Caliber: correct intro additionally and corrected details based on references

2026-03-06T17:57:42Z

correct intro additionally and corrected details based on references

Bot: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2022-12-03T04:00:00Z

robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:30, 3 December 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=March ~~2020~~}}		{{Short description\|Japanese Invasion of India in 1944}}
			{{Use dmy dates\|date=March 2022}}
	{{Infobox military conflict		{{Infobox military conflict
	\| conflict = U Go offensive		\| conflict = U Go offensive
Line 7:		Line 8:
	\| caption = The summit of Nippon Hill, east of Imphal, which was hotly contested during Operation U-Go		\| caption = The summit of Nippon Hill, east of Imphal, which was hotly contested during Operation U-Go
	\| date = March 1944 – June 1944		\| date = March 1944 – June 1944
	\| place = [[Manipur]], [[British Raj\|British India]]		\| place = [[Kohima]], [[Naga Hills District, British India\|Naga Hills]] and [[Manipur Kingdom]] in [[British Raj\|British India]]
	\| casus =		\| casus =
	\| territory =		\| territory =
	\| result = [[British Raj\|British]] victory		\| result = [[British Raj\|British]] victory
	\| combatant1 = {{flag\|British Empire}}		\| combatant1 = {{flag\|British Empire}}
	* {{flag\|British India}}		* {{flag\|British India\|name=India}}
	\| combatant2 = {{flag\|Empire of Japan}}		\| combatant2 = {{flag\|Empire of Japan}}
	* {{flagdeco\|India\|1931}} [[Azad Hind~~\|Free India~~]]		* {{flagdeco\|India\|1931}} [[Azad Hind]]
	\| commander1 = {{flagicon\|United Kingdom}} [[William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim\|William Slim]]<br>{{flagicon\|United Kingdom}} [[Montagu Stopford]]<br>{{flagicon\|United Kingdom}} [[Geoffry Scoones]]		\| commander1 = {{flagicon\|United Kingdom}} [[William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim\|William Slim]]<br>{{flagicon\|United Kingdom}} [[Montagu Stopford]]<br>{{flagicon\|United Kingdom}} [[Geoffry Scoones]]
	\| commander2 = {{flagicon\|Empire of Japan\|army}} [[Renya Mutaguchi]]<br>{{flagicon\|Empire of Japan\|army}} [[Masakazu Kawabe]]<br>{{flagicon\|India\|1931}} [[Subhas Chandra Bose\|Subhas C. Bose]]		\| commander2 = {{flagicon\|Empire of Japan\|army}} [[Renya Mutaguchi]]<br>{{flagicon\|Empire of Japan\|army}} [[Masakazu Kawabe]]<br>{{flagicon\|India\|1931}} [[Subhas Chandra Bose\|Subhas C. Bose]]
Line 87:		Line 88:
	The main U Go offensive began on 6 March 1944. Slim and Scoones had given their forward divisions orders to withdraw too late. The 20th Indian Division withdrew safely, but the 17th Indian Division was cut off and forced to fight its way back into the Imphal plain. Scoones was forced to commit almost all his reserves to help the 17th Division. Because the diversionary offensive in the Arakan had already failed, the Allies were able to fly a division (including its artillery and front-line transport) from the Arakan front to Imphal, in time to prevent the Japanese 15th Division overrunning Imphal from the north.		The main U Go offensive began on 6 March 1944. Slim and Scoones had given their forward divisions orders to withdraw too late. The 20th Indian Division withdrew safely, but the 17th Indian Division was cut off and forced to fight its way back into the Imphal plain. Scoones was forced to commit almost all his reserves to help the 17th Division. Because the diversionary offensive in the Arakan had already failed, the Allies were able to fly a division (including its artillery and front-line transport) from the Arakan front to Imphal, in time to prevent the Japanese 15th Division overrunning Imphal from the north.

