedies'', and 1971's ''The Sun, Moon, And Herbs'' were released in the same vein of ''Gris-Gris'', but none of them have enjoyed the popularity of his first album.

During early-to-mid-1969, Dr. John toured extensively, backed by supporting musicians Richard "Didymus" Washington (congas), Richard Crooks (drums), David Leonard Johnson (bass), Gary Carino (guitar), and singers Eleanor Barooshian, Jeanette Jacobs from the Cake, and Sherry Graddie. A second lineup formed later in the year for an extensive tour of the East Coast with Crooks and Johnson joined by Doug Hastings (guitar) and Don MacAllister (mandolin). Also in 1969, Dr. John contributed to the ''Music From Free Creek'' "supersession" project, playing on three tracks with Eric Clapton. Washington and Crooks also contributed to the project.

By the time ''The Sun, Moon, and Herbs'' was released, he had gained a notable cult following, including artists such as Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger, who both took part in the sessions for that album. This album would serve as a transition from his Night Tripper voodoo, psychedelic persona to one more closely associated with traditional New Orleans R&B; and funk. His next album, ''Dr. John's Gumbo'', proved to be a landmark recording which is one of his most popular to this day; with drummer Fred Staehle serving as the band's backbone.

1972-1974: ''Gumbo'', ''In the Right Place'', and ''Desitively Bonnaroo''

Along with ''Gris-Gris'', Dr. John is perhaps best known for his recordings during 1972-1974. 1972's ''Dr. John's Gumbo'', an album covering several New Orleans R&B; standards with only one original, is considered a cornerstone in New Orleans music. In his 1994 autobiography, ''Under a Hoodoo Moon'', Dr. John writes, "In 1972, I recorded ''Gumbo'', an album that was both a tribute to and my interpretation of the music I had grown up with in New Orleans in the 1940s and 1950s. I tried to keep a lot of the little changes that were characteristic of New Orleans, while working my own funknology on piano and guitar." The lead single from the album, "Iko Iko", broke into the Billboard top 40 singles chart. In 2003, ''Dr. John's Gumbo'' was ranked number 402 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It also earned a place on ''Offbeat'' magazine's 1999 listing of the Top 100 Louisiana CDs.

With ''Gumbo'', Dr. John expanded his career beyond the psychedelic voodoo music and theatrics that had driven his career since he took on the Dr. John persona, although it has always remained an integral part of his music and identity. It wasn't until 1998's ''Anutha Zone'' that he would again concentrate on this aspect of his music wholly for a full album. "After we cut the new record," he writes, "I decided I'd had enough of the mighty-coo-de-fiyo hoodoo show, so I dumped the Gris-Gris routine we had been touring with since 1967 and worked up a new act—a Mardi Gras revue featuring the New Orleans standards we had covered in ''Gumbo''."

In early 1973 Thomas Jefferson Kaye produced an album featuring a collaboration with Dr John, Mike Bloomfield and John Paul Hammond. This album, ''Triumvirate'', was recorded in Columbia Studios, San Francisco, and Village Recorders, Los Angeles.

In 1973, with Allen Toussaint producing and The Meters backing, Dr. John released the seminal New Orleans funk album, ''In the Right Place''. In the same way that ''Gris-Gris'' introduced the world to the voodoo-influenced side of his music, and in the manner that ''Dr. John's Gumbo'' began his career-long reputation as an esteemed interpreter of New Orleans standards, ''In the Right Place'' established Dr. John as one of the main ambassadors of New Orleans funk. In describing the album, Dr. John states, "The album had more of a straight-ahead dance feel than ones I had done in the past, although it was still anchored solid in R&B.;" It rose to #24 on the Billboard album charts, while the single "Right Place Wrong Time" landed at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. A second single, "Such a Night," peaked at #42. Still in heavy rotation on most classic rock stations, "Right Place Wrong Time" remains his single most recognized song. Artists such as Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, and Doug Sahm contributed single lines to the lyrics, which lists several instances of ironic bad luck and failure.

Dr. John attempted to capitalize on ''In the Right Place'''s successful formula, again collaborating with Allen Toussaint and The Meters for his next album, ''Desitively Bonnaroo'', released in 1974. Although similar in feel to ''In the Right Place'', it failed to catch hold in the mainstream like its predecessor. It would be his last pure funk album until 1994 with ''Television'', although like his voodoo and traditional New Orleans R&B; influences, funk has continued to heavily influence most of his work to the present day, especially in his concerts. While Dr. John stated in an interview during 1990s that he'd like to work with Toussaint again for a full album, this has yet to come to fruition.

