December 5: When Kolkata Was Bombed; The Forgotten Day in India’s WWII History

A day of blackouts, sirens and silent grief, Kolkata’s December 5 that history almost forgot. On 5 December 1943, the city now known as Kolkata endured one of the most devastating air raids of the Second World War. Japanese warplanes targeted the city’s docks, especially the Kidderpore Dock, dropping bombs that tore through lives and livelihoods. Estimates of casualties vary, but even conservative accounts record around 42 lives lost among dock labourers and local residents.  The attack was not in isolation. Between late 1942 and mid-1944, Kolkata (then Calcutta) witnessed a series of air raids by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force aimed at crippling the British supply lines operating out of the city’s ports. These bombings shattered the illusion of safety in India’s urban centres, reminding residents that war was not limited to distant European battlefields, it had arrived at their doorstep.  Why Kolkata Became a Target During World ...

Soham Halder

• 5 days ago
• 4 minutes read