Fighting Through to Kohima

Fighting Through to Kohima PDF Author: Michael Lowry
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1844158020
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
This author is extraordinarily lucky to be alive! All those who read this splendid Second World War memoir will doubtless come to the same view. After joining up in 1939 with the Queen's Royal Regiment the Author was posted to the North West Frontier of India where he cut his teeth chasing Pathan tribesman bandit gangs for two years. This was exciting enough but only a taste of what was to come. The Japanese advance into Burma threatened India and along with many thousands of British and Colonial troops Lowry found himself fighting in the Arakan region. Conditions were appalling and the fighting was extremely bitter by any standards. His Battalion was cut off by the Japs for three weeks but refused to surrender yet even worse was to come as the Battalion was thrown into the thick of the action at Kohima which is rated as the most desperate defensive action for the campaign. In one week 173 members of this Battalion were lost. Lowry himself was seriously wounded when a Japanese officer dropped out of a tree onto him. All this is vividly described in this fascinating and inspiring book.

Fighting Through to Kohima

Fighting Through to Kohima PDF Author: Michael Lowry
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1844158020
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Get Book Here

Book Description
This author is extraordinarily lucky to be alive! All those who read this splendid Second World War memoir will doubtless come to the same view. After joining up in 1939 with the Queen's Royal Regiment the Author was posted to the North West Frontier of India where he cut his teeth chasing Pathan tribesman bandit gangs for two years. This was exciting enough but only a taste of what was to come. The Japanese advance into Burma threatened India and along with many thousands of British and Colonial troops Lowry found himself fighting in the Arakan region. Conditions were appalling and the fighting was extremely bitter by any standards. His Battalion was cut off by the Japs for three weeks but refused to surrender yet even worse was to come as the Battalion was thrown into the thick of the action at Kohima which is rated as the most desperate defensive action for the campaign. In one week 173 members of this Battalion were lost. Lowry himself was seriously wounded when a Japanese officer dropped out of a tree onto him. All this is vividly described in this fascinating and inspiring book.

Burma Victory

Burma Victory PDF Author: David Rooney
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782006109
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
In the final years of World War II, the campaign against Japan stepped up in a series of bloody battles with each side having much to lose. While much of the history of the period focuses on the Pacific Campaign and the American island hopping, this book studies the 'forgotten war' and the Allied fight to push the Japanese out of Burma. The Allies (British, American, Indian and Chinese soldiers) saw the battles of Imphal and Kohima as a way to avenge the crushing defeats of 1942, while the Japanese viewed the battles as the precursor to a victorious drive into India and domination of Asia. David Rooney examines the aims of both sides alongside the battles themselves, which secured victory in Burma, and the roles of Wingate, Stilwell and the Chindits. Following the defeats of 1942 the Allies re-emerged to fight the Japanese; their troops had seen a revival of morale with the new Fourteenth Army under General Slim and the development of new tactics and and Allied air and firepower superiority.

Springboard to Victory

Springboard to Victory PDF Author: C E Lucas Phillips
Publisher: Sapere Books
ISBN: 9781800552692
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
A clear and compelling account of the brutal battle of Kohima that swung the balance of the Burma Campaign in World War Two. An ideal book for readers of Max Hastings, Anthony Beevor and Jonathan Dimbleby. 'Sieges have been longer but few have been more intense and in none have the defenders deserved greater honour than the garrison of Kohima.' Field Marshal the Viscount Slim 'The valiant defence of Kohima against enormous odds was a fine episode.' Winston Churchill For a fortnight in April 1944 Lieutenant-General Sato threw nearly the whole force of his division towards the Kohima Ridge. Against them stood a tiny force of one thousand five hundred British and Indian troops. How were these Allied forces able to hold back the attack from over ten thousand Japanese soldiers? And what happened over the course of these long and bloody weeks? C. E. Lucas Phillip's book uncovers not only the personal experiences of the men who fought in this battle but also the political, geographical and military position of the Burma campaign, leading up to and following the siege. 'A beau geste story of staggering courage and fortitude - of a scratch force facing and defeating a whole Japanese division in a battle for a narrow strip of mountainous ground barely a mile long. When the Siege of Kohima was raised the gaunt and ragged garrison of 1,500 had suffered 600 casualties... a vivid, thrilling account of a battle that was truly a springboard to victory.' Yorkshire Post 'C. E. Lucas Phillips has a thrilling story to tell, and no one could fail to respond to it.' Punch 'A lucid, exciting account, blow-by-blow, agony by agony; illuminated by shining courage.' Irish Times Springboard to Victory: The Burma Campaign and the Battle for Kohima is a thorough study of one of the most brutal conflicts of the Burma campaign during World War Two. It should be essential reading for anyone interested in history of the war in the Pacific.

