Captain Robin Rowland was 22 when his regiment was deployed to the north-eastern Indian town of Kohima. It was May 1944, and a small group of British-Indian soldiers was under assault by an entire division of Japanese forces.
Capt Rowland, now 99, vividly remembers approaching the town, following a trail of devastation to the front line.
“We saw abandoned trenches and destroyed villages, and as we moved forward the smell of death was everywhere,” he said.
I read this book late last year – Road of Bones: The Siege of Kohima 1944 – The Epic Story of the Last Great Stand of Empire
The battle was a major feat of arms for the vastly outnumbered British and Indian troops but also for the Japanese if you consider the terrain they had to cross and the fact that their generals lied to them about resupply. They really did starve and the author provides an excellent glimpse into the Japanese view of things much of which was every bit as rancid as we’ve come to understand. I was surprised to discover the “Traitorous General” Kōtoku Satō who ignored his commanders and ordered his soldier’s to retreat back into Burma was not executed though he did endure bouts of public shaming initiated by the truly guilty long after the war. His post-war personal journey of atonement to his troops for having lead them to a disaster he foresaw is recounted revealing him to be anything but typical of Japanese militarism.
“Face” and emperor worship played such a significant influence in Japanese lives that the depth of belief is difficult for me to grasp. In another book dealing with the battle of Okinawa I read in disbelief that a Japanese army officer held on to the hope that the Imperial Navy would arrive to blast the American fleet laying siege to the island. He had never heard of Midway or knew that the Japanese Navy was long defeated by that stage of the war. A stranded naval officer he befriended told him the truth of Japan’s situation. Still he fought on to the bitter end surviving only because he was captured having passed out from wounds.
The book gives a good sense of the pending collapse of Britain’s empire in India. Many saw it coming others not so much. The common soldier seemed to understand better than most that Indian independence was a foregone conclusion and they simply weren’t wanted there. In fact the Japanese had their own “Indian Army” on their side. Still they fought and triumphed against great odds because they were good soldiers fighting not for ideology or empire but only to get it done and go home.
It’s a worthwhile read.
