In March 1944, the Japanese 15th Army invades British controlled India during Operation U-Go. Japanese commander General Renya Mutaguchi was initially against such an invasion but comes to see it as not only a way in which Japan could win the Second World War but a chance for him to win personal glory on the battlefield.
For the Japanese to control the area near the Indian-Burmese border, they need to capture crucial Allied supply hubs in northeast India to sustain their advance as they have limited supplies. The Allied forces must hold important hubs such as Imphal and Kohima to stop the Japanese advance into India. If the Japanese take these supply hubs, it could have massive strategic consequences for not only the Second World War but for British control of India itself.
The fighting will be fierce as British, Indian, and Gurkha units face off against the Japanese at places that will become famous such as the Tennis Court, the Bungalow, and Scraggy Hill.
Thanks to:
Robert Lyman, retired British Army officer, historian, and author of Japan’s Last Bid for Victory: The Invasion of India, 1944; and Kohima 1944: The battle that saved India. He is the co-host, along with Jack Bowsher, of The Forgotten War Podcast about the Burma Campaign of World War 2.
Jack Bowsher, historian and author of Thunder Run: Meiktila 1945 and Forgotten Armour: Tank Warfare in Burma. He is the other co-host of The Forgotten War Podcast.
Listen to The Forgotten War Podcast: Burma Campaign WW2 here: https://open.spotify.com/show/638ufiXTIRidEheXE1ELfu?si=f0f0a2b888fd43b8
","author_name":"The Operations Room"}