Download or read book TALES from LIFE and the BATTLE of KOHIMA written by Richard PATTERSON and published by . This book was released on 2017-10-21 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book are tales that Richard wrote about his schooldays and his time in India and at the battle of Kohima. The following are his own words:I was born in Salford on 16th August 1921. Attended St. Paul's C of E school Kersal; lr. Kersal Council School, and Grecian St. Central School. After leaving school in 1935 I worked as a Pawn Broker's Clerk until the outbreak of war in 1939. Having joined the Territoral Army in February 1939 I was called up for full time service on the 1st of September.Being under age for service overseas (which at the time was 18 and three months) I was posted with others to our reserve Battalion and sent on guard duties to the Royal Ordnance Factory at Chorley.After the fall of France in June 1940 everyone was on invasion alert, and we were sent to Lowestoft on the East coast where we were frantically employed in digging trenches, manning pill boxes and keeping our eyes skinned for invasion barges.In April 1942 after re-joining my old Battalion we embarked with the 2nd British Division in the largest military convoy ever to be organised. Orders were to sail west out into the Atlantic, turn south and east for the Cape, then to continue up the eastern shores of Africa to Suez. The plan was for the Division to join the 8th Army for its next campaign in the desert; but some time in May, new orders reached the convoy commander, and, the 16,000 troops found themselves disembarking at Bombay.We spent two years in India on Combined Operations with the Navy; and jungle training in Southern India, before being flown up to Assam to oppose the Japanese in their attempt to invade India.After fighting from Kohima to Mandalay we were flown back to India to train in street fighting in preparation for the invasion of Japan.
Download or read book Not Ordinary Men written by John Colvin and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-11-19 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Having driven the British and Indian Forces out of Burma in 1942, General Mutaguchi, Commanding the 15th Japanese Army, was obsessed by the conquest of India. In 1944 the British 14th Army, under its commander General Slim, drew back to the Imphal Plain, before Mutaguchis impending offensive. To the north, however, the entire Japanese 31 Division had crossed the Chindwin and, on April 5, arrived at the hill-station and road junction of Kohima, cutting off Imphal except by air, from the supply point at Dimpapur.Kohima was initially manned by only 266 men of the Assam Regiment and a few hundred convalescents and administrative troops. They were joined, on April 5, by 440 men of the Fourth Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment, straight from the Battle of Arakan.In pouring rain, under continual bombardment, this tiny garrison held the assaults of thirteen thousand Japanese troops in hand-to-hand combat for sixteen days, an action described by Mountbatten as probably one of the greatest battles in history ... in effect the Battle of Burma, naked, unparalleled heroism, the British/Indian Thermopylae.
Download or read book Kohima The Furthest Battle written by Leslie Edwards and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2009-03-01 with total page 573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the end of 1943 the Japanese had occupied most of South-East Asia. On 6 March 1944, the first units of the Japanese 15 Army crossed the inhospitable border of what was then Burma, and invaded India. At the township of Kohima they were met by a small, hastily assembled force of Indian and British troops, later reinforced by 2 Division of Slim's 14 Army, who fought valiantly and forced the Japanese to retreat. Described by Mountbatten as 'the British/Indian Thermopylae', Kohima was a turning point in Japanese fortunes, heralding their continued defeat in battle until their formal surrender on 2 September 1945. Using extensive research in primary sources and many previously unpublished first-hand accounts, Leslie Edwards presents a definitive analysis of this pivotal battle.