	During April, the Japanese attacks against the defences at the edge of the Imphal plain were all held. In May, IV Corps began a counter-offensive, pushing northward to link up with a relieving force fighting its way southward from Kohima. Although the Allied progress was slow, the Japanese 15th Division was forced to withdraw through lack of supply, and the Allies reopened the ~~Kohima-Imphal~~ road on 22 June, ending the siege (although the Japanese continued to mount attacks from the south and east of Imphal).		During April, the Japanese attacks against the defences at the edge of the Imphal plain were all held. In May, IV Corps began a counter-offensive, pushing northward to link up with a relieving force fighting its way southward from Kohima. Although the Allied progress was slow, the Japanese 15th Division was forced to withdraw through lack of supply, and the Allies reopened the Kohima–Imphal road on 22 June, ending the siege (although the Japanese continued to mount attacks from the south and east of Imphal).

	===Kohima===		===Kohima===

imported>DB1729: new key for Category:Land battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom: "U-Go" using HotCat

2021-08-24T02:20:58Z

new key for Category:Land battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom: "U-Go" using HotCat

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = U Go offensive
| partof = the [[Burma Campaign 1944|Burma Campaign]] in the [[South-East Asian theatre of World War II]]
| image = The War in the Far East- the Burma Campaign 1941-1945 IND3378.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = The summit of Nippon Hill, east of Imphal, which was hotly contested during Operation U-Go
| date = March 1944 – June 1944
| place = [[Manipur]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| casus =
| territory =
| result = [[British Raj|British]] victory
| combatant1 = {{flag|British Empire}}
* {{flag|British India}}
| combatant2 = {{flag|Empire of Japan}}
* {{flagdeco|India|1931}} [[Azad Hind|Free India]]
| commander1 = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim|William Slim]] {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Montagu Stopford]] {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Geoffry Scoones]]
| commander2 = {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Renya Mutaguchi]] {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Masakazu Kawabe]] {{flagicon|India|1931}} [[Subhas Chandra Bose|Subhas C. Bose]]
| strength1 = 7 infantry divisions 1 tank brigade 2 infantry brigades
| strength2 = 5 infantry divisions 1 tank regiment 84,280 men (excluding INA)
| casualties1 = 16,987–21,500<ref name="Allen643">Allen (1984), p. 643</ref><ref name="Allen638">Allen (1984), p. 638</ref>
| casualties2 = '''15th, 31st, and 33rd Divisions:''' 12,443 killed 1,652 missing in action 8,407 dead from disease '''Misc. Army Troops:''' 8,000 dead from all causes '''Total:''' 30,502 dead, 23,003 hospitalized<ref>[http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/Monos/pdfs/JM-134/JM-134.pdf JM-134] pp. 164 Retrieved 5/19/16</ref>
| notes =
| campaignbox =
{{Campaignbox Burma}}
{{Campaignbox Pacific War}}
{{Campaignbox World War II}}
}}
The '''U Go offensive''', or '''Operation C''' (ウ号作戦 ''U Gō sakusen''), was the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese]] offensive launched in March 1944 against forces of the [[British Empire]] in the northeast Indian regions of [[Manipur]] and the [[Naga Hills]] (then administered as part of [[Assam]]). Aimed at the [[Brahmaputra Valley]], through the two towns of [[Imphal]] and [[Kohima]], the offensive along with the overlapping [[Battle of the Admin Box|Ha Go]] offensive was one of the last major Japanese offensives during the [[Second World War]]. The offensive culminated in the Battles of [[Battle of Imphal|Imphal]] and [[Battle of Kohima|Kohima]], where the Japanese and their allies were first held and then pushed back.

