Burma Rifles

Chronology

• 1916 Two companies of Burma Pioneers raised in Mandalay
• 1917 Burma Pioneers became the 70th Burma Rifles
• 1917 85th Burma Rifles raised from the Burma Military Police
  • 1921, April 1 became the Kachin-Chin Battalion
  • 1921, November became 3rd Battalion, 70th Kachin Rifles
  • 1922 designated 3rd/20th Burma Rifles (Kachin)
• 1922 70th & 85th merged to form the 20th Burma Rifles
• 1937 renamed Burma Rifles on separation of Burma from India. At the time of transfer, there were four regular infantry battalions.
• 1942, October 1 The Burma Regiment was formed.
• 1945 onwards Battalions of Burma Rifles, Chin Rifles, Kachin Rifles and Karen Rifles formed for the new Burma Army.

'Z-Force' in Burma, WW2

Men from the Burma Rifles were recruited to the 'Z-Force', a WW2 joint Allied reconnaissance and sabotage unit, who became 'Johnnies'. It was decided to recruit volunteers who were prepared to go into Burma, hide themselves in selected areas, and report back any information that they could pick up. "All had a thorough knowledge of the jungle, its inhabitants, and their language; all were tough and used to living on their own far from civilization; and all possessed courage of outstanding quality".

External links

• Burma Rifles Wikipedia
  
• The Burma Rifles rothwell.force9.co.uk
  
  • See sidebar for individual pages for 1st Battalion to 10th Battalion
• The Burma Territorial Force Details of the 11th to 14th Battalions, The Burma Rifles. rothwell.force9.co.uk
• The Burma Regiment was formed 1st October 1942. rothwell.force9.co.uk
• The New Burma Army, 1945-1949 rothwell.force9.co.uk
  • See sidebar for pages for Battalions of the Burma Rifles, Chin Rifles, Kachin Rifles and Karen Rifles
• "Kurdistan 1919: Military Operations in Mesopotamian Kurdistan: South Kurdistan, May–June 1919" by Harry Fecitt. From Harry's Sideshows kaiserscross.com
• Headstone carving for 70th Burma Rifles used by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for First World War deaths. Possibly based on the regimental badge. From a CWGC webpage "International differences" shapingoursorrow.cwgc.org
• WW2Talk Forum thread "Interview: Major Neville Graham Hogan officer served with 2nd Bn Burma Rifles" includes link to a IWM 1991 interview
• 20th Burma Rifles The Vickers Machine Gun website.

Historical books online

• Kachin military terms by C M Enriquez, Major, 85th Burma Rifles 1919 Archive.org
  • The Dedication indicates that D Company, 85th Burma Rifles, served in Mesopotamia 1917-1919
• A Burmese Enchantment by Captain C M Enriquez, 21st Punjabis (“Theophilus”) 1916 Archive.org. Biography of the author

A Burmese Loneliness: a tale of travel in Burma, the Southern Shan States and Keng Tung by Captain C M Enriquez, 21st Punjabis (Burma Military Police: 85th Burma Rifles) 1918 Archive.org.

A Burmese Wonderland : a Tale of Travel in Lower and Upper Burma by Major C M Enriquez, 3-70th Kachin Rifles, Divisional Recruiting Officer, Burma 1922 with a Map of Burma Archive.org

A Burmese Arcady, an account of a long and intimate sojourn amongst the mountain dwellers of the Burmese hinterland and of their engaging characteristics and customs by Major C M Enriquez, [3/70th] Kachin Rifles. 1923. Southeast Asia Visions, Cornell University.