Sunday, July 31, 2022

Revisiting Battle Of Sangshak

* Ted Hockings, Basil Seaton and Lt Col Hopkinson , one day before the battle starts
Revisiting Battle of Sangshak I am a WW 2 relic collector. During my normal visit to various battle sites of WW2 for collection of world war relics, i happen to find lot of slit trenches and bunkers still in good conditions. This create a subtle interest in me to study exactly what happen in those trenches and bunkers during battle. Sangshak is yet such a place where i enjoyed visiting again and again. Talking with aged people who were an eye witness was really fun. More fun is when i started sharing information with veterans who took part in the battle. An account of each one of them speak of the harsh days without food and water. Maurice Bell, the then second in command of the royal signal attach with the 50th para brigade at Sangshak gave me his account of the battle as below:- Snipers:- It became customary for Brigade HQ officers to gather near the HQ at around 1pm for “lunch”. There was little to eat but it was an opportunity to exchange information on the progress of the battle and generally update ourselves on what was happening. It was usually fairly quiet at this time with both sides preparing for the evening attacks. However, on one occasion, the peace was shattered by a stream of bullets and our very rapid dispersal. It still seems a miracle that no one was even wounded. Nobody could explain how the sniper had managed to infiltrate so far into our “box” but his skill and bravery must have been of the highest order. As he must have foreseen, his own death came within seconds. We continued to meet for “lunch” – but took much greater care. There were enough casualties without our adding to them in an irresponsible way. Dead Gurkhas:- I had a personal slit trench near the Signals Office in the Brigade HQ area. It was shallow but long enough for me to lie down and grab a couple of hours sleep whenever operations allowed. It also stored my scanty personal kit. Two or three days after the start of the battle I found that someone had installed a mortar alongside the trench. This seemed unsociable, to say the least, but I was much too busy to argue. However the matter was quickly resolved by a direct hit from the Japanese artillery. And I was left to pick pieces of dead Gurkhas out of my bedding roll and kit. I don’t remember any qualms, or even distaste, at having to do this though I now feel physically sick at the thought. By that stage of the fighting I must have been inured to the sight of shattered bodies and human blood. It was also a fact that sooner or later – and probably sooner – I would meet the same fate. Moving round the “box” at night:- The problem was that the Japs were clever at infiltrating and the “front line” was never far away, wherever you were in the “box”. It was good sense to avoid moving around after dusk but sometimes, when a job overran the time estimated or where a problem had arisen which demanded my attention, there was no alternative. Each night a password was allocated and this, in theory, should have distinguished friend from foe. The problem was that, whatever language was chosen for the password, it would be a foreign language for more than half the defending forces. Could the challenged person say the word quietly but clearly? Could the challenger recognise the word? It was always an enormous relief to reach HQ in one piece. Sharing the salt:- It was a long and difficult walk from Sangshak to Imphal and I made it in the company of one British sergeant from the mountain battery, three or four Indians and a similar number of Gurkhas. We had met by chance during the break out. We were all tired before we began and none of us had eaten much over several days. But we pressed on, using tracks which we hoped were too insignificant to be manned by the Japanese. We had no food but we did have opportunities to drink from mountain streams. And the perspiration pouring from us drained our bodies of salt. After some three or four days we came to a Naga village that had not, up to then, been occupied by the Japs and we gratefully accepted their offer of food. But, most of all we craved salt. I shall never forget standing in a circle and passing a piece of rock salt from mouth to mouth. Round and round it went, with never a thought of race, colour or creed. Our bodies were all the same – suffering severe depletion of common salt. With so many troubles in the world stemming from tribal or racial differences, or variations in skin colour, or competing religions I often recall that sharing of the rock salt!
The legendary Soldier Basil Seaton on his account over his escape from the Japanese has written me the following snippet.
" I joined the 152 Indian Para Bn in december 1943 and Sangshak was March 44, so i was not a long time para. Furthermore, I was seriously wounded the first morning of the actual Sangshak battle, treated in Field Ambulance and kept sedated. Wounded and left for dead upon the Brigade evacuation, I was kicked awake next morning by a Japanese soldier.... he was as startled as i was, but i hit him below the belt and scuttled off into the jungle, diving into heavy undergrowth. when it was dark, i crept down the tract to get out of the Sangshak village clearing and head for Imphal....... Before i made it a second japanese soldier came up the track. I lay motionless but he put his hand on my head... my only weapon was the para. fighting knife. In a brief struggle i stuck my knife into his stomack and then his neck and it was all over. Lastly , a three days twenty-five miles hike without ration, but i was helped by two grenades from a dead soldier ( for catching fish). I finally reach the Imphal plain and a company commanded by an old friend.
I was alloted a mortar platoon and at first contact, we were deployed to join C company but the japanese got there before we did. We rejoined the main body to go through the events. As far as expert evidence is concern, most of those poor sould are death eg . Jimmy Roberts(153), Allan Cowell, Paul Lewis, John Ball and of course Colonel Hopkinson and others. The Book Imphal is an excellent , accurate account of what happen. 50(P) Bde in a "patrol" role was in no state to hold the majorJapanese offensive which exploded. We had not even got barbed wire to stall enemy probes and many of those involved were new to jungle warfare--- they died bravely, terribly outnumbered by the japanese offensive.
The japanese offensive was a complete surprise. even when the first party of fifty attacked the V Force positions there was no great alarm. Not until Japanese troops of 31 Division attacked our C company was there any realisation that the attack was in overwhelming strength. they had with them troops of the renegade indian national Army, who kept calling out in urdu inviting Indian survivors to come out and be fed. I didn't go !! There was some bitterness felt by Sangshak and other survivors in that the BRitish deployed positions in general followed parallel to the Chinwin river, in a straight line with no depth, and were in turn served by the line of supply.It was transparently obvious even to junior officers that an attack like Kohima, would cut off most of the Imphal threatre. Harry Seaman's book page 86, second paragraph " now just two days into the siege............" , gives a clear picture as to how aware officers and men realised that there had been an awful blunder somewhere. There was also a trend to decry the 50(P) Bde performance as "newcomers" to Burma. It was not until the Commander-in- Chief general Slim lauded their performance as saving the Imphal force from a disastrous defeat by the two japanese division- describe by the Japanese themselves as "marching on Delhi"- that the ugly rumours ceased. In the meantime, Brig. Hope-thomson had been send home as a lieutenant-colonel9to win a DSO later in Germany). there were fewer decorations than would be expected from such an heroic battles as Sangshak. 152 parachute Battalion was left with only four officers not killed or wounded( out of the twenty- eight total) and thereby unable to take part in the forthcoming Singapore invasion".

