The troops were as proud of their commander as he was of them. Bill Slim and my Dad shook hands after his company broke a Japanese roadblock for the linkup to Imphal. Slim (Author) 360 ratings See all formats and editions Hardcover 33.98 3 Used from 30.00 Paperback 22.14 7 Used from 11.98 12 New from 18.14 Publisher McKay, 1961. My Dad, too, considered the Ghurkas (Nepalese) the finest soldiers with whom he had had the honour to serve, and praised the Royal Scots at every opportunity for their courage in every battle. Defeat Into Victory Hardcover Januby Field Marshal William. My take is that the Japanese soldier was tough, brave, cunning, and resourceful, just as the 14th army learned to be the quality of his officers varied as much as that of our own. My Dad was with the 6th Brigade, 2nd DLI from its arrival in Bombay (Mumbai) in June 1942 until its return to England after the war’s end. Both Japanese soldiers and officers had proven far superior to their enemies until Kohima when shouting Bansai they fell by the thousands in the final assaults on Garrison Hill. The same British regiments which won the battle of Kohima had been forced to retreat from the Arakan under Wavell a year earlier, out fought and completely out maneuvered by the Japanese. The Japanese until that April of 1944 had overrun all of Southeast Asia and Oceania and were considered unbeatable. In answer to Spider man, my understanding is that the victory Kohima/Imphal of the 14th Army was the first and only defeat of a Japanese field army in all of WWII, the rest were of individual units, brigades, garrisons.
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