Not Ordinary Men

Not Ordinary Men PDF Author: John Colvin
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1781594309
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
Having driven the British and Indian Forces out of Burma in 1942, General Mutaguchi, Commanding the 15th Japanese Army, was obsessed by the conquest of India. In 1944 the British 14th Army, under its commander General Slim, drew back to the Imphal Plain, before Mutaguchis impending offensive. To the north, however, the entire Japanese 31 Division had crossed the Chindwin and, on April 5, arrived at the hill-station and road junction of Kohima, cutting off Imphal except by air, from the supply point at Dimpapur.Kohima was initially manned by only 266 men of the Assam Regiment and a few hundred convalescents and administrative troops. They were joined, on April 5, by 440 men of the Fourth Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment, straight from the Battle of Arakan.In pouring rain, under continual bombardment, this tiny garrison held the assaults of thirteen thousand Japanese troops in hand-to-hand combat for sixteen days, an action described by Mountbatten as probably one of the greatest battles in history ... in effect the Battle of Burma, naked, unparalleled heroism, the British/Indian Thermopylae.

We Fought at Kohima

We Fought at Kohima PDF Author: Raymond Street
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473863856
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 183

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Book Description
The Japanese advance through Thailand, Malaya and Burma appeared unstoppable and the fate of India looked utterly precarious.The garrison of the Kohima outpost numbering some 1500 British and Indian Army soldiers faced over 13,000 fanatical and previously victorious Japanese troops. The following sixteen days marked the turning point of the war in the Far East thanks to men like Raymond Street who fought with legendary courage and tireless persistence.Raymond was a member of the 4th Battalion The Queen's West Kent and as a company runner he was uniquely placed to witness the dreadful and dramatic events as they unfolded. Not only did he miraculously survive but he made a superb record of the battle as fortunes ebbed and flowed. His memories have been transcribed into this first-hand account of one of the most decisive and hardest fought battles of the Second World War. We Fought at Kohima will surely be judged as a fighting man's memoir of the highest quality to rank alongside such legendary works as Men at Arnhem and Quartered Safe Out Here.

Kohima

Kohima PDF Author: Arthur Swinson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1784081779
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
On 7 March 1944 Tokyo announced that the Japanese invasion of British India had begun. By mid-month, the Japanese 31st Division had crossed the Chindwin River in northern Burma, advancing on a wide front towards Imphal and Kohima. In bitter jungle fighting from early April, the British Fourteenth Army under Field Marshal Slim held the Japanese assault on Kohima Ridge. By late June the Japanese were in headlong retreat. Kohima ranks for strategic importance with Alamein, Midway and Stalingrad. The increasing dominance of Allied airpower in the region in the aftermath of the battle was a major factor in turning the tide of the war in East Asia against the Japanese. Drawing on documents and diaries from Japanese as well as Allied sources, Arthur Swinson, who served at Kohima, not only presents a thrilling and fascinating tale of heroism and combat action, but also analyses the political background to and long-term impact of a clash described by Mountbatten as 'one of the greatest battles in history'.

The Road to Kohima

The Road to Kohima PDF Author: Charles Chasie
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781913022211
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
A unique collaboration between a senior Naga journalist and an eminent British historian looking at Naga involvement in the Second World War after Japanese and British forces converged on their land. The devastating battle lasted only a few months but in that time the Nagas played a key part in what was recently voted Britain's greatest battle.

Kohima

Kohima PDF Author: Arthur Swinson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Kohima (India)
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
A classic account of a decisive battle of World War II, told by a man who fought there himself Delving into the battle described by Mountbatten as "one of the greatest battles in history," this is a thrilling tale of heroism and combat action. On March 7, 1944, Tokyo announced that the Japanese invasion of British India had begun. By mid-month, the Japanese had crossed the Chindwin River in northern Burma, advancing towards Imphal and Kohima. In bitter jungle fighting from early April, the British Fourteenth Army, under Field Marshal Slim, held the Japanese assault on Kohima Ridge. By late June the Japanese were in headlong retreat. Drawing on documents and diaries from Japanese as well as Allied sources, Arthur Swinson presents a fascinating account of a battle that ranks with Alamein, Midway, and Stalingrad as one of the most strategically important of World War II.

Battle Story: Kohima 1944

Battle Story: Kohima 1944 PDF Author: Dr Chris Brown
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752493949
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
The Battle of Kohima was the turning point in the Japanese invasion of India and known as 'the Stalingrad of the East'. It was a bitter battle fought in three stages, spanning three months and ending with the siege of Imphal. Against the odds, the Commonwealth troops conducted a brilliant defence and counter-attack to pave the way for the re-conquest of Burma. If you want to understand what happened and why - read Battle Story.

Imphal 1944

Imphal 1944 PDF Author: Hemant Singh Katoch
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472820177
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
In March 1944, the Japanese Fifteenth Army launched an offensive into India from Burma. Named 'U Go', its main objective was the capture of the town of Imphal, which provided the easiest route between India and Burma. Whoever controlled it, controlled access between the two countries. Facing off against the Japanese was the British Fourteenth Army and its Imphal-based 4 Corps. For the next four months, over 200,000 men clashed in the hills and valley of Manipur in what has since been described as one of the greatest battles of World War II. Although numbers vary, it is estimated that some 30,000 Japanese soldiers died and 23,000 were injured at Imphal–Kohima in 1944 due to fighting, disease and in the retreat back to Burma. It remains the largest defeat on land ever for the Japanese Army. With fully commissioned artwork and maps, this is the complete story of the turning point in the Burma campaign in World War II.