It’s an account of the 1944 Battle at Kohima, Nagaland, fought between the British Indian Army and the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War.
It was a decisive battle in the sense that if Japan had not been stopped at Kohima, its plans to occupy Assam could have been a risk for the British. The Indian nationalists inspired by Subhas Chandra Bose might have revolted against the British.
The narration is rather dry and tedious, but military historians might find the book useful as it is a meticulously researched account of the military operations primarily based on British sources, though the author has taken a lot of trouble to get hold of Japanese documents and diaries as well. The book ends with the Order of the Battle.
The author, who served in the 2nd British Division in Kohima, died in 1970. The book was first published in the UK in 2015. A reader looking for an explanation for the delay or for the person who might have compiled the author’s papers will be disappointed.
The purpose of the book is to draw attention to a rather neglected battle. The Battle at Kohima has been described on cover as “the greatest battle ever fought”. The reader might find it difficult to agree with that conclusion as no reasoning is given.
The book is written from the point of view of the British Army. There are a few rather condescending references to the ‘renegade’ Indian National Army. Once Indians in the 2nd British Division heard an INA soldier speaking in Urdu, “Hindustan ki Jawan! Soldiers of India, the Japanese army has surrounded you. Bring your rifle and come over to us.
We are liberating India from the tyrannies of British rule.” Someone let off a burst of Bren towards the speaker, but the voice continued repeating the same message over and over again till the British realised that it was a loud speaker.