Download or read book Skies of Thunder written by Caroline Alexander and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2024-05-14 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Riveting.” —The New York Times From the New York Times bestselling author, a breathtaking account of combat and survival in one of the most brutally challenging and rarely examined campaigns of World War II In April 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army steamrolled through Burma, capturing the only ground route from India to China. Supplies to this critical zone would now have to come from India by air—meaning across the Himalayas, on the most hazardous air route in the world. SKIES OF THUNDER is a story of an epic human endeavor, in which Allied troops faced the monumental challenge of operating from airfields hacked from the jungle, and took on “the Hump,” the fearsome mountain barrier that defined the air route.They flew fickle, untested aircraft through monsoons and enemy fire, with inaccurate maps and only primitive navigation technology. The result was a litany of both deadly crashes and astonishing feats of survival. The most chaotic of all the war’s arenas, the China-Burma-India theater was further confused by the conflicting political interests of Roosevelt, Churchill and their demanding, nominal ally, Chiang Kai-shek. Caroline Alexander, who wrote the defining books on Shackleton’s Endurance and Bligh's Bounty, is brilliant at probing what it takes to survive extreme circumstances. She has unearthed obscure memoirs and long-ignored records to give us the pilots’ and soldiers’ eye views of flying and combat, as well as honest portraits of commanders like the celebrated “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell and Claire Lee Chennault. She assesses the real contributions of units like the Flying Tigers, Merrill’s Marauders, and the British Chindits, who pioneered new and unconventional forms of warfare. Decisions in this theater exposed the fault-lines between the Allies—America and Britain, Britain and India, and ultimately and most fatefully between America and China, as FDR pressed to help the Chinese nationalists in order to forge a bond with China after the war. A masterpiece of modern war history.
Download or read book Kohima 1944 written by Robert Lyman and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Osprey's Campaign title for the Battle of Kohima during World War II (1939-1945), which saved India from Japanese attacks. In March 1944 the Japanese Army launched Operation U-Go, an attack on Assam in India intended to inspire a rising by the Indian populace against British rule. The Japanese plan would rely on mobility, infiltration and captured supplies to maintain the momentum of the attack. A month earlier the Japanese had launched Operation Ha-Go, which was intended as a feint to draw British attention away from the Imphal area where the brunt of the U-Go attacks would take place. But British forces employed new defensive techniques to counter the Japanese infiltration tactics; forming defensive boxes, supplied by air, they held out against determined Japanese assaults until the Japanese were forced to withdraw, short of supplies. These tactics were again employed on a larger scale when Imphal and Kohima were surrounded during Operation U-Go. Kohima (the 'Stalingrad of the East') was the crucial key point to the successful defence of Imphal, and took place in two stages. From 3 to 16 April the Japanese attempted to capture Kohima Ridge, which dominated the road along which the British and Indian troops centred on the Imphal plain were supplied. As the small garrison held out against fierce and repeatedly desperate attempts by the Japanese 31st Division to destroy them, so the British 2nd Division fought to break through and relieve them. Then for over two months from 18 April, British and Indian troops counter-attacked in an effort to drive the Japanese from the positions they had already captured that blocked the road to Imphal. The battle ended on June 22 when British and Indian troops from Kohima and Imphal met at Milestone 109, thus ending the siege.
Download or read book A Respectable Woman written by Easterine Kire and published by Zubaan. This book was released on 2019-02-28 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘It took my mother, Khonuo, exactly forty-five years before she could bring herself to talk about the war.’ These powerful words introduce the reader to Easterine Kire’s stunning new novel, A Respectable Woman. In Nagaland, the decisive Battle of Kohima has been fought and won by the Allies, and people in and around Kohima are trying hard to come to terms with the devastation, the loss of home and property, and the deaths of their loved ones. Forty years after the event, Khonuo recreates this moment, stitching together her memories, bit by painful bit, for her young daughter. As memory passes from mother to daughter, the narrative glides seamlessly into the present, a moment in which Nagaland, much transformed, confronts different realities and challenges. Using storytelling traditions so typical of her region, Kire leads the reader gently into a world where history and memory meld — where, through this blurring, a young woman comes to understand the legacy of her parents and her land.
Download or read book The Road to Kohima written by Charles Chasie and published by . This book was released on 2020-04-22 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A unique collaboration between a senior Naga journalist and an eminent British historian looking at Naga involvement in the Second World War after Japanese and British forces converged on their land. The devastating battle lasted only a few months but in that time the Nagas played a key part in what was recently voted Britain's greatest battle.
