War & Conflict: - Battle of Sangshak

In March 1944, members of the 15th Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), under the command of Lt. Gen. Renya Mutaguchi crossed over from Burma to India, to Manipur with the intentions of taking control of the numerous allied airstrips that were being used to refurbish the Chinese Nationalists Army that was fighting the Japanese in China, and stripping the numerous supply depots that were located in Imphal and other parts of Manipur, the IJA was running short of supplies, the battle in the Pacific was not going Japan’s way, and it was having difficulties refurbishing its troops.

Part of the Japanese plan was to cut off the supplies to Imphal that was transported by road from Dimapur for British and Indian troops belonging to 4 corp. of the 14th British Army that’d set up a defensive perimeter around Imphal, and isolate Imphal before converging on it, and with this in mind, Japanese troops advanced towards Kohima.

The Japanese however had to adhere to a strict timeline, because they were running short of supplies, the troops on the battlefield had no more than three weeks of rations at that stage and any delays would cause the troops to fight without rations.

Unknown to the Japanese, the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade under the command of Brigadier Maxwell Hope-Thomson was undergoing training at the time close to the town of Kohima.

The 49th infantry brigade that was stationed at Sangshak, just outside Kohima, was ordered to move from Sangshak to Imphal to reinforce the lines there, and the 50th Indian Parachute Division that was training in Nagaland, was ordered to replace the 49th infantry brigade in Sangshak. It took the two divisions of the 50th Indian Parachute Division four days to march from where they were to Sangshak.

Upon arrival they took up a defensive position on a hill and prepared to meet the 31st division of the 15th IJA that was advancing towards Kohima.

The 50th parachute division had no access to freshwater, and because they were on hard soil, their defensive trenches lacked depth and were 3 ft. in depth at best.

The Japanese attack started on the night of the 22nd of March, it was a hasty attack without support artillery, and despite initial gains, Japanese troops suffered heavy casualties largely due to allied support artillery fire, and were forced to withdraw.

By the 23rd of March, Japanese artillery had moved into position and started firing at the defenders. The following day Japanese troops were reinforced by the 3rd battalion of the 58th regiment and they went on the attack almost immediately, well aware of the fact that they had to adhere to a strict timeline, and that any delay might prove to be costly.

The attack was repulsed and the Japanese were forced to withdraw and regroup. The battle would go back and forth until the 27th of March, when the Japanese prepared for an all-out assault but it was unnecessary because on the 26th of March Brigadier Hope-Thomson had received orders to withdraw and he and his men moved out under the cover of darkness on the night of the same day. The 50th Indian Parachute Division had lost 600 men in total.

All in all, the battle of Sangshak had cost the IJA six valuable days. The Indian and Gurkha paratroopers held out for five days under extreme conditions, under repeated enemy fire, with limited rations and without fresh drinking water, and despite the fact that the allies had tried to airdrop supplies, because of the small area that they were in, accurate drops could not be made and the supplies fell into enemy hands.

Towards the end, the survivors were fighting with dead and decomposing bodies all around them with no food or water. The delay in Sangshak would give the British time to reinforce their lines in Imphal and Kohima, and would pave the way for a British and Indian victory there.

Copyright © 2025 by Kathiresan Ramachanderam