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

ARCHANA AND UNBI: THE TWIN ARCHEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES

 

INTRODUCTION

       In 2013, an unknown ground layout was discovered at Maklang through Google satellite image. It has an eight pointed star inside an outer complex. The layout was designed with proper geometric symmetry. The government had declared the location as a protected site under the Manipur Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1976.

 

      In 2015, another such ground layout was noticed by Christopher Johnson near Kanglatongbi from an aerial reconnaissance picture taken during World War II and the author had reported it as “Johnson Star” in his paper presented on 8th June 2015 in the “Seminar On Maklang Bihu Loukon” held at Kangla Hall and organised by Manipur State Archaeology Department, Apokpa Research Centre & Bihu Loukon Star Shape and Land Protection Committee Maklang.

 

       On January 8th, 2021, two ground layouts were notice by the author and Christopher Johnson from an aerial reconnaissance picture taken during World War II. The ground layout on the west was named as Unbi and the one on the east as Archana. Jointly the two layouts are being addressed as “Archana and Unbi”. “Archana and Unbi” is not a natural formation and it points to a historical site built with the effort of an authority. It has structural and functional importance as far has history is concern. The locals are not aware of the shape of the layout and physically it cannot be ascertained by looking from the ground. Present satellite photography from Google does not show the whole boundary of the layout and as such is not distinct. Only the northern side of both the layouts can be seen and noticed from ground and from satellite images.

 

 DISCOVERY

      The discovery came about during the course of ongoing research into the Second World War battlefields and military locations around the Imphal Plain being undertaken by the author and Christopher Johnson. To help with these projects official documents recorded at the time of the war were used as well as many unpublished records and previously unavailable photographic images.

 

                                 Picture 1:  Aerial Image of the structure taken in 1944.

