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9. To India or Not?
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Chapter
- Additional Information
149 CHAPTERNINE ToIndiaorNot? I THEJAPANESEPERSPECTIVE The Imphal campaign in India became the vortex of all the forces in the Indo-Japanese co-operation: the impact of the charismatic personality of Bose on IGHQ Tokyo, the problem of delineating Japan’s policy aims toward India, Japan’s logistics and military dilemma in Burma, differences over military protocol and command arising between the INA and the Japanese Army, and the Japanese attitudetowardtheINAandtheFreeIndiaProvisionalGovernment. The fate of Imphal determined the course of Japan’s cooperation with the Indian independence movement in Southeast Asia. Imphal loomedlargeinthewholedefenceofBurmaandthewestwardboundary of Japan’s Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. From the Japanese standpoint the military stakes at Imphal were critical. For theINAitwasonerealchancetobreakthroughtheborderandignite theIndianrevolution.AtImphalJapanandtheINAatlastcooperated inamilitarycampaign,butwithcataclysmicresults. The battle of Imphal was a major disaster in the military annals oftheworldandisstilloneofthemostcontroversialJapanesecampaigns of the entire Pacific War. A total of five Japanese generalsin -command and numerous staff officers were dismissed during and immediately following the action in an unprecedented attempt to fixblameforthefiasco.Onestaffofficerinthesupplysectioncommitted suicide;onegeneralthreatenedto. Japan’slightningdashthroughThailandandMalayahadtakenthe British aback, especially with the successful capture of Singapore afterastartlinglybrieffight.WhentheJapaneseArmyoverranBurma 09IndNatArmy.indd149 4/14/0810:50:07AM 150 in1942therewasalongerstruggle,andthestakeswereevenhigher. Burma in Japanese hands meant the severing of the all-important supply lines between China and India through which British and American support was funnelling to Chiang Kai-shek’s forces. The only alternative to the legendary Burma Road from Mandalay through Lashio in Burma over the mountains to Kunming, China, was to airlift supplies from Indian airfields over the unmapped “Hump” into China. This was the mission of the swashbuckling Major-GeneralClaireChennault. The end of 1942 saw the Axis everywhere successful. Rommel was in Egypt, the German invasion of Russia had gone smoothly. NationalistChinawasonherknees,andIndiaandAustraliawereexpecting aJapaneseinvasion.ProspectsfortheAlliesweredarkinthe Pacific, and the Rising Sun was at its zenith from Japan to the Bay ofBengal.IfJapancouldtakeAustraliatheimperialismofthewhite raceswouldbepurgedfromAsia,andIndiacouldsoongainindependence . Britain was unable to dispute with the Japanese Navy, and therewerenotenoughBritishandIndiantroopsinIndiatoassureits defence.Evenairprotectionwasinadequate.1 A Japanese carrier-borne attack was launched on Colombo and Trincomalee inApril 1942, and bombs were dropped on the southeast coast and on the Bay of Bengal, closing British shipping for a time.Afollow-upoftheJapaneseattackwouldhavebeenimpossible for the British to repulse. Luckily for the British and Indians the attackwasnotrenewed.2 Japanese forces had not pursued retreating British troops beyond the Chindwin River in Burma in May 1942, allegedly because “an invasionwaslikelytoarouseill-feelingamongsttheIndianmasses”.3 Bymid-1942therewasadefinitedesireinTokyotoheedthepolitical import of Indian opinion for propaganda purposes. So the Japanese remained east of the Chindwin River, leaving British-Indian forces tobuilduptheirstrengthintheImphalplain. TheBritishmomentarilyexpectedtheJapanesetocrosstheChindwin and strike into India, but during 1943 the Japanese failed to resumemajorfightinginthesector.TheonlyBritishattempttocounter Japanese strength east of the Chindwin came in February 1943, with an unorthodox long-range thrust into Japanese territory by Brigadier-General Orde Wingate’s specially organized and equipped Chindits. Though the conception of the operation and the dramatic personality of Wingate appealed to the Allied Press, the Chindits 09IndNatArmy.indd150 4/14/0810:50:07AM [3.138.114.94] Project MUSE (2024-04-24 23:53 GMT) 151 remainedinBurmaonlytwomonths,anddidlittledamagetoJapanese positions other...
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