Not Ordinary Men

In May 1942 British and Indian forces in Burma were defeated by 33 and 55 Japanese Divisions and driven into India where, under General Slim, the 14th Army was formed and trained. In April 1944 it was launched into victory. General Mutaguchi, commanding the 15th Japanese Army, was obsessed by the conquest of India, and when Wingate's chindits fought in the awful hills and valleys of Burma Mutaguchi's resolve was strengthened by the conviction that, if the British could do it, his Japanese certainly could. Before Mutaguchi's impending offensive, Bill Slim drew back his Forward Divisions to the Imphal Plain, to fight on the enemy ground. To the north, however, the entire Japanese 31 Division had crossed the Chindwin and on 5th April they arrived at the hill-station and road junction of Kohima, cutting off Imphal, except by air. Kohima was initially manned by only 266 men of the Assam Regiment and a few hundred convalescents and administrative troops. They were joined on 5th April by 440 men of the 4th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment.
In pouring rain, under continual bombardment, this tiny garrison held the assaults of 13,000 Japanese troops in hand-to-hand combat for 16 days. They the Punjabis, Gurkhas, Rajputs, Queens, Berkshires, Dorsets, Worcesters, Norfolks, Royal Scots, Royal Welch Fusiliers, Lancashire Fusiliers, Camerons, Durhams, the Artillery and the RAF took over, and on 6th June Kohima was finally freed. This is an account of that extraordinary battle, described by Mountbatten as "probably one of the greatest battles in history".