 

The well documented battle site at “Lion Box” Kanglatongbi and Sekmai were being investigated for further evidence using aerial reconnaissance images. One Kilometre  to the north of  Sekmai Bazar, a strange geometrical shape stood out from the rest of the terrain and under magnification appeared to be two symmetric layouts, one  adjacent to  the other.

 

        The aerial images had been taken on the 21st of April 1944 at a height of many thousands of feet but were good enough to show this was not a natural feature and definitely not any wartime defensive area or installation but perhaps an archaeological site of importance.  The lines on the landscape looked to be either paddy-field bunds or walls, or ditches. On the April 1944 image, some area at the south west of “Archana” was occupied with human habitation but 50 percent of area under “Unbi” was occupied with houses.  Modern satellite images from Google Earth of the area were then used for further enhanced viewing. A field visit was made at the site on 1st of April 2021 and closer scrutiny of the whole area revealed there are likely presence of watch tower and water moat around the external boundary of the structures.

 

LOCATION

     “Archana and Unbi” are located around the area of Sekmai Sabal Leikai and Sekmai Khunou respectively. It comes under Imphal West District, PO & PS Sekmai, Manipur, India.   “Archana and Unbi” are located on the western side of Imphal-Dimapur road. The eastern edge of “Archana” is only 100 metres from the National Highway (Imphal-Dimapur road)  and one kilometre from Sekmai Bazar due north. The centre of “Archana” stands at latitude 24.950695° and longitude 93.878628° with an elevation of 2734 feet above mean sea level. The centre of “Unbi” stands at latitude 24.950782° and longitude 93.872225° with an elevation of 2754 feet above mean sea level.

 

 DESCRIPTION

                ‘Archana’ and ‘Unbi’ are similar in shape and size. The layout on the ground from site visit indicates as a square shape earthwork enclosure with four external rectangle extended from each sides of the square.  The earthwork was constructed by digging up the outer boundary of the structure. The outer boundary thus formed a defensive water moat. There is an extended higher ground on the edge of the boundary, which gives a better view of the surrounding landscape and the structure itself.

 Picture 2 : Aerial Picture of 1944 showing the twin structure.           Picture 3:-Marked twin fort in 1944 aerial Picture

 

Measurement of the perimeter earth work in each structure showed 20 feet in breath with the water moat measuring 15 feet width.   Measurements using the tools available with the Google Earth programme showed the earthwork is 2.25 km in length.  With time, erosion and degradation of the earthen structure had occurred and at the highest point, we can still find 4 feet high earthwork.  During the ensuing seventy seven years since the aerial images were taken the area has been developed with significant housing inside ‘Archana’ and ‘Unbi’ but the original lines were still visible to the experienced eye.

 



Picture 4  : Present Google Image of ARCHANA and UNBI.

 

           There are 20 edge(corner) in each structure. If we join this 20 edge, the structure can be drawn.

 

The coordinates of the 20 edges of ‘Archana’ are given below

1.  24.953379°   93.877710°

2.  24.953383°   93.879519°

3.  24.952518°   93.879495°

4.  24.952520°    93.880351°

5.  24.951875°     93.880415°

6.  24.951792°     93.881405°

7.   24.949891°    93.881268°

8.   24.949888°    93.880396°

9.   24.949141°    93.880316°

10.   24.949157°    93.879353°

11.   24.948389°    93.879321°

12.   24.948471°     93.877450°

13.    24.949231°    93.877428°

14.   24.949304°     93.876490°

15.   24.949944°   93.876562°

16.   24.950118°    93.875646°

17.   24.951752°     93.875717°

18.   24.951654°    93.876716°

19.   24.952359°    93.876762°

20.    24.952406°    93.877782°

 

The coordinates of the 20 edges of ‘Unbi’ are given below

1.      24.95360°   93.87136°  ( Mound, watch tower  present today)

2.      24.953502°   93.873170° ( Mound, watch tower  present today)

3.      24.952606°    93.873113°

4.      24.952591°   93.874075°

5.      24.951867°   93.874058°

6.       24.951873°    93.874967°

7.       24.950123°     93.874933°

8.        24.950115°    93.874162°

9.         24.949212°     93.874240°

10.     24.949325°     93.873293°

11.      24.948440°     93.873192°

12.     24.948471°       93.871198°

13.     24.949272°    93.871134°

14.      24.949323°    93.870314°

15.     24.950140°     93.870449°

16.     24.950179°     93.869456°

17.    24.951834°     93.869526°

18.      24.951765°  93.870337°

19.     24.952696°     93.870362°

20.     24.952613°    93.871288°

 

The layout as seen from Aerial as well as Satellite images are formed by earth systematically dumped from the digging of the outer moat along the boundary.

