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 The
Burma Rifles were formed in April 1937,
following the separation of Burma from India. The original four regular battalions were
formed from the battalions of the 20th Burma Rifles, the then junior line infantry
regiment of the Indian Army, itself having been formed from the 70th Burma Rifles and 85th
Burman Rifles in 1922 when the Indian Army was reorganised. Both regiments had been formed
during World War I as part of the Indian Army and battalions had seen service in
Mesopotamia, Aden and Egypt. A territorial battalion, the 11th Battalion, 20th Burma
Rifles, was also formed in 1922, becoming 11th Battalion, The Burma Rifles in 1937.
Originally composed of Burmans, Karens, Kachins and Chins with some Gurkhas,
recruitment of Burmans was stopped in 1927, despite the protests of experienced officers.
The rationale was that the Burmese did not make good soldiers but the failure to recruit
them alienated the regiment from the Burmese population, which saw the regiment as just
another part of the occupying British forces.
Each battalion was led by a few British officers and the Governor’s
Commissioned Officers, the equivalent of the Viceroy’s Commissioned Officers in the
Indian Army, who retained Indian ranks such as subedar-major, subedar and jemadar.
The battalions were organised into four rifle companies and between 1923 and 1937 two
companies were composed of Karens with one each of Chins and Kachins. The working language
was Urdu, as in the Indian Army, though many British officers learned Burmese and
the tribal dialects.
The outbreak of war in Europe stimulated a steady expansion of the regiment from 1939.
First came an additional territorial battalion, the 12th (Lower Burma) Battalion on 1
October 1939. The reluctance to recruit Burmans was overcome and both 5th and 6th
Battalions were formed from cadres of the existing regular battalions and given Burman
companies. 7th (Burma Police) Battalion was raised in November 1940 from a nucleus of men
from the Burma Police and the Burma Military Police, around half the men being Burmese and
Karen with the rest being Indians who had settled in Burma. The 8th Battalion, formed in
October 1940, was composed of Sikhs and Punjabi Mussalmans serving with the Burma Frontier
Force. The two territorial battalions, 11th and 12th, were embodied as regulars and the
9th (Reserve) and 10th (Training) Battalions were formed in July 1941. The 13th and 14th
(Shan States) Battalions were formed in December 1939 and on 15th May 1941 respectively.
There were few experienced men to draw on to fuel this expansion and the despite the
increase in numbers, overall effectiveness was reduced.
The Burma Rifles
Formed from the battalions of the 70th Burma Rifles and the 85th Burman Rifles as 20th
Burma Rifles in 1922-23. In 1937 became The Burma Rifles.
| 1st Battalion |
April 1937 from 1st Battalion, 20th Burma
Rifles |
| 2nd Battalion |
April 1937 from 2nd Battalion, 20th Burma
Rifles |
| 3rd Battalion |
April 1937 from 3rd Battalion, 20th Burma
Rifles (Kachin) |
| 4th Battalion |
April 1937 from 10th Battalion, 20th Burma
Rifles |
| 5th Battalion |
1 April 1940, raised by milking the regular
battalions, one company was Burmese |
| 6th Battalion |
15 February 1941, raised by milking the
regular battalions, one company was Burmese |
| 7th (Burma Police) Battalion |
1 November 1940, at Mandalay from a nucleus of
men of the Burma Police and Burma Military Police, composition was Gurkha, Sikh, Punjabi
Mussalman and Burmese |
| 8th (Frontier Force) Battalion |
1 October 1940, composed of Sikhs and Punjabi
Mussalmans serving with the Burma Frontier Force |
| 9th (Reserve) Battalion |
24 July 1941, a holding unit with an
establishment of some two thousand and responsible for training recruits who passed out of
the 10th Battalion |
| 10th Battalion |
1 July 1941, a training unit at Maymyo with an
establishment of around two thousand, 500 men and raised to replace the training battalion |
| 11th (Territorial) Battalion |
April 1937 from 11th (Territorial) Battalion,
20th Burma Rifles |
| 12th (Lower Burma) Battalion |
1 October 1939 |
| 13th (Shan States) Battalion |
1 December 1939, raised to guard RAF
aerodromes, officered by Shans, Karens and Burmese - the men being mainly Shans |
| 14th (Shan States) Battalion |
15 May 1941, raised to guard RAF aerodromes,
officered by Shans, Karens and Burmese - the men being mainly Shans |
All but one battalion, the 2nd, disintegrated during the Japanese invasion. By
early April 1942, for instance, all the Burmans and many Karens had deserted from the 7th
Battalion, the remaining 250 or so men being mostly Indians and Gurkhas. The 2nd Battalion
