Battle of Kohima 1944
Battle of Kohima 1944
Kohima is considered one of the bitterest battles of the Second World War. It took place, together with Imphal, as part of the larger clash between the Japanese Fifteenth Army and the British Fourteenth Army in Northeast India in 1944. The battle of Kohima took place in two phases. The first was the now iconic Japanese siege of the Kohima Ridge, around which the main Imphal-Kohima-Dimapur Road looped. A British-Indian force of some 1,500 soldiers defended a steadily-shrinking area on the ridge against some 15,000 Japanese for over two weeks in April 1944. Reinforcements for the defenders arrived just in the nick of time. This lead to the battle's second phase, which involved the arduous task for the British-led forces to evict the Japanese from around Kohima.
In April 2013, the National Army Museum in the United Kingdom named Imphal/Kohima as Britain's Greatest Battle. It was at Imphal/Kohima that the Japanese march across Asia was halted. Although estimates vary, it is said that more than 30,000 Japanese soldiers died due to fighting or disease in one of the greatest defeats on land in Japan's history.
Battlefield tour
A battlefield tour on Kohima has been developed and is available. It is currently organised by Battle of Imphal Tours, a battlefield tour company Hemant Singh Katoch founded in Imphal in 2013 and for which he now serves as an Adviser.
To book a tour, see the Tours section of its website (www.battleofimphal.com) or contact Yaiphaba Kangjam ('Yai') of Battle of Imphal Tours at battleofimphal@gmail.com.
A full-day Battle of Kohima Tour starts with a walk around the famous Kohima Ridge. The walk culminates at the Kohima War Cemetery where, among others, one can still see the outline of the tennis court around which fierce fighting raged in 1944. The latter part of the day involves a visit to the Battle of Kohima Museum in Kisama, besides trying to spot as many of the different war memorials scattered around Kohima as possible. Visits to the top of Mount Puliebadze and to the Grover Memorial at Jotsoma can also be arranged on the side.
Kohima War Cemetery.