Battle of Imphal

The Battle of Imphal was a military engagement of the WW2 Burma Campaign. It was fought between the British 14th Army, under William Slim, and the Imperial Japanese forces, led by General Renya Mutaguchi from April 4 to July 3, 1944, in and around Imphal, Burma. The fighting was bloody and vicious, with the Japanese attacking in waves and the British launching counterattacks to secure and close the breaches in the front line. The result was an Allied victory as it was the last Nipponese attempt to fully control this portion of Southeast Asia.

Background

The Japanese invasion of Burma had begun in February 1942, under the overall command of General Shojiro Iida. The attack had originally been launched from French-Indochina (Vietnam), and it had gone across southern Thailand in early January 1942. By mid February, the IJ Army had made its way into Burma from the south, overwhelming and defeating every Allied positions. By March 1942, the Japanese forces had been able to capture and secure Rangoon, the capital of Burma, as General Harold Alexander, the commander of the British troops in the country, ordered a general evacuation and the destruction of the oil rigs and refineries.

After the British retreated back into India, the Allies immediately began planning a series of military operations to retake Burma. This Allied counteroffensive would be known as the Burma Campaign. The main purpose of this military campaign, which started in 1943, was to open a supply road to China to provide the Chinese forces fighting against the Japanese with weapons and ammunition. However, in March 1944, the Japanese 15th Army launched a massive counteroffensive to drive the Allied forces back into India. As a result, the British commanders deployed the 14th Army to stop this advance. Meanwhile, the Chindits and Merrill's Marauders operated behind enemy lines.

Summary

The Battle of Imphal began on April 4, 1944, when the Japanese 15th Army cut off the British 14th Army positions at Kohima, breaching the front line at several points. The commander, General William Slim, had expected the Japanese advance to be massive. However, the speed of the enemy advance was so fast that his men were taken by surprise. The British reacted quickly, however, and managed to reinforce and stabilize the front.

Between April 7 and 18, relentless Japanese attacks rolled over the British garrison at Kohima. At that moment, the British 5th Brigade, 2nd Division, pushed through the roadblock to Zubza to reinforce the defenders. Then, together with the 4th Brigade, the 5th Brigade began a pincers movement designed to trap the Japanese. Meanwhile, the British IV Corps, which had been reinforced, managed to counterattack and secure Imphal, which had temporarily fallen in Japanese hands, advancing well beyond the city northern outskirts.

As the men of the IV Corps struggled to hold the front line around Imphal, they were supplied by air, with parachute drops. The Japanese siege of Imphal would last 88 days, with the British and Indian forces fighting fiercely against waves after waves of Japanese attacks. During this time, the IV Corps would massively be reinforced with several thousand additional men from the 5th and 23rd Indian Division. By June 22, units from the 2nd Division had managed to join the IV Cops at milestone 107, half way between Kohima and Imphal.

Finally, General Renya Mutaguchi ordered his men to retreat on July 3, 1944, as the Japanese had run out of ammunition and food. The Chindits and Marauders had wreaked havoc on the enemy supply lines. At the end of the Battle of Imphal, the Japanese had suffered 65,000 casualties.

Above, map showing the British positions at the end of the Battle of Imphal.

Map of Souteast Asia showing the location of Burma. Notice the French-Indochina territory was also in the hands of the Japanese.