 

      The above are all approximate measurements and ground measurements using lasers and GPS will be needed for any real accuracy.  The exact shape and size of the structure can also be known through proper laser guided mapping and survey.

 

 

 Picture 5 : The remains of gorges ( Water Moat) outside the boundary of ‘UNBI’

 

 

THE STRUCTURE THROUGH THE AGES

        During the ensuing seventy seven years since the aerial reconnaissance images of the location were taken by Allied Forces, the area has been developed with significant housing inside ‘Archana’ and ‘Unbi’ . The earthwork and mounds have been levelled for human accommodation.

 

Pic 6. Comparison with 1944 and present aerial image

 

 

 

Pic 7: Archana and Unbi December,2010 ( Google Imagery)



  Picture 8: Northern side of UNBI in December 2009 (Google Earth Imagery)

 

LOCAL INTERPRETATION

      A lady residing on the northern edge of ‘Archana’ was interviewed. Her name is  Loitongbam Purnimashi aged 70 years. She said, “The name of the location is called Sekmai Sabal Awang Leikai ”.  She further added, there were mounds and earthworks which were levelled and they found broken earthen pots and charcoals in the adjoining area.

 

      The author met another local Manipuri who lives near the northern edge of ‘Unbi’.  His name is Kwairakpam Mani. He is 70 years of age. He said, “This earthwork was there since time immemorial, it was already there when i was born.”  He told us that the name of the locality is Sekmai Khunou.

 

 

Picture 9 :  Locals ( Kwairakpam Mani and  Loitongbam Purnimashi)

 

 

CONCLUSION

            It is very difficult to say when the structures of ‘Archana and Unbi’ were constructed. The Royal Chronicle of Manipuri Kings, Cheitharol Kumbaba has no mention of the earth work being constructed. It may be concluded that either the structures were constructed much before the Manipuri Royal Chronicle started recording the events in Manipur or it was constructed during the 7 years devastation of 1819-26 by the Burmese when the Manipuri Royal officials were not aware of the construction. 

 

   The presence of water moat around the boundaries of the structure signifies it was a defensive position or a military garrison. The exact era when “Archana and Unbi” were constructed can be known through proper scientific methods and research.

 

    What is certain is that the shape created by the earth work can only be seen from the air and presumably whoever built this, would never have seen the beauty of their labours.    It is an interesting and sobering fact that little has been present today of the beautiful structure and this important archaeological site will be engulfed and destroyed in few years with human habitation.  A quick and proactive research initiative with a clarion call can record its presence and significance for posterity.

 


Wednesday, November 6, 2019

" Battle of Imphal and Indian Independence"


" Battle of Imphal and Indian Independence"                             
                 

