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

During the Second World War, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) suffered one of its greatest defeats in Burma. Both in Malaya and Burma, the bulk of the British Commonwealth forces comprised Indian units. Few people know that by 1944, about 70 percent of the Allied ground personnel in Burma was composed of soldiers of the Indian Army. The Indian Army comprised British-led Indian units, British officered units of the Indian princely states and the British units attached to the Government of India. Based on the archival materials collected from India and the United Kingdom, Sepoys against the Rising Sun assesses the combat/military/battlefield effectiveness of the Indian Army against the IJA during World War II. The volume is focussed on the tactical innovations and organizational adaptations which enabled the sepoys to overcome the Japanese in the trying terrain of Burma.

Table of Contents:
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 Recruitment and Expansion of the Indian Army 18 Combat Experience and Modernization of the Indian Army 35 Conclusion 48 2 Fall of Hong Kong: 8 December–26 December 1941 50 Pre-war British Hong Kong 50 The Commonwealth Forces and its Opponent 51 The Battle 59 Conclusion 65 3 Disaster in Malaya: 8 December 1941–31 January 1942 66 Commonwealth and Japanese Forces in Malaya 68 Japanese Advance and Commonwealth Retreat 87 Reasons behind Commonwealth Military Failure 104 Conclusion 120 4 The Siege of Singapore: 4 February–15 February 1942 122 Introduction 122 Organization of the Defence 125 Retreat from the Beaches 133 Assessment 144 Conclusion 150 5 Collapse in Sarawak and Borneo: 16 December 1941–3 April 1942 153 Introduction 153 Defensive Preparations 154 The Invasion 155 Conclusion 159 6 Retreat from Burma: 11 December 1941–20 May 1942 160 Commonwealth Units in Burma and their Japanese Opponent before the Invasion 162 The Long Retreat 170 Assessment 198 Conclusion 207 7 Reorganizing and Retraining the Indian Army: May 1942–February 1944 209 Lessons of Defeat 209 Training Infrastructure in India 215 External Influence 233 Hardware and Transportation 239 Organization for Victory 248 Conclusion 255 8 Jungle War in the Arakan: 1942–1945 256 Introduction 256 Defeat in the Arakan: February 1942–16 October 1942 258 The First Arakan Offfensive 263 Stalemate 276 HA GO Operation 283 Japanese Retreat in Arakan 293 Conclusion 300 9 Imphal and Kohima: March–July 1944 302 Introduction 302 Training, Equipment and Force Structure 302 Japanese Defeat in Imphal and Kohima: March–July 1944 315 Assessment 334 Conclusion 346 10 Endgame in Burma: August 1944–15 August 1945 349 Introduction 349 Combat Efffectiveness of the British and Indian Armies 349 Planning and Deployments of the Commonwealth and Japanese Armies 364 Mandalay-Meiktila and the Race for Rangoon 370 Assessment 381 Conclusion 386 Conclusion 389 Bibliography 401 Subject Index 419 Military Units Index 433