In the mid-1970s Dr. John began an almost twenty-year-long collaboration with the R&R; Hall of Fame/Songwriters Hall of Fame writer Doc Pomus to create songs for Dr. John's releases ''City Lights'' and ''Tango Palace'' and for B. B. King's Stuart Levine-produced ''There Must Be a Better World Somewhere'', which won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording in 1982. Dr. John also recorded "I'm On a Roll," the last song written with Pomus prior to Pomus' death in 1991, for the now out-of-print Rhino/Forward Records 1995 tribute to Pomus titled ''Til the Night Is Gone: A Tribute to Doc Pomus'' that also included covers of Pomus-penned songs by Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, Brian Wilson, the Band, Los Lobos, Dion, Rosanne Cash, Solomon Burke and Lou Reed. According to Doc Pomus' daughter, Dr. John and her father were very close friends as well as writing partners; Dr. John delivered one of a number of eulogies and performed with singer Jimmy Scott at Pomus' funeral on March 17, 1991, in New York City.

On Thanksgiving Day 1976 he performed at the farewell concert for the Band, which was filmed and released as ''The Last Waltz''. In 1979, he collaborated with the legendary Professor Longhair on Fess's (another nickname for Henry Byrd) last recording "Crawfish Fiesta" as a guitarist and co-producer. The album was awarded the first W.C. Handy Blues Album of the Year in 1980, and was released shortly after Longhair's death in January, 1980.

Later work

By the mid-1970s, Rebennack began focusing on a blend of music that touched on blues, New Orleans R&B;, Tin Pan Alley standards and more.

In 1975 Dr. John's manager, Richard Flanzer, hired legendary producer Bob Ezrin. "Hollywood Be Thy Name" was recorded live at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California. The studio was transformed into a New Orleans nightclub for the sessions.

In 1981 and 1983 Dr. John recorded two solo piano albums for the Baltimore-based Clean Cuts label. In these two classic recordings Dr. John plays many of his own compositions and demonstrates that he can play boogie woogie masterfully.

He has also been a prominent session musician throughout his career, playing piano on the Rolling Stones' 1972 song "Let It Loose", as well as backing Carly Simon and James Taylor in their duet of "Mockingbird" in 1974 and Neil Diamond on 1976's ''Beautiful Noise''. He also contributed the song "More and More" to Simon's ''Playing Possum'' album. He played on three songs on Maria Muldaur's 1973 solo debut album, including his composition "Three Dollar Bill". He sang on four songs and played piano on two on Maria's 1992 "Louisiana Love Call". He was co-producer on Van Morrison's 1977 album ''A Period of Transition'' and also played keyboards and guitar. He performed on the March 19, 1977 episode of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live''. He played keyboards on the highly successful 1979 solo debut album by Rickie Lee Jones and has toured with Willy DeVille and contributed to his ''Return to Magenta'' (1978), ''Victory Mixture (''1990), ''Backstreets of Desire'' (1992), and ''Big Easy Fantasy'' (1995) albums. His music has been featured in many films including "Such a Night" in ''Colors'' in 1988. In 1992 Dr. John released the album "Goin' Back to New Orleans" which included many classic songs from New Orleans and many great New Orleans based musicians like Aaron Neville, the Neville brothers, Al Hirt and Pete Fountain backed up Dr. John on this album. He performed as the first American artist ever, at the Franco Follies festival '92 located in La Rochelle,France, also including a friend of the Dr. Laramy Smith.

Dr. John has also done vocals for Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits' "Luv dat chicken..." jingle, as well as the theme song ("My Opinionation") for the early-1990s television sitcom ''Blossom''. A version of "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" with Harry Connick, Jr. was released on Connick's album ''20'' and VHS ''Singin' & Swingin''' in 1990.

His movie credits include Martin Scorsese's documentary ''The Last Waltz'' (in which he joins the Band for a performance of his song "Such a Night"), the 1978 Beatles-inspired musical "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", and ''Blues Brothers 2000'' (in which he joins the fictional band the Louisiana Gator Boys to perform the songs "How Blue Can You Get" and "New Orleans"). His version of the Donovan song "Season of the Witch" was also featured in this movie and on the soundtrack.

