Fourteenth Army

The war against the Mosquito wasn't only fought on Guadalcanal.

We've already talked about Slim and the 14th Army and the battle that they had to fight against Mosquitoes and Malaria.

For the Australian Army, that battle reached crisis point at Milne Bay.

Lieutenant Colonel Ted Ford was the Chief Pathologist of New Guinea Force and a Senior Army Malariologist.

What's your third question to me?

Who commanded the British 14th Army during the Second World War? Though that's sort of unnecessary because I think it only existed during the Second World War.

Was this army fighting in Burma?

Yes, it was.

This action is the epitome of the Japanese invasion of India, which is quickly turning into the worst disasters of the war for the Japanese Empire.

Operation Yugo, General Renya Mutaguchi's ambitious plan to crush the British 14th Army and bring about the collapse of the British Raj, so far has failed.

After almost two months of bitter fighting, the Japanese 15th Army and its INA allies fall short of their objectives while sustaining heavy casualties.

Mutiguchi's forces are now locked in vicious attritional combat around the logistical hub of Imphal and the administrative station around Kohima Ridge, 60 miles to the north of Imphal.

Despite the desperate plight of his men, Motoguchi believes the offensive can still succeed in taking Inphal and Kohima if his forces can capture key local objectives.

At the beginning of May, he sets his sights on the southern sector of the front, where the 17th Indian Division is dug in around the town of Bishanpur, 17 miles to the southwest of Inphal.

Meanwhile, General Bill Slim and the British 14th Army are preparing its counter-offensive to eject the Japanese forces from India.

The Japanese invasion caught Slim and 4 Corps Commander General Geoffrey Schoonz by surprise, nearly resulting in disaster.