My Memories of Imphal From 1941 : Chapter 16 :: Download
Dr Mohendra Irengbam *
The Battle of Imphal, March 8 -- July 18 1944
(photo credit: wikipedia.org)
Part 16
The Battle of Imphal
Japanlan completely transformed the outlook of complacent Meiteis from lacklustre to a sprightly one, and from typical narcissistic Meiteis who held firmly that all those who differed from them in any respect were ignorant to more prudent and cerebral Meiteis .
WWII did arrive visibly in Manipur in 1942 with warplanes, tanks, armoured cars, and a variety of ethnic soldiers from the Commonwealth countries, such as British, Indians, Africans, Gurkhas, as well as American GIs. They fought the “Battle of Imphal” in 1944. The Japanese lost the war with maximum casualties – 60,000, including 14,000 died. Most of these loses were due to starvation and diseases. The Allies suffered only 13,000 casualties.
Manipur had its share of war casualties. Death, disease, destruction of properties and disruption of socio-economic fabric. Imphal suffered most. It was deserted though the main battles were fought in the countryside and hills of Manipur. Manipur was at a standstill.
I deem it worthwhile for the benefit of the young readers to write a bit of history of Japanlan, in the context of what happened to Manipur, as I experienced, and gathered from war history books. This was the first defeat of the ‘invincible’ Japanese Imperial Army. To be fair, they were fighting the United States in the Pacific, the British Empire and the Allies Army in the Far East and Southeast Asia.
The proud Japanese Army swept over Malaya, Singapore, and Burma like a whirlwind. They were experts in guerrilla and jungle warfare, the tactics of which were unknown to the West. Many thousands of war refugees came to Manipur from Burma in 1942 as the Japanese began to advance into Burma. The refugees were mostly Indians who settled in Burma and some Europeans.
Download the entire Chapter 16 of this book here
* Dr Mohendra Irengbam wrote this article for e-pao.net
The writer can be contacted at irengbammsingh(AT)gmail(DOT)com
This article was webcasted on April 02 2023 .
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