          Introduction:-
Netaji declared war on England and America at the Padaung mass rally opposite the stately municipal buildings. Shouts and slogans rent the air and volley after volley of frenzied cheering greeted the news. For an hour the vast audience of over 50,000  was uncontrollable. The people broke through the    cordon at several places, trying to reach the platform. In February, 1944, Netaji said in an address to the Army; “ Soldiers of India ! There- there in the distance- beyond the river; beyond those jungles; beyond those hills, lies the promised land- the soil from which we sprang, the land to which we will now return. Hark ! India is calling ! India’s metropolis, Delhi, is calling ! Three hundred and eighty- eight million of our countrymen are calling ! Blood is calling to blood. Get up ! We have no time to lose. Take up your arms ! There in front of you is the road that our pioneers have built. We shall march along that road. We shall carve our way through the enemy’s ranks, or , if God wills, we shall die a martyr’s death. And in our last steps we shall kiss the road that will bring our army to Delhi. The road to Delhi is the road to freedom, ‘ Chalo Delhi !”.
Important Battles Fought by INA for Imphal :-
 The battle of Imphal was fought from March 1944 to July 1944.  It was fought between the Allied force under the British and the Japanese with the Indian National Army on the other side. The Battle of Imphal was declared as the greatest battle of United Kingdom by British Army  Museum.  Some important battles fought by INA are listed below:-
1.      Battle of Mittong Khunou  
2.      Battle of Palel Airfield
        (On May 2, 1944, a large scale offensive under Lt Col Kiani was launched by the Gandhi Guerillas to capture the Palel Airfield. This regiment was already stationed in the Imphal sector. The INA wanted to occupy this strategically important aerodrome before the Japanese could get near it. The soldiers, who already had nothing to eat for three days, were given two chapattis before launching out on this momentous campaign in the late hours of the night. Lt. Lal Singh and Captain Kapur Singh were killed in the attacked on Palel Airfield. 13 other ranks of the INA were also wounded.)
3.      Battle of Khanjol.
    ( For the battle of Khanjol, Lt Ajaib Singh was decorated with the Sardar-e-jang and Sepoy Kehar Sigh received the Sher –e-Hind , the Lion of India).
4.      Battle of Popa Hill
5.      Battle of  Pagan
6.      Battle of Magwe Taundwingyi
7.      Battle of Kabyu
8.      Battle of Legyi
9.      Battle of Sade
10.  Battle of Taungzin


                 All these battles and various others proved beyond any shadow of doubt the superior fighting qualities of the INA soldiery.

Aftermath of Battle of Imphal:-
           The Indian National Army was defeated in the Battle of Imphal which fought during March- July 1944. On August 15th 1945, with the Japanese surrender in the 2nd World War, the INA was left with no option but to surrender. Almost all of them surrendered after their retreat from the Indian Border.
          It became one of the most important and difficult post war problems for the British Empire to decide how to deal with 19500 former I.N.A officers and men who participate the Imphal Campaign. The disposal of the question might well decide the success or failure of the British control of post-war India. The trial was the most ominous event since the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Its outcome would produce enormous impact and have a decisive influence on Indian officers and men in the British Indian Army, the watchdog for the administration of the British Empire over India.
The British government of India thought it would demonstrate the prestige and power of the British Empire by executing betrayed INA officers following a military trial and by attempting to teach the Indian people, particularly Indian officers and men of the British Indian Army, a lesson in order to establish an unshakable control of India. The British thought it could be done. The decision produced a consequence opposite to their wishes; the British miscalculated and blundered despite their unrivalled experience in the administration of Indians, and their implementation of policy.
Gandhi, Nehru and other leaders of the Indian National Congress seized opportunity on the blunder of the British Empire. They took advantage of the trial whereby the British were determined to punish severely 20000 INA officers and men, whose relatives and friends were also serving in the British Indian Army. Congress leaders tried to win British Indian Army officers and men to the Congress side and to mobilize the Indian masses in an anti- British movement. The trial was a God- given opportunity that would tip the scales of the movement decisively. It was as if Congress had laid a snare and the British Government had been caught.
On September 14, Congress held an executive Committee in Poona and adopted and declared the resolution that I.N.A. officers and men are heroes who fought for the independence of India and they should be released at once.
The mass movement had started by then. In December 1945, Col Dhillon once said, ‘Don’t worry. India will gain independence within a year. If they execute any one of us, no Englishman will leave India alive.’
        Indian mass movement after Battle of Imphal
Netaji Subash Chandra Bose’s discretion had enabled the INA to take part in the Imphal Campaign and had brought the INA within reach of Independence. Though the military campaign had ended in a fiasco, the political war of anti-British and pro-Independence agitation as a result of INA brought to victory.
With the progress of the first INA court martial, the Indian people’s anti-British and pro-Independence agitation spread like a fire, gaining in intensity. India turned into a raging elephant. The court-martial, originally intended to consolidate British control over India, turned into a trial to pass judgments on the criminal act of British control over India for 200 years and to give it the coup de grace. Transcending differences in religion, race, class, language, political affiliation, and military-civilian rivalry, 400 million Indians, with their wisdom, talents and energy, were united together in rebellion. It was an unprecedented spectacle in India’s history. It was truly a great national war of the Indian people in which their destiny was at stake.
Violent mass protest movement erupted in Delhi, Calcutta, Lahore, Madras and other principal cities on 5th November when the trial re-open. On the same day, in Calcutta where Netaji Bose was born, 100000 people staged a huge demonstration, carrying with them placards bearing slogans such as ‘Save INA. National Heroes’, “Suspend the INA trial and release the defendants Immediately” ‘ British Go Home from India at Once’. They clashed with police everywhere and bloody tragedies spread in the city. Also there were riots in Madras resulting in countless number of casualties.
    The Royal Indian Navy encompasses a total strike and subsequent revolt by Indian sailors of the Royal Indian navy on board ship and shore establishments at Bombay harbor on 18th February 1946. The revolt spread and found support throughout British India, from Karachi to Calcutta, and ultimately came to involve over 20,000 sailors in 78 ships and shore establishments.
       The weekly intelligence summary issued on 25th March 1946 admitted that the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force units were no longer trustworthy, and, for the Army, “only day to day estimates of steadiness could be made”. The situation has thus been deemed the “point of No return”
The INA trial:-
             Every newspaper including The Hindustan Times (supporting Congress), the Dawn (supporting the Muslim Leaque) and the Statesman (supporting the government) gave extensive news coverage to the INA trial and carried editorials about it.
The first court martial entered its final stage in late December. The prosecution tried desperately to establish the case of treason against the British Crown by the three defendants and of Murder and tortures by INA officers and men. The defense and the defendants counter- argued, ‘The INA war of liberation is similar to the American War of Independence which fought against British control and exploitation’ It was a justifiable act, acceptable amongst the military establishment of an independent nation, for the defendants to have executed men who violated wartime military discipline in the battlefield, according to the principle of the INA’s military criminal codes’ . the INA as an army of the independent government, took part in a joint operation with the Japanese Army. It was not a puppet army. It was unjustifiable and illegal to try in a British military court the regular officers of an independent government which has the right to fight.
At the conclusion of the trial, Chief counsel Dr Desai delivered an eight-hour speech over two days declaring that ‘ a subjugated people have the right to fight’.

