Fight Your Way Out: The Siege of Sangshak, India/Burma Border, 1944

David Allison

10/2023 · Pen and Sword Military

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In March 1944, Japan launched its audacious overland invasion of India from Burma. Taken by surprise, the British rear areas lay exposed and undefended except for the previously untested 50 Indian Parachute Brigade training in the jungle around Manipur. After a series of brutal encounter battles, the Paratroopers consolidated on the isolated Naga village of Sangshak high in the Manipur hills. Holding out against an aggressive and determined enemy, the Brigade fought off wave after wave of attacks in bloody hand-to-hand fighting. With shortages of ammunition and supplies and casualties mounting, the defenders held on for a critical week before fighting their way out through the mountainous terrain, back to British lines. Fight Your Way Out describes this little known but critical first major battle between Indian and Japanese armies on Indian soil. The siege is described in detail using first-hand accounts as is their daring escape through the jungle and the experiences of Indian and British survivors captured by the Japanese. The crucial battle of Sangshak cost the invaders precious time from which they never recovered and set the scene for their eventual defeat at the final battles of Kohima and Imphal.

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David Allison was born in Perth, Australia. With degrees in Chinese studies and Law, he has practiced as a lawyer in Australia, China and Hong Kong for more than 20 years. He has also served as an officer in the Australian Army (Reserve) for over 15 years. David’s primary research interest is the military history of Commonwealth forces in Asia from the Second World War to the present. David is married and lives with his wife and three children in Hong Kong.