Kohima 1944: The battle that saved India

(Paperback)

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In March 1944 the Japanese Army launched Operation U-Go, an attack on Assam in India intended to inspire a rising against British rule. A month earlier the Japanese had launched Operation Ha-Go, which was intended as a feint to draw British attention away from the Imphal area. But British forces employed new defensive techniques to counter the Japanese infiltration tactics. These tactics were again employed on a larger scale when Imphal and Kohima were surrounded during Operation U-Go. Kohima took place in two stages. From 3 to 16 April the Japanese attempted to capture Kohima Ridge. As the small garrison held out against fierce and repeatedly desperate attempts by the Japanese 31st Division to destroy them, so the British 2nd Division fought to break through and relieve them. Then for over two months British and Indian troops counter-attacked to drive the Japanese from the positions they had already captured. The battle ended on June 22 when British and Indian troops from Kohima and Imphal met at Milestone 109, thus ending the siege.

Reviews

"Author Robert Lyman covers all of the details of the battle very well, and it's obvious he has gone to great lengths to research the battle that covers all aspects of the battle. Anyone interested in World War Two battles in the Pacific Theater, or the Allied and Axis forces fighting there will find this book very informative and interesting." --Randy Harvey, AeroScale

Author Bio

Robert Lyman is the author of Campaign 165: Iraq 1941 (2006). He has also written Slim, Master of War (Constable, 2004), First Victory (Constable, 2006) and The Generals: From Defeat to Victory in Asia, 194145 (Constable, 2008), the latter of which deals in detail with the man responsible for the Japanese invasion of India in 1944, Mutaguchi Renya. Roberts latest book, The Longest Siege, Tobruk. The Battle that Saved North Africa (Macmillan) was published simultaneously in Australia and the UK in May 2009. His The Battle for India: Imphal, Kohima and the Japanese Invasion, 1944 is being published by Pen and Sword in 2011 and Operation Suicide, The True Story of the Cockleshell Raid is being published by Quercus in 2012. His biopic on Field Marshal Bill Slim will be published as part of the Osprey Command series in 2011. Robert is also the Chairman of the Kohima Educational Trust (www.kohimaeducationaltrust). Peter Dennis was born in 1950. Inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn he studied Illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects, including many Osprey titles. A keen wargamer and modelmaker, he is based in Nottinghamshire, UK.