James was a member of the Azad brigade stationed at Palel, about 250 miles from Rangoon. At the Battle of Imphal, on June 3 1944, James was the only one in his platoon who survived the ravages of a battle that had claimed more than 13,000 lives.
The beaten INA and Japanese soldiers retreated to the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy. It was there that the INA was tasked to hold back the advancing British army. Heavily outnumbered and without air cover and artillery, the INA force was overwhelmed and forced to retreat again to Mount Popa from where they staged the guerilla attacks on the British supply lines.
“I was made a second Lieutenant and fought at the battle of Imphal and retreated. I was one of the few survivors and I joined the Second Division which fought alongside the Japanese on the Irrawaddy and were defeated.”
James and his men were starving in the jungles. They were completely cut off from the rest of the regiment with no supplies. On one particular occasion, he used a grenade to kill fish in a stream to feed his men. Although they were low on ammunitions, their survival was paramount.