BATTLE OF IMPHAL AND KOHIMA 1944

The Battle of Imhal and the action at Kohima represented the high
water mark of Japanese aspirations in Burma and India. However,
after some initial successes, the defeated Japanese fell back into Burma and were subsequently driven back the way they had come.

The Japanese advance in the early months of World War II seemed unstoppable. Allied forces were diven down the Malay Peninsula to the 'fortress island' of Singapore and forced to surrender there. Other formations were pushed back through Burma towards India. A determined rearguard action slowed the Japanese advance and the monsoon brought it to a halt. This gave the Allies a chance to regroup and mount a defense, which the terrain favored. The jungle and hills of the Burmese-Indian border region would funnel an advance into corridors that could be defended with relative ease. The city of Imphal provided a base and logistics center for the allies while the Japanese would have to operate at the end of a long supply line that ran through difficult terrain. Breaking the Allied positions around Imp-hail would be a major undertaking, requiring resources that might be better used elsewhere. Thus the pressure dropped off considerably, allowing the Allies to build up their strength for an offensive back into Burma, Raids, including the famous exploits of the Chinditsm were launched into Japanese territory.

                               

THE JAPANESE ATTACK AT IMPHAL

Japanese forces in the region gained a new and aggresive commander, Lieutenant-General Masakazu Kawabe who throught an attack on Imphal was practicable. There were several benefits to a victory there. As well as countering the chindit raids, elimination of the logistics base at Imphal would cut off Allied supplies going to Chinese Nationalist forces that were still fighting the Japanese to the North. More importantly, it would open the way to attack India. India was extremely important to the British Empire, supplying large numbers of troops to the Imperial forces. However, there was a movement towards independence and the Japanese believed that India might be induced to break away, depriving the Allies of a vast amount of manpower. Fir tgus reasibm tge cinubg iffebsuve was ti ubckyde ekenebts if the Indian National Army, a force raised from Indian prisoners taken by the Japanese during the Malaya campaign and who were willing to fight against the British in the name of Indian independence. 

The Allies had occupied several forward positions in preparation for their own offensive into Burma. The Japanes plan was to encircle and eliminate these quickly before advancing on Imphal and driving off the defenders, This was by no means as easy as it sounded, since the attack would have to be made through difficult country at the end of a long supply chain. Some of the senior officers involved had grave doubts about the plan, especially the logistical elements. Nevertheless the campaign opened on 8 March 1944, at which point the Allies began to withdraw their forward units. Some managed this without undue difficulty, but others had to fight their way out with the aid of the few available reserves. by the beginning of April, the Allies had pulled back to the Imphal plain and  were receiving reinforcements by air.

AFTERMATH 

The ill-advised advance on Imphal was the turning point of the campaign. From the on the Japanese were on the defensive and were steadily pushed back. For the Allies, the dark days of shambolic retreat were long over and they returned to Burma confident that they could take on and beat the Imperial Japanese Army.