He also wrote and performed the score for the film version of John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row" released in 1982. In 1993, his hit song "Right Place Wrong Time" was used extensively in the movie ''Dazed and Confused''.

Dr. John has also been featured in several video and audio blues and New Orleans piano lessons published by Homespun Tapes. In addition to the instructional value, there is historical context about many other blues artists. Other documentary film scores include the New Orleans dialect film ''Yeah You Rite!'' (1985) and ''American Tongues'' in 1987.

Between July and September 1989 the "Doctor" toured in the first Ringo Starr and His All-Starr band alongside Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Nils Lofgren, Jim Keltner, Joe Walsh, Billy Preston and Clarence Clemons. The tour produced the 1990 live album ''Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band''. In 1997, he appeared on the charity single version of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day". In the same year, he played piano on the Spiritualized song "Cop Shoot Cop...", from their critically acclaimed album ''Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space''.

He recorded the live album ''Trippin' Live'' with drummer Herman Ernest, David Barard, bass, Tommy Moran, guitar, trumpeter Charlie Miller, tenor Red Tyler, and baritone sax Ronnie Cuber.

In September 2005 he performed Fats Domino's "Walkin' to New Orleans," to close the ''Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast'' telethon. This was for the relief of Hurricane Katrina victims; following the devastation of his hometown of New Orleans.

In November 2005, he released a four-song EP, ''Sippiana Hericane'', to benefit New Orleans Musicians Clinic, Salvation Army, and the Jazz Foundation of America. On February 5, 2006, he joined fellow New Orleans native Aaron Neville, Detroit resident Aretha Franklin and a 150-member choir for the national anthem at Super Bowl XL as part of a pre-game tribute to New Orleans. On February 8, 2006, he joined Allen Toussaint, Bonnie Raitt, The Edge, and Irma Thomas to perform "We Can Can" as the closing performance at the Grammy Awards.

On May 12, 2006, Dr. John recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for ''Live from Abbey Road''. His performance was aired alongside those of LeAnn Rimes and Massive Attack on the Sundance Channel in the USA and Channel 4 in the UK.

On July 30, 2006, Dr. John performed a solo piano benefit for New Orleans composer and arranger Wardell Quezergue (King Floyd's "Groove Me") at a New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund benefit at the Black Orchid Theatre in Chicago. Special guest Mike Mills of R.E.M. was in attendance, along with an all-star funk band.

Dr. John performed the theme music to the Fox drama ''K-Ville''. He also performed and co-produced the theme song for the PBS children's show ''Curious George.''

In 2007, Dr. John accepted an invitation to contribute to ''Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino''. He contributed his version of Domino's "Don't Leave Me This Way".

In January 2008, Mac Rebennack, Dr. John, was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Later, in February, he performed at All-Star Saturday Night, part of the NBA All-Star Weekend hosted by New Orleans.

In the 2009 Disney film ''The Princess and the Frog'', Dr. John sings the opening tune, "Down in New Orleans".

He reigned as King of the Krewe du Vieux for the 2010 New Orleans Mardi Gras season.

Dr. John played keyboards and had a major role in shaping Gregg Allman's 2011 album ''Low Country Blues'' which was produced by T Bone Burnett.

In 2011 he collaborated with Hugh Laurie on the song 'After You've Gone' on his album Let Them Talk

In 2011 Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and The Meters performed the classic album, Desitively Bonnaroo at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee as part of the festival's tenth year celebration. The name of the festival was inspired by the album.

Cover versions

Dr. John's song "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" was covered in 1969 by Marsha Hunt and produced by Tony Visconti; and in July 1970 by Johnny Jenkins, whose supporting musicians included slide guitarist Duane Allman and drummers Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson; Allman also performed on ''Ton Ton Macoute'', the album that contained it. Allman Brothers bass guitarist Berry Oakley also appeared on other tracks on the album). "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" was also covered in the 1970s by Humble Pie on their album ''Performance Rockin' the Fillmore'', and is track 3 on Paul Weller's 1995 album ''Stanley Road''. Widespread Panic and The Allman Brothers Band also perform this song regularly.

