The Battle Of Kohima 1944

• published: 20 Jan 2015
• views: 7

Sole Trader Websites - £50 complete - https://sites.google.com/site/magicwebsitefreetrial/ Second World War clashes named as 'Greatest British Battle' The twin Second World War clashes of Imphal and Kohima have been named as the greatest ever battle involving British forces. By Jasper Copping 7:52PM BST 20 Apr 2013 461 Comments The two victories over the Japanese, which took place in the same region of north east India over the same period in 1944, were voted the winner of a contest run by the National Army Museum to identify “Britain’s Greatest Battle”. Taken as a single victory, Imphal-Kohima was on a shortlist of five battles which topped a public poll and on Saturday, they were selected as the ultimate winner by an audience of more than 100 guests at a special event at the museum, in Chelsea, west London. Imphal-Kohima received almost half of all votes. In second place was D-Day and Normandy, in 1944 (25 per cent), ahead of Waterloo, in 1815, (22 per cent), Rorke’s Drift, during the Zulu War in 1879 (three per cent), and Aliwal, during the First Sikh War in 1846 (two per cent). At the event, each contender had their case made by a historian giving a 40 minute presentation. The audience, who had paid to attend the day, then voted in a secret ballot after all five presentations had been made. The case for Imphal and Kohima was made by Dr Robert Lyman, an author and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Related Articles Normandy veterans prepare for last act of remembrance 29 Jan 2014 Nazis ‘offered to leave western Europe' in 1941 26 Sep 2013 Winston Churchill's speeches were overrated and some 'went down badly' 20 Aug 2013 Bomber Command veteran attacks 'mean' award snub 11 Jun 2013 D-Day: How technology can bring history to life 05 Jun 2013 Japan opens old wounds with China 14 May 2013 “I had thought that one of the bigger names like D-Day or Waterloo would win so I am delighted that Imphal-Kohima has won. You have got to judge the greatness of a battle by its politcal, cultural and social impact, as much as its military impact. “Imphal and Kohima were really significant for a number of reasons, not least that they showed that the Japanese were not invincible and that that they could be beaten, and beaten well. The victories demonstrate this more than the US in the Pacific, where they were taking them on garrison by garrison.” The contest aimed to gauge the battles in terms of their historical impact and the tactics employed. The battles of Imphal and Kohima saw the British and Indian forces, under the overall command of Lieutenant-General William Slim, repel the Japanese invasion of India and helped turned the tide of the war in the Far East. Some veterans of the battles and historians have felt the victories have since been overlooked, partly because the invasion of Europe, starting with D-Day, took place while they were still being fought. The fight for Imphal went on longer than that for Kohima, lasting from March until July. Kohima was smaller in scale, and shorter, from April to June - but the fighting was so intense it has been described as the Stalingrad of the East. In one sector, only the width of the town’s tennis court separated the two sides. When on 18 April the relief forces of the British 2nd Division arrived, the defensive perimeter was reduced to a shell-shattered area only 350 metres square. The Japanese, who fought alongside some Indian nationalists, eventually lost 53,000 dead and missing in the battles. The British forces sustained 12,500 casualties at Imphal while the fighting at Kohima cost them another 4,000 casualties. There are several memorials to the British and Indian troops who fought in the area, including one with an inscription that has become famous as the ‘Kohima Epitaph’. It reads: “When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today’ After their defensive victory, the British went on to clear the Japanese from Burma. The format for the contest - an online poll followed by a closed vote - was devised by the National Army Museum to avoid orchestrated bloc voting, reducing the risk that a battle could win simply thanks to an organised campaign by a specific part of the community or a national group. A similar contest, held by the museum last year, to identify Britain’s “greatest foe”, saw a surge of online support for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, after it was featured on a Turkish website. The Turkish leader topped the first poll, before the contest was eventually won, after the debate stage, by George Washington. Imphal and Kohima came fifth in the online vote, which was topped by Waterloo. To read more please go to the original acticle at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10008053/Second-World-War-clashes-named-as-Greatest-British-Battle.html