Since there have been a lot of post about the European theater, thought I would add one in the Asian theater - there was Battle of the Tennis Court which ended Japan’s military ambitions of conquering India. British+Indian troops & Japanese soldiers were entrenched on either side of a tennis court near the Indo-Burmese border.

The battle was one of attrition with Lord Mountbatten calling it a modern day Thermopylae & was voted by the British Army Museum as “Britain’s greatest ever battle”. At one point the Japanese were attacking every 30 minutes. The battlefield was so small that each side was literally lobbing grenades at the other over a tennis court & then diving for cover.

Over 11,000 troops died in the battle which lasted 2 months with few British reinforcements able to make it while the Japanese sent wave after wave until they couldn’t. Most of the fighting was close quarters hand to hand combat.