Discography

As leader

''Gris-Gris'' (1968) (Atco, SD 33-234)

''Babylon'' (1969)

''Remedies'' (1970) (Atco, SD 33-316)

''The Sun, Moon & Herbs'' (1971) (Atco, SD 33-362)

''Gumbo'' (1972)

''In the Right Place'' (1973) (Atco, SD 7018)

''Desitively Bonnaroo'' (1974) (Atco, SD 7043)

''Hollywood Be Thy Name (1975) (UA-LA552G)

''City Lights'' (1978)

''Tango Palace'' (1979) (Horizon, SP-740)

''Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack Vol. 1'' (1981)

''Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack Vol. 2 (The Brightest Smile in Town)'' (1983)

''In a Sentimental Mood'' (1989)

''ZuZu Man'' (1989) (Trip Records TLP-9518)

''Goin' Back to New Orleans'' (1992)

''Television'' (1994)

''Afterglow'' (1995)

''Trippin Live''

''Anutha Zone'' (1998)

''Duke Elegant'' (2000)

''Creole Moon'' (2001)

''N'Awlinz: Dis Dat or d'Udda'' (2004)

''Sippiana Hericane'' (2005)

''Mercernary'' (2006) (Blue Note 54541)

''The City That Care Forgot'' (2008)

''Tribal'' (2010)

With Bluesiana Triangle

''Bluesiana Triangle'' (Windham Hill, 1990)

''Bluesiana Triangle II'' (Windham Hill, 1991)

Other contributions

''Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band'', Ringo Starr (EMI, 1990), Rykodisc RALP-10190 (CD: Rykodisc RCD-10190)

''Boogie to Heaven'' Gayle Wynters, featuring Dr. John and Roger Kellaway (VWC Records, 1995)

''Perfect Day'' BBC corporate film and charity release in 1997 - featuring, amongst others, Dr John Perfect Day (Lou Reed song)

''Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino'' (Vanguard, 2007) ''Let Them Talk'' (Warner Bros. Records, 2011)

Recognition

Grammy Awards

1989 Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group - Makin' Whoopee

1992 Best Traditional Blues Album - Goin' Back To New Orleans

1996 Best Rock Instrumental Performance - SRV Shuffle

2000 Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals - Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't (My Baby)

2008 Best Contemporary Blues Album - City that Care Forgot

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

2011 Performer

References

Further reading

''Under a Hoodoo Moon: the Life of Dr. John the Night Tripper'' by Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) and Jack Rummel, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. ISBN 0-312-10567-3

External links

Official website

Animated commercials sung by Dr. John

[ Allmusic]

2008 Concert Review

Category:1940 births Category:American blues singers Category:American male singers Category:American blues pianists Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Living people Category:New Orleans R&B; musicians Category:Jesuit High School alumni Category:People from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Boogie-woogie pianists Category:Musicians from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:American session musicians Category:The Wrecking Crew members Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Contemporary blues musicians Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Louisiana Voodoo

cs:Dr. John de:Dr. John es:Dr. John fr:Dr. John nl:Dr. John ja:ドクター・ジョン pt:Dr. John ru:Доктор Джон simple:Doctor John fi:Dr. John sv:Dr. John

Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
Conflict	Italian Wars
Date	1494–1559
Place	Southern and Western Europe
Result	Habsburg victory, Spain becomes the premier European power
Combatant1	France, the Holy Roman Empire, the states of Italy (notably the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the Papal States, the Republic of Florence, and the Duchy of Ferrara), England, Scotland, Spain, the Ottoman Empire, the Swiss, Saxony, and others }}

The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy and sometimes as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western Europe (France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, England, and Scotland) as well as the Ottoman Empire. Originally arising from dynastic disputes over the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples, the wars rapidly became a general struggle for power and territory among their various participants, and were marked with an increasing degree of alliances, counter-alliances, and regular betrayals.

Prelude

Following the Wars in Lombardy between Venice and Milan, which ended in 1454, Northern Italy had been largely at peace during the reigns of Cosimo de' Medici and Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, with the notable exception of the War of Ferrara in 1482-1484.

Spain had promised not to interfere with France's adventures in Italy in return for Roussillon and Cerdagne, which were ceded to Spain under the Treaty of Barcelona of 1493.