Result of the INA trial:-
On 3rd January, 1946  General Auchinleck suspended the life imprisonment sentence of the three of INA officers, General Shah Nawaz Khan, Lt Colonel P.K. Sahgal and Colonel G.S Dhillon. General Auchinleck was very conscious of the fact that even officers and men of the British Indian Army who were responsible for maintaining India’s peace and security were becoming awakened to national Independence, and that they could not be relied upon any more. He was afraid of the British Indian Army turning from a watchdog of the British Empire to an arm of the Indian National Congress.
The British government had succumbed to the demands of the Indian masses and had chosen the path of giving up the power of administration. The British government realized the irreversible course of the situation and began secretly to formulate the second best alternative- an honorable withdrawal while maintaining and protecting British interest in India as far as possible. The military trial in the red fort, contrary to their original expectation and calculation, created the decisive factor for the British withdrawal from India.

  On January 3, 1946 a Press Communique announced :—'
 “Captain Shah Nawaz Khan, Captain Sahgal and Lieut. Dhillon have stood their trial  by Court Martial on charges against all three of waging war against, the King-Emperor. .. The fining* of the ooOrt are that all three are  guilty of thb charge of waging way, white Captain Shah Nawaz Khan is also convicted  of the charge of abetment of murder. Lieut. Dhillon is acquitted of the charge of murder  and Captain Sahgal of the charge of abetment of murder”.
“Having found the accused guilty of the charge of waging war, the Court was bound to
sentence the accused either to death or to transportation for life, no lesser sentence was
permissible under the law... The confirming  officer is, however, competent to mitigate,
commute or remit the sentences. ..” 
On the same evening the three officers of the I.N.A. were set free from the Red Fort.

Conclusion:-
Japan's interest in the Indian independence movement began as a small-scale intelligence mission in Thailand and Malaya, developed into  a complex propaganda and espionage network designed to foster anti- British sentiment, and finally burgeoned into limited support of and  cooperation with a government in exile and revolutionary army. Despite the military defeat of Japan, and with it the INA, popular support for  the INA finally precipitated British withdrawal from India. The historical significance of the trial was clearly expressed in the article contributed by Nehru and published on 17th January, 1945 as quoted in its preface, . ‘… The issue of the trial is neither the legality of the court nor eloquence. It is a power contest between the administrator who controls India and the will of the Indian people. Its outcome is a victory for the Indians… Will the trial, held in the last week of the year 1945, terminate the chapter of British control following that of the Mughal dynasty? Yes, the trial presages the end of that chapter’.

