This day 75 years ago marks the high-water mark of the danger to Allied held Imphal from the Japanese operation U-go. The Japanese still had the initiative and they were making progress. Since, they had crossed the Chindwin , progress was as good as could be expected. The Japanese commanding general, Mutaguchi Renya was characteristically bullish. The Japanese troops were only a few days into the three weeks of supplies they carried and so their logistic limitations were not yet evident, at least not to him.
In the south on the Tiddim Road the Japanese had the upper hand. They had trapped 17 Infantry Division forcing Corps Commander Lt Gen Scoones to send his most of his reserve south from Imphal to rescue them.
In the Kabaw Valley the Japanese Yamamoto force had forced the withdrawal of 2 Border after a series of attacks at Witok which were costly for the Japanese. They had not quite managed to trap 2 Border but were harrying them back up the Kabaw Valley. The 2 Border withdraw was chaotic and it must have looked like very much like business as usual for the attacking Japanese, namely Allied units withdrawing when threatened from behind. Maj Gen Yamamoto had sent the Major Itou with a small force around to try and cut off 20th Division which remained obligingly forward in Moreh because Divisional commander Major General Gracey did not want to withdraw as ordered. Yamamoto held back from pressing on Tamu and then Moreh from the Kabaw Valley because he wanted Itou to achieve the cut off back to Imphal before he did so.
31st Dvision were making good progress toward Kohima and the battle at Sangshak had just started.
At this point Slim had few reserves where he needed them. Dimapur was wide open. He did not at this point know a full Japanese division was going to Kohima because the map, captured at Sangshak which told him that, had not yet reached him.
The good news for Slim came from further afield. The Chindits had been successfully inserted well behind Japanese lines. Better still Chinese 18th Division had finally after months, indeed years, of cajoling started an offensive in northern Burma. Lt Gen Kawabe commander of Japanese Burma Area Army, hoped this Chinese threat could be quickly countered after rapid success at Imphal so he could switch the troops to counter this new threat.
Battle of Imphal 