Imphal 1944 ─ The Japanese Invasion of India

In March 1944, the Japanese Fifteenth Army launched an offensive into India from Burma. Named "U Go," its main objective was the capture of the town of Imphal, which provided the easiest route between India and Burma. Whoever controlled it, controlled access between the two countries. Facing off against the Japanese was the British Fourteenth Army and its Imphal-based 4 Corps. For the next four months, over 200,000 men clashed in the hills and valley of Manipur in what has since been described as one of the greatest battles of World War II.

Although numbers vary, it is estimated that some 30,000 Japanese soldiers died and 23,000 were injured at Imphal–Kohima in 1944 due to fighting, disease and in the retreat back to Burma. It remains the largest defeat on land ever for the Japanese Army.

With fully commissioned artwork and maps, this is the complete story of the turning point in the Burma campaign in World War II.

Hemant Singh Katoch was based in Imphal, Manipur from mid-2012 to the end of 2014 to promote the Second World War's Battle of Imphal. He researched the battle and conceptualized, designed, and conducted battlefield tours around them, the first of their kind in India. He also conceived of the original idea to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Imphal and helped organize a series of remembrance events in 2014. His work on the Battle of Imphal has found mention in the New York Times, Al Jazeera, Indian Express, and National Geographic Traveler, among others.

Peter Dennis was born in 1950. Inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn he studied illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects, including many Osprey titles. A keen wargamer and model maker, he is based in Nottinghamshire, UK.