Why Japan's Invasion Of India Broke On 1,500 British And Indian Troops

How a force of 1,500 British and Indian troops stopped a Japanese division of 15,000 at Kohima in 1944, and broke Operation U-Go in the Naga Hills of north-east India. This is the story of the British-Indian "Thermopylae" of the Second World War, the Royal Air Force air-supply doctrine that decided it, and the logistics gamble the Japanese Fifteenth Army lost. WHAT THIS VIDEO COVERS The doctrine behind Lieutenant General Mutaguchi's Operation U-Go and Japan's March on Delhi Why the Japanese 31st Division crossed the Chindwin River with only three weeks of rations How Lieutenant General William Slim rebuilt the Fourteenth Army's supply system around air transport The Royal Air Force Dakota operation that kept Garrison Hill supplied across the eighty-day siege The Battle of the Tennis Court at the Deputy Commissioner's bungalow The Victoria Cross action of Lance Corporal John Pennington Harman of the Royal West Kent Regiment The Victoria Cross action of Captain John Niel Randle of the Royal Norfolk Regiment on GPT Ridge Lieutenant General Kotoku Sato's defiance of Mutaguchi and the collapse of the 31st Division The Naga contribution and the Indian Army system that made the defence possible Why the National Army Museum named Imphal and Kohima Britain's Greatest Battle in 2013 KEY FIGURES Lieutenant General William Slim, Fourteenth Army Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi, Japanese Fifteenth Army Lieutenant General Kotoku Sato, Japanese 31st Division Major General John Grover, 2nd Division Colonel Hugh Richards, Kohima garrison commander Charles Pawsey, Deputy Commissioner of the Naga Hills Lance Corporal John Pennington Harman VC, 4th Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment Captain John Niel Randle VC, 2nd Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment PRIMARY RESEARCH SOURCES The Imperial War Museum, London The Kohima Museum, York The National Army Museum, London The Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Royal Air Force Association The Kohima Educational Trust The official Royal Air Force narrative "The Fight is Won" Regimental histories of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment and the Royal Norfolk Regiment The London Gazette citations for the Victoria Crosses of Harman and Randle FURTHER READING Fergal Keane, "Road of Bones: The Siege of Kohima 1944" Robert Lyman, "Kohima 1944: The Battle that Saved India" Robert Lyman, "Japan's Last Bid for Victory: The Invasion of India 1944" Arthur Swinson, "Kohima" Field Marshal William Slim, "Defeat into Victory" Norman Franks, "First in the Indian Skies" (history of 31 Squadron Royal Air Force) Mmhonlümo Kikon, "His Majesty's Headhunters" (the Naga perspective on the campaign) ABOUT BRITISH BASTION British Bastion is a long-form history channel covering the military, intelligence and engineering history of the British and Commonwealth armed forces in the twentieth century. Source-based narration of the men, the systems and the campaigns that decided the wars Britain fought, and the wars Britain helped to win. A REQUEST TO THE COMMENTS If your father, grandfather or great-uncle served in the Fourteenth Army, in any of the British, Indian, Gurkha or Commonwealth formations in Burma, or in any of the supply, transport or air squadrons that kept Imphal and Kohima supplied, please share their name and unit in the comments. The men who served in the Burma campaign called themselves the Forgotten Army. The comments are how the names come back. Historical documentary for educational purposes. Archival material is presented in its historical context. #Kohima #BurmaCampaign #ForgottenArmy #BritishMilitaryHistory #WWII