The wars

Italian War of 1494–98

Ludovico Sforza of Milan, seeking an ally against the Republic of Venice, encouraged Charles VIII of France to invade Italy, using the Angevin claim to the throne of Naples as a pretext. When Ferdinand I of Naples died in 1494, Charles invaded the peninsula with twenty-five thousand men (including 8,000 Swiss mercenaries), possibly hoping to use Naples as a base for a crusade against the Ottoman Turks. For several months, French forces moved through Italy virtually unopposed, since the ''condottieri'' armies of the Italian city-states were unable to resist them. Their sack of Naples finally provoked a reaction, however, and the League of Venice was formed against them, effectively cutting off Charles's army from France. Despite a tactical victory of French armies against the League at the battle of Fornovo, the formation of the League to his rear forced Charles to withdraw to France, Fornovo itself being merely a successful fighting withdrawal. After initial reverses, most notably the disastrous Battle of Seminara, Ferdinand II of Naples, with the able assistance of the Spanish general Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, reduced the French garrison in the Kingdom of Naples. Ludovico, having betrayed the French at Fornovo, retained his throne until 1499, when Charles's successor, Louis XII of France, invaded Lombardy and seized Milan, to which he had a claim in right of his paternal grandmother Valentina Visconti.

Italian War of 1499–1504

In 1500, Louis, having reached an agreement with Ferdinand II of Aragon to divide Naples, marched south from Milan. By 1502, a combined French and Spanish force had seized control of the kingdom; disagreements about the terms of the partition led to a war between Louis and Ferdinand. By 1503 Louis, having been defeated at the Battle of Cerignola and Battle of Garigliano, was forced to withdraw from Naples, which was left under the control of a Spanish viceroy, General de Córdoba.

War of the League of Cambrai

Meanwhile, Pope Julius II was more concerned with curbing the territorial expansion of the Republic of Venice, and in 1508 formed the League of Cambrai, in which France, the Papacy, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire agreed to restrain the Venetians. Although the League destroyed much of the Venetian army at the Battle of Agnadello in 1509, it failed to capture Padua, and in 1510, Julius, now regarding France as a greater threat, left the League and allied himself with Venice. Following a year of fighting over the Romagna, during which the Veneto-Papal alliance was repeatedly defeated, the Pope proclaimed a Holy League against the French; this rapidly grew to include England, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire.

French forces under Gaston de Foix inflicted an overwhelming defeat on a Spanish army at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512, but Foix was killed during the battle, and the French were forced to withdraw from Italy by an invasion of Milan by the Swiss, who reinstated Maximilian Sforza to the ducal throne. The victorious Holy League fell apart over the subject of dividing the spoils, and in 1513 Venice allied with France, agreeing to partition Lombardy between them.

Louis mounted another invasion of Milan, but was defeated at the battle of Novara, which was quickly followed by a series of Holy League victories against the Venetians at La Motta, the French at Guinegate, and the Scots at Flodden Field. However, the death of Julius left the League without effective leadership, and when Louis' successor Francis I defeated the Swiss at Marignano in 1515, the League collapsed. By the treaties of Noyon and Brussels, the entirety of northern Italy was surrendered to France and Venice.

Italian War of 1521–26

The elevation of Charles of Spain to Holy Roman Emperor, a position that Francis had desired, led to a collapse of relations between France and the Habsburgs and provided Francis I of France with a pretext for starting a general war. The French were outmatched by the Spanish arquebusier tactics, however, and suffered crippling defeats at Bicocca and Sesia against Spanish troops under Fernando de Avalos. With Milan in Imperial hands, Francis personally led a French army into Lombardy in 1525, only to be defeated and captured at the battle of Pavia. With Francis imprisoned in Spain, a series of diplomatic maneuvers centered around his release ensued, including a special French mission sent by Francis' mother Louise of Savoy to the court of Suleiman the Magnificent that would result in an Ottoman ultimatum to Charles—an unprecedented alliance between Christian and Muslim monarchs that would cause a scandal in the Christian world. Suleiman used the opportunity to invade Hungary in the summer of 1526, defeating Charles' allies at the Battle of Mohács; but, despite these efforts, Francis would sign the Treaty of Madrid, surrendering his claims to Italy, Flanders, and Burgundy.

