The Siege; A Story from Kohima

London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1956. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. 211, [5] pages. Illustrations (6 black and white and 5 maps, including End papers). DJ is price clipped. DJ has some wear and soiling. Includes Preface, as well as chapters on Flight from Battle; John Harman; The Leaders; The Fateful Town; Besieged; Jitter Tactics; John Young; The Wounded March Out; John Harman Dies; Easter Day; The Tennis-court; Saturated by Fire; Six Hundred against Thirteen Thousand; Black Thirteen; Assault by Shadows; Kuki Picquet Falls; and Relief; Also Includes a List of Names. Individual deeds of heroism are recounted such as almost defy description; the tension of battle and the intense sufferings of the besieged as each day passes without relief are portrayed in each succeeding chapter. The story is true, but unreal. It is both exciting and inspiring. and has not previously been told in any widely available form. For the Nagas, living high up in the hills, war came to them. The battle lasted only a few months. The battle was fought in three stages from 4 April to 22 June 1944 around the town of Kohima, the capital of Nagaland in northeast India. From 3 to 16 April, the Japanese attempted to capture Kohima ridge. From 18 April to 13 May British and Indian reinforcements counter-attacked to drive the Japanese from their positions. The Japanese abandoned the ridge but continued to block the Kohima-Imphal road. From 16 May to 22 June, the British and Indian troops pursued the retreating Japanese and reopened the road. The battle ended on 22 June when British and Indian troops from Kohima and Imphal met at Milestone 109, ending the Siege of Imphal. The Siege gives a thrilling and detailed account of sixteen critical days of this encounter. The battle of Kohima, often referred to as the 'Stalingrad of the East', was the turning point of the Japanese offensive into India in 1944 during the Second World War. A recent survey by the National Army Museum voted it Britain's greatest battle.