suffered some desertions but those remaining
were steadfast. Summaries of the eventual fate of the battalions of the
regiment are listed below:
 | The 1st Battalion, Burma Rifles was
reduced in strength to around 50% of establishment by 25th March
1942. The battalion crossed into Burma on 15th May 1942, camping at
Palel and then Milestone 109 on the Manipur Road. The battalion was
still active on 20th May 1942 but was disbanded soon after. |
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| The history of the 2nd Battalion is
related in detail here. |
|
| The 3rd Battalion lost many men at the
Sittang Bridge and was withdrawn, on Line of Communication duties, to
Mandalay which was reached on 15th March 1942. Here the decision to
disband the battalion was taken and the remaining men dispersed - the
Kachin company reinforced the 5th Battalion, the Chins went to the 2nd
Battalion and the balance, around 40 Karens, went to the 4th
Battalion. The 3rd Battalion was formally disbanded on 12th April
1942 at Mandalay. |
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| The 4th Battalion reached Burma in
May. Of the 450 men setting out from Mandalay, some 345 reached
India. The battalion was disbanded on 6th June 1942 at Milestone 107
on the Manipur Road, India. 75 men returned to Burma and 261 joined
other units - the majority going to the Composite Battalion, Burma Rifles
which was later redesignated the 2nd Battalion. |
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| The 6th Battalion was reduced in
strength to around that of a company and during March or April 1942 was
formed into a Garrison Company of Karens. |
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| The 7th Battalion reached India in May
and for a time formed a composite battalion with the 8th Battalion at
Hoshiarpur during June and July 1942, re-fitting under Central Command. In
September 1942, the Gurkhas and Kumaonis of the battalion were formed with
men of the 8th battalion into 1st Battalion, The Burma
Regiment. |
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| The wholly Indian 8th Battalion was reduced to
around 250 men by early April but this was mainly due to battle casualties. The 8th had had fought
well in the early battles and was regarded as the best of the Burma Rifles
battalions. The battalion underwent re-fitting, forming a composite
battalion with the 7th Battalion at Hoshiarpur during June and July 1942,
under Central Command. In September 1942, the Punjabis
and Sikhs were formed, with men of the 7th Battalion, into 1st Battalion,
The Burma Regiment. |
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| The 9th and 10th Battalions were
"wasted" out and on the retreat to India served as Line of
Communication Troops. |
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| The
12th Battalion, much reduced by desertions, reached Indaw
on May 4th. The next day, the remaining men were paid off
because as Territorials they were not required to serve outside
Burma. A small party reached India on May 17th and 42 officers
and men joined the Burma Army Details Camp at Hoshiarpur on 4th June. |
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| By 18th April, the 14th
Battalion had been reduced through desertion to around 100 men and
by the 26th April it effectively ceased to exist. Only a tiny party
consisting of the battalion CO, two
officers, two NCOs and two other ranks reported to 1st Burma Division
in India on 13th June 1942. |
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In May1942, after the long retreat, the 2nd was the only battalion to have reached
India at reasonable strength and became the only battalion not to be disbanded. The men of
the Burma Rifles who reached India were given the option of returning home, with three
months pay, a rifle and 50 rounds of ammunition. Many did so but 500 Karens, Chins and
Kachins stayed on, many serving with the 2nd Battalion in
reconnaissance platoons and sections attached to the Chindit columns. Others, including
Indians and Gurkhas, went on to form The Burma Regiment or
acted elsewhere as scouts and guides.
The 2nd Battalion was prominent in the reconquest of Burma.
The 1st Battalion was reconstituted from former Burman soldiers in July 1945. 3rd, 4th,
5th and 6th Battalions, The Burma Rifles were re-raised between December 1945 and August
1947 as part of the new Burma Army and were composed entirely of Burmans, mainly
volunteers from the former Patriotic Burma Forces (PBF) which had offered resistance to
the Japanese during the closing stages of the war.
07 February 2012
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