The Battlefields of Imphal

by Hemant Singh Katoch

In 1944, the British Fourteenth Army and the Japanese Fifteenth Army clashed around the town of Imphal, Manipur, in North East India in what has since been described as one of the greatest battles of the Second World War. Over 200,000 soldiers from several nations fought in the hills and valley of Manipur on the India–Burma (Myanmar) frontier. This book is the first systematic mapping of the main scenes of the fighting in the critical Battle of Imphal. It connects the present with the past and links what exists today in Manipur with what happened there in 1944. The events were transformative for this little-known place and connected it with the wider world in an unparalleled way. By drawing on oral testimonies, written accounts and archival material, this book revisits the old battlefields and tells the untold story of a place and people that were perhaps the most affected by the Second World War in India. The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of military history, especially the Second World War, defence and strategic studies, area studies, and North East India.

Genres: India

202 pages, Paperback

Published January 10, 2018

Reviews

[Randhir · Rating 4 out of 5]

It becomes very clear once one starts reading this book that Hemant Katoch has done a thorough job in studying the battlefields of World War 2 around Imphal. It was here that the Japanese conquering tide was arrested and finally rolled back in three hard fought months of 1944. The Battles of Imphal - Kohima are considered amongst the four greatest battles of the War. I got fully immersed into the book more so as my father was a part of the Retreat from Tiddim and was amongst the soldiers till Apr/ May when the Japanese offensive was arrested. The severe trials took a toll on him and he was eventually evacuated from Korengai suffering from severe dysentery. I myself served in the area for two years at the height of the Insurgency and came to know Bishenpur and its environs rather well. An effort to reach Mortar Bluff through the secondary jungles was backbreaking and we barely covered 800 yds in an hour. More the reason one can only be filled with admiration for those who fought pitilessly here. The Japanese soldier was a master of tactics and the manner in which he infiltrated through the Bishenpur defences fills one with admiration. I also admire the Author who painstakingly walked the trails and took photographs of all the features, that too in the teeth of an incipient insurgency. That be said he has been badly let down by his publishers, Routledge and their South Asia Edition. The map is indecipherable even with a magnifying glass, while the quality of photographs, so painstakingly assembled by the Author, have been grossly subverted. The Author brings out the battles along each of the axes leading into Imphal. It's apparent that the protagonists gave no quarter. However, because the allies had air superiority the edge was theirs, though it was still a close run thing. On each axis the role of the INA is sympathetically covered by Katoch. His is a mighty effort and his recommendations, at the end, are worth implementing. For as the saying goes, those who ignore history are bound to repeat it. This is a pioneering effort and deserves all encouragement.