Battles of Imphal and Kohima

After Japanese forces conquered much of Burma in 1942, Allied troops retreated into India. In March 1944, the Japanese Fifteenth Army advanced into north-east India as part of the U-Go offensive. Its aims included capturing the Allied base at Imphal and cutting the road linking Imphal with Dimapur through Kohima. Imphal, the capital of Manipur, was an important supply base; Kohima, in present-day Nagaland, guarded a key route to it.

The Japanese advance isolated the garrison at Kohima and placed Imphal under siege. At Kohima, the defenders held a small perimeter on Garrison Hill through intense fighting in April, including close combat near the Deputy Commissioner’s bungalow tennis court. Reinforcements reached Kohima on 18 April. Fighting continued as Allied forces gradually cleared the road south. On 22 June, troops from Kohima linked up with the besieged IV Corps at Imphal, restoring the overland connection between the two positions.

The Allies relied on air supply to sustain isolated forces and move reinforcements. The National Army Museum records that the Royal Air Force flew nearly 19,000 tons of supplies and more than 12,000 personnel into the Imphal area during the battle, while evacuating about 13,000 casualties. These figures illustrate the scale of logistical support that helped the defenders hold out. With its advance stalled and supply lines strained, the Japanese command ordered the offensive broken off in July. The defeat in north-east India preceded the Fourteenth Army’s return to Burma.

The Imphal and Kohima battles are often treated together because the Japanese plan linked the two objectives and the relief of one depended on the other. The National Army Museum describes the Japanese defeat as decisive and as a springboard for the subsequent Allied reconquest of Burma. The Australian War Memorial’s London branch likewise characterizes the battles as a turning point in the Burma campaign. The campaign involved British and Indian formations and a wider multinational Allied effort; its outcome rested on defensive resistance, reinforcements, air supply and the Japanese force’s logistical difficulties.