Burma Campaign: Seizing Imphal and Kohima In World War II

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The heights around Kohima gradually fell to the Japanese, and the enemy was able to effectively attack the British garrison and any relieving columns trying to reach it. As the battle progressed, supplies ran short and the village had to be supplied by air. Water was an acute need. The British were gradually forced into a tiny area that was to become famous in this bloody battle as “Summerhouse Hill.” As Slim recalled: “Luckily, Sato continued to limit himself to frontal attacks on Kohima, first by day and then, as the toll exacted by the garrison and by the swift retaliation of our aircraft in daylight proved too high even for Japanese stomachs, by night. Throughout the day and in the intervals between these night attacks, the enemy artillery, mortars, and machine guns hammered relentlessly at our positions.” Kohima’s ordeal had entered its third week before the first reinforcements could reach it, crawling in on April 18 via the only gully that gave access to the garrison. Finally, the Royal Berkshire Regiment marched into Kohima and ended the siege. A strange scene greeted the liberators. Parachutes hung from every other tree. Not a building in Kohima was left undamaged, and most were mere rubble or ashes. The dead lay unburied, and little squads of grimy and bearded riflemen stared blankly at the relieving troops.

Still, the battle was far from finished. At that point the Japanese launched additional furious all-out efforts to capture the town. Royal Air Force bombers smashed two of their assaults, and a final attack was also repelled. Eventually, the enemy was driven from the heights, and the Allies gained full control of the area. The battle cost the Japanese 4,000 dead. Now that Kohima had held and Dimapur was no longer threatened, Slim could give his attention to the situation at Imphal, which had been under siege since April 5, when the Japanese cut the Kohima-Imphal road. Earlier, he had diverted troops from Imphal to the Kohima area. However, his optimism was reflected in his evaluation: “Imphal was in no danger of falling.” Lieutenant General Sir Geoffrey Scoones, commander of the IV Corps located in the Imphal area, had laid out his defenses so that he could react to threats from all points of the compass.

The small town lay in the middle of a natural bowl measuring 20 to 30 miles in diameter, surrounded by high, forested hills providing excellent viewpoints for observers, who could see any movement on the open plain below. General Slim pointed out: “Like unevenly spaced spokes of a wheel, six routes were covered on the Imphal Plain: (1) From the north, the broad Kohima road, (2) Also from the north, the footpath down the Iril River Valley, (3) From the northeast, the Ukhrul road, (4) From the southeast, the tarmac Tamu-Palel road, (5) From the south, the rugged Tiddim highway, and (6) From the west, the Silchar-Bishenpur track.”

The northern sector of the perimeter was held by the Indian 5th Division. It met the first Japanese attack at Imphal, which came from the north with the seizure of the commanding heights of Nungshigum. Whoever held this summit possessed the key to Imphal. If the main all-weather airfield, which lay nearby, was captured or rendered useless by artillery fire, that would gravely affect the air supply to the IV Corps. Finally, the British were able to wrest control of the vital summit from the enemy and continued on to capture the remaining heights.

General Gracey’s 20th Division in the Palel area faced the problem of defending 25 miles of frontage in difficult terrain, spread over several hundred miles of broken, hilly country, ideal for patrolling by the Japanese. Gracey deployed his brigades so that they held the higher points for good observation and endeavored to deter Japanese penetration. Even so, at times the enemy threatened to break through. General Yamamoto, commanding the 33rd Division’s infantry group, was well supported by artillery as he pushed up the main Palel road, and the battle raged between April 4 and 10. When the Japanese finally withdrew, the 20th Division had yielded only two miles of ground and successfully held another series of hilltops, known as Crete West and Scraggy.

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