Sepoys Against the Rising Sun: The Indian Army in Far East and South-East Asia, 1941 45

459 Pages·2016·4.93 MB·English

by  Kaushik Roy

 i
SepoysagainsttheRisingSun
© koninklijkebrillnv,leiden,2016 | doi10.1163/9789004306783_001
ii 
History of Warfare
Editors
KellyDeVries(Loyola University Maryland)
JohnFrance(University of Wales, Swansea)
MichaelS.Neiberg(United States Army War College, Pennsylvania)
FrederickSchneid(High Point University, North Carolina)
VOLUME106
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedat brill.com/hw
 iii
Sepoys against the Rising Sun
The Indian Army in Far East and South-East Asia,
1941–45
By
KaushikRoy
LEIDEN|BOSTON
iv 
Coverillustration:TheArakanCampaignJanuary1943-May1945:Sikhsofthe7thIndianDivisionatan
observationpostintheNgakyeduakPassareaduringthefiercefightingwhichfollowedtheJapanese
offensivelaunchedon6February1944.©ImperialWarMuseums(IND2994).
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Roy,Kaushik,1971-author.
Title:Sepoysagainsttherisingsun:theIndianArmyinFarEastand
South-EastAsia,1941-45/byKaushikRoy.
Othertitles:IndianArmyinFarEastandSouth-EastAsia,1941-45
Description:Boston:Brill,[2015]|Series:Historyofwarfare;volume106
|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2015035168|ISBN9789004222205(hardback:alk.paper)|
ISBN9789004306783(e-book)
Subjects:LCSH:WorldWar,1939-1945--India.|WorldWar,
1939-1945--Participation,EastIndian.|India.Army--History--20th
century.|GreatBritain.Army.BritishIndianArmy--History--20th
century.|WorldWar,1939-1945--Campaigns--EastAsia.|WorldWar,
1939-1945--Campaigns--SoutheastAsia.
Classification:LCCD767.6.R692015|DDC940.54/1254--dc23
LCrecordavailableathttp://lccn.loc.gov/2015035168
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issn1385-7827
isbn978-90-04-22220-5(hardback)
isbn978-90-04-30678-3(e-book)
Copyright2016byKoninklijkeBrillnv,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
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 v
In memory of my mother who left in great pain
without complaining once
⸪
vi 
ContentCsontents vii
Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
List of Maps and Tables xiv
List of Abbreviations xvi
Glossary xx
Introduction 1
Maps 10
1 The Indian Army before the Far Eastern War 18
Introduction 18
RecruitmentandExpansionoftheIndianArmy 18
CombatExperienceandModernizationoftheIndianArmy 35
Conclusion 48
2 Fall of Hong Kong: 8 December–26 December 1941 50
Pre-warBritishHongKong 50
TheCommonwealthForcesanditsOpponent 51
TheBattle 59
Conclusion 65
3 Disaster in Malaya: 8 December 1941–31 January 1942 66
CommonwealthandJapaneseForcesinMalaya 68
JapaneseAdvanceandCommonwealthRetreat 87
ReasonsbehindCommonwealthMilitaryFailure 104
Conclusion 120
4 The Siege of Singapore: 4 February–15 February 1942 122
Introduction 122
OrganizationoftheDefence 125
RetreatfromtheBeaches 133
Assessment 144
Conclusion 150
viii Contents
5 Collapse in Sarawak and Borneo: 16 December 1941–3 April 1942 153
Introduction 153
DefensivePreparations 154
TheInvasion 155
Conclusion 159
6 Retreat from Burma: 11 December 1941–20 May 1942 160
CommonwealthUnitsinBurmaandtheirJapaneseOpponentbefore
 theInvasion 162
TheLongRetreat 170
Assessment 198
Conclusion 207
7 Reorganizing and Retraining the Indian Army: May 1942–February
1944 209
LessonsofDefeat 209
TrainingInfrastructureinIndia 215
ExternalInfluence 233
HardwareandTransportation 239
OrganizationforVictory 248
Conclusion 255
8 Jungle War in the Arakan: 1942–1945 256
Introduction 256
DefeatintheArakan:February1942–16October1942 258
TheFirstArakanOffensive 263
Stalemate 276
HAGOOperation 283
JapaneseRetreatinArakan 293
Conclusion 300
9 Imphal and Kohima: March–July 1944 302
Introduction 302
Training,EquipmentandForceStructure 302
JapaneseDefeatinImphalandKohima:March–July1944 315
Assessment 334
Conclusion 346
10 Endgame in Burma: August 1944–15 August 1945 349
Introduction 349
Contents ix
CombatEffectivenessoftheBritishandIndianArmies 349
PlanningandDeploymentsoftheCommonwealthandJapanese
 Armies 364
Mandalay-MeiktilaandtheRaceforRangoon 370
Assessment 381
Conclusion 386
Conclusion 389
Bibliography 401
Subject Index 419
Military Units Index 433
437
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