==Origins of the Japanese plan==
In 1942, the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese Army]] had driven the British, Indian and [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Chinese]] troops out of [[British rule in Burma|Burma]]. When heavy [[monsoon]] rains stopped campaigning, the British and Indian troops had occupied [[Imphal]], the capital of [[Manipur]] state. This lay in a plain astride one of the few practicable routes over the [[jungle]]-covered mountains which separated India and Burma. The Japanese commander in Burma, Lieutenant General [[Shōjirō Iida]], was asked for his opinion on whether a renewed advance should be made into India after the rains ended. After conferring with his divisional commanders, Iida reported that it would be unwise to do so, because of the difficult terrain and supply problems.

During the year and a half which followed, the Allies reconstructed the [[Line of communication|lines of communication]] to [[Assam]], in north-east India. The [[United States Army]] (with large numbers of Indian labourers) constructed several airbases in Assam from which supplies were flown to the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Nationalist Chinese]] government under [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and [[China Burma India Theater of World War II|American airbases]] in China.<ref name="Lebra 1977 p=20">{{Harvnb|Lebra|1977|p=20}}</ref> This air route, which crossed several mountain ranges, was known as [[the Hump]]. The Americans also began constructing the [[Ledo road]], which they intended would form a land link from Assam to China.

In mid-1943, the Japanese command in Burma had been reorganised. General Iida was posted back to Japan and a new headquarters, [[Burma Area Army]], was created under Lieutenant-General [[Masakasu Kawabe]]. One of its subordinate formations, responsible for the central part of the front facing Imphal and Assam, was the [[Japanese Fifteenth Army|Fifteenth Army]], whose new commander was Lieutenant-General [[Renya Mutaguchi]].

From the moment he took command, Mutaguchi forcefully advocated an invasion of India. Rather than seeking a mere tactical victory, he planned to exploit the capture of Imphal by advancing to the [[Brahmaputra Valley]], thereby cutting the Allied supply lines to their front in northern Burma, and to the airfields supplying the Nationalist Chinese. His motives for doing so appear to be complex. In late 1942, when he was consulted by Lieutenant General Iida about the advisability of continuing the Japanese advance, he had been particularly vocal in his opposition, as the terrain appeared to be too difficult and the logistic problems seemed impossible to overcome. He had thought at the time that this plan originated at a local level, but was ashamed of his earlier caution when he found that Imperial Army HQ had originally advocated it.<ref name="Allen152">Allen (1984), pp. 152–153</ref>

By design or chance, Mutaguchi had played a major part in several Japanese victories, ever since the [[Marco Polo Bridge incident]] in 1937. He believed it was his destiny to win the decisive battle of the war for Japan. Mutaguchi was also goaded by the first [[Chindit]] long-range penetration expedition launched by the British under [[Orde Wingate]] early in 1943. Wingate's troops had traversed terrain which Mutaguchi had earlier claimed would be impassable to the [[Japanese 18th Division]] which he commanded at the time.<ref name="Allen152"/> The Allies had widely publicised the successful aspects of Wingate's expedition while concealing their losses to disease and exhaustion, misleading Mutaguchi and some of his staff as to the difficulties they would later face.

===Japanese planning process===
Between 24 June and 27 June 1943, a planning conference was held in Rangoon. Mutaguchi's [[Chief of Staff]], Major General [[Todai Kunomura]], presented Mutaguchi's plan, but was brusquely overruled. The staff of Burma Area Army objected to Kunomura pre-empting their own limited plans to push the Japanese forward defensive lines a short distance into the mountainous frontier with India.<ref>Allen (1984), p. 158</ref>

Mutaguchi's plan was nevertheless examined. Lieutenant General [[Eitaro Naka]], (Burma Area Army's Chief of Staff), Major General [[Masazumi Inada]], (the Vice Chief of Staff of [[Southern Expeditionary Army Group]]) and even Lieutenant General [[Gonpachi Kondo]] from [[Imperial General Headquarters]] all pointed out tactical and logistical weaknesses in Mutaguchi's plan. However, Lieutenant General Kawabe did not expressly forbid Mutaguchi to carry out his ideas.<ref>Allen (1984), pp. 159–160</ref>