   Manipur suffered some 300 civilian casualty during the war in the valley and many more expected in the hills. More than 50 percent of the civilian population were effected as a result of displacement. There was scarcity of food and high rate of inflation during the war. Many villages  were burned down. The unexploded ordnances killed many civilians’ years after the war. And many will be killed in the future.
Historian Christopher Johnson once said, “The white man fought the yellow man in the brown man’s land”. I added, “India won Independence , and Manipur Paid for it”.



Bibliography :-
1.      Subuhey S,  The Story of INA, Atma Ram & Sons, Lahore, 1946
2.      Palta K.R., My Adventures with the I.N.A., Lion Press, Lahore,1946,
3.      Ghosh Kalyan Kumar, History of the Indian National Army, Ph.D. dissertation, Indian     School of International Studies, New Delhi, 1966
4.      Lt General Fujiwara Iwaichi, F Kikan, translated by Akashi Yoji, Heinemann Asia, Hong Kong, 1983
5.      Keane Fergal, Road of Bones, Harper press, London, 2011.
6.      Evans Geoffrey and Anthony Brett James, Imphal- A flower on Lofty Heights,Macmillan & Co ltd, London , 1962.

American Baptist Mission in Kangpokpi : A Short History


American Baptist Mission in Kangpokpi : A Short History
       

Introduction :
No  Christian missionary was allowed in the State of Manipur until 1894 when Rev. William Pettigrew, though forbidden to preach , was permitted to open a school. The central station was at Ukhrul, but in 1919 the mission center was transferred to Kangpokpi. Before the establishment of Central station, the compound at Kangpokpi was a hill of untracked jungle rising several hundred feet from the State motor road. A mile of winding road, carved from the jungle- covered mountain side, was the first bold stroke in planning for a mission compound. Then followed groves of citrus and banana trees, gardens, mission bungalows, a school house, quarters for students, a church building, a dispensary, a baby shelter, and to one side, a leper colony. In 1920, the Kangpokpi Christian Hospital was opened in Manipur by Dr. G. G. Crozier and his wife. In 40 years, the Christian community had grown to nearly 8000. The mission school was a central training institution which has furnished leaders for a growing number of churches and village schools throughout the hill region. The Swedish Baptist General Conference of America had assumed the entire support of this station.
Some Noted Missionaries:
Dr J. A Ahlquist arrived at Kangpokpi in 1939 and took charge of the general work from Mr  Tanquist. Since then all the Government grant for school were withdrawn and while Dr. Ahlquist was struggling to reconstruct the school and Missions his effort was cut short by his untimely demise as he passed away due to a motor accident in 1941 while travelling between Kohima and Kangpokpi. After the tragic death of Dr. Ahlquist, Rev Earl E. Brock came and took charge of Manipur field in 1941. He was in Manipur taking care of Christians during the Second World War.
            During the war of 1944, Japanese occupied the Kangpokpi Mission compound and the Brocks and all other occupants were made to move out of it. The houses in the Kangpokpi compound were greatly damaged in the exchange of fire and there was huge material loss in the war and the people have to leave their village and take shelter in the jungle in a such a situation, the mission activities were also greatly hampered. The Brocks went home on a brief furlough in 1945.
           Rev. John S. Anderson who became the last missionary in Manipur arrived in Kangpokpi in early 1946. He served in a period of great political transition when India achieved her independence from British Crown. Indeed, the wars slowed down the progress of education and mission but the pace of growth was soon picked up again. Thus the Manipur fields statistics of 1951 shows 456 churches  with a baptized membership of 26,747.


