Battle of Kohima
The Battle of Kohima North East India 4 April ? 22 June 1944
The Battle of Kohima started with a seige of British forces by the Japeanes Army between April 4 and April 18 1944. The Relief and Clearance of Kohima began on April 18th 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.
During the seige some of the heviest fighting took place around 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 opening of the road between Kohima and Imphal was also part of the Battle of Imphal
The British and Indian forces had lost around 4000 men, dead, missing and wounded. The Japanese had lost more than 7000 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
At both Kohima and Imphal, the army was entirely reliant on supply by the 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 Royal Air Force (RAF) had flown into Kohima and Imphla:
- 19,000 tons of supplies
- 12,000 men
- 13,000 casualties
- 43,000 non-combatant
The increasing dominance of the RAF by this stage of the Burma Campaign, was a major contributer in helping the Allies turn the tide of the war in this theatre.
Victoria Cross
2 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