At subsequent exercises at Fifteenth Army's headquarters in [[Maymyo]] and at Southern Expeditionary Army Group's headquarters in [[Singapore]], Lieutenant General Naka appeared to have been won over to Mutaguchi's ideas. Lieutenant General Inada was still opposed, but put forward to Kunomura and Major [[Iwaichi Fujiwara]] (one of Mutaguchi's staff officers) the apparently frivolous idea of attacking into the Chinese province of [[Yunnan]] instead. However, Inada was removed from Southern Expeditionary Army on 11 October 1943, after being made the scapegoat for failures to comply with an agreement to cede territories to [[Thailand]] which, under Field Marshal [[Plaek Pibulsonggram]], was allied to Japan.<ref>Allen (1984), pp. 164–165</ref>

After another map exercise in Singapore on 23 December 1943, Field Marshal [[Hisaichi Terauchi]] (Commander in Chief of Southern Expeditionary Army Group) approved the plan. Inada's replacement, Lieutenant General [[Kitsuju Ayabe]], was despatched to Imperial Army HQ to gain approval. Prime Minister [[Hideki Tōjō]] gave final sanction after questioning a staff officer over aspects of the plan from his bath.<ref>Allen (1984), p. 166</ref>

Once this decision was taken, neither Lieutenant General Kawabe nor Field Marshal Terauchi were given any opportunity to call off Mutaguchi's attack, codenamed '''U-GO''' or '''Operation C''' (ウ号作戦), nor to exercise much control over it once it was launched.

===Azad Hind influence===
To some extent, Mutaguchi and Tojo were influenced by [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], who led the [[Azad Hind]], a movement which was dedicated to freeing India from British rule. Bose was also commander in chief of the movement's armed forces, the [[Azad Hind Fauj]] or ''Indian National Army'' (INA). The INA was composed mainly of former [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] from the [[British Indian Army]] who had been captured by the Japanese after the [[Battle of Singapore|fall of Singapore]], and [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indian expatriates]] in [[South East Asia]] who had decided to join the nationalist movement.

Bose was eager for the INA to participate in any invasion of India, and persuaded several Japanese that a victory such as Mutaguchi anticipated would lead to the collapse of British rule in India. The idea that their western boundary would be controlled by a more friendly government was attractive to the Japanese. It would also have been consistent with the idea that Japanese expansion into Asia was part of an effort to support Asian government of Asia and counter western colonialism.<ref>Syonan Sinbun, 26 January 1943</ref><ref>Lebra, 1977, p. 20</ref>

==Japanese plans==
[[File:Kohima.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Imphal and Kohima Campaign]]
The Allies were preparing to take the offensive themselves in early 1944. The [[XV Corps (British India)|Indian XV Corps]] was advancing in the coastal [[Arakan Province]], while the [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|British IV Corps]] had pushed two Indian infantry divisions almost to the [[Chindwin River]] at [[Tamu, Burma|Tamu]] and [[Tedim|Tiddim]]. These two divisions were widely separated and vulnerable to being isolated.

The Japanese planned that a division from the [[Japanese Twenty-Eighth Army|Twenty-Eighth Army]] would launch a diversionary attack in the Arakan, codenamed [[Battle of the Admin Box|Ha Go]], in the first week of February. This would attract Allied reserves from Assam, and also create the impression that the Japanese intended to attack [[Bengal]] through [[Chittagong]].