Rev Earl E. Brock  and wife Rosa                                                Pic Courtesy : CD Johnson and Brock’s family

The annual report of American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, 1930 reports; “This field in Kangpokpi includes a large section of the Naga Hills and also some plains in the native State of Manipur. Four superintending pastors administer the work. There are 32 churches and 30 branch churches with a membership of 3,775. The new converts who were baptized number 485. There are 34 mission schools with an attendance of 1,009. Coeducation has been successfully tried in the station school at Kangpokpi. The greatest advance has been in the Sadar area, newly opened to mission work by Government order. Schools have increased from 6 to 15 and church membership from 500 to 1,062. A man whom they tried to kill in February baptized 54 converts in October. The medical work is mainly conducted by three compounders who have had about 400 in-patients and 4,000 out-patients. Nine tubercular patients, 100 lepers, and more than 200 general patients have been cared for. Mrs. Crozier has been responsible for the care of ten motherless babies. The leper colony, which has a church of its own, is being provided with good buildings”.
In the annual report of American Baptist Foreign Mission Society 1933,  Dr. W. R. Werelius writes for Kangpokpi: “We took over the medical work at Kangpokpi in January 1932. In addition to reconstructing a mile and a   half of water supply, doing 500 and some odd miles of touring, trying to learn a new language, watching the construction of a new chapel out of the corner of our medical or rather engineering eye, remodelling a so-called hospital, trying to keep some of the jungle from encroaching on our cook shanty too closely, and other things too numerous to mention, we have managed to treat 1,545 new patients and 2,807 old patients. We do not want to close the gate of the medical compound to anyone whom we can help so long as the cost of medicine can be covered. We have discharged 21 lepers as cured. Until November the school children were treated, but not at the expense of the medical appropriation.”
The annual report of American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, 1945 reports; “In Perilous Times'’ In the spring- of 1944, the Japanese penetrated Manipur and the Naga Hills. When hostilities ended, the Kangpokpi mission bungalows were badly damaged and 19 churches in the Manipur field had been destroyed (estimated replacement value $20,000). In the Kohima field, four or five churches, a mission bungalow, much office equipment, and all but 20 of the 900 houses in Kohima town were destroyed, and the second Kohima mission bungalow and a number of other mission buildings were seriously damaged. Thousands were homeless, starving, and in need of medical aid. Gifts by Assam Christians and the World Emergency Forward Fund made possible the distribution of more than $1,200 in relief. Clothing and blankets were donated; the Government provided food for about 100,000 people and tarpaulins as a temporary substitute for the 10,000 houses destroyed. With the help of local pastors and Dr. Curzon Momin of Jorhat Hospital, Missionary J. M. Forbes distributed medicine and clothing to the needy in the Kohima field. In Manipur Rev. E. E. Brock gave out seven and a half three-ton truck loads of clothing and blankets, and at Christmas time dropped two planeloads of blankets, cloth, and garments in a remote and needy area.
Kangpokpi Mission and 2nd World War
The Japanese set up their No. 1 Field Hospital inside the Kangpokpi Mission. On 19th June, the casualties who were in No. 1 Field Hospital were shifted  to Hill 5797 along with the units of 60 Infantry Regiment under Colonel Matsumura . The British 2nd Division Tanks on 20th June 1944 pump shells into Hill 5797 south east of ‘Mission’, where it was known that Matsumura’s 60 regiment was concentrated.
During the occupation of the Mission compound by the Japanese, the Royal Air Force made many sorties to bomb and strafe the Japanese soldiers inside the campus.
As recorded in the war diary of 2nd Bn, the Durham Light Infantry, on 22nd June 1944, 4 Japanese soldiers were taken as prisoners of war and 6 more Japanese were killed in and around the Kangpokpi Mission.

On 22nd June, the Japanese were fleeing the Kangpokpi Mission and there was a brush with the 2nd  British Division coming from Kohima.

Aerial Picture of Kangpokpi Mission, 1944





Bibliography :
Louis Allen, Burma the Longest war, Phoenix Press, London, 2000
Annual report of American Baptist Foreign Mission Society 1930, Foreign Mission Headquaters, New York, Printed by The Judson Press, Philadelphia.
Annual report of American Baptist Foreign Mission Society 1933, Foreign Mission Headquaters, New York, Printed by Rumford Press, Concord, USA.
Annual report of American Baptist Foreign Mission Society 1945, American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, New York, Printed by The Judson Press, Philadelphia.
William Slim, Defeat into Victory, Natraj Publishers, Dehradun, 1981