War of the League of Cognac

In 1526, Pope Clement VII, alarmed at the growing power of the Empire, formed the League of Cognac against Charles V, allying himself, the Republic of Venice, Republic of Florence, and a number of smaller Italian states with France. Venice, however, refused to contribute troops; with the withdrawal of French forces from Lombardy, Charles V proceeded to subdue Florence, and, in 1527, sacked Rome itself. Clement was imprisoned by Imperial troops, and offered no further resistance to Charles V. With the conclusion of the Treaty of Cambrai in 1529, which formally removed Francis from the war, the League collapsed; Venice made peace with Charles V, while Florence was placed again under the Medici.

Italian War of 1536–38

The third war between Charles and Francis began with the death of Francesco Maria Sforza, the duke of Milan. When Charles's son Philip inherited the duchy, Francis invaded Italy, capturing Turin, but failed to take Milan. In response, Charles invaded Provence, advancing to Aix-en-Provence, but withdrew to Spain rather than attacking the heavily fortified town of Avignon. The Truce of Nice ended the war, leaving Turin in French hands but effecting no significant changes to the map of Italy.

Italian War of 1542–46

Francis, allying himself with Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire, launched a final invasion of Italy. A Franco-Ottoman fleet under the command of Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa captured the city of Nice in August 1543, and laid siege to the citadel. The defenders were relieved within a month. Commanded by the Count d'Enghien, the French defeated an Imperial army at the Battle of Ceresole in 1544, but failed to penetrate further into Lombardy. Charles V and Henry VIII of England then proceeded to invade northern France, seizing Boulogne and Soissons. A lack of cooperation between the Spanish and English armies, coupled with increasingly aggressive Ottoman attacks, led Charles to abandon these conquests, restoring the status quo once again.

Italian War of 1551–59

In 1551, Henry II of France, who had succeeded Francis to the throne, declared war against Charles with the intent of recapturing Italy and ensuring French, rather than Habsburg, domination of European affairs. An early offensive against Lorraine was successful, but the attempted French invasion of Tuscany in 1553 was defeated at the Battle of Marciano. Charles' abdication in 1556 split the Habsburg empire between Philip II of Spain and Ferdinand I, and shifted the focus of the war to Flanders, where Philip, in conjunction with Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, defeated the French at St. Quentin. England's entry into the war later that year led to the French capture of Calais, and French armies plundered Spanish possessions in the Low Countries; but Henry was nonetheless forced to accept the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, in which he renounced any further claims to Italy.

Aftermath and impact

By the end of the wars in 1559, Habsburg Spain had been established as the premier power of Europe, to the detriment of France. The states of Italy, which had wielded power disproportionate to their size during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, were reduced to second-rate powers or destroyed entirely.

The Italian Wars had a number of consequences for the work and workplace of Leonardo da Vinci; his plans for a "Gran Cavallo" horse statue in 1495 were dropped when the seventy tons of bronze intended for the statue were instead cast into weapons to save Milan. Later, following a chance encounter with Francis I after the Battle of Marignano, Leonardo agreed to move to France, where he spent his final years.

In France, Henry II was fatally wounded in a joust held during the celebrations of the peace. His death led to the accession of his 15-year-old son Francis II, who in turn soon died. The French monarchy was thrown into turmoil, which increased further with the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion in 1562.

Arms and armies

The wars saw the introduction of many significant advances in military technology and tactics, including field artillery, muskets, and combined arms tactics.

Infantry

Infantry underwent profound developments during the Italian Wars, evolving from a primarily pike- and halberd-wielding force to a more flexible arrangement of arquebusiers, pikemen, and other troops. While the early part of the Wars continued to see landsknechts and Swiss mercenaries dominate, the Italian War of 1521 demonstrated the power of massed firearms, leading to their increasingly widespread adoption as the basis of all infantry formations.

Cavalry

Heavy cavalry—the final evolution of the fully-armored medieval knight—remained major players on the battlefields of the Italian Wars. Here, the French gendarmes were generally successful against other nations' mounted troops, owing significantly to their excellent horses.

Artillery

The Italian Wars saw artillery—particularly field artillery—become an indispensable part of any first-rate army. Charles VIII, during his invasion of Italy, brought with him the first truly mobile siege train: culverins and bombards mounted on wheeled carriages, which could be deployed against an enemy stronghold immediately after arrival.

Military leadership

The armies of the Italian Wars were commanded by a wide variety of different leaders, from mercenaries and condottiere to nobles and kings.

Fortification

Much of the fighting during the Italian Wars took place during sieges. Successive invasions forced Italy to adopt increasing levels of fortification, using such new developments as detached bastions, that could withstand sustained artillery fire.

