Not Ordinary Men: The Story of the Battle of Kohima

by John Colvin

Having driven the British and Indian Forces out of Burma in 1942, General Mutaguchi, Commanding the 15th Japanese Army, was obsessed by the conquest of India. In 1944 the British 14th Army, under its commander General Slim, drew back to the Imphal Plain, before MutaguchiÕs impending offensive.

To the north, however, the entire Japanese 31 Division had crossed the Chindwin and, on April 5, arrived at the hill-station and road junction of Kohima, cutting off Imphal except by air, from the supply point at Dimpapur.

Kohima was initially manned by only 266 men of the Assam Regiment and a few hundred convalescents and administrative troops. They were joined, on April 5, by 440 men of the Fourth Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment, straight from the Battle of Arakan.

In pouring rain, under continual bombardment, this tiny garrison held the assaults of thirteen thousand Japanese troops in hand-to-hand combat for sixteen days, an action described by Mountbatten as "probably one of the greatest battles in history ... in effect the Battle of Burma, naked, unparalleled heroism, the British/Indian Thermopylae".

Genres: World War II

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1994

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does a good job writing an after-battle analysis of the siege at Kohima. It is written in the rather dry style of British officers. I got an idea of the importance of the battle. I think the facts were likely thoroughly researched. Personally, I was not a fan of the author's style and thought the telling was a bit muddled.

Not a bad book, just a bit tediously presented.

[Michael Schaenzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that I wanted to read after learning a little of the stand the British soldiers made against an overwhelmingly superior Japanese force.

Portions of the book did a fairly good job of describing some of the horror of the battles, especially around the tennis court.

Unfortunately, the flow of the narrative was constantly interrupted. I pictured the stereotype old British soldier pontificating about the most insignificant things such as describing in detail what the different soldiers had for breakfast.

On occasion locations were named that were not referenced on any of the maps. Not to mention different names for the same locations were used many times. More detailed map(s) with the units that occupied the areas would have been very helpful.

[Freddie Gay · Rating 3 out of 5]

An awesome overview of a forgotten battle in a forgotten campaign that was the turning point for the British and Commonwealth in Burma - resolute men being stripped down to skeletons fighting and living simply wins wars and builds morale

[Ian Hallam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history of the sixteen day Battle of Kohima where less than a thousand British and Commonwealth soldiers held off over thirteen thousand Japanese who were intent on advancing from Burma into India.
It is inspiring how the British and commonwealth troops held off so many massed attacks by the fanatical Japanese army.