Burma Campaign: Seizing Imphal and Kohima In World War II

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As signs of an impending Japanese offensive mounted, Slim alerted the Allied air supply organization, realizing that rapid redeployment of troops would be necessary. The Japanese opened their offensive in February 1944 with a stunning tactical surprise, using only one of the Twenty-eighth Army’s two divisions. However, the Allies rallied and were able to frustrate the attack, inflicting a loss of 5,000 men upon the Japanese, whose total force had numbered 8,000. For the first time since December 8, 1941, the Indian army had won an unequivocal victory. It was one of the turning points of the war in Burma.

The focal point of the Japanese offensive then shifted to the plain around Imphal, which is located on the main line of communications between India and Burma. It was strategically important as the advanced base for the maintenance and operation of the Allied land and air forces in the area. It was also the key to the defense of Assam in India. With Imphal in their hands, the Japanese would also be able to interrupt the line of communications to General Joseph Stilwell and the air traffic over the Himalayas to China. It also would give them an advance base from which to conduct air operations of their own against India proper.

Given the complexity of the geography, it is helpful to refer to a map when analyzing the Japanese offensives against Imphal and Kohima. As General Slim pointed out: “The story of the prolonged and hard-fought battle of Imphal-Kohima…is not easy to follow. It swayed back and forth through great stretches of wild country; one day its focal point was a hill named on no map; the next, a miserable, unpronounceable village a hundred miles away.”

Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, the supreme Allied commander in the area, saw the coming Japanese attack as multifaceted and taking the following tacks: “(a) an advance from the Fort White area…in an attempt to cut off 17th Indian Division in the Tiddim area, followed by an advance northward on Imphal; (b) a thrust at the Imphal Plain by a force coming up from Tamu and on up the Palel Road; (c) an advance on Ukhrul, to the north of Imphal; (d) a strike at Kohima, farther north, to cut the Dimapur-Imphal road as a prelude to attacking Dimapur itself.” While the Japanese offensive proceeded westward, its lines of communication and supply became more tenuous in the increasingly rugged terrain.

The opening phase of the offensive began with Lt. Gen. Motozo Yanagida’s 33rd Division advancing in two columns toward the Chin Hills and the town of Tiddim, which is some 8,000 feet above sea level. These positions are south of Imphal on the road leading to the plain. The Indian 17th Division in this area was isolated and understrength, and plans were made to withdraw it as soon as it became apparent that the offensive had begun. However, the British misjudged the timing of the enemy advance, and the division was threatened with annihilation.

While the invasion began on March 7, the withdrawal from Tiddim did not start until March 15, and by that time the Japanese were astride the line of retreat. The British 37th and 49th brigades, attacking from the north along the road, enabled the Allies to push aside the Japanese blocking positions. This opened up an escape route as well as enabled badly needed food, ammunition and medicine to get through to the retreating 17th Division. With the Japanese still in pursuit, the British eventually reached the Imphal Plain. It had taken them three weeks at a cost of about 1,200 casualties. But it was only half a victory for the Japanese, since General Yanagida’s goal was to stop the 17th Division from taking any further part in the defense of Imphal.

General Slim had decided to concentrate the IV Corps on the Imphal Plain to engage Mutaguchi and his Fifteenth Army, which initiated the central Japanese thrust. This army also moved across the Chindwin River more rapidly than the British had expected. The Tiddim road in the south was not the only thoroughfare westward that the Japanese could use. There were two others: in the southeast from Tamu over the Shenam Pass, and from the northeast down the track from Ukhrul. The British 20th Division, under Maj. Gen. Douglas Gracey, guarded the road from Tamu. The Japanese force, commanded by Maj. Gen. Seiei Yamamoto, consisted of a regiment of the 33rd Division with two tank battalions and some artillery in support. It moved northwest up the valley to attack Gracey’s right flank. Contact was made on March 14, and in accordance with prearranged plans, the 20th Division pulled back, barring the way to Imphal. Although the Japanese continued to advance, the British dug in along Tengnoupal Ridge and effectively blocked the road to the plain behind them.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, World War II