In the centre, Mutaguchi's Fifteenth Army would launch the main attack into Manipur in the first week in March, aiming to capture Imphal and Kohima, scattering British forces and forestalling any offensive movements against Burma.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=281}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=265}}</ref> In detail, the Fifteenth Army plans were:
* The [[33rd Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|33rd Infantry Division]] under Lieutenant-General [[Motoso Yanagida]] would destroy the [[17th Indian Infantry Division]] at Tiddim, then attack Imphal from the south.
* ''Yamamoto Force'', formed from units detached from the 33rd and 15th Divisions under Major-General [[Tsunoru Yamamoto]] (commander of 33rd Division's Infantry Group), supported by tanks and heavy artillery, would destroy the [[20th Indian Infantry Division]] at [[Tamu, Myanmar|Tamu]], then attack Imphal from the east.
* The [[15th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|15th Infantry Division]] under Lieutenant-General [[Masafumi Yamauchi]] would envelop Imphal from the north.
* In a separate subsidiary operation, the [[31st Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|31st Infantry Division]] under Lieutenant-General [[Kōtoku Satō]] would isolate Imphal by capturing [[Kohima]], then push onwards to capture the vital Allied supply base at [[Dimapur]] in the Brahmaputra valley.

At the insistence of Bose, two brigades from the Indian National Army were also assigned to the attacks on Imphal from the south and east. The Japanese had originally intended using the INA as auxiliaries to their forces only, for reconnaissance and propaganda.<ref>Allen (1984), p. 170</ref>

The staff at Burma Area Army had originally thought this plan too risky. They believed it was unwise to separate the attacking forces so widely, but several officers who were vocal in their opposition were transferred.<ref>Allen, (1984), pp. 159–162</ref> Mutaguchi's divisional commanders were also pessimistic. They thought that Mutaguchi was gambling too heavily on gaining early success to solve supply problems. Some of them thought him a "blockhead", or reckless.

==Allied plans==
In early 1944, the Allied formations in Assam and Arakan were part of the [[British Fourteenth Army]], commanded by Lieutenant General [[William Slim]]. Over the preceding year, since the failure of an earlier offensive in the Arakan, he and his predecessor, General [[George Giffard]], had been striving to improve the health, training and morale of the British and Indian units of the army. Through improvements in the lines of communication, better administration in the rear areas, and above all, better supply of fresh rations and medicines, these efforts had been successful. The Allies had also developed methods to counter the standard Japanese tactics of outflanking and isolating formations. In particular, they would increasingly depend upon aircraft to supply cut-off units. The Japanese had not anticipated this, and their attacks would be thwarted several times.

From various intelligence sources, Slim and Lieutenant General [[Geoffry Scoones]] (commanding Indian IV Corps) had learned of the general intentions of the Japanese to launch an offensive, although they did not have specific information on the Japanese objectives and were to be surprised several times when the Japanese did launch their attacks. Rather than anticipate the Japanese by attacking across the Chindwin, or trying to defend the line of the river itself, Slim intended to exploit known Japanese logistical weaknesses by withdrawing into Imphal to fight a defensive battle where the Japanese would be unable to supply their troops.<ref>Allen (1984), p. 155</ref>

==''Ha Go''==
{{Main|Battle of the Admin Box}}
The diversionary Japanese attack in Arakan began on 5 February. A force from the [[55th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|Japanese 55th Division]] infiltrated the lines of Indian XV Corps to overrun an Indian divisional headquarters and isolate the Corps' forward divisions. When they tried to press their attacks against a hastily fortified administrative area known as the "Admin Box", they found that Allied aircraft dropped supplies to the garrison, while the Japanese themselves were cut off from their supply sources and starved. British and Indian tanks and infantry broke through a hill pass to relieve the defenders of the Box. The badly supplied and starving Japanese forces were forced to withdraw.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=264}}</ref>

==U Go==

===Imphal===
{{Main|Battle of Imphal}}
The main U Go offensive began on 6 March 1944. Slim and Scoones had given their forward divisions orders to withdraw too late. The 20th Indian Division withdrew safely, but the 17th Indian Division was cut off and forced to fight its way back into the Imphal plain. Scoones was forced to commit almost all his reserves to help the 17th Division. Because the diversionary offensive in the Arakan had already failed, the Allies were able to fly a division (including its artillery and front-line transport) from the Arakan front to Imphal, in time to prevent the Japanese 15th Division overrunning Imphal from the north.

