[Laurent Rizzotti]

Hello,

In mid-May 1942, Japanese aircraft flew several raids on NE India, including at least the following:
_ 10 May 1942: Imphal is bombed, the town and a refugee camp nearby are hit, most people left the town, including state servants and policemen. The CWGC Civilian dead list for Assam has 115 names on this date (about 25% of the whole war), including some tens of refugees from Burma. AFAIK all were killed in or around Imphal, and this list includes only people dying from direct war action, not by disease/exhaustion from the run from Burma, that is said to have claimed thousand of lives.

_ 16 May 1942: Imphal is bombed again. CWGC has 5 names for this date.

For both days above, the book "The Battlefields of Imphal The Second World War and North East India", by Hemant Singh Katoch, give a figure of "71 killed and around 80 wounded, plus at least 50 refugees also killed, including in lorries on the road and in the European refugee camp."

_ 18 May 1942: The CWGC Civilian dead list for Assam has 31 dead at Cachar, 30 of them precisely in Derby Tea Estate. Google research gives several links saying that workers were bombed this day by Japanese aircraft. Six other people linked to Derby Tea Estate are listed as dying between 20 May and 14 July 1942, and may have died from wounded suffered from this raid. Cachar is 140 km west of Imphal, and this raid is not listed in Hemant Singh Katoch's book.

I would like to know more on the Japanese units involved in these raids. Bloody Shambles vol 2 describes Burma Air War up to 22 May 1942, but last mention of Japanese raids is on 9 May (Ki-21s from 7th Battalion raiding Chittagong). From 10 to 22 May, the book only describes attacks by Allied fighters and bombers and eventual reaction of Japanese fighters. The book Air War for Burma then starts in June 1942.