Recent History
Historical Background
In 1940 a group of patriots led by Aung San went to Japan for secret military training. They formed themselves into the Burma Independence Army [BIA] and supported the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1941. Aung San was made commander in chief of the BIA. When the Japanese overran Burma they granted Burma independence but this turned out to be in name only, as the Japanese continued to rule the country. When Aung San realised this, he made covert contact with the British who by now had mostly withdrawn to India. In 1945 the BIA fought openly alongside the British and helped them to drive the Japanese out of Burma.
Burma became independent from Great Britain and became a Republic on January 4th 1948. However Aung San [the father of Aung San Suu Kyi] never lived to see the Independence of Burma because he was assassinated six months beforehand on July 19th 1947.
In 1962, General Ne Win mounted a coup d’etat and arrested the prime minister U Nu and several cabinet members. He then set up a ruling Revolutionary Council consisting of senior Military officers. All large businesses were nationalized. He declared the Burmese way to Socialism, a programme of military rule combined with the state control of all economic enterprises.
In 1988 there were serious pro-democracy demonstrations. That year General Saw Maung took over the reins of power and initiated a military crackdown to stop the demonstrations.
In 1990 there were multiparty elections; however the military regime ignored the landslide victory of the National League for Democracy (headed by Aung San Suu Kyi) and other opposition leaders. Today the military SPDC remains the ruling party.
World War 2
When the guns fell silent in Europe in May 1945, two Indian Divisions were on the high seas heading for Ramree Island and the Arakan on the west coast of Burma. The guns in the Far East would not fall silent until the middle of August making the Burma Campaign the longest fought by the British Commonwealth Forces in either World War. The Burma Campaign can boast the longest list of Victoria Crosses, the greatest number of Battle Honours and at that time the longest Bailey bridge ever constructed, across the River Chindwin.
The Japanese had invaded Burma and fallen upon the 17th Indian Division at the Sittang Bridge in February 1942. The Japanese soldier, ferocious, professional and confident, drove the Allied Forces right back into India. The priority for the British Command was to maintain a link with China and to make plans for an early re-invasion of Burma. The early adventure in the Arakan was a disaster and seemed to reinforce the view of Japanese invincibility. This early set back caused all the immediate plans to be cancelled with the exception of Orde Wingate's first Chindit Operation behind the lines. (Chindit was a corruption of the Burmese word ‘chinthe’ the brave lion figure which guards pagoda steps).
With General "Bill" Slim in command of the 14th Army, plans were made for the re-invasion of Burma and this included forging together Servicemen and women from the many nations which made up the British Empire e.g. Ghurkhas, East and West Africans, Burmese, Karens and Kachins plus Americans, Chinese and many others.
The Japanese, realising Bill Slim's plan, attempted to strike first and with extensive lines of communication they entered India heading for Imphal and Kohima. Lord Mountbatten said that the battle of Kohima was one of the most important battles of history because it was in fact the Battle for Burma.
Troops fought in jungles, across mountains, through mangrove swamps and across the Burmese plain, which was baked dry with incessant dust in the summer. The terrain and the climate favoured no-one, and disease and infection took a terrible toll. Malaria, leeches, "jungle ulcers" and tick-borne scrub typhus were ever present problems. And then there was the monsoon! The mud infested soldiers' boots and marching soon caused feet to rub raw with no prospect of respite until the weather changed. Sores and prickly heat rapidly worsened to disable troops and the constant rain and humidity could literally rot the clothes off a soldier’s back. The medical evacuation procedures introduced in Burma still provide the basis for those used in the British Army in 2007.
The fighting was vicious and at times almost medieval, the soldiers having to fight face-to-face. Nowhere was this more the case than in the Battle of Kohima. The campaign saw the innovation of aerial re-supply in the Arakan Campaign, pioneered by the Chindits, an irregular special force of twelve thousand that operated behind enemy lines for long periods.
The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force also made huge contributions to the successful outcome of the campaign, which ended with the total defeat of the occupying Japanese Army in August 1945. The Burma Campaign saw amphibious landings, large scale parachute drops, ferocious tank battles, deception plans of great ingenuity, massive river crossings, desperate assaults and equally desperate defence, Army and Air Force cooperation and Naval bombardments; and all of this in some of the most hostile terrain in the world.
But the cost was enormous with huge loss of life, heavy casualties and life-long after-effects for many who fought there. Taukkyan is the largest of the three war cemeteries in Burma with six thousand three hundred and sixty eight servicemen buried there. In addition the 'Rangoon Memorial' commemorates a further twenty six thousand six hundred and thirty eight men and women who fought and died during the campaign in Burma and Assam and who have no known grave - "Known Only Unto God". There is also a memorial to one thousand and forty nine officers and men whose remains were accorded the last rites of their religion - committal to fire.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains the cemetery beautifully. Graves from four battlefield cemeteries, which were difficult to access and maintain, were transferred to Taukkyan from Akyab, Mandalay, Meiktila and Sahmaw cemeteries. Sahmaw was an original "Chindit" cemetery which contained many of the casualties from the battle of Myitkyina.
The smaller Rangoon cemetery contains the graves, in the main, of those who were killed in March 1942 when the Japanese entered the city, those who died in the infamous Rangoon jail or those who were executed as secret agents. Pilgrimages to battlefields throughout Burma and the cemeteries are organised annually by Remembrance Travel [remembrancetravel@britishlegion.org.uk]. Most surviving Servicemen and women who served in the Burma Campaign are members of the Burma Star Association. This special charity headed by Viscount Slim continues to support the needs of Burma Star members and their families (telephone no. 0207 823 4273).
The Kohima epitaph recited at the Burma Star reunions and in other gatherings of Remembrance will ensure that the exploits of those who served in the Burma Campaign are never forgotten.
"When you go home, tell them of us and say,
'For your Tomorrow, we gave our Today'".
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Email: info@burmachildrensfund.org.uk
Email: info@burmachildrensfund.org.uk
