Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero

He escapes from under British surveillance at his Calcutta house on 16 January 1941. To avoid identification, he dresses as a Pathan and grows a beard, slipping past guards with his nephew Sisir K. Bose in a car. This daring escape sets Bose on a covert route toward Europe via Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, and beyond.

On 26 January 1941, Bose begins the cross-border journey to reach Russia with help from the Abwehr. He travels to Peshawar in the North-West Frontier Province, where Akbar Shah and Bhagat Ram Talwar greet him and he is taken to the home of Abad Khan. This leg marks the start of his long escape toward the Soviet Union.

To blend with Pashtun travelers, Bose pretends to be deaf and dumb and lets his beard grow to imitate tribesmen. The disguise helps him move through checkpoints without attracting attention. The ruse is a crucial, timely measure to continue his perilous journey.

Supporters of the Aga Khan III assist Bose as he crosses into Afghanistan, where he is met by an Abwehr unit posing as road engineers from Organization Todt. They aid his passage across the country toward Kabul and the Soviet border. The crossing deepens the international web of assistance behind his escape.

From Afghanistan, Bose travels to Moscow using the Italian passport of an aristocrat, Count Orlando Mazzotta. He adopts new identities as he moves across borders, hoping to reach allies in the Soviet Union. The trip marks a turning point from purely German-backed plans toward broader Axis-backed options.

In Moscow, Bose is whisked to Rome and then Germany, moving through a web of wartime networks. He hopes for favorable hearings from Axis officials and for a platform to organize Indian resistance against British rule. The journey underscores his shift from Eastern Europe to the German political sphere.

Within Germany, Bose is attached to the Special Bureau for India under Adam von Trott zu Solz. He helps broadcast for Azad Hind Radio and launches the Free India Center in Berlin, organizing the Indian Legion from Indian POWs. The legion is initially attached to the Wehrmacht and later to the Waffen-SS, united under Bose's leadership.

In May 1942, Bose meets Adolf Hitler in Berlin to seek stronger support for India's independence. The encounter reinforces Bose's hopes but also foreshadows the limits of Nazi backing for his cause. The meeting marks a peak of Bose's German-backed political maneuvering.

By February 1943, Bose leaves Germany aboard a submarine bound for Japan. The voyage rounds the Cape of Good Hope to the southeast of Madagascar, where he is transferred to the I-29 for the final leg to Imperial Japan. The journey consolidates Bose's shift from the European stage to the Asian front of the Axis alliance.

In the Japanese-occupied theater, the INA's Bahadur Group and other units begin operations behind enemy lines as Japan pushes toward eastern Indian frontiers in Manipur. They conduct raids in Arakan and support the wider push toward India, coordinating with local fighters. The groundwork lays the battlefield for later confrontations.

A national Indian Tricolor is raised in Moirang, Manipur, symbolizing the INA's claim to Indian sovereignty on the mainland. The siege of Kohima and Imphal pits Japanese, Burmese National Army, and INA forces against Allied troops in 1944. Operation U-Go aims to divert Allied strength and open a path for a larger Indian uprising.

Despite early successes, Kohima and Imphal are ultimately repelled and Allied forces turn the tide. The Burma campaign sees heavy fighting in Meiktila, Mandalay, Pegu, Nyangyu, and Mount Popa. Rangoon falls, and Bose's political authority in the region fades as the Axis loses its footholds.

With the momentum against them, INA troops retreat toward Malaya or Thailand as the Japanese surrender looms. Bose continues to lead a government-in-exile effort, but the military situation in Southeast Asia deteriorates. This phase marks the practical end of Bose’s expansionist ambitions in Asia.

On 17 August 1945, Bose leaves from Saigon to Tourane (Da Nang) in French Indochina aboard a Mitsubishi Ki-21 bomber. The voyage occurs in the immediate aftermath of Japan's surrender, leaving his fate shrouded in mystery.

Reuters reports on 23 August 1945 the death of Bose and General Tsunamasa Shidei in Japanese-occupied Manchuria. The INA trials at Red Fort, the Royal Indian Navy mutiny, and the ensuing push for independence culminate in India's freedom in 1947. Bose's legacy remains a topic of debate, entwined with the dramatic end of World War II era in South Asia.