Download or read book Ancient Naga head hunters lives and tales in prose and poetry written by Tsuknug Penzu and published by Mittal Publications. This book was released on 2009 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Literatures from Northeast India written by K M Baharul Islam and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-06-07 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book showcases the diverse literary traditions from India’s Northeast and their shared connections and lineages. It critically analyses a selection of literary works from authors and poets from this region and the hegemonies of language, ethnicity and politics that have framed these voices. As a region with rich cultural and ethnolinguistic diversity, Northeast India’s literature is representative of varied histories, languages, socio-cultural and religious practices. The book highlights the distinct use of language, forms, cultural symbols and metaphors which articulates the unique experiences of conflict, beauty and culture in this area. Focussing on the translingual and transcultural aspects of these literary works it examines the dynamics between literature, language and their socio-cultural influences. The book pays attention to themes of representation, identity and power to showcase voices and perspectives of dissent, criticism and introspection. It explores contemporary critical approaches to literature from the Northeast, by re-examining the idea of the centre and the periphery and the position of subaltern literary voices. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of literature, language, cultural studies, postcolonial studies and South Asian studies.
Download or read book Road of Bones written by Fergal Keane and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Japan s Last Bid for Victory written by Robert Lyman and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2011-12-13 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This is an excellent account of a series of very hard fought battles that helped prepare the way for the British re-conquest of Burma.” —History of War Robert Lyman’s deep knowledge and understanding of the war in Burma, and the great battles at Kohima and Imphal in 1944, are well known. In this book he uses original documents, published works and personal accounts to weave together an enthralling narrative of some of the bitterest fighting of WWII. Not only does he use British sources for his research but he has also included material from the Naga tribes of north-east India, on whose land these battles were fought, and from Japanese accounts, including interviews with Japanese veterans of the fighting. Thus he has been able to produce what is arguably the most balanced history of the battles that were pivotal in ending the Japanese empire. Fergal Keane, journalist and author of Road to Bones: The Siege of Kohima 1944 wrote to the author saying “What a triumph! I finished it last night. You have done a wonderful job. I only wish I’d read it before writing my own book!” He goes on to say “Robert Lyman is one of the great writers about men and war and in this book he has succeeded in conveying the courage, genius and folly of an epic struggle. I cannot think of a writer engaged in the subject of the Second World War who can match Lyman for his integrity or the soundness of his judgments.”
Download or read book Not ordinary men the story of the battle of Kohima written by John Colvin and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book War Stories written by Ann MacMillan and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-09-04 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating account of ordinary men and women swept up in the turbulence of conflict, War Stories tells the tales of thirty-four individuals who have pushed the boundaries of love, bravery, suffering, and terror beyond the imaginable.These stories span three centuries and five continents. There is the courage of Edward Seager who survived the Charge of the Light Brigade; the cunning of Krystyna Skarbek, quick-thinking spy and saboteur during the Second World War; the skullduggery of Benedict Arnold, who switched sides in the American War of Independence; and the compassion of Magdalene de Lancey who tenderly nursed her dying husband at Waterloo.Told with vivid narrative energy and full of unexpected insights, War Stories moves effortlessly from tales of spies, escapes, and innovation to uplifting acts of humanity in times of crisis, celebrating men and women whose wartime experiences are beyond compare.
Download or read book Forgotten Life written by Brian W. Aldiss and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Second in the acclaimed Squire Quartet—from the author of “Supertoys Last All Summer Long,” the basis for the movie A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. Winner of two Hugo Awards, one Nebula Award, and named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Brian W. Aldiss challenged readers’ minds for over fifty years with literate, thought-provoking, and inventive science fiction. Analyst Clement Winters is trying to write a biography of his recently deceased older brother, Joseph. Through the writings Joseph left behind—letters, diaries, notes, and confessions—Clement realizes how little he actually knows his brother and how vastly his perception of him differs from reality. As Clement tries to make sense of the life of his deceased sibling, he uncovers “little dark corners” of his family history and even his own life. “Likable . . . solid and satisfying . . . Forgotten Life works as fiction—funny, human, tough, irresistibly lively.” —The Times (London) This ebook includes an introduction by the author.