During April, the Japanese attacks against the defences at the edge of the Imphal plain were all held. In May, IV Corps began a counter-offensive, pushing northward to link up with a relieving force fighting its way southward from Kohima. Although the Allied progress was slow, the Japanese 15th Division was forced to withdraw through lack of supply, and the Allies reopened the Kohima-Imphal road on 22 June, ending the siege (although the Japanese continued to mount attacks from the south and east of Imphal).

===Kohima===
{{Main|Battle of Kohima}}
The battle of Kohima took place in two stages. From 3 to 16 April 1944, the Japanese 31st Division attempted to capture Kohima ridge, a feature which dominated the road from Dimapur to Imphal on which IV Corps at Imphal depended for supply. On 16 April the small British force at Kohima was relieved, and from 18 April to 16 May the newly arrived [[XXXIII Corps (British India)|Indian XXXIII Corps]] counter-attacked to drive the Japanese from the positions they had captured. At this point, with the Japanese starving, Lieutenant General [[Kōtoku Satō]] ordered his division to withdraw. Although a detachment continued to fight rearguard actions to block the road, XXXIII Corps drove south to link up with the defenders of Imphal on 22 June.

===Retreat===
Mutaguchi continued to order fresh attacks, but by late June it was clear that the starving and disease-ridden Japanese formations were in no state to obey. When he realised that none of his formations were obeying his orders for a renewed attack, Mutaguchi finally ordered the offensive to be broken off on 3 July. The Japanese, reduced in many cases to a rabble, fell back to the Chindwin, abandoning their artillery, transport, and soldiers too sick to walk.

==Impact==
The Japanese defeats at Kohima and Imphal were the largest up until that time. The British and Indian forces had lost around 16,987 men, dead, missing and wounded.<ref name="Allen638"/> The Japanese suffered 60,643 casualties, including 13,376 dead.<ref name="Allen638"/> Most of these losses were the result of starvation, disease and exhaustion.

The defeat resulted in sweeping changes in command within the Japanese Army in Burma. Mutaguchi sacked all his division commanders during the operation, before being sacked himself on 30 August. Kawabe, whose health was broken, was also dismissed. Many of the senior staff officers at the headquarters of Fifteenth Army and Burma Area Army were also transferred to divisional or regimental commands.<ref>Allen (1984), p. 386</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation| surname1=Fay| given1 = Peter W.| year=1993| title=The Forgotten Army: India's Armed Struggle for Independence, 1942–1945.| publisher=University of Michigan Press| location=Ann Arbor| ISBN=0-472-08342-2}}
* {{Citation| surname1=Lebra| given1=Joyce C.| year=1977| title=Japanese trained armies in South-East Asia| publisher=Columbia University Press| location=New York| ISBN=0-231-03995-6}}
* {{Cite book| last=Allen| first=Louis| year=1984| title=Burma: The Longest War| publisher=J. M. Dent & Sons| ISBN=0-460-02474-4}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book| last=Latimer| first=Jon| author-link=Jon Latimer| year=2004| title=Burma: The Forgotten War| publisher=John Murray| ISBN=0-7195-6576-6}}
* {{Cite book| last=Slim| first=William| author-link=William Slim| year=1961| title=Defeat into Victory| publisher=David McKay| location=New York| ISBN=1-56849-077-1}}
{{refend}}
{{Indian National Army}}
{{Coord missing|Manipur}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:U-Go, Operation}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1944]]
[[Category:World War II operations and battles of the Southeast Asia Theatre]]
[[Category:Battles and operations of World War II involving India]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving Japan]]
[[Category:Land battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom|U-Go]]
[[Category:Indian National Army]]
[[Category:1944 in Japan]]
[[Category:1944 in India]]
[[Category:Military history of Burma during World War II]]

Operation U-Go - Revision history

Caliber: correct intro additionally and corrected details based on references

Bot: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

imported>DB1729: new key for Category:Land battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom: "U-Go" using HotCat