Battle of Kohima
The Battle of Kohima was a battle of the Burma Campaign in World War II, fought around the town of Kohima in northeast India from April 4 to June 22 1944. The battle started with a siege of British forces by the Japanese Army between April 4 and April 18 1944. The relief and clearance of Kohima began on April 18 and ended on June 22 when British and Indian troops from Kohima and Imphal met at Milestone 110, formally ending the sieges of Imphal and Kohima.
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The siege
During the siege some of the heaviest fighting took place around the deputy commissioner's bungalow and tennis court. This was the high point of the Japanese advance into India and has become known as the battle of the Tennis Court.
The relief of Kohima
With the opening of the road between Dimapur and Kohima the siege of Kohima ended. The 2nd Division and troops from XXXIII Corps were able to move into the area and support the counterattack, which began in early May.
The task of the 2nd Division, 33rd and 161st Indian Brigades was to clear the Japanese forces stationed around Kohima and open the road to Imphal. At first this was done with heavy fighting from dugout to dugout around the Kohima ridge. For the soldiers involved it was very similar to the fighting which had taken place during the siege, as it involved attack and Japanese counter attack as opposed to the earlier Japanese attack and Allied counter attack. This phase is often included as part of the battle of the tennis court. Over time, the British, Indian and Gurkha troops gained the upper hand, forcing the Japanese 31st Division to begin a withdrawal by mid-May.
As Japanese troops were cleared from the area, additional British and Indian units from XXXIII Corps were moved into the area to reinforce and relieve members of the 2nd Division and 33rd and 161st Indian Brigades. Strengthened by reinforcements, the 2nd Division and other units began to clear the Japanese from the Kohima-Imphal road, so that the siege of Imphal could be lifted. There was more heavy fighting, but eventually the Japanese troops were cleared from the road. British and Indian troops from Kohima and Imphal met at Milestone 110 on 22 June, formally ending the sieges of Imphal. The opening of the road between Kohima and Imphal was also part of the battle of Imphal.
Aftermath
The British and Indian forces had lost around 4,000 men, dead, missing and wounded. The Japanese had lost more than 7,000 men in the Kohima area fighting.
This battle was ultimately to prove to be the turning point of the Burma Campaign. Earl Louis Mountbatten described it as "probably one of the greatest battles in history... in effect the Battle of Burma... naked unparalleled heroism... the British/Indian Thermopylae".
RAF supply
At both Kohima and Imphal, the army was entirely reliant on supply by the Royal Air Force (RAF) until the road from Dimapur was cleared. At Kohima the main problem was dropping of air delivered logistics accurately on to the narrow ridgelines.
By the end of the battle the RAF had flown 19,000 tons of supplies and 12,000 men into Kohima and Imphal, and flown out 13,000 casualties and 43,000 non-combatants.
The increasing dominance of the RAF by this stage of the Burma Campaign was a major contributor in helping the Allies turn the tide of the war in this theatre.
Victoria Cross
Two Victoria Crosses were awarded during the battle:
- Lance Corporal John Pennington Harman, 4th Battalion, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, 161st Indian Infantry Brigade, 5th Indian Division
- Temporary captain John Neil Randle, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment, 2nd Division
War memorial
Inscribed on the war memorial at Kohima, which is near the tennis court, is the well known epitaph
- When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today