Download or read book Zapuphizo written by Pieter Steyn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-10-12 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2006. This is the first biography of Angami Zapuphizo, the great patriot leader of Nagaland in the northeastern hills of South Asia, who died in exile in England in 1990. A colourful, charismatic personality with an air of mystery about him, he was the force behind the Nagas; demand for sovereign independence in 1947, at the time that Britain transferred power to India and Pakistan. From then onwards he was a central figure in the turbulent ethnic tapestry of the region. Zapuphizo's life was the stuff of which legends are made, and to the Naga people he will always be their hero. The book focuses on Zapuphizo's life, his realism and his collaboration with the Japanese in World War II, and with the years of India's military suppressions of the nationalist Naga army, giving fresh insight into Zapuphizo's thoughts and actions as he strove to regain for his homeland the ultimate goal of sovereign independence. Although Nagaland is today a state within the Union of India, the Naga peoples have never given up their wish to be free. In the years before Britain quit the Indian subcontinent, the Nagas of the far northeast were held to exemplify an exotic and quixotic society. Radically different in culture and beliefs from the better known Hindus and Muslims of the plains, they were renowned for their spirited independence and diversity. The book also gives a history of the Naga nation and surveys its present condition and future prospects.
Download or read book War Stories written by Peter Snow and published by John Murray. This book was released on 2017-09-21 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Highly readable . . . an intimate and varied account of fascinating stories of people at war' History of War War Stories is a fascinating account of ordinary men and women swept up in the turbulence of war. These are the stories - many untold until now - of thirty-four individuals who have pushed the boundaries of love, bravery, suffering and terror beyond the imaginable. They span three centuries and five continents. There is the courage of Edward Seager who survived the Charge of the Light Brigade; the cunning of Krystyna Skarbek, quick-thinking spy and saboteur during the Second World War; the skullduggery of Benedict Arnold, who switched sides in the American War of Independence and the compassion of Magdalene de Lancey who tenderly nursed her dying husband at Waterloo. Told with vivid narrative flair and full of unexpected insights, War Stories moves effortlessly from tales of spies, escapes and innovation to uplifting acts of humanity, celebrating men and women whose wartime experiences are beyond compare.
Download or read book His Majesty s Headhunters written by Mmhonlümo Kikon and published by Penguin Random House India Private Limited. This book was released on 2023-11-27 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Surprisingly little is known about the siege of Kohima, considered a game-changing event that altered the course of world history during the Second World War. His Majesty’s Headhunters adds to our understanding of this battle and shows how it redefined a whole era. Providing a unique perspective of Nagaland and its warriors, this book uncovers the untold story of the siege, regarded as one of the more celebrated battles of D-Day and often referred to as the ‘Stalingrad of the East’ by Western scholars. Historians even believe that this was the last battle of the British Empire and the first battle of the ‘New India’. However, that is just the tale told so far by everyone except the Nagas. The real history of this battle—which involved the Japanese Army, led by Lieutenant General Sato, and the Allied forces—is yet to be recounted. As Lt Gen. Sato is said to have remarked, if it were not for the Naga people, the Allied forces would have been defeated in Kohima, and the Japanese Army would have easily secured the Dimapur railway station and moved victoriously towards Bengal via Assam, thus reversing the outcome of the war. This rare and deeply researched historical account, drawing on records left by the officers and soldiers who fought in Kohima, is a page-turner. It brings to light the valour and spirit of the Naga ‘headhunters’, who made the supreme sacrifice to protect the honour of their people.
