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Battles and operations of World War II involving India

  • Battle of YenangyaungThe Japanese 55th Division invaded Burma on the 22nd of December 1941. This aggressive move set the stage for a desperate struggle over oil resources in…
  • Battle of GazalaIn January 1942, the Axis forces in Libya received a steady stream of supplies and reinforcements that continued until May.
  • Operation CrusaderIn August 1941, a German signals unit known as FAK 621 began reading British tactical codes with startling accuracy. This intelligence stream continued…
  • Operation CompassOperation Compass began on the night of the 9th of December 1940 with a force of about 31,000 soldiers, 120 guns, 275 tanks, and sixty armoured cars…
  • Second Battle of El AlameinOn the 23rd of October 1942, a calm and clear evening under the bright sky of a full moon marked the start of a thirteen-day battle near the Egyptian railway…
  • Italian invasion of EgyptIn June 1940, Italy declared war on France and Britain from the coast of Libya. The Italian 10th Army stood ready to cross into neutral Egypt.
  • Spring 1945 offensive in ItalyField Marshal Sir John Dill died on the 5th of November, triggering a cascade of leadership changes that reshaped the Allied high command.
  • Arakan campaign (1942–1943)In May 1942, the Allies retreated from Burma, accompanied by many refugees, mainly Indian and Anglo-Burmese. The Japanese halted their advance on the…
  • Fall of SingaporeIn the interwar years, Britain established a naval base in Singapore after the Anglo-Japanese alliance lapsed in 1923. This base formed a key part of British…
  • First Battle of El AlameinIn June 1942, the British Eighth Army collapsed after their defeat at the Battle of Gazala in Eastern Libya. Lieutenant-General Neil Ritchie ordered a…
  • Anglo-Soviet invasion of IranIn 1940, Britain faced a war with Germany in North Africa and grew deeply concerned about German access to the Persian Gulf.
  • North African campaignOn the 11th of June 1940, British forces launched raids against Italian positions in Libya. This action followed Italy's declaration of war on France and the…
  • Malayan campaignIn 1941, the Japanese military found itself trapped by its own expansion. Four years of fighting in China had drained resources, and oil imports from the…
  • Battle of ImphalIn March 1943, Lieutenant-General Renya Mutaguchi took command of the Fifteenth Army in Burma. He immediately began pushing for an invasion of India with a…
  • Battle of KohimaThe Japanese plan to invade India, codenamed U-Go, began as a spoiling attack against the British IV Corps at Imphal in Manipur.
  • Operation U-GoIn 1942, the Japanese Army had driven British and Indian troops out of Burma. When monsoon rains stopped campaigning, British forces occupied Imphal, the…
  • Battle of Hong KongBritain first thought of Japan as a threat with the ending of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1921. That threat increased throughout the 1930s with the…
  • East African campaign (World War II)On the 9th of May 1936, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaimed the formation of Italian East Africa from Ethiopia after the Second Italo-Abyssinian…