Battle of Kohima and Imphal World war 2 Forgotten martyrs

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• published: 22 Jun 2014
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Netaji subhas Chandra bose Battle Indian National Army Battle of Kohima and Imphal World war 2 Forgotten Indians Netaji subhas Chandra bose Battle Indian National Army On 7 December 1941 the Japanese attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbour and later declared war on Britain and the United States. In the days and weeks that followed the Japanese invaded European colonies across East Asia, including the British territories of Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore and Burma. The purpose of these campaigns was to create a fortified perimeter around a self-sufficient Japan, which could be defended until the Allies tired of the war. The British had long thought a Japanese land invasion of Burma unlikely so its defences had been neglected. When the attack began in January 1942 the British position quickly deteriorated and by early March the capital Rangoon and its vital port had been lost. As the Japanese pushed northwards, the surviving Allied troops under General Sir Harold Alexander carried out a five-month fighting retreat to India across 1,000 miles (1,600km) of difficult terrain. In November 1943 a new phase of the war in the Far East began with the formation of South East Asia Command (SEAC) under Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten. SEAC replaced India Command in control of operations and under its leadership the prosecution of the war took on a new energy. Previously, British troops had fallen back when the Japanese cut their lines of communication, and operations had practically ceased during the monsoon. Now the policy was to stand firm and rely on air supply when cut off, and to fight on through the harshest conditions. In March 1944 the Japanese 15th Army began an advance against India's north-east frontier to forestall a planned British invasion of Burma. They intended to capture the British supply bases on the Imphal Plain and cut the road linking Dimapur and Imphal at Kohima. With Imphal in their hands, the Japanese would also be able to interrupt air supplies to China. It would also give them a base from which to conduct air attacks against India. A Japanese diversionary attack in the Arakan was defeated at the battle of the Admin Box, but in early April the troops at Kohima and Imphal were surrounded.