Historiography

The Italian Wars are one of the first major conflicts for which extensive contemporary accounts from people involved in the wars are available, owing largely to the presence of literate—and often extremely well educated—commanders.

Nomenclature

The naming of the component conflicts within the Italian Wars has never been standardized, varying among historians of the period. Some wars may be split or combined differently, causing ordinal numbering systems to be inconsistent among different sources. The wars may be referred to by their dates, or by the monarchs fighting them.

Contemporary accounts

A major contemporary account for the early portion of the Italian Wars is Francesco Guicciardini's ''Storia d'Italia'' (''History of Italy''), written during the conflict, and advantaged by the access Guicciardini had to Papal affairs.

Citations

References

Arfaioli, Maurizio. ''The Black Bands of Giovanni: Infantry and Diplomacy During the Italian Wars (1526–1528)''. Pisa: Pisa University Press, Edizioni Plus, 2005. ISBN 88-8492-231-3.

Arnold, Thomas F. ''The Renaissance at War.'' Smithsonian History of Warfare, edited by John Keegan. New York: Smithsonian Books / Collins, 2006. ISBN 0-06-089195-5.

Baumgartner, Frederic J. ''Louis XII''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. ISBN 0-312-12072-9.

Black, Jeremy. "Dynasty Forged by Fire." ''MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History'' 18, no. 3 (Spring 2006): 34–43. .

———. ''European Warfare, 1494–1660.'' Warfare and History, edited by Jeremy Black. London: Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0-415-27532-6.

Blockmans, Wim. ''Emperor Charles V, 1500–1558''. Translated by Isola van den Hoven-Vardon. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-340-73110-9.

Guicciardini, Francesco. ''The History of Italy''. Translated by Sydney Alexander. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984. ISBN 0-691-00800-0.

Hackett, Francis. ''Francis the First''. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1937.

Hall, Bert S. ''Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe: Gunpowder, Technology, and Tactics''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8018-5531-4.

Knecht, Robert J. ''Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-521-57885-X.

Konstam, Angus. ''Pavia 1525: The Climax of the Italian Wars''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-85532-504-7.

Norwich, John Julius. ''A History of Venice''. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. ISBN 0-679-72197-5.

Oman, Charles. ''A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century''. London: Methuen & Co., 1937.

Phillips, Charles and Alan Axelrod. ''Encyclopedia of Wars''. 3 vols. New York: Facts on File, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-2851-6.

Taylor, Frederick Lewis. ''The Art of War in Italy, 1494–1529''. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1973. ISBN 0-8371-5025-6.

Further reading

Boot, Max. ''War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History: 1500 to Today.'' New York: Gotham Books, 2006. ISBN 1-59240-222-4.

Du Bellay, Martin, Sieur de Langey. ''Mémoires de Martin et Guillaume du Bellay.'' Edited by V. L. Bourrilly and F. Vindry. 4 volumes. Paris: Société de l'histoire de France, 1908–19.

Giovio, Paolo. ''Pauli Iovii Opera.'' Volume 3, part 1, ''Historiarum sui temporis.'' Edited by D. Visconti. Rome: Libreria dello Stato, 1957.

Lot, Ferdinand. ''Recherches sur les effectifs des armées françaises des guerres d'Italie aux guerres de religion, 1494–1562.'' Paris: École Pratique des Hautes Études, 1962.

Monluc, Blaise de. ''Commentaires.'' Edited by P. Courteault. 3 volumes. Paris: 1911–25. Translated by Charles Cotton as ''The Commentaries of Messire Blaize de Montluc'' (London: A. Clark, 1674).

———. ''Military Memoirs: Blaise de Monluc, The Habsburg-Valois Wars, and the French Wars of Religion.'' Edited by Ian Roy. London: Longmans, 1971.

Saulx, Gaspard de, Seigneur de Tavanes. ''Mémoires de très noble et très illustre Gaspard de Saulx, seigneur de Tavanes, Mareschal de France, admiral des mers de Levant, Gouverneur de Provence, conseiller du Roy, et capitaine de cent hommes d'armes.'' Château de Lugny: Fourny, 1653.

Category:Wars involving the states and peoples of Europe Category:15th century in France Category:15th century in Europe Category:16th century in Europe Category:16th century in France Category:15th century in Italy Category:16th century in Italy

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