Roads and tracks were improved and six new airfields were constructed.
The most pressing need was to improve the lines of communications to Imphal so that men and equipment could be moved forward with more ease. This gave the military in Imphal the time to organise themselves. As a result, they had to halt their advance to reorganise themselves. In fact, the Japanese success in Burma had been so quick that their supplies lines had become overstretched. If the Japanese had moved swiftly for Imphal then the outcome that was to change the war in the region may have been very different. Evans described these soldiers “as mere skeletons of their former selves”.
In May 1942, the Burma Corps, commanded by General Slim, started to arrive in Imphal. Lieutenant-General Sir Geoffrey Evans, commander of the 5 th Indian Division that fought at Imphal, stated that during the monsoon season “movement to all intents and purposes ceased “.Īfter the Japanese attacked and conquered Burma, Imphal took on a major military importance. Imphal was also served by tracks used by oxen – but they were a slow mode of transport for the military. During the rainy season the road could be put out of use due to landslides or by simply being washed away. A metalled road connected Imphal to Kohima to the north and to Moreh, to the southeast, on the Burmese border. To the north of Imphal are the Naga Hills and to the south the Chin Hills – both very difficult areas to use mechanised transport. Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur, is some 70 miles to the west of the Burmese border.
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